Increasing Productivity Through Technology-Week 5 Research

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” Zora Neale Hurston

I have to admit, I never really thought about how doing research can impact one's productivity. The instructor commented that sometimes the information you come across while researching is very interesting, sometimes entertaining, and very easily time can slip by. Research was the topic of the final class in this 5-week course--and it did not disappoint!

Our class covered Search Engines-their function and uses; Search results-evaluation, reliability, URL, sites to avoid, sites to use, and guidelines for reliability; Customizing a search- multiword, phrases or Boolean characters (*, and, or); Google- results page, sample searches, and image search; OneLook-definitions and reverse search; Find (CTRL + F) and finally Safe Searching. These topics were so helpful and took the knowledge I had and kicked it up a notch!

The sites to avoid and use were great and I will list them for you below:

Sites to avoid as they are unreliable: Message boards, forums, bulletin boards, Patient advocacy sites and consumer organizations, Physician's personal website, Online pharmacies. These sites are deemed unreliable due to the fact that the "lay person" is often creating or updating these sites. The only exception is for Online pharmacies. If the online pharmacy (ex Walgreens) posts a picture of the bottle of the medication/supplement that is only acceptable time to utilize this option.

Sites to use: Major Medical Centers (ex: Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic), NIH, NLM and MedLINE and Merck Manual, Professional edition (FREE and great to verify pathophysiology).

How do you know the site you are using is reliable? We were provided with the following guidelines: Check the author, is it by a medical professional; who is the publisher, is the information objective, is the information current and accurate, who is the intended audience and does the site have integrity (are terms spelled correctly).

A great hot tip I came away with was being introduced to the OneLook Dictionary Search www.onelook.com. This site is great for definitions and allows you to do a reverse search. There are 3 ways to utilize the reverse search feature. The first, :keyword, for example :bleeding (no space between the colon and keyword)--using this option returns a list of words and phrases that pertain to bleeding. The second way, you can here the beginning of the word, but not the end is, x*:keyword, for example enter hem*:bleeding in the OneLook Dictionary and a list of words relating to bleeding beginning with hem are listed for you. The third way to use reverse search is if you can here the end of a word search by *xxx:keyword, for example, *ile:bleeding and this will return words pertaining to bleeding ending in -ile. I loved this information because oftentimes I do here either the very beginning of a word or the end. This takes a wildcard search onestep further adding the area (bleeding, surgery, et cetera) to the key term and providing a very detailed list to scan through.

Safe searching on the internet is vital to keeping your computer running in tip-top shape: DO NOT EVER click on banners, flashing ads, or games; AVOID most "Free" software; NEVER download emoticons or coupons; NEVER download file sharing software (ex Limewire),do not share your computer with ANYONE (including children) and finally, AVOID software products with questionable claims (check your hard drive, prevent crashes). The instructor made it clear that these programs can most certainly invade your computer and compromise HIPAA/patient information we are transcribing. She suggested to get a separate computer if you are into playing on-line games et cetera because if that systemm crashes and you have to start all over again, your transcription data will not be compromised.

The final topic covered was Electronic References. Electronic dictionary (English and Medical). There is a built-in dictionary in Microsoft Word and you can access by moving the cursor in the word you typed and hitting CTRL + SHIFT + O and the dictionary opens. Electronic medical dictionaries like Dorlands and Stedmans are also great references and very easily accessible if downloaded on your computer.
Electronic word lists (Rainbow word book series Stedmans) and Electronic Drug Lists (Quick Look, Suanders) are must-haves as well. The question of cost regarding these tools was discussed. The initial investment in the tools that are going to enhance your research and accuracy is worth it, as it will pay for itself in the long run. I have on LWW that often times items are on sale, or when purchasing come with updates (oftentimes 2 updates) that will bring your information current for the year. Great advice and I am going to transition my rainbow books to digital form.

I am really excited to be able to share the above information with you this week. It really helped expand on the information I already knew and hope it works the same for you too. I am going to put these practices into play this week and see how much quicker my research speed is improved.

Next week, I will offer a wrap-up of the course as well as information on the improvements/changes I have made and areas I still need to work on towards my goal of increasing productivity.

Have a productive week!