Hurricane Ike, South Central Region Medical Libraries, Hurricane Web Links, and a New Listserv.

As many of you are aware, the South Central RML is currently closed, and will remain closed until Thursday, September 18^th, due to affects of Hurricane Ike.  In accordance with the NN/LM National Emergency Preparedness & Response plan, South Central’s buddy RML, the Middle Atlantic Region (MAR), is backing up the office by taking calls and redirecting DOCLINE, when necessary.  A special thanks to MAR staff for temporarily taking on this important responsibility.

For information on emergency preparedness planning for libraries as well as some post-disaster updates, see the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit at http://nnlm.gov/ep/. I am pleased to report that the toolkit received a lot of traffic the day before Hurricane Ike struck the Gulf Coast, which shows that libraries are using the toolkit as a preparedness resource.  To see additional updates (or provide a status report), check the SCR blog, Blogadillo, at http://nnlm.gov/scr/blog/.

Also of note, the National Library of Medicine home page has added a news item on hurricane resources, “Online Resources for Hurricanes, Floods, and Disaster Preparedness and Recovery” at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/disaster_resources_online.html.

Finally, a new listserv, DISASTR-OUTREACH-LIB, is now available as a discussion forum for librarians, information specialists and others interested in disaster information outreach to their communities and responding to information needs for all-hazards preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery. It is also the primary source for information announcing the activities of the National Library of Medicine’s Disaster Information Specialist Pilot Project. List members may post comments and resources of interest to those involved in disaster information outreach as well as relevant announcements of meetings, training, conferences, job openings, etc. The listserv is provided by the National Library of Medicine’s Disaster Information Management Research Center.  You can sign up for the list and view the archives at https://list.nih.gov/archives/disastr-outreach-lib.html.

Please contact Cindy Love, lovec@mail.nlm.nih.gov, if you have any questions or comments about the listserv.

The September issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online at http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/.  In this issue of NIH News in Health:

Good Health to Go
Eating Smart at School
Even in the chaotic world of the school cafeteria, children can make smart food choices. You can play a key role in helping children learn the fundamentals of healthy living—eating well and staying active—whatever pressures they face outside home.
full story

Back to School with Diabetes
Plan Ahead for a Smooth Start to School
Notebooks, erasers, pencil sets and backpacks are on most kids’ back-to-school lists. But if your child has diabetes, you should add a few extra tasks to the list. Planning ahead, and getting help from others, will help pave the way for a successful year.
full story

Health Capsules:

• Children’s Physical Activity Drops
• Diabetes and a Healthy Pregnancy
• Featured Web Site: NIDA Goes Back to School

Click here to download a PDF version for printing.

Subscribe to receive email alerts when new issues of NIH News in Health are posted by going to https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=nihnewsinhealth-l&A=1.

The Touro-Harlem is a new library serving both the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Touro College of Pharmacy at new facilities on 125^th Street. When we opened in September 2007 we wanted a way to brand our print and electronic materials as being from the library while still associating the library with the two separately administered schools we serve. As an initial step in our branding process, we contracted with a graphic designer to develop a proposal for a distinctive logo for the library. One of our requirements was that the logo should incorporate the Touro College emblem to indicate our official association with the College. With the proposal in hand, we successfully applied for an NN/LM grant to produce the logo and associated designs.

With our requirements already detailed in our request for proposal, the designer quickly prepared several draft versions of the logo for our consideration. Our staff reviewed these and made some requests for revisions. This process was repeated a few times until we finally had the logo we thought would work well in a variety of contexts.

The next step was for the designer to incorporate the logo into designs for letterheads, memos, faxes and button icons for our Linkout items in PubMed. The first three items were produced relatively easily. The designer submitted three designs but one stood out to the library staff and was selected.  This design featured a banner with clear, modern and elegant type style and subtle grey accents. We also liked the white space on the right side of design, which provided us with space to label specific type of materials, such as Tech Tip or Pathfinders.

But with the button icons we hit a snag. We hadn’t considered the physical and file size constraints for logos in PubMed in specifying the logo design.  We couldn’t get our logo small enough without losing too much detail. The designer went back to his high-end Mac drawing board and came up with buttons that used the same typeface as our letterhead.

Now we were finished, we thought. The designer sent us the final files in tif and jpg formats, but we found some display inconsistencies between the tif file created on a Mac and our use of them on an IBM PC. We finally figured out the proper conversion protocol and all worked splendidly.

Now each library staff member has a custom designed and personalized letterhead, fax, and memo templates for their use in MS Word. Our button icons have been uploaded to PubMed and the library orientation materials for our summer sessions have all been produced using the new design.

Our next step is to apply for another mini-grant to help us produce some branded promotional materials with the new logo , such as mousepads, pens and bookmarks.  We’re even thinking of a semester launch party that features a cake with our new logo, but we understand NN/LM doesn’t fund food. Guess we’ll have to look to other budget areas.

Thanks to a generous grant from the National Network of Libraries, we have had the opportunity to distribute pens and magnets to individuals who attend community events and health fairs.  These giveaways serve as a means of drawing individuals to our tables at health fairs and outreach events so that we can initiate conversations about health and cancer.  This is particularly useful and necessary when we are discussion topics as stressful and frightening as cancer.  These promotional materials also provide contact information for the American Cancer Society so that individuals can ask questions or set up appointments for potentially life-saving screenings.  The pens and magnets are a useful beginning step in connecting individuals in medically underserved communities with health information and access to care. 

Some of the events where we distributed the pens and magnets were: Wellness Fair at P.S. 200, Southwest Queens Health and Aging Expo (Ozone Park Senior Center), Pomonok Center Spring Carnival (at Pomonok Houses), Queens Gay Pride Festival, Astoria Blue Feather Head Start Health and Community Fair, Astoria Relay for Life (American Cancer Society), and Centro Cuzcatlán Health Fair in Jamaica.

When community members see the Queens Library HealthLink logo on the pens and magnets, they often remember and recognize it, rendering them more likely to share the valuable health information with their family and friends.  The giveaways also help inform community members that the Queens Library is collaborating with various agencies to provide much needed services to meet needs that the library may not be able to meet without valuable partnerships.   

Loida Garcia-Febo-

Queens Library

“Drug Information for Public Libraries” was attended by 11 Capital Region public librarians on June 24^th, 2008, at the Albany College of Pharmacy. The 2-hour workshop was developed and presented by Sue Iwanowicz and Kim Mitchell, both of the George & Leona Lewis Library at ACP.

The workshop outlined the drug information landscape with topics including the drug development process, the role of the pharmacist in healthcare, drug nomenclature, and drug information topics. The following hands-on sessions gave participants practice in the identification and use of quality print and online drug information resources.

Feedback from workshop participants was positive. In post-session surveys all said they found it useful and would recommend it to others. The presenters were invited to lead another workshop in the future for public librarians who were unable to attend this session.

·         Sue Iwanowicz, Director of Library Services, George & Leona Lewis Library, Albany College of Pharmacy

·         Kim Mitchell, Reference & Education Librarian, George & Leona Lewis Library, Albany College of Pharmacy

·         Jennifer Cerulli, Pharm.D., BCPS, AE-C, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Albany College of Pharmacy

One of the challenges of working the Reference Desk at the D. Samuel Gottesman Library of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is helping our users at far-flung affiliated hospitals with our electronic resources. Complicated questions, such as those involved in searching databases or using bibliographic management software, are almost impossible to answer by phone, email or instant messaging. We needed an easier solution.

With the support of a Small Projects Award from NN/LM MAR, the Library was able to purchase a subscription to Glance (http://www.glance.net), an easy-to-use screen-sharing tool. With Glance we can easily show our users on their monitors what we are doing on our computers. We can also give users control of the session, so that they can use their mouse when that is the easiest way to show us a particular problem they might be having. All the user needs is a Web browser. It takes them just a moment to log in from the Library’s web site (http://library.aecom.yu.edu/education/vref.htm) with a session code number which we assign.  

So far, we have had great success using Glance to show individual users how to use databases like MEDLINE and software such as Endnote. They have been pleasantly surprised by how fast they can connect, and how easily we can help them answer their questions.  It is easy to keep track of usage through Glance’s session log.

There are additional ways we plan to use Glance in the future. Because up to100 people at different locations can be connected as one time, we anticipate using it for classes, especially for groups in our partner institutions.

D. Samuel Gottesman Library

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Karen Sorensen, MLS

The Robert M. White Memorial Library of Paoli Hospital, Paoli, PA, applied for a $1000 Micro Award in May 2008.  Our application was approved and the money was used to facilitate the purchase an HP notebook. The primary focus of the notebook is for a PowerPoint presentation on How to do a Literature Search.  It can now be presented to a wider audience as it affords portability and more opportunities to present. Having had technical difficulties during one such presentation, familiarity with one computer will provide efficiency, productivity, and confidence.  With wireless capability I am also able to volunteer for our health fairs and demonstrate the library’s databases, e-journals, e-books, as well as how to do a literature search.  In October of this year I will be presenting at a local public library at which time my focus will be to assist consumers on locating quality health/medical information online. 

Peter Cole, library director at St. Michael’s Medical Center, and three other members of the SMMC Evidence-Based Practice Committee presented their poster “Nurse Navigator: Impacting Life and Death” at the 15^th National Evidence Based Practice Conference on April 25^th in Coralville, IA.  Their poster aimed to raise awareness – not only of the nurse navigator program at St. Michael’s Connie Dwyer Breast Center, but of the profound impact the role plays in patient care.  Nurse educators Roxana Gonzalez, RN, CCRN, and Kathryn Kozub, RN, along with Breast Center and Blood Research Institute director Terri Pietsch, MSN, RN, CTR, co-authored the abstract with the vision of expanding the nurse navigator’s role at SMMC.  Currently, the nurse navigator, after consulting with the breast center’s interdisciplinary team, meets with newly diagnosed cancer patients without insurance or the means to strategize and develop of plan of care. From there, the journey of the navigator and the patient continues; throughout the course of treatment, the navigator provides guidance and a “nurses touch” to ensure understanding, compliance, quality care, improved outcomes, long term follow-up, and patient satisfaction (the navigator sees to it that all underinsured breast cancer patients receive diagnostic testing, procedures, and care of the highest quality through local and national funding). The team believes the role could be expanded to Oncology Nurse Navigator, and utilize the nurse as a mentor to assist in establishing competencies for other nurse navigators.  The team also believes that the Interdisciplinary Oncology team could implement a Literature Attached to Chart (LATCH) program, which would include mandate each patient’s chart contains results from a literature search performed by the librarian, specifically tailored to each patient. In addition, a pathfinder of consumer health resources would be inserted into the patient’s file, along with information on local, state, and national support programs that are available to the individual.

The amount of support the conference displayed for health information professionals was overwhelming: librarians were referred to as “information sources;” there were calls for “unit-based informationists;” and several presenters acknowledged the importance of medical librarians to their research.  The conference’s theme was “Reflections on the past, directions for the future: Implications for research and clinical practice.” With sessions entitled “Evolution in Resources: a clinician’s perspective” and “Advanced Search Strategies for Finding a Cost Benefit for EBP Projects,” it was made abundantly clear that information professionals – and the services they provide – are essential to the annals, present, and future of evidence-based practice.

Peter received a National Network of Libraries of Medicine – Middle Atlantic Region Small Projects Award grant to assist with travel expenses to the conference

The National Library of Medicine would like to publicize your upcoming noteworthy projects about National Medical Librarians’ Month in October.

Submissions are due by this Friday, September 12, with the NLM site unveiling on October 1. Please submit by email to rml@library.med.nyu.edu:

Name of the institution

Title of project

Brief summary of the project

Name of project director

Key staff

It’s time to head back to school with the RML! Join MAR staff and network members for online classes from September through December—all you need is an Internet-connected computer and a telephone. Classes are FREE.

To sign up for a class, e-mail us at rml@library.med.nyu.edu

Ten classes will be offered—and one is new!

DOCLINE: Reports and Routing Tables

This one hour class will cover some of the more specialized topics in DOCLINE, including the reporting features and routing tables. Registrants are welcome to submit their “problem questions” to be answered during the course.

Thursday, September 18

11:00 am-12:00 pm

What’s New in PubMed

This hour-long class will review new and noteworthy features in PubMed, including the revised Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) algorithm.

Tuesday, September 23

10:00-11:00 am

DOCLINE SERHOLD: Searching, Updating, and Reporting

This course will focus on the SERHOLD feature of DOCLINE.  Attendees will learn how to add new titles and formats to their library’s record, search SERHOLD for other library’s holdings, and utilize the SERHOLD reporting functions to make the most of this unique tool in DOCLINE.

Tuesday, September 23

2:00-3:00 pm

PubMed MyNCBI

In this 90-minute session, you will learn how to customize your PubMed experience using MyNCBI (formerly Cubby), and create shared filters for your library users. Save your favorite citations, and keep current with automatic searches—the results will come straight to your inbox. Change the look of PubMed with custom tabs and highlighted search terms. Create shared filters that allow you to activate LinkOut icons, specify display formats, and limit search results.  Shared Filters are an important feature for any library that participates in NCBI’s LinkOut program.

Tuesday, September 30

2:00-3:30 pm

Copyright and ILL

Guidelines? Law? CONTU? This course will give a basic introduction to copyright including the exclusive rights of copyright holders, copyright duration, and fair use. Learn how copyright affects ILL and how librarians can better balance ILL service needs with copyright law. You will also gain an understanding of the features in DOCLINE that address copyright law.

Thursday, October 2

11:00 am-12:00 pm

Introduction to RML Services

What can the RML do for you, and what are the current RML programs?  Attend this session, geared to new and existing network members, to gain answers to these questions. This is a one-hour overview of the RML services and an update to the current RML programs. Special focus will be paid to the NN/LM MAR Website so that users can learn to find what they need when they need it.

Tuesday, October 7

10:30-11:30 am

LinkOut Update

The LinkOut submission utility saw a significant redesign in late April 2008.  This one-hour session will help familiarize LinkOut libraries with the revised interface.  This courses is intended for libraries already working with LinkOut and interested in learning how the new interface will affect them.  PLEASE NOTE:  We will not be offering Getting Started with LinkOut over the fall months.  If you need this training, please contact Miguel Figueroa (figueroa@library.med.nyu.edu) to make individual arrangements.

Wednesday, October 29

10:00-11:00 am

DOCLINE Tune-Up

This quick and informal session will highlight ten things you can do this fall to help improve your DOCLINE account.  Quickly review your routing table, run a SERHOLD report, update your institution record, and more. These quick tips will highlight the minor maintenance issues that can help DOCLINE work better for you.

Monday, November 3

2:00-3:00 pm

NEW! Basic Nutrition Resources

Consumers, students, clinicians, and you!  Where do you begin when looking for nutrition information for consumers or for clinicians?  This course will take you through basic resources available to you from NLM, NIH, and others.  We will also briefly review how to search for nutrition information literature.

Tuesday, November 18

10:30-11:30 am

Free Productivity Tools

Library’s budgets are always pinched for one thing or another. Did you know that there are a multitude of free software packages out there that do just about everything that commercial software packages can do? In this 90-minute class we’ll take a look at some of these software packages, their usefulness, their limitations and things to think about if you decide to go the free software route.

Thursday, November 20

3:00-4:30 pm