Library Website Research Articles

Virtual reality supported therapy for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia: the V-NeST feasibility RCT

Background Negative symptoms are typically observed in people with schizophrenia and indicate a loss or reduction of a normal function (e.g. reduced motivation and affect display). Despite obstructing people’s recovery, intervention development receives limited attention. Objectives This study evaluates, for the first time, the feasibility and acceptability of a novel Virtual Reality Supported Therapy for the Negative SympToms of Psychosis. Design This is a single (rater)-blind randomised study with two conditions (Virtual Reality Supported Therapy for the Negative SympToms of Psychosis plus treatment as usual vs. treatment as usual alone) recruiting people with schizophrenia experiencing debilitating negative symptoms. Assessments are at baseline and at 3-month postrandomisation. Setting Psychosis outpatient clinics. Main outcome measures The prespecified primary outcome is participants’ goal attainment, and secondary outcomes are negative symptoms and functioning. The study assesses feasibility and acceptability parameters including recruitment, eligibility, treatment adherence and retention. Acceptability is evaluated qualitatively using a post-therapy feedback interview and data analysed through thematic analysis. Therapy effect on outcomes is estimated using intention-to-treat principles. Results The study recruited its prespecified target of 30 participants (15 randomised to Virtual Reality Supported Therapy for the Negative SympToms of Psychosis). Two participants in each therapy arm were either ‘lost at follow-up’ or discontinued the trial. Therapy engagement for those randomised to Virtual Reality Supported Therapy for the Negative SympToms of Psychosis was appropriate and research procedures were considered feasible. Nine participants took part in the acceptability interview and described the therapy and virtual reality procedures as positive and useful. There were 2 serious adverse events for participants randomised to treatment as usual and 11 adverse events (7 in the Virtual Reality Supported Therapy for the Negative SympToms of Psychosis group and 4 in the treatment-as-usual group). Adverse events were not related to research and therapy procedures. Preliminary analysis suggested the therapy may have a large effect on participants’ goals and a possible effect on negative symptoms. Limitations The study was not able to evaluate the hypothesised mechanistic aspect of the therapy (i.e. reward learning) due to pandemic-imposed social distancing measures. The current study also did not have a follow-up assessment, and this limitation did not allow to assess possible change in intervention effect over time. Conclusion We showed that Virtual Reality Supported Therapy for the Negative SympToms of Psychosis is a feasible, acceptable and safe intervention. This therapy has the potential to support people with schizophrenia in achieving their recovery goals by reducing the burden of negative symptoms. The results of this study support further evaluation of Virtual Reality Supported Therapy for the Negative SympToms of Psychosis to assess its efficacy in an appropriately powered randomised controlled trial. Study registration The study protocol was pre-registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT03995420). Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) programme, an MRC and NIHR partnership (NIHR-EME: 17/59/13). This will be published in full in Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation; Vol. 10, No. 6. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

The impact of the Speech Systems Approach on intelligibility for children with cerebral palsy: a secondary analysis

Background The motor speech disorder, dysarthria, is common in cerebral palsy. The Speech Systems Approach therapy programme, which focuses on controlling breath supply and speech rate, has increased children’s intelligibility. Objective To ascertain if increased intelligibility is due to better differentiation of the articulation of individual consonants in words spoken in isolation and in connected speech. Design Secondary analysis. Setting University. Participants Forty-two children with cerebral palsy and dysarthria aged 5–18 years, Gross Motor Function Classification System I–V. Intervention The Speech Systems Approach is a motor learning therapy delivered to individuals by a speech and language therapist in 40-minute sessions, three times per week for 6 weeks. Intervention focuses on production of a strong, clear voice and speaking at a steady rate. Practice changes from single words to increasingly longer utterances in tasks with increasing cognitive load. Main outcome measures Unfamiliar listeners’ identification of singleton consonants (e.g. nap) and clusters of consonants (e.g. stair, end) at the start and end of words when hearing single words in forced choice tasks and connected speech in free transcription tasks. Acoustic measures of sound intensity and duration. Data sources Data collected at 1-week pre- and 1-week post-therapy from three studies: two interrupted time series design, one feasibility randomised controlled trial. Results Word initial and word final singleton consonants and consonant clusters were better identified post-therapy. The extent of improvement differed across word initial and word final singleton consonant subtypes. Improvement was greater for single words than connected speech. Change in sound identification varied across children, particularly in connected speech. Sound intensity and duration increases also were inconsistent. Limitations The small sample size did not allow for analysis of cerebral palsy type. Acoustic data were not available for all children, limiting the strength of conclusions that can be drawn. The different but phonetically balanced word lists, used in the original research, created variability in single words spoken across recordings analysed. Low frequencies of plosives, fricatives and affricates necessitated their combination for analysis preventing investigation of the effect of specific consonants. Connected speech was spontaneous, again creating variability within the data analysed. The estimated effects of therapy may therefore be partially explained by differences in the spoken language elicited. Conclusions The Speech Systems Approach helped children generate greater breath supply and a steady rate, leading to increased intensity and duration of consonant sounds in single words, thereby aiding their identification by listeners. Transfer of the motor behaviour to connected speech was inconsistent. Future work Refining the Speech Systems Approach to focus on connected speech early in the intervention. Personalisation of cues according to perceptual and acoustic speech measures. Creation of a battery of measures that can be repeated across children and multiple recordings. Study registration This trial is registered as Research Registry 6117. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme (NIHR130967) and will be published in full in Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation; Vol. 10, No. 4. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Explanation of context, mechanisms and outcomes in adult community mental health crisis care: the MH-CREST realist evidence synthesis.

Mental health crises cause significant disruption to individuals and families and can be life-threatening. The large number of community crisis services operating in an inter-agency landscape complicates access to help. It is unclear which underpinning mechanisms of crisis care work, for whom and in which circumstances. The aim was to identify mechanisms to explain how, for whom and in what circumstances adult community crisis services work. The objectives were to develop, test and synthesise programme theories via (1) stakeholder expertise and current evidence; (2) a context, intervention, mechanism and outcome framework; (3) consultation with experts; (4) development of pen portraits; (5) synthesis and refinement of programme theories, including mid-range theory; and (6) identification and dissemination of mechanisms needed to trigger desired context-specific crisis outcomes. This study is a realist evidence synthesis, comprising (1) identification of initial programme theories; (2) prioritisation, testing and refinement of programme theories; (3) focused realist reviews of prioritised initial programme theories; and (4) synthesis to mid-range theory. The main outcome was to explain context, mechanisms and outcomes in adult community mental health crisis care. Data were sourced via academic and grey literature searches, expert stakeholder group consultations and 20 individual realist interviews with experts. A realist evidence synthesis with primary data was conducted to test and refine three initial programme theories: (1) urgent and accessible crisis care, (2) compassionate and therapeutic crisis care and (3) inter-agency working. Community crisis services operate best within an inter-agency system. This requires compassionate leadership and shared values that enable staff to be supported; retain their compassion; and, in turn, facilitate compassionate interventions for people in crisis. The complex interface between agencies is best managed through greater clarity at the boundaries of services, making referral and transition seamless and timely. This would facilitate ease of access and guaranteed responses that are trusted by the communities they serve. Strengths include the identification of mechanisms for effective inter-agency community crisis care and meaningful stakeholder consultation that grounded the theories in real-life experience. Limitations include the evidence being heavily weighted towards England and the review scope excluding full analysis of ethnic and cultural diversity. Multiple interpretations of crises and diverse population needs present challenges for improving the complex pathways to help in a crisis. Inter-agency working requires clear policy guidance with local commissioning. Seamless transitions between services generate trust through guaranteed responses and ease of navigation. This is best achieved where there is inter-agency affiliation that supports co-production. Compassionate leaders engender staff trust, and outcomes for people in crisis improve when staff are supported to retain their compassion. Further work might explore inter-agency models of crisis delivery, particularly in rural communities. Future work could focus on evaluating outcomes across crisis care provider agencies and include evaluation of individual, as well as service-level, outcomes. The implementation and effect of mental health triage could be explored further, including via telehealth. Barriers to access for marginalised populations warrant a specific focus in future research. The study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42019141680. This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme and will be published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 11, No. 15. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Antidepressants in pregnancy: applying causal epidemiological methods to understand service-use outcomes in women and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in exposed children.

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed during pregnancy, despite a lack of evidence from randomised trials on the benefits or risks. Some studies have reported associations of antidepressants during pregnancy with adverse offspring neurodevelopment, but whether or not such associations are causal is unclear. To study the associations of antidepressants for depression in pregnancy with outcomes using multiple methods to strengthen causal inference. This was an observational cohort design using multiple methods to strengthen causal inference, including multivariable regression, propensity score matching, instrumental variable analysis, negative control exposures, comparison across indications and exposure discordant pregnancies analysis. This took place in UK general practice. Participants were pregnant women with depression. The interventions were initiation of antidepressants in pregnancy compared with no initiation, and continuation of antidepressants in pregnancy compared with discontinuation. The maternal outcome measures were the use of primary care and secondary mental health services during pregnancy, and during four 6-month follow-up periods up to 24 months after pregnancy, and antidepressant prescription status 24 months following pregnancy. The child outcome measures were diagnosis of autism, diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and intellectual disability. UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Data on 80,103 pregnancies were used to study maternal primary care outcomes and were linked to 34,274 children with at least 4-year follow-up for neurodevelopmental outcomes. Women who initiated or continued antidepressants during pregnancy were more likely to have contact with primary and secondary health-care services during and after pregnancy and more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant 2 years following the end of pregnancy than women who did not initiate or continue antidepressants during pregnancy (odds ratioinitiation 2.16, 95% confidence interval 1.95 to 2.39; odds ratiocontinuation 2.40, 95% confidence interval 2.27 to 2.53). There was little evidence for any substantial association with autism (odds ratiomultivariableregression 1.10, 95% confidence interval 0.90 to 1.35; odds ratiopropensityscore 1.06, 95% confidence interval 0.84 to 1.32), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (odds ratiomultivariableregression 1.02, 95% confidence interval 0.80 to 1.29; odds ratiopropensityscore 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.75 to 1.25) or intellectual disability (odds ratiomultivariableregression 0.81, 95% confidence interval 0.55 to 1.19; odds ratiopropensityscore 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.61 to 1.31) in children of women who continued antidepressants compared with those who discontinued antidepressants. There was inconsistent evidence of an association between initiation of antidepressants in pregnancy and diagnosis of autism in offspring (odds ratiomultivariableregression 1.23, 95% confidence interval 0.85 to 1.78; odds ratiopropensityscore 1.64, 95% confidence interval 1.01 to 2.66) but not attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disability; however, but results were imprecise owing to smaller numbers. Several causal-inference analyses lacked precision owing to limited numbers. In addition, adherence to the prescribed treatment was not measured. Women prescribed antidepressants during pregnancy had greater service use during and after pregnancy than those not prescribed antidepressants. The evidence against any substantial association with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disability in the children of women who continued compared with those who discontinued antidepressants in pregnancy is reassuring. Potential association of initiation of antidepressants during pregnancy with offspring autism needs further investigation. Further research on larger samples could increase the robustness and precision of these findings. These methods applied could be a template for future pharmaco-epidemiological investigation of other pregnancy-related prescribing safety concerns. This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (15/80/19) and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 27, No. 15. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Identifying models of care to improve outcomes for older people with urgent care needs: a mixed methods approach to develop a system dynamics model.

We aimed to understand urgent and emergency care pathways for older people and develop a decision support tool using a mixed methods study design. Work package 1 identified best practice through a review of reviews, patient, carer and professional interviews. Work package 2 involved qualitative case studies of selected urgent and emergency care pathways in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Work package 3 analysed linked databases describing urgent and emergency care pathways identifying patient, provider and pathway factors that explain differences in outcomes and costs. Work package 4 developed a system dynamics tool to compare emergency interventions. A total of 18 reviews summarising 128 primary studies found that integrated social and medical care, screening and assessment, follow-up and monitoring of service outcomes were important. Forty patient/carer participants described emergency department attendances; most reported a reluctance to attend. Participants emphasised the importance of being treated with dignity, timely and accurate information provision and involvement in decision-making. Receiving care in a calm environment with attention to personal comfort and basic physical needs were key. Patient goals included diagnosis and resolution, well-planned discharge home and retaining physical function. Participants perceived many of these goals of care were not attained. A total of 21 professional participants were interviewed and 23 participated in focus groups, largely confirming the review evidence. Implementation challenges identified included the urgent and emergency care environment, organisational approaches to service development, staff skills and resources. Work package 2 involved 45 interviews and 30 hours of observation in four contrasting emergency departments. Key themes relating to implementation included: intervention-related staff: frailty mindset and behaviours resources: workforce, space, and physical environment operational influences: referral criteria, frailty assessment, operating hours, transport. context-related links with community, social and primary care organisation and management support COVID-19 pandemic. approaches to implementation service/quality improvement networks engaging staff and building relationships education about frailty evidence. The linked databases in work package 3 comprised 359,945 older people and 1,035,045 observations. The most powerful predictors of four-hour wait and transfer to hospital were age, previous attendance, out-of-hours attendance and call handler designation of urgency. Drawing upon the previous work packages and working closely with a wide range of patient and professional stakeholders, we developed an system dynamics tool that modelled five evidence-based urgent and emergency care interventions and their impact on the whole system in terms of reducing admissions, readmissions, and hospital related mortality. Across the reviews there was incomplete reporting of interventions. People living with severe frailty and from ethnic minorities were under-represented in the patient/carer interviews. The linked databases did not include patient reported outcomes. The system dynamics model was limited to evidence-based interventions, which could not be modelled conjointly. We have reaffirmed the poor outcomes frequently experienced by many older people living with urgent care needs. We have identified interventions that could improve patient and service outcomes, as well as implementation tools and strategies to help including clinicians, service managers and commissioners improve emergency care for older people. Future work will focus on refining the system dynamics model, specifically including patient-reported outcome measures and pre-hospital services for older people living with frailty who have urgent care needs. This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42018111461. WP 1.2: University of Leicester ethics: 17525-spc3-ls:healthsciences, WP 2: IRAS 262143, CAG 19/CAG/0194, WP 3: IRAS 215818, REC 17/YH/0024, CAG 17/CAG/0024. This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme [project number 17/05/96 (Emergency Care for Older People)] and will be published in full in Health and Social Care Delivery Research; Vol. 11, No. 14. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

A Study of Public University Libraries in Bangladesh in the Context of Collection Development through Open Access Resources

Libraries and librarians will benefit by acquiring a collection of open access information resources. The OA movement in Bangladesh is being developed to reduce the huge pressure on the library budget for subscriptions to journals. In most developed countries, university libraries view open-access materials as an important part of their collection development strategy. In this study, we examine the current state of OA resources in public university libraries in Bangladesh, collection development policies, the library authority's perspectives, the challenges libraries face in including OA resources in their collection development, and how to overcome those obstacles. Methodology: A survey and a stratified random sample technique were used in this study. A total of 276 students and 268 faculty members were surveyed. The first six public universities (in order of date of establishment) were selected. We sent out questionnaires directly to students, library personnel, librarians, and other library officials. Using library websites, journals, official records, and Google Scholar was another step. Findings: This study indicates that although open access materials may be quite useful in the growth of collections, most academic library authorities seem unconcerned about this. The utilization of open access materials in the overall collection is visible, but it is insignificant.

WEBSITE-BASED LIBRARY DATA PROCESSING DESIGN

The main problem Indonesia faces, especially in education in the era of globalization, is the low quality of human resources. One of the efforts to improve the quality of human resources is to increase interest in reading and the habit of reading. From this fact, the library is expected to be the center of activities to develop interest in reading and reading habits. Libraries have a great responsibility to increase and generate interest in reading. Library data management is one of the essential activities in running a library. Librarians must be able to process and manage book data efficiently and effectively to avoid losing library property. This study uses PHP to create a website design to assist librarians in processing and storing data about existing books. This study designs a library data processing system that contains library book loans, such as recording books, transactions, and student data collection in the library. The results of this website design can facilitate library staff in organizing and tracking library management quickly and efficiently. Keywords: Digital Library, Library Website, Electronic Journal

Augmented reality applications and the future library

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how augmented reality (AR) technology is adopted in the library to transform it into an immersive and interactive platform and highlights the future possibilities of the application of AR in libraries.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines the current applications of AR in the library by consulting related literature and analyzing different library websites covering diverse geographical areas.FindingsThe paper with examples summarizes the current library practices of using AR technology and focuses on the AR-supported major library initiatives – right from document tracking, inventory management, wayfinding, supporting innovation and research, developing information literacy skills, etc.Originality/valueThe paper explores the possibility of improving user experience in the library by introducing AR applications and engaging users in an interactive and captivating environment.

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SELECT COLLEGE LIBRARY WEBSITES OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, HYDERABAD: A STUDY

The study assesses ten select library websites from colleges affiliated with JNTU, Hydera-bad, for their usability, correctness, and accessibility. Additionally, it discusses the features and services offered by websites. A well-organized checklist was used to collect data from the study's selected colleges. According to the survey, the majority of colleges have included information about their services (80%) and infrastructure (80%) on their websites, and all libraries of selected colleges have incorporated details about their introduction (100%) collection (100%), and statistics (100%). However, the report did point out that none of the library websites or web pages have a section for people with disabilities, a user manual, a single window search, an Ask a librarian link, newspaper clippings, remote access, interlibrary loan (ILL)/document delivery, social networking facilities, or regular updates. They also fall short in terms of accessibility.The study's findings indicate that Sultanul Uloom College of Pharmacy and Shadan Wom-an's College of Pharmacy received the lowest score of six (06) out of forty-three (43) and are currently ranked last, while the library at Aurora's Scientific, Technological and Re-search Academy had the highest score of twenty-two (22) out of forty-three (43), and is currently ranked first. The paper offers suggestions for carrying out these assessment studies, which are critically required to allow organization to continually update their website and deliver better results in terms of user requirement.

Viewing Legal Online Pornography by Adults in ARL Libraries: Website Policies and Guidelines

This article uses document analysis to review the content of the policies available on the library websites of 119 academic member institutions of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) for policies that address viewing legal visual (video or images) pornography on computers within library spaces. The authors seek to answer the question: How do ARL member libraries address the viewing of legal online pornography by adults in their library spaces as noted in policies or guidelines on their website?

Grouping and categorizing library services at the official websites of central libraries of RF constituent territories: The need for standardized diversification

In the context of evolving digital environment, the authors point out the urgency of developing the library services classification, friendly to the users whose needs are satisfied primarily via the library websites.The findings of the study conducted in 2021–2022 on positioning of the services of the central libraries of 77 subjects of the Russian Federation on their official websites are discussed. The evidence is provided that information about services is often scattered across different website headings and subheadings, and there are no hyperlinks between them. The biased nature of structuring classifications of services, that are not comparable one with another and often confusing, is also emphasized.The barriers that prevent the prompt search for information about library services on official websites are specified: i. e. the absence of “Services” heading linking users to the entire range of library services, scattered information about services under different headings with no hyperlinks, lacking rubricated lists of services and price lists, irrelevant prices, etc.The authors suggest that one of the most promising areas of theoretical research is the development of linguistic tools that enable structuring and ordering of information about services, in particular, building rubricators of charged and free services, designing “aspect grids” to allow formalization and uniformness of characteristics of the most important headings on the official websites; and building unified lists of normalized lexical units for wording of headings on the library websites.The need for unified approaches to presenting the results of the activities of the central libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation in providing services to users (in particular, remote ones) on official websites is substantiated.The authors argue that it is the standardized diversification that will allow the services to be adequately positioned on the official websites of libraries. This will enable to provide full representation of multiaspect library activities, to increase library competitiveness and to ensure the growth in the number of physical visits and online users.

Digital Resource Platforms Available for Teaching and Research in Selected Public Universities in Kenya

Digital resource platforms have been recognized as valuable instrument for teaching, learning and research in universities. They allow for broad access, sharing and dissemination of information resulting from the advancements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). However, users of these digital resource platforms within universities are unable to effectively access and utilize information due to the intricacies of the digital resource platforms as they encounter difficulties with navigation resulting from the mismatch between user expectations and information platforms. This may adversely affect teaching and research output which are core mandates of universities. The main purpose of the study was to examine the types of digital resource platforms available for teaching and research in the selected public universities in Kenya. This study was anchored on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model and the Theory of Information Interchange. The study was based on a pragmatic paradigm where it adopted a mixed method approach. This enabled the research to collect both quantitative and qualitative data that complemented each other in gathering accurate and reliable data. Purposive and census sampling techniques were used to draw respondents from the targeted population. The sample size was 113 respondents comprising 86 academic staff, four university librarians and 23 library staff in charge of digital content. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences was used to analyze quantitative data while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of tables, charts and verbatim reports. The findings showed that university libraries provide a few types of digital resource platforms which includes institutional repositories, library OPACs and library websites. Information was available in textual, audio-visual and video while the most common types of digital content were electronic journals, e-books and theses. The study recommended for increase in digital content through collaboration with consortia, signing for access rights and mandatory submission of research publications by members of staff and students to the library

Libraries in the metaverse: the need for metaliteracy for digital librarians and digital age library users

PurposeAs the metaverse gains popularity, libraries have the potential to play a vital role in this virtual world. However, digital librarians and digital age library users need to develop metaliteracy skills to effectively navigate and evaluate digital information in the metaverse. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the link between libraries and the metaverse, define metaliteracy and highlight its importance for librarians and library users. The challenges of developing metaliteracy skills in the metaverse are discussed, as well as the need for ongoing training and support. This paper also explores the role of libraries and librarians in the metaverse and provides recommendations for enhancing metaliteracy skills.Design/methodology/approachThrough a review of the literature, this paper analyzes various library websites and consulting literature relating to the link between libraries and the metaverse, metaliteracy and its importance for librarians and library users and the challenges of developing metaliteracy skills in the metaverse.FindingsAs the metaverse continues to evolve, libraries and librarians must adapt and develop the necessary skills to continue providing valuable resources and services to their communities in virtual environments.Originality/valueTo the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is the original idea that highlights the importance of metaliteracy for librarians and library users. The challenges of developing metaliteracy skills in the metaverse.

National (State) Bibliographic Resources on the Websites of National Libraries of the Subjects of the Russian Federation: State, Problems, Prospects

The article summarizes the results of monitoring of national (state) bibliographic resources on the websites of national libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The peculiarities of the current national (state) bibliographic control in the republics of Russia are noted. The composition of the issues of state bibliographic indexes “Annals of the Press” by types of documents, differences in the periodicity of publishing, languages of the printed editions, included into “Annals”, presence of auxiliary indexes, as well as the form of presentation “Annals of the Press” (electronic editions, digitized printed editions, databases) are analyzed. The chronological framework of current and retrospective national (state) bibliographic indexes presented on the websites of national libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation is determined.

Development of a mobile Web library application for an institutional repository and investigation of its influences on learning

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of the proposed mobile Web library application (MWLA) on the search experience and its impact on learners’ engagement, interaction and overall learning outcomes within an institutional repository. Furthermore, the study investigates learners’ acceptance of the MWLA system.Design/methodology/approachThe study suggests implementing an MWLA with Algolia’s search service to improve the institutional repository and enhance learners’ access to reliable information. It involved an experiment with 85 undergraduate students divided into experimental and control groups (CGs), where the experimental group (EG) used MWLA for search tasks, and the CG used the traditional library website. The study evaluated the acceptance and learning behaviours of the EG towards MWLA, considering factors such as usefulness, ease of use, mobility, accessibility, satisfaction and intention to use.FindingsThe findings of this study provide empirical evidence that the EG, which used the MWLA, demonstrated superior performance compared to the CG across all institutional repository collections, resulting in improved learning outcomes. Participants were highly satisfied with MWLA and found it user-friendly and beneficial for improving search skills. MWLA’s portability and accessibility motivated active learner engagement.Originality/valueThe powerful search bar of MWLA significantly enhanced learners’ search efficiency, resulting in more effective retrieval of relevant materials. Moreover, learners who actively engaged with previews and full-text content, using appropriate keywords and syntax, achieved higher scores and were more likely to access previews, abstracts and full texts of documents using the sorting-by-year or by-advisor feature.

Subacromial spacers for adults with symptomatic, irreparable rotator cuff tears: the START:REACTS novel group sequential adaptive RCT

Background A balloon spacer is a relatively simple addition to an arthroscopic debridement procedure for irreparable rotator cuff tears. Objective To evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a subacromial balloon spacer for individuals undergoing arthroscopic debridement for irreparable rotator cuff tears. Design A multicentre participant-and assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial comparing arthroscopic debridement with the InSpace® (Stryker, Kalamazoo, MI, USA) balloon to arthroscopic debridement alone, using a novel adaptive design. Pretrial simulations informed stopping boundaries for two interim analyses, using outcome data from early and late time points. Setting A total of 24 NHS centres. Participants Adults with a symptomatic, irreparable rotator cuff tear for whom conservative management had been unsuccessful. Interventions Arthroscopic debridement of the subacromial space plus insertion of the InSpace balloon compared with arthroscopic debridement alone. Main outcome measures Oxford Shoulder Score at 12 months. Results A predefined stopping boundary was met at the first interim analysis. Recruitment stopped with 117 participants randomised. We obtained primary outcome data on 114 participants (97%). The mean Oxford Shoulder Score at 12 months was 34.3 in the debridement-only group (59 participants of 61 randomised) and 30.3 in the debridement with balloon group (55 participants of 56 randomised; mean difference: −4.2; 95% confidence interval −8.2 to −0.26; p = 0.037). There was no difference in safety events. In the cost-effectiveness analysis, debridement-only dominated with a probability of <1% that the device is cost-effective. Magnetic resonance imaging substudy To evaluate the function of the balloon, we developed a dynamic magnetic resonance imaging protocol to induce humeral movement by activating the deltoid. The pandemic restricted recruitment, so the sample size was small (n = 17). Statistical methodology study We applied the novel adaptive design approach to data from seven previous randomised controlled trials. The method would have been applicable to five of these trials and would have made substantial savings in time to recruitment, without compromising the main findings of the included trials. Interim analysis interpretation study We asked potential data monitoring committee members to review interim analysis reports presented using Bayesian and frequentist frameworks. They did not always follow the stopping rules and would benefit from additional information to support decision-making. Limitations The InSpace balloon could be beneficial in a different population although we are not aware of it being widely used for other purposes. As a result of the pandemic, we were not able to complete data collection for objective measures. Conclusions In this efficient adaptive trial, clinical and cost-effectiveness favoured the control treatment without the InSpace balloon. Therefore, we do not recommend this device for the treatment of irreparable rotator cuff tears. Future work There is an urgent need for high-quality research into interventions for people with irreparable rotator cuff tears as there is a lack of good evidence for all available treatment options at present. Trial registration This trial is registered as ISRCTN17825590. Funding This project (project reference 16/61/18) was funded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme, a Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) partnership. The trial is co-sponsored by the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. This study will be published in full in Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation; Vol. 10, No 3. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Toward a persuasive academic library website

This study aimed to investigate users’ perspectives on the significance of the library website features missing from an academic library website according to PD criteria. Based on a valid and reliable checklist of the PD criteria and their features, an academic library website was carefully explored to identify the features under each PD criterion which were missing from the website. The resulting data was used to design a researcher-developed questionnaire to investigate users’ views on the significance of these missing features. The findings highlighted the significance of the PD criteria features missing from the library website. Finally, several courses of action for librarians and website designers are suggested. They can be used as a guide to designing more effective library websites, and this can ultimately result in the increased use of libraries and their services.

Library and Information Services in the Library User’s Personal Account

A priority for modern libraries is the comprehensive transformation of the library and information service model in the context of universal digitalization. Digitalization of the library and information sphere is expressed in the emergence of new methods involving the use of innovative software tools as an alternative to the traditional approach. Through the implementation of digitalization initiatives, libraries are creating managed electronic environments with a wide range of digital library and information services. Software tools oriented towards the provision of these kinds of services include the creation of a user’s personal account on the library website. Today a personal account is an essential attribute of the websites of many national and university libraries, both local and foreign. The aim of the article is to analyze the possibilities of a personal account in terms of providing library and information services, including bibliographic ones, to remote library users. The article discusses ways of online registration and authorization in a personal account, its services available to users, as well as software tools to make the user’s work comfortable. Personal account is a tool for managing a set of connected services, which is constantly being improved and supplemented with new services. The range of services available to the user can vary, reflecting the specifics and size of the library. The features of the personal account are illustrated by examples from Russian and foreign libraries. The personal account has been successfully used to provide bibliographic services to support research and teaching activities. Based on the results of the analysis of the information in the personal account, libraries make decisions aimed at increasing loyalty, formation of individual offers to improve the comfort of service for users. The personal account is predominantly used in university libraries, where it is a part of the integrated information and educational environment. Using the potential of the virtual working environment is an opportunity for libraries to find their place in the digital world.

Growth of digital brand name through customer satisfaction with big data analytics in the hospitality sector after the COVID-19 crisis

This study examines the best practices for the optimization of the corporate digital brand name by taking into consideration customers’ behavioral big data and web analytics. In the first stage of the study, customers’ satisfaction big data have been extracted with the assistance of a web scrapping tool from TripAdvisor for 189 hotels in Hubei province, and behavioral data from Hubei province hospitality websites have been gathered with the assistance of web analytics platforms for 5.7 million website visitors for the last 18 months. In the second stage of the research, those data have been statistically analyzed including descriptive, correlation, and regression analysis. Then, a fuzzy cognitive map has been created to present the intercorrelation between the parameters and two optimization scenarios have been developed for digital brand name and customer satisfaction. Finally, an Agent-based model has been created in order to simulate the customers’ behavior in the corporate website and TripAdvisor. The results indicated that hotels in Hubei province need to invest less in social media advertisements than search engine advertisements in order to achieve a competitive advantage and improve their digital brand name. Additionally, hotels need to develop their websites with more engaging content to maintain the customer on the corporate website for more time in order to optimize customer satisfaction in contrast to healthcare and libraries websites.

COVID-19 scent dog research highlights and synthesis during the pandemic of December 2019-April 2023.

This review was undertaken to provide information concerning the advancement of research in the area of COVID-19 screening and testing during the worldwide pandemic from December 2019 through April 2023. In this review, we have examined the safety, effectiveness, and practicality of utilizing trained scent dogs in clinical and public situations for COVID-19 screening. Specifically, results of 29 trained scent dog screening peer-reviewed studies were compared with results of real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid antigen (RAG) COVID-19 testing methods. The review aims to systematically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of utilizing trained scent dogs in COVID-19 screening. At the time of submission of our earlier review paper in August 2021, we found only four peer-reviewed COVID-19 scent dog papers: three clinical research studies and one preprint perspective paper. In March and April 2023, the first author conducted new literature searches of the MEDLINE/PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library websites. Again, the keyword phrases utilized for the searches included "COVID detection dogs," "COVID scent dogs," and "COVID sniffer dogs." The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 Checklist was followed to ensure that our review adhered to evidence-based guidelines for reporting. Utilizing the results of the reviewed papers, we compiled statistics to intercompare and summarize basic information concerning the scent dogs and their training, the populations of the study participants, the types of sampling methods, the comparative tests utilized, and the effectiveness of the scent dog screening. A total of 8,043 references were identified through our literature search. After removal of duplicates, there were 7,843 references that were screened. Of these, 100 were considered for full-text eligibility, 43 were included for qualitative synthesis, and 29 were utilized for quantitative analysis. The most relevant peer-reviewed COVID-19 scent dog references were identified and categorized. Utilizing all of the scent dog results provided for this review, we found that 92.3 % of the studies reached sensitivities exceeding 80 and 32.0 % of the studies exceeding specificities of 97 %. However, 84.0 % of the studies reported specificities above 90 %. Highlights demonstrating the effectiveness of the scent dogs include: (1) samples of breath, saliva, trachea-bronchial secretions and urine as well as face masks and articles of clothing can be utilized; (2) trained COVID-19 scent dogs can detect presymptomatic and asymptomatic patients; (3) scent dogs can detect new SARS-CoV-2 variants and Long COVID-19; and (4) scent dogs can differentiate SARS-CoV-2 infections from infections with other novel respiratory viruses. The effectiveness of the trained scent dog method is comparable to or in some cases superior to the real-time RT-PCR test and the RAG test. Trained scent dogs can be effectively utilized to provide quick (seconds to minutes), nonintrusive, and accurate results in public settings and thus reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus or other viruses. Finally, scent dog research as described in this paper can serve to increase the medical community's and public's knowledge and acceptance of medical scent dogs as major contributors to global efforts to fight diseases.