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 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. 

The American Library Association is beginning to rally libraries and their patrons for more privacy in this digital age.  They have posted their white paper on “Rallying Americans for the Right to Information Privacy” as well as posting videos of panel speakers at their recent conference.

You can find all of this on their Privacy Revolution Site.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region is pleased to announce the recipients of our initial round of Technology Innovation Awards!

The recipients are:

• Touro-Harlem Medical Library - Shelly Warwick - Building instructional capacity.
• Columbia University Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library - Flash screen network.
• University of Rochester Medical Center - Donna R. Berryman - CLIC-on-Health online outreach to refugees.
• St. Francis Medical Library - Rosemary Figorito - Projecto Salud - outreach and training to hispanic communities.
• John F. Kennedy Medical Center Medical Library - Lena Feld - Software Upgrade Promotes Enhanced Research (SUPER)

Congratulations to all the award recipients!

All MAR network members should keep an eye out for our next call for applications for Technology Innovation Awards in late summer or early fall!

NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region is pleased to announce three new affiliate members to our region.

The Elbridge Free Library (Elbridge, NY) is part of Onondaga County Public Library and was ranked by HAPLR as one of the best library’s of its size. The library provides reference services, literacy programs, books, magazines, and videos and is interested in increasing the amount of health information it provides to the community.

The Spalding Memorial Library (Athens, PA) is located on a historic plot between the Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers and shares its building with a local museum. The library provides services for all ages, including literacy programs and computer classes.

The Greater Canonsburg Public Library (Canonsburg, PA) provides services for adults, youth, and seniors. The library is currently raising funds for a new, expanded main library.

Please join us in welcoming these libraries to our region.  We look forward to partnering with them to help create a health information community in the Middle Atlantic Region.

The National Networkof Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region is pleased to announce the recipients of our latest round of Technology Improvement Awards!

The recipients are:

• St. Barnabas Medical Center - Patricia Reusing - Acquiring and using Softlink to automate and streamline library processes.
• Geisinger Health System - Patricia Ulmer - Equipping the library with an assistive technology workstation.
• New York State Nurses Association Library - Warren Hawkes - Replacing their 10 year old hardwired network with a secure free-standing wireless independent network.
• Mercy Hospital - Grace DiVirgilio - Upgrading of library computers to to along with the library’s move to a new, higher traffic locale.
• St. Elizabeth Medical Center Library - Halyna Liszczynskyj - Upgrading of library computers and software.
• Albany Medical College - Enid Geyer - Using Lenovo Tablet PCs for developing support skills and remote reference.
• Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center - Susan Cleveland - Computer kiosks to provide consumer health information to patients, family members and visitors.
• Western Pennsylvania Hospital Forbes Regional Campus - Heidi Patterson - Upgrading library computers.
• Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health - Susanne Ingle - Upgraded computers and scanners for improved document delivery and reference services.
• Lourdes Medical Center - Beth Murtaugh - 24/7 access computer workstations.
• Western Pennsylvania Hospital - Heidi Patterson - Patient and Family Education Center computers.
• Matheny Medical Center - Jungwon DeVone - Computer and scanner upgrades for improved document delivery and patron computer access.
• Coney Island Hospital - Laraine Tursi - Upgrading of library computers, printers and faxes for improved document delivery, patron access and staff workflow.

Congratulations to all the award recipients!

All MAR network members keep an eye out for our next call for applications of Technology Improvment Award in late summer or early fall!  Next time it could be you!