The Informationist: A New Health Profession?
Authors: Frank Davidoff, Valerie Florance
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2000)

Editorials20 June 2000The Informationist: A New Health Profession?Frank Davidoff, MD and Valerie Florance, PhDFrank Davidoff, MD and Valerie Florance, PhDAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-132-12-200006200-00012 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Physicians have always had a professional obligation to base their decisions on the best available information, an assumption now explicitly embodied in the concept of evidence-based medicine (1). For decades, when physicians wanted information from the published literature, they relied heavily on medical librarians or office assistants to do the searches. The advent of computer-based indexes such as MEDLINE promised to change all that by putting the basic information retrieval tools directly into physicians' hands. The disappointing reality, however, is that physicians still don't regularly search the medical literature themselves, nor do they ask for professional help in searching nearly ...References1. Davidoff F. In the teeth of the evidence: the curious case of evidence-based medicine. Mt Sinai J Med. 1999;66:75-83. MedlineGoogle Scholar2. Smith R. What clinical information do physicians need? BMJ. 1996;313:1062-8. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Ely JW, Osheroff JA, Ebell MH, Bergus GR, Levy BT, Chambliss ML, Evans ER. Analysis of questions asked by family physicians regarding patient care. BMJ. 1999;319:358-61. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Funk ME, Reid CA. Indexing consistency in MEDLINE. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1983;71:176-83. MedlineGoogle Scholar5. Purcell GP, Rennels GD, Shortliffe EH. Development and evaluation of a context-based document representation for searching the medical literature. International Journal on Digital Libraries. 1997;1:288-96. CrossrefGoogle Scholar6. 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Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106.Dr. Florance: Association of American Medical Colleges, 2450 N Street NW, Room 419, Washington, DC 20037. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoThe Informationist Deborah B. Root Jorgensen The Informationist Stephen Sandroni The Informationist Bruce Houghton and Eugene C. Rich The Informationist Michael J. 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Root Jorgensen, PharmD CandidateThe InformationistStephen Sandroni, MDThe InformationistBruce Houghton, MD and Eugene C. Rich, MDThe InformationistMichael J. Schott, MS, MLSProgress in Health Sciences Librarianship: 1970–2005The Development and Impact of Digital Library Funding in the United StatesUbiquitous Information Therapy Service through Social Networking LibrariesUbiquitous Information Therapy Service through Social Networking Libraries 20 June 2000Volume 132, Issue 12Page: 996-998KeywordsClinical epidemiologyGraduate medical educationHealth careHealth informaticsHealth information technologyInformation retrievalInformation technologyLibrariesPatientsTechnicians ePublished: 15 August 2000 Issue Published: 20 June 2000 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2000 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...