Dialog Alerts: delivering relevant pharmacovigilance literature alerts for drug safety aggregate reports

We’d like to introduce you to information professionals Ben and Beverly. Each of them runs a research department at a top ten pharmaceutical company. On paper, they couldn’t be more similar. They’ve both been in their jobs for just over ten years. Although they went to different schools, they received the same level of education, and were awarded PhDs within months of each other. Their workloads are almost identical, as are the number of researchers they each manage. So why is one of them having an easier day than the other?

Let’s look at a typical day for Ben and Beverly:

Ben starts work. 8:30 8:30 Beverly starts works.
Inbox down to 27 unread emails, Ben pours his second coffee of the morning. 9:25
9:55 Unread emails all dealt with, Beverly starts her first online video meeting.
After getting stuck on the phone, fielding the fourth COVID-19 query of the day, Ben is 15 minutes late for his video call. 10:15
11:05 Beverly sends a company-wide email advising on the easiest way to stay up-to-date with the latest COVID-19 research.
Three junior researchers request the same file via online chat within the space of 30 minutes. 11:35
11:45 Beverly briefs her team on the latest EMA Regulation updates.
Ben makes a note to go over the latest EMA regulation updates tomorrow morning. 12:35
13:00 Lunch time – Beverly has time to squeeze in an online yoga class.
No time for a lunch break, Ben has to rush his lunchtime sandwich. 13:45
15:30 It isn’t due for a week, but Beverly gets a head start on her monthly ROI report.
Ben spends an hour removing duplicate articles from his collated search results. 16:15
16:30 Beverly has a quick call with a junior researcher to help with a database query.
After finishing his fifth coffee of the day, Ben starts the KPI report due tomorrow. 17:05
17:35 Report complete, Beverly shuts down her computer and relaxes with a new book.
Ben finally shuts down his computer, and starts on some chores. 19:05
19:15 With nothing to prepare for tomorrow, Beverly tests out a new recipe for dinner.
Takeout dinner for Ben. 20:15
23:00 Bed-time
Ben decides to set his alarm to start work earlier tomorrow. 23:40

Perhaps we just caught Ben on an ‘off’ day?

Maybe, but if we set their days side by side again tomorrow, you’d probably find poor Ben in much the same situation, trying to catch up on his workload. The difference between them isn’t luck, but resources.

Beverly got through her unread emails faster than Ben because she had less of them to deal with. There wasn’t a constantly ringing phone to answer; or a long list of duplicate articles to cut from her research results. The junior members of her team had just as many questions as those in Ben’s team, but they had no reason to pester Beverly for the answers. And when it came time to prove her department’s ROI, the answers were already waiting for Beverly to compile. Beverly’s time could be put to better use, because her organisation uses the Dialog® platform and Dialog® Alerts Manager

Dialog doesn’t just offer unrivalled access to the world’s best academic literature databases; it provides information professionals with the tools they need to manage every aspect of their research endeavours. And just as the industry is constantly evolving, so too is the Dialog platform. Self-service alerts are just the latest update to our service — available at no additional cost to existing subscribers — and provide information professionals with a simple and effective means of sharing research within their organisation.

If Ben’s day is painfully familiar, take inspiration from Beverly instead — click here to find out how the Dialog platform could improve your day.