Web 2.0 in health: a practical overview
Presented for BC Ministry of Health and Ministry of Children
and Family Development
Eugene Barsky
Librarian, I.K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC
October 31, 2007
eugene.barsky@ubc.ca
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/

Goals of this session
Introduce social software to health sciences researchers,
analysts and clinicians
Provide and share personal experiences
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Social software - definition
“social-software refers to web-based software tools that
support or foster group interaction”
Social software is mostly about interaction
Web 2.0 creates conversations
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Social tools to be covered today:
Blogs
RSS feeds
Podcasting
Wikis
Instant messaging
Social networking
Anything else?
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What is blog?
A frequent, chronological, and personalized publication of web content
Pros of blogs:
No need to know html coding
No need to find server space
Usually free
Allow interactivity and sharing
Cons of blogs:
Too many – hard to select
It takes time to read
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Blogs in health
Lists of health related blogs:
UBC Health Library wiki list - http://tinyurl.com/3ext68
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Searching blogs
Searching blogs:
Technorati - http://technorati.com/
Google blog search - http://blogsearch.google.com/
MedWorm - http://www.medworm.com/
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Blogs – practical look
UBC Physio Info-Blog -
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/
Hub for all library/information services: podcasts, tutorials,
workshops, current awareness, etc.
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What is RSS?
Pushed vs. pulled content from blogs and websites
Instead of you going to check for new info – the info comes to
you
Video - http://www.blip.tv/file/205570/
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Why using RSS?
Blogs - RSS feeds let readers know when a blog has been
updated.
Newspapers and journals - new articles and research are
published, and users are alerted via the feed.
Press releases and announcements - RSS is a useful tool
for formal announcements, such as those from your
organization (http://www.news.gov.bc.ca/rss/).
Current awareness -- News and articles updates - Google
News and PubMed provide search results and updates in
RSS formats, for example.
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Reading RSS
You need a free reader:
Web-based – Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) or
Google Reader (http://www.google.com/reader)
Standalone clients - SharpReader
(http://www.sharpreader.net/)
Plugins – are integrated into software packages like
Microsoft Outlook, and downloaded to your desktop
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Finding health–related RSS feeds
UBC Health Library Wiki – list of health RSS feeds -
http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php?title=RSS
MedWorm - http://www.medworm.com/
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Reading RSS – practical look
Lets take a look in my own Bloglines account -
http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs
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What is podcasting?
Audio files, thrown on RSS feed
Download themselves to the subscribers’ machines
Don’t need iPod
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Why using podcasts?
Current awareness alternative for busy health professionals
Portable, cheap to produce,
Easy to find and use (listen on the go and in your
convenience)
Perfect for auditory learners (some 30% of learners)
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Health related podcasts:
Brief directory of health related podcasts (from the UBC Health
Library Wiki) -
http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php?title=Podcasts_and_Videocasts
#Medical_podcasts
My favorites:
BBC Naked Scientists podcasts -
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/listen/
Johns Hopkins podcasts -
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/Podcasts.html
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Searching podcasts:
Directories:
Podcast.net - http://www.podcast.net
Apple iTunes - http://www.apple.com/find/searchtips.html
Search tools:
Podscope - http://podscope.com/
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Recording podcasts:
Easy to do with free (or almost free) tools
We use Audacity to record - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
1 min. of recording is roughly 1MB
All files live on UBC Institutional Repository -
https://circle.ubc.ca/dspace/
Very popular with our users, particularly in remote communities!
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What is wiki?
An online resource which allows users to add and edit content
collectively
Video - http://blip.tv/file/246821
Why to use a wiki?
Wikis are participative and allow many people to work together
Software is usually free and easy-to-learn and use
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Where to use a wiki?
A conference planning committee needs a Web-based tool to
keep track of their activities and who is doing what (Canadian
Health Library Association, 2005-08)
An executive committee is looking for an easy way to create and
maintain its documents (Saskatchewan Health Information
Resources Partnership 2005-07)
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Where to use a wiki?
A company would like any authorized staff member to be able
to update content on its intranet as necessary, without needing
to use specialist software (British Columbia Securities
Commission, 2006-07)
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Examples of wikis
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org
Wikis in Health
Medicine - http://davidrothman.net/list-of-medical-wikis/ (by
David Rothman)
AskDrWiki - http://askdrwiki.com, GANFYD -
http://www.ganfyd.org - expert moderated version of wikis
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Software for wikis
Examples of free wiki software:
PBwiki – http://pbwiki.com/ - free on the Web
MediaWiki – http://www.mediawiki.org - package used by
Wikipedia and our own UBC Health Library Wiki
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Problems with wikis
Wikis are sometimes prone to vandalism
Quality issues – since everybody can edit
Spam (wiki-spam)
Can be time consuming projects
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What is Instant Messaging (IM)?
A system which allows instant text communication between two
or more people through a network
Very popular with NextGens, Generations Y and X (young
health professionals)
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Example of Instant Messaging (IM)
Using IM to provide reference services
to British Columbia physiotherapists
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/
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Example of Instant Messaging (IM)
Question from a physio in Northern BC – “what is the effectiveness of
acupuncture for acute low back pain?”
Answer – “The evidence available in the literature is limited and does not
support the use of acupuncture for the treatment of acute LBP. However,
the available research is generally of poor quality and reflects small
sample sizes.”
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Example of Instant Messaging (IM)
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What are social networks?
Definition:
“Virtual communities that are structured to delineate and
build on relationships that members have with each other
by virtue of their being part of that community.”
Video - http://blip.tv/file/282928
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Example of general social networks
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com - world's sixth most popular
English-language site.
Facebook - http://facebook.com - Users join one or more participating
networks, such as a high school, place of employment, or geographic
region.
Linked-In - http://www.linkedin.com/ - LinkedIn is a business-oriented
social networking site, mainly used for and by professionals.
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Example of social networks in health
Sermo - http://www.sermo.com - American Medical Association
(AMA) social network.
Nurse LinkUp - http://nurselinkup.com - online nursing community for
nursing professionals.
Tiromed - http://www.tiromed.com - professional knowledge network
exclusively for students of medicine and physicians.
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One specific example of usage of social networks
in health
MySpace ‘CURE DiABETES group’ -
http://groups.myspace.com/cureDiABETES
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Summary and brainstorm:
Socialization is the dominant feature of Web 2.0
Web should remain an open and optimal learning space
More productive? Careful thinking is needed!
Your ideas?
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References:
Barsky E, Giustini D. Introducing web 2.0: Wikis for health librarians. J Can Health Libr Assoc. (in print).
Barsky E, Cho A. Introducing web 2.0: Social search for health librarians. J Can Health Libr Assoc.
2007;28:58-61.
Barsky E. Introducing web 2.0: RSS trends for health librarians. J CAN HEALTH LIBR ASSOC. 2006;27:7-
8.
Barsky E. Introducing web 2.0: Weblogs and podcasting for health librarians. J CAN HEALTH LIBR
ASSOC. 2006;27:33-34.
Barsky E, Purdon M. Introducing web 2.0: Social networking and social bookmarking for health librarians. J
CAN HEALTH LIBR ASSOC. 2006;27:65-67.
Boulos MN, Maramba I, Wheeler S. Wikis, blogs and podcasts: A new generation of web-based tools for
virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Med Educ. 2006;6:41.
Boulos MN, Wheeler S. The emerging web 2.0 social software: An enabling suite of sociable technologies
in health and health care education. HEALTH INF LIBR J. 2007;24:2-23.
Giustini D. How web 2.0 is changing medicine. BMJ. 2006;333:1283-1284.
Liesegang TJ. Web 2.0, library 2.0, physician learning 2.0. Ophthalmology. 2007;114:1801-1803.
McLean R, Richards BH, Wardman JI. The effect of web 2.0 on the future of medical practice and
education: Darwikinian evolution or folksonomic revolution? Med J Aust. 2007;187:174-177.
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Contact info
Eugene Barsky, MLIS
Physiotherapy Outreach Librarian
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
University of British Columbia
Phone: (604) 827-4088
Fax: (604) 822-9122
Email: eugene.barsky@ubc.ca
MSN/Meebo: eugene.barsky@ubc.ca
Blog: http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/
Web: http://www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/
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