Strive-The Student View
July, 2009 edition  

I Want Both Paper and Plastic: The Journal of Dental Hygiene Returns to Print

By Leslie McHaney Congdon, RDH, MS(c)

I have missed having the Journal of Dental Hygiene, my favorite evidence-based research resource, literally at my fingertips. Given that the Journal hasn’t been in print for years, I also have missed the opportunity to circle references, make notes in the margins, highlight text in the articles and insert bookmarks between pages to facilitate an instantaneous return to the subjects of interest to me. Recently, I discovered the optional fee for the new printed Journal of Dental Hygiene. The Journal is once again available in print form. Elated, I jumped for joy.

In the past, I invested time and effort to copy volumes of the Journal to plastic—a CD. Therefore, I have volumes of the Journal available on my computer anytime and anywhere without having to log on to the ADHA Web site or needing Internet access. Duplicating the Journal onto a CD takes time and patience. Consequently, I am months behind in loading issues onto CDs.

Having the Journal in print facilitates my lifelong learning and enables me to keep up with my reading anywhere or any place. I can now leisurely read in a car or airplane, on vacation or snowbound days without power, or under any other circumstances when my computer or the Internet is not accessible.

There are problems retrieving articles from e-journals. Some journals disclose only the abstracts, and the complete articles are no longer available online. When I have information in print, I can always browse the journal and read the article today or in the future. The entire article will always be accessible.

Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t want to give up the convenience, cost effectiveness, and sheer power of researching electronically through thousands of journals from numerous databases. The electronic search process is far superior for accessing evidence-based information. Nevertheless, I still value the old-fashioned paper resource and the experiences that come with a journal in print. I will take my Journal of Dental Hygiene in paper and plastic.

Leslie McHaney Congdon, RDH, MS(c), is a master’s degree candidate in the School of Dental Hygiene, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.

The faculty mentor for this edition of Strive was Michele Darby, RDH, MS.