2012 Contributed Papers

The STEP (Safety and Toxicity of Excipients for Paediatrics) Database: International cooperation between US and European Paediatric Formulation Initiative
Barbara Brandys, National Institutes of Health Library, National Institutes of Health, MD

The development of medicines suitable for children is a major challenge for drug R&D. One of the major concerns of the pharmaceutical industry is the assessment of the safety of excipients (inactive drug ingredients) in paediatric use. The safety of excipients in children is not well researched, and existing data are poorly documented and scattered over various sources. The lack of high quality information resources addressing paediatric dosing, effectiveness, toxicity and pharmacological data exposes children to the risk of age-specific adverse reactions unexpected from adult experience. To address the urgent need of a consistent and thorough data storage format, European Union (EU) and United States (US) Paediatric Formulation Initiatives (PFIs) are collaboratively creating a database of Safety and Toxicity of Excipients for Paediatrics (STEP). The database will be derived from publicly and commercially available information sources including data shared by the industry. It will cover the subject of excipients safety and toxicity providing specific data on target age groups, route of administration, treatment duration, concentration, maximum daily excipient intake, and exposure extracted from selected key information sources. It will be accessible freely online, thereby facilitating a global approach to paediatric formulation development and provide means for scientific community to publish and share the data to advance understanding of paediatric drugs development.

Taxonomy Creation for AAAS by Vantage Information Services SM
Jean Fisher, MLS, Vantage Information Services (Vantage), PA

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) selected Vantage Information Services (Vantage) to create a subject taxonomy covering all scientific domains in which the association publishes. The purpose of the taxonomy is twofold: 1) to enhance editorial processes such as classifying submitted manuscripts, matching peer reviewers to manuscripts and deriving useful publishing data and 2) to enhance usability of published content through faceted navigation, improved search and newly aggregated subject collections.

Retracted Publications: The Hidden World of Biomedical Literature
Merle Rosenzweig, Anna Ercoli Schnitzer, Katy Mahraj, and Irina Zeylikovich, University of Michigan Taubman Health Sciences Library, MI

Retracting or withdrawing a published article from the biomedical literature carries a number of implications and even occasionally creates a maelstrom of confusion that has the potential to last for a very long time. The stigma of retraction can even haunt the author or authors throughout a lengthy career, even if the reason for the retraction is not due to scientific misconduct—plagiarism, false clams or fake data—or simply embarrassing unintentional errors. We examine some of the causes and repercussions of several instances of retracted papers.

Collaboration, Innovation and Diversity: Keys to Building a Cost-Effective and High-Impact Biomedical Instructional Program
Christopher Stave, MLS, Instructional Program Coordinator, Lane Medical Library, Stanford University, CA

Stand-alone instructional programs at many academic biomedical libraries often consist of a small and predictable set of workshops, usually focused on database searching and reference management. Some libraries, including Stanford University’s Lane Medical Library, have witnessed a dramatic decline in attendance for these courses, and have either reduced regular, scheduled training or switched to a “course-upon-request” model. The instructional team at Lane Library, however, felt that a vibrant instructional program, if properly constituted, could boost attendance, increase use of library resources, and ultimately enhance research at the Stanford University Medical Center. This paper will describe the series of replicable steps taken to transform a moribund collection of library workshops into a collaborative, agile, diverse, and cost-effective biomedical instructional program.