A quantitative method for measuring clinical user journal needs: a pilot study using CD Plus MEDLINE usage statistics.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a quantitative method for measuring clinical user journal needs based on an analysis of bibliographic search results.


METHODS
Retrospective bibliometric comparison of citation selections generated by clinical users on shared workstations throughout the Medical Center.


METHODS
Number of times each journal was identified by clinical users during multiple bibliographic search sessions.


RESULTS
Clinical users identified 2,078 journal articles. The top 200 journal titles accounted for 55% of the clinical users' journal needs. Of the 901 unique journal titles identified, 489 (54%) were identified only once.


CONCLUSIONS
Our pilot study demonstrates that analysis of bibliographic search results can be used to identify clinical user journal needs. Such a method could also be used to estimate user requirements for on-line, full-text medical journals.
Dunn
K
K
The Informatics Center, Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee USA.
Chisnell
C
C
Sittig
D F
DF
D016251:CD-ROM; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016239:MEDLINE / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013714:Tennessee