Knowledge Finder at Falmouth Hospital

Falmouth Hospital is a 130-bed, not-for-profit, acute care facility that serves the upper Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. The library is small, but growing, with about 800 books and 100 journal subscriptions. Pat Davis, Librarian at Falmouth Hospital comments:

"Knowledge Finder is so user friendly, even people who said they were not good at computers have learned to use it. We now have medical personnel from all areas in the hospital - surgeons, pathologists, OB/GYNs, internists, cardiologists, pediatricians, allergists, and nurses - all coming in to run their own searches.

"We tried three systems, including Knowledge Finder for the Macintosh. In the trial period, our users were much more successful on Knowledge Finder than on the other systems, and they tended to feel more comfortable working with sentence-style queries on the Macintosh interface. We had people who had never used a computer before who could sit down and very quickly learn to run a successful search. That was the clincher in our decision.

"I'd say that within 15 minutes a new user can learn enough about Knowledge Finder to be comfortable and successful in running his or her own searches. Two of the principal advantages our users mention are the fact that they can do literature searches at any time of the day or night, and with the relevance ranking feature the results are usually right on the money - exactly what they're looking for.

"Already I can see that the volume of searches and the number of library users have increased. For me it means that I have a lot more independent people who can do their own searches. Having the Core Journals on CD-ROM also affects the quality of our searches. When I'm on MEDLINE, I'm always aware that the clock is ticking and I'm accumulating charges. On Knowledge Finder, I can take my time to try other search options without running up any additional charges.

"Knowledge Finder has probably produced more work for me in ordering articles that are not at the library. There are still some staff members who want online searches and ask me to help them, but some of the tasks that might have been a burden on me before are much less of a burden on me now.

"If you want the CD-ROM system that is the most user friendly for your physicians, you really have to look at Knowledge Finder. It provides the most satisfaction in terms of successful searches and it is fun to use. I wish there was a way to capture the look on the faces of the people who use ours. They're so enthusiastic when they complete a successful search on their own. The response has been overwhelmingly positive."

Patricia Davis
Librarian
Falmouth Hospital

Back to Other Synergies and Successes with Knowledge Finder