Introducing www.chestpubs.org

Like many organizations, ACCP produces a large amount of educational content. One of the challenges is to deliver that content in the right format for our members and other users.

Today we are happy to announce that we have evolved a new platform for some of our publications. Located at www.chestpubs.org, this site incorporates the ACCP Board Review books (Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and Sleep Medicine) and the journal CHEST. You probably received an email alluding to this last week, but here's some additional info in case you haven't had time to check out the site.

Because they are on the same platform as CHEST, the online e-books will be in the exact same format and have most of the same features as the online journal. Here's a short list of the features: 

• HTML and PDF versions of each chapter of the books
• PDF versions will allow users to print out chapters if they prefer reading hard copy
• The HTML version will have references that link to abstracts and full text (if available)
• Download figures into PowerPoint slides
• Search across one publication or combine your search across all (including CHEST and CHEST Meeting Abstracts)
• Search figure and table legends to find images or data tables you are looking for
• Search for related content in PubMed or Google Scholar by author or subject, and many of the other features that are available in the online journal.

Why do these via a Web site rather than some sort of dedicated e-reading device? Having these available through a Web site eliminates the need for using an e-reader like a Kindle. Anyone can access this content from their computer or smartphone. In addition, it allows us to provide an advanced searching function that will pull results from any or all of the publications. You can see that search screen here.

ACCP Members can purchase access to the full individual book with a member discount, or pay-per-view for individual chapters. There's also a discount for purchasing access to all three e-books. Attendees of the 2009 ACCP Board Review Courses will receive access to the e-book that corresponds to the course they attended, and attendees of the 2010 courses will be given access once they attend the 2010 courses in August.

Access will be the same as with CHEST, meaning that once you've purchased access to the e-book, you can use your CHEST journal username and password to log in and access the content.

We hope you will find these publications useful for your educational development.

About the Author

Stephen Welch

Vice President, Publications and Editorial Resources
Executive Editor, CHEST

This blog, "It Ain't Rocket Surgery" is intended to help busy health-care professionals find useful online and mobile resources that will enhance their self-education and professional research efforts, or point out important topics of discussion related to online information and content. The blog's title is a Yogi Berra style mash-up of two common phrases, "it ain't brain surgery" and "it ain't rocket science". I hope it will be casual, fun, insightful, and most of all, educational.

I serve ACCP as the Vice President of Publications and Editorial Resources, as well as the Executive Editor of CHEST, the ACCP’s flagship journal. In the past 15 years ACCP has focused on growing and developing the editorial, technological, and business aspects of CHEST. I have been quite honored and fortunate to work with two outstanding editors in chief and an excellent editorial team to support and build upon the reputations of CHEST and ACCP as world  leaders in clinical medical publishing. We are constantly striving to make the journal and other ACCP content as accessible and useful to clinicians as possible.

When not at work, I like to spend time at home with my wife, two great danes, and iguana -- as well as scuba diving with sharks, collecting original comic book artwork, exploring the digital world, and searching for good BBQ.

Your feedback about the blog is always appreciated. So are tips on good BBQ joints.