title: A smartphone-optimized web site for conveniently viewing otolaryngology journal abstracts.
abstract: Access to the medical literature has not kept pace with the mobile revolution. We aimed to (1) gauge interest in a smartphone-optimized Web site for conveniently accessing otolaryngology literature and (2) create an easy-to-access and convenient Web site that displays otolaryngology journal abstracts in a format optimized for smartphones. A survey was sent to physicians of a major US academic otolaryngology-head and neck surgery department. Demographics, literature-browsing habits, and barriers to staying updated were assessed. The response rate was 87%. Ninety-one percent of respondents used a smartphone, and 85% wished they could stay more up to date with the otolaryngology literature. Most respondents believed a convenient smartphone-optimized Web site could help them achieve this goal. A Web site was then developed in collaboration with a university creative department as a proof of concept. The site uses a simple RSS aggregator to display journal abstracts formatted for smartphone-sized screens (www.otosurg.com).
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA justin.golub@uc.edu.
authors.forename: Justin S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Golub
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Ravi N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Samy
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010036:Otolaryngology; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: RSS; Web site; abstract; app; literature; mobile; otolaryngology—head and neck surgery; smartphone