Anna Brown, Information Specialist, Warwick Medical School
As well as enhancing my own knowledge, I have hopefully contributed to improving knowledge amongst the healthcare literature searching community.
The Summarized Research in Information Retrieval for HTA (SuRe Info) open access web resource (https://sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/sureinfo/home) is designed to help information specialists keep their knowledge and searching practice up-to-date and evidence-based. It provides summaries of the latest research relating to information retrieval for systematic reviews and health technology assessments (HTAs). However, with chapters covering topics including search strategy development, documenting and reporting the search process, searching for qualitative research and grey literature, it has much broader relevance to searchers beyond the world of HTA.
Each Sure Info chapter provides a concise summary of the current research findings concerning a specific aspect of information retrieval. Chapter authors aim to check for any new, relevant research twice a year. SuRe Info users can dig deeper into the research using the publication appraisals provided for key papers, which give an overview of the methodology, findings and limitations of each study.
Sure Info is maintained by an international network of experienced information specialists working in the area of HTA. I joined the project team in early 2021 – a time of change, as developments at HTA International, the original hosts of SuRe Info, were causing concerns about its sustainability as a freely accessible, independent resource. As a result, SuRe Info was migrated to its new home on Google Sites in Autumn 2021. Additionally, a few chapters were overdue a re-write, including the chapter on ‘Service providers and search interfaces’, which I volunteered to update.
I was impressed by the systematic nature of the process for identifying new research, updating the SuRe Info chapters and writing publication appraisals, though I should perhaps have expected nothing less from a team of health information specialists! In 2021, with the help of co-author Su Golder, I updated the search strategies for the providers and interfaces chapter, which had been developed several years ago. I now re-run these every 6 months, then Su and I screen any new results against a simple set of inclusion criteria, which can be found on the Sure Info website: https://sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/sureinfo/home/about-sure-info . We incorporate any new publications meeting the criteria into the chapter. The inclusion criteria include requirements for a publication to report a completed scientific study, describe the study methodology and for the findings to still be valid and current. This ensures that chapters report the latest and best evidence available on a topic, that the update process is as unbiased as possible, and that content remains relevant to Sure Info users.
My experience of working on the SuRe Info chapter has been valuable. The regular update searches mean that I know about the latest research relating to database providers and search interfaces, and remind me to check the other chapters for developments in related areas as well. It is an opportunity to work with information specialists from outside my organisation, but with similar experiences and concerns. I get to practice and develop my searching and summarising skills and have learnt how to edit Google sites pages. As well as enhancing my own knowledge, I have hopefully contributed to improving knowledge amongst the healthcare literature searching community. I would encourage all health librarians or information specialists to take similar opportunities to get involved in professional communities or projects and I recommend familiarising yourself with the wealth of information available on the SuRe Info site.
HLG Newsletter Autumn/Winter 2023
Health Libraries Group 