The Informationist
Authors: Bruce Houghton, Eugene C. Rich
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2001)

Letters6 February 2001The InformationistBruce Houghton, MD and Eugene C. Rich, MDBruce Houghton, MDCreighton University; Omaha, NE 68131 (Houghton, Rich)Search for more papers by this author and Eugene C. Rich, MDCreighton University; Omaha, NE 68131 (Houghton, Rich)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-134-3-200102060-00024 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:The editorial by Davidoff and Florance poses an important question to internists (1). Is it time to add another specialist to the clinical care team to address our failure to apply evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP)? Physicians certainly use a wide variety of sources of information, some much more credible than others. The accessibility and applicability of the source are important; some studies have suggested that “organic” resources, such as colleagues, offer additional advantages to physicians over and above their technical attributes (2). Therefore, it is not surprising that clinical medical librarians can be an important information resource.... References1. Davidoff F, Florance V. The informationist: a new health profession? [Editorial]. Ann Intern Med. 2000;132:996-8. LinkGoogle Scholar2. Curley SP, Connelly DP, Rich EC. Physicians' use of medical knowledge resources: preliminary theoretical framework and findings. Med Decis Making. 1990;10:231-41. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Sackett DL, Straus SE, Richardson WS, Rosenberg W, Haynes RB. Evidence-Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 2000. Google Scholar4. Hunt DL, Jaeschke R, McKibbon KA. Users' guides to the medical literature: XXI. Using electronic health information resources in evidence-based practice. Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. JAMA. 2000;283:1875-9. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Helwig AL, Flynn C. Using palm-top computers to improve students' evidence-based decision making. Acad Med. 1998;73:603-4. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Creighton University; Omaha, NE 68131 (Houghton, Rich) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoThe Informationist: A New Health Profession? Frank Davidoff and Valerie Florance The Informationist Michael J. Schott The Informationist Frank Davidoff and Valerie Florance The Informationist Deborah B. Root Jorgensen The Informationist Stephen Sandroni Metrics Cited ByExploring New Roles for Librarians: The Research InformationistHospital clinicians’ information behaviour and attitudes towards the ‘Clinical Informationist’: an Irish surveyWorking towards the informationistFellowship Training at Johns Hopkins 6 February 2001Volume 134, Issue 3Page: 251-252KeywordsComputersEvidence based medicineHand strengthHealth information technologyInformation technologyInternetLibrariesPatients ePublished: 6 February 2001 Issue Published: 6 February 2001 CopyrightCopyright © 2001 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...