Help
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- General
- Subscribing to PEN
- Logging In
- Licensing, Copyright and Privacy Issues
- Using PEN Power Tools
- Feedback
- Profile
General
Q. What is PEN and why was it developed?
A. PEN is a dynamic resource that allows today's busy practitioners to ask and quickly find authoritative answers to day-to-day questions using the most current evidence. View the PEN Demo to learn more about how PEN works. Learn more About PEN and its features.
Q. Who developed PEN?
A. Leaders and experts in knowledge translation of health evidence and its application in practice have been consulted in the design of PEN. Click to view a list of PEN's contributors.
Q. How is PEN unique from traditional reference tools?
A. Textbooks and diet manuals, whether published as a hard copy reference, or an electronic text, provide a static reference document comprised of a set number of topics. PEN is a dynamic service designed as a series of knowledge pathways covering the diverse practice of dietetics, from nutrition throughout the life stages, to clinical nutrition, to food and nutrient issues, to professional practice topics such as counselling, mentoring, media / public relations, conference planning. Each knowledge path grows in breadth and depth over time as evidence that informs practice changes. In addition, new knowledge pathways can be easily added as the need and interest for those topics arises.
Q. What kind of internet access will I need to utilize PEN?
A. Whether you have Dial-Up or High Speed Internet access, you'll find that PEN performs effectively.
Q: Which browser(s) can I use to access PEN?
A: PEN is designed to work with most current and standards-compliant web browsers. If you're having difficulty, we recommend using one of the following standards-compliant browsers: Internet Explorer 6 (PC), Mozilla Firefox 1.0, Netscape 7.2 (PC) or Safari 1.2 (Mac).
Q. What are Knowledge Pathways, Practice Categories, Practice Questions, and Key Practice Points?
A. For definitions of these terms, refer to the "What Is A…" section located on the PEN home page.
Subscribing to PEN
Q. How do I subscribe to PEN?
A. There are three ways to subscribe to PEN. Link to www.dieteticsatwork.com/pen_order.asp to learn about individual, group and site license options.
Logging In
Q. How do I log into PEN?
A. Go to the login page and enter the Username and Password assigned to you once you subscribed.
Q. What if I've forgotten my username or password?
A. From the login page click on the "Lost Password" link and enter your email address. Your username and password will be emailed to you instantly.
Licensing, Copyright and Privacy Issues
Q. Can I share my password with others who are not subscribed to PEN?
A. Individual and Group Subscribers to PEN will be provided with a unique password which is for your exclusive use. The subscription agreement that must be completed by each subscriber is a legally binding document and explicitly prohibits a user from sharing his/her password. Therefore, sharing your password is an infringement of the licensing agreement and will result in termination of your PEN access. Users who have purchased a PEN Site License have an automatic log in to PEN and therefore are not assigned an individual password.
Q. Can I download, print and/or photocopy documents in PEN?
A. There are several types of documents accessible through PEN and therefore different permissions apply when considering duplication of these documents. There is provision within the PEN service to email certain education tools to clients.
- Documents including Client Tools, Professional Tools, Research Papers etc available on external websites linked through PEN: users must comply with copyright stipulated on those specific websites.
- Documents developed by PEN:
PEN Client Handouts: Users may download and duplicate copies for educational purposes with your own clients. Health Authorities and/or institutions must have sufficient numbers of site or group licenses in order to make multiple copies to meet client needs.
Knowledge Pathways, including Key Practice Points, Backgrounders, Evidence Summaries etc: Users may download and print this information for their personal use. You may not otherwise copy, store in a retrieval system, transmit in any form by any means, rent, lend, sell, or modify any materials from the website except where, and as explicitly stated, on certain materials.
Q. May I make multiple sets of PEN materials to use for educational purposes in a class for university students and/or dietetic interns?
A. The same copyright limitations apply for university and internship classes as stipulated above. The licensing agreement that you accept as a subscriber to PEN does permit you to download or print single copies of PEN materials for your own personal non-commercial use, research or study. You may not otherwise copy, store in a retrieval system, transmit in any form by any means, rent, lend, sell, or modify any materials from the website except where, and as explicitly stated, on certain materials such as Client Handouts. Institutional and group subscription rates are available so that it should not be necessary to make class sets of materials - students can access the service and all resources using their own unique login and password. Maintaining a hard copy of PEN materials even for your personal reference is not recommended as PEN is updated regularly and static copies may become outdated quickly without your knowledge.
Using PEN Power Tools
Knowledge Pathways
Q. How are Knowledge Pathways developed?
A. A Writers' Guide for Knowledge Pathway Development has been designed for authors. It includes the recommended template for a knowledge path and a step by step approach to ensure a consistent, evidence-based approach in the pathway development. Support for critical appraisal skills needed to evaluate the literature is provided through DC's course on Evidence-based Decision Making www.dieteticsatwork.com. Coordination and support are also provided by DC's PEN Management Team. Contact the PEN Management Team.
Q. How often will Knowledge Pathways be updated?
A. Each knowledge pathway will be updated as new evidence arises, with a complete review of most pathways annually. Resources from the sale of PEN will be reinvested in the service to ensure its sustainability over time.
Q. How can I access a Knowledge Pathway?
A. You can access Knowledge Pathways in 3 main ways (as shown in the screen shot below):
- Browse By Practice Category located on the PEN home page
- Table of Contents which can be accessed from the Knowledge Pathway menu
- Browse by each of the four Practice Categories:
Q. How do I print a Knowledge Pathway?
A. Click on the "Print this Knowledge Pathway" button on the main Knowledge Pathway screen. There will also be "Print this Page" buttons located on all the Practice Questions and Related Tools and Resources within the Knowledge Pathway.
Maintaining a hard copy of PEN materials even for your personal reference is not recommended as PEN is updated regularly and static copies may become outdated quickly. Unless you visit PEN frequently to check out "What's New", you will not be aware that the copy of document that you've made is outdated. As well, other than printing single copies of PEN materials for your own personal non-commercial use, research or study, you may not copy, store in a retrieval system, transmit in any form by any means, rent, lend, sell, or modify any materials from the website except where explicitly stated on certain materials.
Search
Q. How do I search for Knowledge Pathways, Practice Questions and other tools and resources?
A. You can search for Knowledge Pathways,
Practice Questions and other Tools and Resources by using the Simple Search
textbox or the Advanced Search. Both of these search tools
are located on left side of the home page just below the navigation bar [look
for the binocular icon] and on the top right hand side of every PEN page. The
Simple Search returns all relevant findings.
The Advanced Search can be used if you want to find, for example, only
the relevant Knowledge Pathways. Both
searches will return all results ordered by relevancy. You also have the options to list the results
in alphabetical or date order.
(Relevancy:
The pertinence of a search result to a specified search term, determined by a
number of factors including the search result’s title, keywords and category,
the occurrence of the search term in the search result and the positioning of
the search term in the search result.)
Q: Are there any tips
that can help me narrow my search?
A. Here are some useful
Search Tips:
Using Keywords in the Search Field
You can search using a single word, or combination of words. Keywords are NOT case sensitive.
If
you enter a phrase without quotations such as Child Nutrition, the search feature will search for all items that
include Child AND Nutrition.
A
search using a phrase with quotations such as "Child Nutrition" will search for all items that include Child Nutrition as a phrase.
If
you are copying the search phrase or sentence from a WORD document where the
quotation marks appear - you will need
to manually insert the “ “ in the search box as they are stripped during the
cut/paste function.
Boolean Search Terms
Use
Boolean search terms
(AND, OR and NOT) to expand or focus your search.
For example;
A search for Child AND Nutrition will return items with BOTH Child and Nutrition
in them.
A search for Child OR Nutrition will return items with EITHER of
the words Child or Nutrition in them.
A search for Child NOT Nutrition will
return items with Child that do not have the word Nutrition.
Wildcard Symbol
The
wildcard symbol
(an asterisk *) is another way to expand your search. Wildcard searching is enabled when you
specify search terms as term*. For
example;
Entering Nut* will find results that start
with the word “nut” (such as nutrition, nutrient, nutrients, and so on).
Word Stemming
Each search will attempt to identify if each search term
is a dictionary term (Microsoft SQL Server Dictionary). If the word is a dictionary term then the search
applies word stemming. For example;
A search for cramped will search for “cramps”, “cramping”, “cramped” and
“cramp”
French Word Searches
Searches
of French words with accents are supported.
Search terms containing accents will return exact matches to that
term. For example;
A search for bactérie will return all results containing the exact term
“bactérie”
Searches
on French accented words without including the accents in the search term will
also return matches to the accented French word. The search will strip any formatting (i.e.
accents) on French words and search for an exact match. For example;
A search for “bacterie” will return
all results containing the term “bacterie” or “bactérie”
Please
note: Word stemming is not supported on French search terms.
Special Terms
There
are a number of special terms used in the field of Dietetics that are
recognized by the search. For example;
Searching on vitamin
B2 yields search results relevant to all permutations of the term Vitamin
B2, including vit B2, vitamin B2 and riboflavin
Searching on F returns search results relevant to
the term fluoride
Searching on folate returns search results
relevant to the term folate, folacin or folic acid
Noise Terms
Common
noise words such as “is”, “this” and “that” will not be searched on when
included in the search term. The numbers
1-9 are considered noise terms by the search and will not show results unless they
are part of a special term.
Q: How do I make
more than one selection from lists using Advanced Search?
A. To select more than one criterion
within the "Target Group", "Nutrition and Lifestyle",
"Clinical Nutrition" or "Food Nutrient Issues" fields, press
and hold the Ctrl key while making your selections.
Q: I can't find what I'm looking for. What should I do?
A. Your search criteria are possibly
too detailed. Try to simplify your search and use the search tips [Link to
Previous Question (Search Tips)] provided. For a general topic you can also
look at the Table of Contents as a quick check to see
if that topic has been addressed in PEN.
Submitting Practice Questions
Q. How do I submit a practice question?
A. Click on "Submit A Practice Question" on the left-hand menu of a Knowledge Pathway, and follow the instructions.
Glossary
Q. How do I find out the definitions of certain terms?
A. Place your mouse over any in-text term that is double-underlined in green and the definition will be displayed in a little pop up box. You may also click on the Glossary menu item to view all PEN definitions in alphabetical order.
Feedback
Q. How do I send feedback?
A. You can send feedback using the "Contact Us" form located at the top right-hand side of each page.
In addition, you can take the survey by clicking the Feedback menu item.
Q. How can I get involved in PEN?
A. If you would like to volunteer to help with the development of a knowledge pathway, send us a note using the Contact Us form. We are always looking for authors and reviewers. PEN authors and reviewers are individuals with expertise in a specific practice area. They may be researchers, academics or practitioners working directly with clients/patients. Interns, graduate and undergraduate students may also be mentored as authors, working in conjunction with their preceptor or university professor and a member of the PEN Management Team. Skill in critical appraisal is an important area of expertise to be a PEN author or reviewer. DC offers an online course in Critical Appraisal to support skill development – find out more at www.dieteticsatwork.com/tutorial.asp
You can also submit your own Practice Questions by clicking on "Submit A Practice Question" on the left-hand menu of a Knowledge Pathway. While we don't promise to be able to address all practice questions that are submitted, they are used to help determine interest and need for additions to PEN. You can also send us feedback by clicking the Feedback menu item.
My Profile
Q. How do I update my personal profile?
A. It is important to keep your PEN personal profile up to date as it is not linked to the member database for Dietitians of Canada. Click on the "Manage Your Profile" link displayed beside your name on the PEN home page, or on the My Profile link at the top right-hand side of each page. Now you can update your contact information to ensure receipt of messages from PEN.