Season’s Greetings from the MSK Library

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As we come to the end of a difficult year, I want to take a moment to reflect and highlight some of the accomplishments of the Library staff.

We were able to continue to develop our new Research Data Management Services by launching the MSK Data Catalog, adding a new Data Management section to our Website, and should be able to deploy the DMPTool by the end of this year. Each new offering supports the researcher in their data management and publication practices.

Launching the new ILLiad Document Delivery interface happened in early September, improving the user experience to a key service. This service expands the reach for our users to published literature that we do not have in the MSK collections. New features included: authentication enhancements, automatic user creation, fully accessible and responsive webpages, and decision support for request processing. We also celebrate a Document Delivery milestone with filling 400,000 client requests since 2009.

Synapse continues to be a well-used resource by many departments and divisions to track the intellectual output of their staff (authors). Enhancements this year included: adding three years of retrospective content, publishing the online 2019 Synapse Publications report, working with Synapse groups to enrich their result pages, and improving the workflow for the next NIH Core Grant progress report. Through Synapse we also set up a COVID-19 webpage showcasing all the works authored and co-authored by MSK staff. This page is continually being updated as new works are confirmed.

We conducted an initial exploration on improving user access to the Library’s content and are excited to be moving forward next year to further examine SeamlessAccess, a service designed to help foster a more streamlined online access experience when using scholarly information resources and collaboration tools.

COVID-19 created an opportunity for us to continue to promote our Virtual Library Services in support of incoming client requests.  We encouraged our user community to use our chat feature on our Website as a way to obtain immediate help.  Library staff leveraged video conferencing tools to host consultations with our users regarding their research questions and it became the top method for providing training and workshops about available resources.

Our focus next year will be to continue to explore ways in which we can connect with our user community in support of their research, patient care, and educational endeavors.  

To our Library users, we wish you a joyful and safe holiday.

Donna Gibson
Director of Library Services

Saliva Sample Equivalent to Nasal Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 Detection

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N. Esther Babady, PhD

N. Esther Babady, PhD

A recent study by MSK’s Dr. N. Esther Babady and colleagues found saliva samples to be comparable to nasal swabs when testing for SARS-CoV-2. Between April and May, the researchers compared screening methods in MSK employees who were either showing COVID-19 symptoms or who had known disease exposure.

They found SARS-CoV-2 detection from posterior oropharyngeal saliva, but not from oral rinses or mouthwashes, equivalent to detection from nasopharyngeal swabs. Unlike nasal swab samples, saliva can be self-collected. This reduces potential disease exposure of medical staff and reduces the strain on the swab supply chain.

Learn more:
HealthDay
HospiMedica

Coming Soon: EndNote 20’s New Interface

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Clarivate Analytics released the latest version of the EndNote citation management software in Fall 2020. The DigITs Technology Division plans to update MSK accounts to EndNote 20 in the early months of 2021. Please keep an eye on the MSK Library’s homepage for an upcoming notification message regarding the expected date for the MSK EndNote 20 scheduled update.

Here’s “What’s new in EndNote 20” according to the vendor (see 2:01 min video):

    • New modern interface design
    • Duplicate detection enhancements
    • Improved PDF reading experience
    • Time-saving workflow improvements

If you were a heavy user of the extensive toolbars of buttons/icons used in previous Endnote versions, you may miss them in this more minimalist, pared-down interface layout which was intentionally designed to be sleeker and more “modern”. Beyond aesthetics, however, the latest version has not changed very much in terms of functionality. As this comparison table between previous versions demonstrates, no functionality has actually been taken away.

New features in terms of functionality

Particularly for those who use EndNote to manage citations for systematic review projects, the enhanced duplicate detection functionality will be a welcome addition, with DOIs and PMCIDs now available as optional comparison fields. Also, for those who have a need to work between multiple libraries simultaneously, the ability to have more than one library open within the same window in EndNote 20 will make switching back and forth between multiple libraries easier. There is also more flexibility in how PDFs stored within EndNote can be viewed and handled.

Another notable change with EndNote 20 is that all of the 7,000+ bibliographic output styles available for EndNote will now come pre-loaded in the EndNote 20 desktop version, minimizing the possibility that authors will not find their needed output style and have to go download it from the vendor’s website. Additional tweaks to the number caps for various functions have been made to the latest updates of EndNote 20 and EndNote Online (for desktop users). All of these details can be found in these latest version comparison charts: HTML version and PDF version.

If you have any questions or concerns about the upcoming EndNote 20 update, please feel free to Ask Us at the MSK Library!