April/May 2007 (Vol. XIV, No. 3)
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From the Editor: Information Times takes a break!
Several campus departments have been involved during the past 14 years in publishing the UT Southwestern Information Times: News & Technology Update. Currently, Information Resources (IR) and the Library jointly have continued to keep this publication going so that UT Southwestern faculty and staff could be made aware of changes to the campus’ information technology environment and new software, hardware or electronic resource acquisitions.
When we started the publication, there were few avenues for us to get the information out to you, our primary clients. But in the intervening 14 years, a plethora of communications methods have become available. Therefore, we believe it is time to reevaluate the usefulness of Information Times in its current form.
To that end, after this issue, we will place the publication of Information Times on hold. IR and the Library will review the statistics for the Information Times Web site in the fall and reach a final decision about the future of the publication.
If you have any questions or comments about this decision, we would be interested in hearing from you. Please feel free to contact Jon Crossno, Managing Editor, either by e-mail at jon.crossno@utsouthwestern.edu or by phone at 214-648-2562.
Thank you for keeping us going all these years!
Jon Crossno, MLS, AHIP
Managing Editor, Information Times
LibQUAL+ at UT Southwestern
The Library is now running a Web-based customer satisfaction survey, called LibQUAL+, that measures users’ expectations and perceptions of library service quality. All faculty, staff, students, residents and fellows of UT Southwestern and its affiliated institutions are invited to help the Library assess the quality of our services.
If you have already completed the survey, we thank you. However, if you have not yet taken the survey, there is still time to help us in this important endeavor by completing it. Only you can tell us how well we are serving your library needs.
The survey will remain available until May 25, 2007. You may go directly to the survey at http://survey.libqual.org/index.cfm?ID=816195. Your responses are completely confidential. No identifying links between individuals and responses are retained. Only combined data will be reported.
In the LibQUAL+ survey, users are asked for their judgments on three scales for each of the 27 core survey questions. The survey also contains additional items that address information literacy, library use and general satisfaction. A comments box gives respondents the opportunity to provide any additional thoughts they may have about the library.
For more information about the survey, visit the LibQUAL+ FAQ at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library/about/libqualfaq.cfm. Any questions or comments can be e-mailed to LibraryResearch@UTSouthwestern.edu, or you may contact Kay Chapa, assessment librarian, by phone at 214-648-2085.
GroupWise e-learning undergoing updates
The GroupWise 6.5.4 for Windows e-learning modules have been available to UT Southwestern employees for a few years. Now that GroupWise 7.0.1 is the campus standard, it’s time to update the e-learning modules.
Several updates have already been completed. On the E-learning Home Page, http://UTSouthwestern.edu/elearning, you will find the following modules for GroupWise 7.0.1 for Windows:
- "New Features" covers the improvements rolled out in GroupWise 7.0.1.
- "Basics" covers sending, reading, replying, forwarding and deleting messages; managing personal folders and the Trash folder; creating signature lines; tracking the status of e-mail messages; and understanding the "Work in Progress" folder, navigation tabs, Home View, attachments, etc.
There is also a GroupWise 7.0 WebAccess for Windows & Macintosh module. This information is helpful to those needing to read GroupWise e-mail from home or while on the road using Virtual Private Network (VPN).
The rest of the GroupWise e-learning modules will be updated for 7.0.1 over the next several months. Until then, the existing GroupWise 6.5.4 modules can still be used for intermediate features and special topics like Checklists, Categories, Junk Mail, Routing Slips, Address Books, Proxy, Rules, etc.
Top 25 ejournals now linked for speedy access
The Library's top 25 most-used electronic journals are now accessible with fewer keystrokes. A link to the "Top 25 Ejournals" is in the upper left corner of the Library’s "Ejournals A to Z" search page at http://atoz.ebsco.com/Home.asp?id=swmcl.
For journals not in the top 25 group, searching for a title is easy, even if you do not know the exact journal title. When you click on "Ejournals A to Z," you will automatically be directed to the title search page. From there you have two search options:
To find a known title:
- Click on "Advanced Search" to the right of the "Search" button or use the "Search" tab at the top of the page.
- Type the words you know of the title in the "Find" box. Note that under the "Search Type" heading below you can select from three options: "exact match" (especially useful for one-word titles such as Cell or Science), "contains," or "begins with."
- Click the "Search" button.
- If available, the title will display. You can choose from a list of all the vendors that offer that title. Note the date ranges offered by each vendor.
To browse for a title:
- Just below the "Find" box you will see the letters of the alphabet. Journal titles beginning with each letter are listed alphabetically.
- Click on the letter that you want.
- Click the drop down arrow from the "page list" to see the first and last entry on each page.
- Select the page that will contain the title you want.
- When you find the desired title, you can choose from a list of all the vendors that offer that title. Note the date ranges offered by each vendor.
- Click on the desired vendor link to be connected to the title.
Have questions? Click the "About this site" tab when using "Ejournals A to Z" or contact the Information Desk at 214-648-2001. A list of Frequently Asked Questions about the ejournals list can be reached by clicking on the "Ejournals/FAQ Tutorial" link at the top of the "Ejournals A to Z" page.
Academic Information Systems added as new IR division
A new division of Information Resources (IR) called Academic Information Systems (AIS) has been formed to design, develop, procure and manage information systems that will serve the basic, translational and clinical research programs of UT Southwestern. Dipti Ranganathan has joined IR to launch and lead the new division as its director.
Under Ms. Ranganathan’s leadership, AIS will build an infrastructure to support, improve and integrate existing systems to enhance the design and implementation of clinical and translational studies. Included in this infrastructure will be a virtual research community to promote collaboration and increase the efficiency of both clinical and basic biomedical research.
Ms. Ranganathan comes to UT Southwestern with master’s degrees in computer science and operations research and has more than 15 years of experience working at Verizon, AT&T Research Labs, and elsewhere.
With the creation of AIS, IR now has 11 divisions and groups, with more than 350 employees. To find out more about AIS, contact Dipti Ranganathan at 214-645-2333 or dipti.ranganathan@UTSouthwestern.edu.
Clinical support tools aid in decision-making
Looking for evidence to help you make informed clinical decisions? Two Library resources – Clinical Evidence from BMJ Publishing and ACP’s PIER from the American College of Physicians (ACP) – provide easily accessible, evidence-based summaries about health conditions. While they differ in purpose, they complement each other in their usefulness to clinicians.
Clinical Evidence provides a concise account of the current state of knowledge about the prevention and treatment of a wide range of clinical conditions. Searchable or browsable by broad section or specific topic, Clinical Evidence contains:
- Brief summaries for more than 230 conditions;
- Evidence from systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials and observational studies;
- Content driven by questions rather than by the availability of research evidence; and
- Regularly updated summaries, reviewed by section advisors and external expert clinicians.
To access Clinical Evidence, click on the "Clinical Reference" link (under "Biomedical/General Sources") on the Library's Web site at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library or type "Clinical Evidence" in the Web site search box. At present, Clinical Evidence is available on either the BMJ or OVID platforms. (OVID platform access will end 8/31/07.) Off-campus access requires the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN).
ACP's PIER is an evidence-based point-of-care guidance tool. Searchable or browsable by topic or organ system, PIER contains:
- 425 modules in a standardized template for ease-of-use;
- Topics selected by ACP based upon prevalence in clinical settings;
- Evaluated evidence for all diseases, with credibility ratings;
- Cross-searchable drug references;
- Tables, figures and references; and
- Continuous updates.
To access ACP’s PIER, click on the "Clinical Reference" link on the Library's Web site at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library and select from the list. Or, type "PIER" in the search box. PIER is accessed through STAT!Ref, so you will be taken to the STAT!Ref page, where you will see the PIER link. Off-campus access requires the use of VPN.
CIS announces improvements to "vCDR"
The Clinical Information Services (CIS) division of Information Resources recently made the following changes and improvements to vCDR, the new Web-based Clinical Data Repository.
- Direct access to "Patient Summary" is now available from a roster under the "Sum" service column. To access "Patient Summary," double-click on the asterisk under the column header "Sum" and go directly to the selected summary view. "Patient Summary" can still be accessed by right-clicking on the selected patient’s name or from the toolbar at the top of the screen. First highlight the patient’s name by clicking one time, then click on "Roster" on the tool bar at the top of the screen. Click on "Patient Summary" from the drop-down list.
- Patient search using only the last name now will return the first 300 patient names in alphabetical order. When doing a patient search, please enter as much of the last and first name as possible to reduce the time to return the results of the query.
- Location search from the patient search window now will return clinical location rosters as well as hospital rosters. On the patient search screen, select "Location" and then choose the facility and location to return the roster for that location.
- The "Patient Demographic" print screen button has been added in the lower right corner of the patient demographic screen.
- The Provider Roster now includes "Visit Status," as noted by the column header of "Sts" located to the right of the "Location" column in the patient section of the roster.
- Documented clinic allergies from Epic are now available. The allergies are located in the upper right corner of the header for each service (lab, rad, etc.). From the "Roster," double-click on a service, and a screen listing those services will display with the allergy field in the upper right-hand corner. If allergies for the patient have been documented in Epic, the window will display "UT Clinic ALLERGIES (1)." The (1) indicates the patient has one allergy. If the patient does not have allergies documented, the window will display "No Documented UT Clinic Allergies." To view documented allergies, roll the cursor over the allergy window and a drop-down list will show the documented allergies. A patient that presents today with new allergies will be available as "real time" in vCDR. Allergies are entered in the Encounter using the "Allergies" button on the left side of the screen in Epic and displayed in the "Allergy" window in vCDR.
New Library toolbar: Access Library resources from anywhere on Web
Now you can have the resources of the Library’s home page available whenever you browse the Web. Simply download the new Library Toolbar, and you’ll be able to get to Library resources from any Web page.
The Toolbar lets you:
- Access the Library’s electronic journals and books;
- Search major Library databases, including PubMed and MEDLINE;
- Ask for help with using Library resources;
- Have Library QuickLinks always available;
- Receive news feeds from major biomedical journals, as well as UT Southwestern’s Office of News and Publications;
- Access your e-mail and the weather.
Download the Library Toolbar (available for Internet Explorer or Firefox) or get more information by visiting the Library Toolbar download page at http://utsouthwesternmedicalcenterlibrary.mylibrarytoolbar.com.
Because the Toolbar is a new feature, we would greatly appreciate your feedback by completing our short survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=341063110593.
Dell offers out-of-warranty support for certain OptiPlex models
Certain models of Dell OptiPlex computers, which are now reaching the end of their normal warranty period, have exhibited a high incidence of motherboard failure.
Dell is offering free replacement of motherboards for OptiPlex SX270, GX270 and GX280 systems with bulging or leaking capacitors. The motherboard replacement offer is for five years from the date of purchase, or until Jan. 31, 2008, whichever comes first. These bulging or leaking capacitors (caps) will cause motherboards and power supplies to fail.
Symptoms include spontaneous shutdowns, "Blue Screen" memory dumps, thermal event shutdowns and video problems. You can diagnose this by looking at the capacitors around the CPU and memory on the motherboard. Good caps will have a perfectly flat silver top. Bad caps will have bulging, rounded tops or will have a brown material leaking out of them.
Details may be found at the Dell Web site at http://warrantypartsdirect.dell.com/us/program/T1910000.ASP.
Information Resources recommends not using Windows Vista at this time
Before using Windows Vista, Microsoft’s recently released operating system upgrade, you need to be aware of the known compatibility issues and that Information Resources (IR) is not yet supporting or recommending it.
Applications and systems that do not yet support Vista include the following:
- Epic
- Novell client
- GroupWise (SP2 beta seems to work)
- VPN
- Printer drivers
- iPrint
- iTunes
- VMWare
Not all systems and applications have yet been tested, and not all testing has been comprehensive.
Users should also note that files and documents created or saved by Microsoft Office 2007 productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word and Excel, in their normal "Data-X" format are unreadable to Office 2003 and earlier applications.
Some current Adobe products have been upgraded or patched to work with Vista, and some have not. Some will only support Vista in their "next versions," which will not be free. For example, you must use Adobe Acrobat 8.x, for which a patch is required; no patch will be made available for Acrobat 7.x.
Instances also have been found where Vista does not work with certain hard drives, and some monitors and video drivers do not support Vista. There is no support yet for "U3" USB drives.
Vista's hardware requirements prevent its installation on many existing campus computers. Microsoft recommends a 1GHz computer with 1 gigabyte (GB) system memory, 15 GB of free hard drive space, and a DirectX9 compatible video card to run the operating system without any other applications.
Although IR’s Operating Systems Group is moving forward aggressively with its preparations to support Vista, much depends on providers of our critical applications, such as Epic, Novell, Adobe and Siemens. After our providers deliver compatible systems and applications, we will need a short period for testing before we begin support. At this time, the "best case" scenario would target late summer. Watch IR’s Web site at http://UTSouthwestern.edu/ir for status updates.
For now, IR recommends purchasing new computers with Windows XP installed.
Dell currently provides free upgrade certificates for computers purchased at their consumer Web site with Windows XP installed, and users who are covered by our UT System-wide "Microsoft Campus Agreement" are always eligible for free upgrades.
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