Authors

  1. Hughes, Joel W. PhD, FAACVPR

Article Content

In 2001, when I started at Duke University Medical Center as a postdoctoral research fellow, I spent a great deal of time in the medical library retrieving journal articles to write about riveting topics such as [beta]-adrenergic receptor downregulation. But when I arrived at Kent State University in 2003 for my first faculty position, things had changed. I was much more likely to download the PDF of an article directly from my literature search or to order an article through interlibrary loan. As things continued to evolve, I learned that the academic library at Akron City Hospital was the best abandoned and quiet space in which to work uninterrupted. I will confess that in 2016, I did not once set foot in any library to retrieve a physical copy of a journal article.

 

What about you? When is the last time you actually went to an academic or hospital library to get a journal issue and look up an article? In the case of the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention (JCRP), if you're like most subscribers, you recently opted for electronic delivery and not the paper copy of the journal in your mail. There are many advantages to this new reality of electronic dissemination of the literature that are relevant to our work. But there are also disadvantages. It can be too easy to ignore another table of contents e-mail reminder in the flood of correspondence that has prevented many of us from ever reaching "inbox zero." But, importantly, if we don't read, we can't lead. This is why it is critically important to subscribe to JCRP and follow it and AACVPR on Twitter and/or Facebook.

 

Fifteen years ago, this would have been a crazy idea. Neither Twitter nor Facebook existed. When Facebook was created, it was only for students. I still remember when one of my friends first told me about Facebook. Because I was a professor and had an academic e-mail, I was able to sign-up. I announced in front of about 80 undergraduate students in my class that I was on Facebook and that they could be my friend. They howled with laughter. I received some really inappropriate invitations to events that they had carelessly sent to all of their contacts, forgetting that I was not a student. But now your mom is on Facebook. And now, some of the major medical journals have tens of thousands of followers on Twitter. It has become the standard for many professionals.

 

So, I would submit that following JCRP and AACVPR on Facebook or Twitter right now is beneficial to you because it will help you stay current with the field of cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation. There is probably no need to use both Facebook and Twitter; just use your favorite. In 15 years, maybe, this too will become an outdated idea because some newer technology has overtaken the current social media platforms. Currently, JCRP social media efforts are in their infancy-tweeting and posting on Facebook about selected articles in each new journal issue that are free on our website (http://jcrpjournal.com) to everyone and relevant to our work. If you are a subscriber, articles in every current and past issue and articles published ahead of print are all available free on the website. As the 21st century marches on, staying current with the critical issues facing our profession will likely become more challenging and require changing our methods of information gathering, which will probably never again involve walking to the library.

 

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