Wolters Kluwer Health Delivers Answers Nurses Need at Bedside with New Lippincott Mobile App

September 26, 2013

Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry, today introduced the Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor App, the first mobile application of the leading online clinical decision support solution for nurses. Available on iTunes and Google Play, the new app makes Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor available for the first time for individual clinicians to purchase and use on their smartphones. Previously, the product was only available by group subscription to clinicians in hospitals and other healthcare institutions.

The Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor App provides clinicians and students with regularly updated, evidence-based answers on diseases, treatments, signs and symptoms, and diagnostic tests. The information is instantly accessible where it is most needed — at the point-of-care. The app provides the same user-friendly features found in the Web-based institutional product, including bulleted text, helpful tables, icons for frequently used features and full-color art. Content is updated quarterly, ensuring that the most up-to-date clinical information is within fingertip reach for any nurse caring for adult or pediatric patients in an acute- or long-term care setting.

“As nurses and healthcare facilities increase their use of mobile technology, we are providing the best way to give them the fast answers they need at the point-of-care,” said Judith McCann, MSN, RN, Chief Nurse, Professional & Education, Wolters Kluwer Health. “Our newest app makes Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor easy and affordable for individual clinicians who do not have access to it at work but want the answers they need at the bedside.”

The new app is a “lite” version of the full institutional Web-based product, providing access to the vital clinical information regarding Diseases and Conditions, Signs and Symptoms, Diagnostic Tests and Treatment Programs. Beginning in early 2014, healthcare facilities with a subscription to Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor will be able to download the app and gain access to additional content contained in the Web-based product.

Written by nurses for nurses, Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor is the leading nurse-centric, answers-at-the-bedside solution designed for online and mobile point-of-care environments. The product includes more than 10,000 collective entries of critical, evidence-based information spanning diseases, treatments, diagnostic tests, drugs, signs & symptoms, nursing care plans, core measures, hospital-acquired conditions, national guidelines and patient education. Using a proprietary synoptic search, the product delivers the appropriate entry within seconds of a nurse’s inquiry.

The Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor App is available for $29.95 on iTunes for Apple iPhone devices and on Google Play for Android devices. Price includes quarterly updates for a full year from purchase. A free trial of the app with limited content is also available and can be easily upgraded. The full, Web-based product will continue to be available to hospitals and other institutions through group subscription, and access to this information via the mobile application will be available early next year.

Lippincott’s Nursing Advisor is part of Lippincott’s Nursing Solutions, a series of evidence-based nursing software products designed to improve patient outcomes, enhance nurse competency, standardize care and promote clinical excellence. To learn more about the full suite of subscription products, visit LippincottSolutions.com and follow its official twitter handle: @NurseSolutions.

Ingram Expands Vital Source E-Textbook Solution With New U.K. Store

September 26, 2013

Vital Source Technologies, Inc., Ingram Content Group’s leading e-textbook solution, today announced the international expansion of its VitalSource Bookshelf^® platform with a new digital store in the U.K. The store offers tens of thousands of e-textbooks from leaders in academic publishing.

“As a company that is committed to improving the educational experience and making e-textbooks accessible to all, Vital Source is proud to open a digital store in the U.K.,” said Kent Freeman, Chief Operating Officer, Vital Source Technologies, Inc. “More educators and students now have access to the latest interactive e-textbooks and tools, in addition to having more choice when purchasing their course materials. We are pleased to support this important market.”

The VitalSource Bookshelf platform includes titles in its U.K. store from leading publishers Wiley, Taylor & Francis, SAGE Publications, Kogan Page, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan Higher Education and others. Students and faculty have multiple content purchase options available to them including direct student purchase and purchase through an institution’s virtual learning environment (VLE).

E-textbooks from Vital Source can be downloaded, and used online and offline on a variety of device types including Mac^®, Windows^®, iPad^®, Kindle Fire^® and Android™. Regardless of the content option used, all work, including notes, highlights and annotations, automatically syncs across devices. The VitalSource Bookshelf platform supports 25 languages for worldwide learning.

University instructors who adopt e-textbooks from the VitalSource Bookshelf platform also have access to a full suite of accessibility features and measurement tools, which allow faculty to assess individual and aggregate class engagement data and use it to manage successful learning outcomes.

The VitalSource Bookshelf platform is the most used e-textbook delivery platform in higher education with more than 3.25 million users across 6,000 campuses around the world. It uses the latest technology to enhance the learning experience through e-textbooks and digital education. Content from more than 350 of the world’s top academic publishers is available to VitalSource Bookshelf users anytime, anywhere, and on a variety of operating systems and devices. For more information about Vital Source Technologies, visit www.vitalsource.com. To visit the new U.K. Vital Source Bookshelf store visit www.store.vitalsource.co.uk

EBSCO Adds 15 New eBook Subject Sets in High-Interest Subjects

September 26, 2013

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) has introduced 15 new EBSCO eBook™ Subject Sets to help librarians build their e-book collections. Subject Sets are prepackaged sets of titles from leading publishers in specific, high-interest topics designed to meet the needs of libraries while simplifying collection development.

The new Subject Sets are:

· Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy 2013

· Diseases & Conditions 2013

· Aging & Gerontology 2013

· Pharmaceutical Science 2013

· Mental Health 2013

· Social Work 2013

· Business 2013

· Legal 2013

· Women’s Medicine/OB-GYN 2013

· Music 2013

· Self-Help 2013

· World Religions 2013

· Classic Fiction 2013

· Photography 2013

· American History 2013

These Subject Sets have been added to an already extensive list of frontlist titles in collections created by EBSCO’s Collection Development team. The sets allow for quick and easy purchases in particular high-interest subject areas. There is no title overlap across sets, and no title overlap from year to year, so there is never duplication between sets.

Springer to publish journal portfolio of the Association for Behavior Analysis International

September 26, 2013

Starting in 2014, Springer will collaborate with the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) to publish The Behavior Analyst, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and Behavior Analysis in Practice. The organization’s three journals will be available in print and electronically on SpringerLink (link.springer.com), giving students, practitioners and researchers access to the latest information in behavior analysis.

The Behavior Analyst publishes articles on theoretical, experimental and applied topics in behavior analysis. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior primarily publishes experimental or theoretical papers relevant to a behavioral analysis of verbal behavior. Behavior Analysis in Practice is a translational publication designed to provide science-based, best-practice information relevant to service delivery in behavior analysis.

Dr. Maria Malott, Chief Executive Officer of ABAI, said, “In partnering with Springer, ABAI will be able to offer its journals online and help readers and members discover new publications relevant to their interests. Springer’s skilled marketing and sales teams will work to get ABAI journals into more university libraries, expanding the reach and influence of our science. Additionally, Springer is helping these journals increase their social media presence, further broadening the potential audience.”

Welmoed Spahr, Executive Editor Behavioral Sciences at Springer, said, “We are honored that ABAI has chosen Springer as the publisher for their three journals. A key focus in this exciting new partnership will be to further raise the international profile of the journals. Springer is in an excellent position to greatly increase the online visibility of the ABAI journals and the number of researchers with access to them, both in the US as well as internationally. We look forward to working with ABAI to achieve that shared goal.

OUP plans Nelson Thornes transition for early 2014

September 25, 2013

Nelson Thornes will formally integrate into Oxford University Press early next year, it was announced today.

OUP, which is a department of the University of Oxford, acquired the educational publisher in January 2013. It has since operated Nelson Thornes as a standalone subsidiary.

Today OUP outlined its vision for the future, with Nelson Thornes’ wide range of print and digital publishing joining the wider group as part of OUP’s Oxford Education division.

Nelson Thornes covers a broad range of subject areas with its home learning, primary, secondary, and vocational resources. From early 2014 its former titles will be published under the OUP imprint and will be sold and distributed alongside Oxford resources. Its popular online secondary brand, Kerboodle, will be adopted across all OUP’s secondary digital publishing.

Its Cheltenham office is expected to remain open until March 2015, and its premises in Newcastle will remain open for the foreseeable future. Employees will be combined into a single structure as part of the transfer, and full consultations will take place with all staff affected.

Kate Harris, Managing Director of Oxford Education, said: “Nelson Thornes has a wealth of excellent print and digital materials, which add breadth and additional quality to the OUP range. With our combined resources we will be able to provide unprecedented support for teachers and students in pursuit of our mission.”

Richard Hodson, Managing Director of Nelson Thornes, said: “Today marks the next step in our future as part of OUP. Our priority will be to manage the transition very closely—ensuring a smooth process for employees, and giving customers continued access to the widest range of resources.”

In the immediate future customers should continue to purchase titles from OUP and Nelson Thornes independently. Further information will be provided as and when any changes are made to ordering processes.

Serials Solutions and Jisc Collections’ Knowledge Base+ announce new collaboration to improve library workflows

September 25, 2013

Serials Solutions are now collaborating with Jisc Collections KB+ to improve library workflows by transferring data from KB+ to the Serials Solutions knowledgebase. This cooperative effort will keep current data from Jisc Collections up to date in the Serials Solutions knowledgebase, saving libraries time. In partnership with Jisc Collections, we are committed to extending this initiative by programmatically updating both journal title data within Serials Solutions knowledgebase and library-specific holdings.

In another collaborative effort, Jisc Collections has shared with us the license data for the resources negotiated by Jisc Collections. This leadership effort by Jisc Collections has resulted in very detailed license data for the JISC Collections resources. That data is being put into our License Template library, available to all users of 360 Resource Manager.

This cooperation will benefit libraries using both the KB+ and Serials Solutions services:

The most current data from KB+ will be integrated into Serials Solutions knowledgebase
Saves librarians time and effort by keeping collection information up-to-date in Serials Solutions knowledgebase
Ensures better discoverability of valuable content
Makes e-resource management more efficient
Increases ROI through Serials Solutions management services

The collaboration is symbolic of both organizations commitment to improve UK libraries. It represents just one example of Jisc’s commitment to freely share its data, and is another example of Serials Solutions’ commitment to improve resource discovery and management through a comprehensive and managed knowledgebase.

Other recent Serials Solutions developments specifically designed for UK libraries include the addition of important publisher title lists to the knowledgebase, along with the development of SCONUL accreditation reports within the 360 Counter assessment service.

EBSCO Information Services and GBV in Germany Develop Partnership Creating More Options for Discovery

September 25, 2013

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) and the Common Library Network in Germany (GBV), one of the biggest library services in Germany, have signed an agreement to enable integrated access between EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) and GBV’s VuFind service. GBV serves more than 250 academic libraries in Germany in the states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia, and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

GBV recently launched a new service based on the Open Source search interface, VuFind. EBSCO’s collaboration with the GBV creates a seamless integration of VuFind and EDS. Any library choosing GBV’s VuFind solution with EDS will be able to access an expanded selection of content and have the ability to acquire materials from one comprehensive source.

EBSCO’s work with GBV demonstrates the commitment to serving the technical needs of their customers by continuing to expand their technical partnerships. For a complete list of EDS technical partnerships please go to: http://www.ebscohost.com/discovery/catalog/eds-additional-partners.

Minister launches Aberystwyth University’s international partnership with Emerald

September 25, 2013

A new service provided by Aberystwyth University which aims to provide busy professionals across the globe with university accreditation was officially launched by the Minister for Education and Skills, Huw Lewis AM, on Monday 23 September.

Aberystwyth has teamed up with Emerald Group Publishing Limited, a leading global publisher of international library and information management research and ASLIB, The Association for Information Management, to provide employees and employers across the globe with higher education accreditation in information leadership.

‘Pathways to Information Leadership’ is an online and e-learning professional development programme which offers over 25 courses for individuals who want to become, or aspire to be, information leaders.

Professor April McMahon, Aberystwyth University’s Vice-Chancellor, said; “We are delighted to formally announce our partnership with Emerald and ASLIB. This provides us with an excellent opportunity to further develop our provision of distance learning, alongside a global leader in publishing. E-learning and distance learning are in the news at present, but at Aberystwyth and especially in our Department of Information Studies, we have a distinguished history in this domain reaching back more than 25 years.”

Tony Roche, Publishing Director at Emerald, said; “We are delighted to be working with Aberystwyth University on this exciting project. There is a growing appetite, globally, for distance learning and we are particularly pleased to be developing what we believe is an excellent opportunity for individuals to learn and engage online in personal development, through this convenient and flexible approach.”

The Minister for Education and Skills, Huw Lewis AM, said; “I am pleased to have this opportunity to mark this new venture between Aberystwyth University and Emerald Publishing. Higher Education institutions must continue to explore actively new ways of interacting with learners and collaborations such as this are a good example of how institutions can make best use of emerging technologies to engage learners.”

As busy professionals find it increasingly difficult to find time to devote to formal learning and qualifications, the Pathways approach enables learning that is targeted at the specific requirements of the learner or their organisation combining flexibility and convenience.

A significant element of the new programme is a student’s ability to bank credits towards University awards at Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma and Master’s level. This approach blends a flexible approach to learning with the rigour and support of a formal university accreditation process and qualification.

The University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience and International, Professor John Grattan adds; “One of our objectives is to increase the distance and e-learning opportunities at Aberystwyth, encouraging people from all backgrounds and across the globe to develop their skills and maximise their personal potential.

“The wonderful thing about the Pathways programme is that an individual can gain a University qualification whilst still working, leading to improved personal and career development.

“They can also start their course at any time and can be assured of accessible course content from experienced subject experts.”
More information on the courses can visit the Pathways website on https://www.infoleader.org/

Semantico appoints Lorraine Ellery as Business Development Manager

September 25, 2013

Semantico, suppliers of digital publishing solutions to the scholarly and professional market, is pleased to announce the appointment of Lorraine Ellery as Business Development Manager.

Lorraine is a sales, business development and strategic marketing professional with extensive experience of working with STM and professional publishers and intermediaries worldwide. Lorraine has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience, with the past 15+ years working in the information sector.

Lorraine’s most recent role as Global Marketing Manager, Publisher Services, Swets focused on exploring strategic partnerships and developing the publisher product and service portfolio. Prior to that she held various other roles at Swets, a leading global organisation providing content management services for publishers and libraries worldwide.

Lorraine will join Semantico’s expanding sales team. She will be responsible for exploring new business channels and opportunities, and will be attending the Frankfurt Book Fair along with Richard Padley, Colin Caveney, Terry Hulbert, Barry Dunne and Scott Mason.

Commenting on the appointment, Colin Caveney, Sales Director for Semantico said: “We’re delighted to welcome Lorraine to Semantico. Her knowledge and experience of the scholarly market will make her a valuable asset for our team and our clients.”

US judge weighs Google book copyright case

September 25, 2013

A federal judge Monday pointedly questioned attorneys for the Authors Guild in a long-running case on whether Google’s book-scanning project violates copyright law.

The two sides presented oral arguments in a hearing on whether the case should be dismissed, or whether the authors can maintain their challenge to the massive digitization project.

US District Judge Denny Chin said a core question in determining the case is whether there is “benefit to society” in helping users find information from books, facilitating inter-library loans or permitting data mining. All of these functions have been cited by proponents of Google’s “Library Project” in legal briefs, Chin said.

An attorney for the guild said that while some uses may benefit society in some instances, it should not override authors’ rights to control the content they created.

“Then there’s a question of whether Google has to pay for it,” Edward Rosenthal, an attorney representing the Authors Guild, told the court.

The back-and-forth between Rosenthal and Chin dominated a 45-minute hearing on the eight-year old proceeding.

Google has asked the court for summary judgement, a ruling that would gut the heart of the guild’s case. The authors’ group, in turn, has asked the court to deny Google’s defense that the copying is a “fair use” that allows a deviation from normal copyright protections.

Google has scanned more than 20 million books so far in the project. Books in the public domain — without current copyrights — are made available online to the public for free. For copyrighted books Google offers a searchable database that displays snippets of text.

The guild has argued that content creators should control their work and that Google’s display of the excerpts violates copyright norms.

The guild argues further that Google’s objectives are purely commercial since Google’s main goal in the endeavor is to boost use of its search engine, which generates advertising revenue. While some users of Google’s project may have worthy aims, Google’s use of the material are not fair use, the guild argues.

Google counters that its book-scanning program provides a valuable societal benefit that can provide much sought-after information to users, permit innovative ways to analyze texts and generally enhance knowledge. Google argues its use of the material is only “indirectly commercial.”

Chin focused most of his questions on the guild’s contentions about Google’s objectives. Chin said Google’s use of the material can be fair use, even if there are commercial benefits to the company.

Another question Chin fixated on was the guild’s argument that the Google service harms authors by diverting business away from Amazon and other booksellers once consumers realize they can find excerpts on the Google site for free.

Chin conceded that it is possible that a reader might decide to abandon a possible purchase because of the Google site, but questioned whether such an outcome was a “reasonable” possibility.

Rosenthal told the court readers will stop buying books on Amazon because of the Google site. Excerpts available on Amazon’s site differ from the Google snippets because authors get to decide, he said.

“Authors have a right to decide whether they want their books not only displayed, but also stored,” Rosenthal said.

Google meanwhile contends that there is no evidence the service harms book sales.

Daralyn Durie, an attorney representing the tech giant, said there was only the tiniest of chances of a user could cobble together enough content from the snippets to avoid buying a book.

“There’s no reason to think Google Books is being used for a purpose other than what it was designed for,” Durie said.

The two sides reached a tentative $125 million settlement in the case in 2008, but Chin rejected the agreement in a March 2011 ruling, concluding it was not “fair, adequate and reasonable.” That opened up the litigation to a new phase, culminating in Monday’s one-day hearing.

Elsevier Launches Adaptive Quizzing Solution For Nursing Students

September 24, 2013

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of Elsevier Adaptive Quizzing (EAQ), in collaboration with Learning Objects, Inc.’s Difference Engine. EAQ directly addresses the market need for a personalized quizzing tool that enables nursing students of all academic aptitude levels to better focus their study time and effectively prepare for course tests and the NCLEX Exam.

In addition, EAQ offers instructors the tools they need to monitor student progress and improve learning outcomes. It is designed for use both by individual students for self-directed learning as well as in the context of instructor-led courses. EAQ will be available in its first release November 2013.

“We are particularly excited about the launch of EAQ because we believe that adaptive learning has the potential to address a wide range of student learning needs, while moving all students toward desired competencies,” said John Danaher, President, Elsevier Education. “EAQ represents the first of many initiatives that Elsevier will be pursuing in the area of adaptive learning and competency-based education.”

EAQ is ideal for undergraduate nursing programs seeking to expose their students to targeted practice quizzes that enrich their learning and enable prioritized, focused study time. Concept-based or QSEN-oriented programs and programs using HESI products that seek a bank of complementary practice questions can benefit as well.

Adapting to educational needs
EAQ allows instructors to track students’ progress across assignments and relative to exam readiness and adjust their teaching accordingly. Using faculty dashboards, teachers can quickly identify class trouble spots, where some students might be struggling, and identify those who may need focused attention. Intuitive individual dashboards also allow students to monitor their personal progress through increasing levels of mastery, helping them focus their time and energy on those areas where they need the most improvement.

EAQ utilizes Item Response Theory to guide learners adaptively through a bank of thousands of high-quality practice questions as they progress toward mastery. The adaptive engine does so by presenting learners with a series of personalized quizzes based on prior performance. This ensures that learners are consistently provided with new quizzes and related remediation at their current level of mastery. Within the program, students progress through multiple mastery levels as they develop and refine their critical thinking skills.

“EAQ is designed as a focused study tool that fosters sustainable learning in a dynamic and individualized manner,” Danaher said.”The solution is a perfect fit for today’s ‘flipping the classroom’ scenarios where much of the student learning occurs outside of the classroom.”

The RN-level nursing offering for EAQ is composed of an NCLEX review product as well as multiple versions designed to accompany Elsevier’s market-leading textbooks. The NCLEX-RN review version features more than 10,000 questions and is organized by content specialty areas, client needs and concepts.

Technology from Learning Objects
EAQ is powered by technology provided by Learning Objects, which has broad and deep experience in e-learning, learning assessment, and learning technology development.

To continuously improve, refine, and validate the effectiveness of EAQ, Learning Objects has assembled a Learning Science Advisory Board composed of scholars active in the field of adaptive assessment and e-learning. The Board will collaborate with Elsevier and adopting institutions to conduct rigorous, unbiased evaluations of EAQ and its impact on student learning.

All content in EAQ is based on Elsevier’s trusted, market-leading content. Additional features such as confidence level indicators, test-taking strategies, robust rationales, and multimedia remediation engages students with different learning styles and reinforces challenging material.

To learn more about EAQ, visit http://www.elsevieradvantage.com/adaptivequizzing.

Wolters Kluwer Health and the American College of Physicians (ACP) Expand Publishing Partnership to Offer ACP Smart Medicine Database on OvidSP

September 24, 2013

Wolters Kluwer Health, a world leader in healthcare information solutions, announced today that ACP Smart Medicine, an evidence-based clinical reference tool produced by the American College of Physicians, one of the world’s most influential physician associations, will be available on its OvidSP medical research platform. In addition to ACP Smart Medicine, ACP’s peer-reviewed clinical journal, Annals of Internal Medicine and the Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews (EBMR) database, which includes the ACP Journal Club, are among the world’s leading clinical resources available in one destination on OvidSP.

“With content developed and reviewed by actual physicians, the ACP is highly regarded as one of the world’s most reliable sources of information. We’re pleased to offer ACP Smart Medicine to our global user base, particularly relevant for internal medicine physicians and other practitioners and students for clinical recommendations, while working within OvidSP,” said Andrew Richardson, Vice President Business Development Wolters Kluwer Health, Medical Research.

ACP Smart Medicine provides trusted clinical recommendations for internists and other physicians, nurses, hospital managers, medical school faculty and students. ACP Smart Medicine includes roughly 500 diagnosis and treatment recommendations that address a variety of medical specialties and focus on clinical conditions that practitioners encounter frequently. Written in a concise, easy-to-read format, the recommendations include:

· Key points on the disease or condition

· Instructions on diagnosis and differential diagnosis tables

· Evidence ratings

· Common and effective therapy recommendations

· Tables of prescribed drugs for specific conditions

· Follow-up procedures

· Patient education information

· Links to current, underlying evidence

Information on cost-effectiveness, efficacy, and complications is also included to help health care providers weigh the cost of care.

Like all Ovid-subscribed resources, ACP Smart Medicine is searchable together with EBMR, MEDLINE®, EMBASE and other resources on Ovid using just a single search query. Results from all searched resources are displayed in a single list, saving researchers valuable time.