1. ISPO Secretary Speaks
ISPO Honorary Secretary John Michael explains how people can access back issues of the Society’s journal, Prosthetics and Orthotics International.
Back Issues of Prosthetics Orthotics International
Like many members, I have saved every issue of Prosthetics Orthotics International since I first joined as a student. They form a prominent portion of my professional library and contain a wealth of information that can inform my clinical decision-making. Unfortunately, I can rarely recall in which year I read a specific article of interest, let alone which volume, and I have completely forgotten the content of many articles. Furthermore, an article that was not of interest or that I did not understand a decade ago might be far more pertinent and interesting now that I have more experience in the field.
What is needed is an instantaneous search engine, available 24/7 at no cost, indexing every word and every article ever published in POI. Your Executive Board has asked the O&P Digital Foundation to provide precisely this service to members, and they have generously agreed to not only provide the search engine but to also digitize every back issue since the inception of our journal at no charge to ISPO. This massive undertaking has been quietly going since the start of this triennium, and will continue until every issue has been posted. At present, all issues from the decade of the 90’s are posted.
Each article is available in two use-friendly formats. A PDF preserves the precise formatting and “look and feel” of the original article, and is available for downloading or emailing to colleagues who would find the information of interest. Every article is also posted online in HTML format for instantaneous online reading.
Every reader can customize the online experience by choosing whether or not to read the references, or to embed the illustrations and figures. Emailing a link to a colleague is simple and intuitive. Every article can also be printed locally, for further study. The multiple viewing options permit effective access even over slow dial-up lines, which may be the only option for some of our members in less-resourced regions.
POI back issues are now an integral part of the growing O&P Virtual Library, which is the world’s richest repository for peer-reviewed English language information about our field. It is archived alongside the full run of the original journal of Artificial Limbs, back issues of the Journal of Prosthetics & Orthotics, Clinical Prosthetics and Orthotics, and similar key historical references.
The Virtual Library search engine is incredibly powerful and easy to use. Just type in any key words or phrases and the engine will instantly retrieve a list of articles containing those indicators. It is a simple matter to search for specific authors, topics, or titles – and equally simple to add additional search words to narrow down your search. One click on the title takes you directly to the article of interest: no wading through screen after screen of advertising or drilling down through abstracts. Just click and read!
To experience the O&P Virtual Library for yourself, just browse over to www.oandplibrary.org and type in any search word. Or, click on the new POI Archives button on the ISPO web site at www.ispoint.org .
The default search covers all Virtual holdings but a few clicks will limits the search to just a specific journal or holding. So, whether you are looking for a specific article from POI or researching a topic more broadly, this freely accessible service should be your first stop for P&O knowledge. [Suggestion: type in Geertzen to find the publications by our President-Elect in the decade of the 90’s.]
The Executive Board has directed that access to these back issues be freely available worldwide, without charge, and without any password requirements. This not only facilitates international access to POI by researchers and interested parties but also further increases the visibility of ISPO’s efforts over the decades. Each month, the P&O Virtual Library averages more than 20,000 hits from people looking for this information.
The EB believes that taking advantage of what has been termed the “online bias”, meaning that the most cited articles are those that are easiest to retrieve, is one of the most effective and lowest cost methods to publicize our journal. More recent issues will remain free to members from the publisher’s web site, while non-members will be charged a nominal fee for access to provide a revenue stream in support of our publication.
The ISPO Executive Board hopes that you find this enhancement to POI access useful and would welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Please visit www.ispo.ws
