Join us for an RML Rendezvous this Wednesday, April 30 at 1:00 pm Pacific Time (2:00 Mountain Time, 12:00 Alaska Time). There’s no need to RSVP. We’ll see you online! To connect to the Rendezvous, go to http://webmeeting.nih.gov/rendezvous at the appointed time. Please sign in with your full name.

Working Together Apart: Online Collaborative Workspaces

Learn about new ways to manage group projects when face-to-face meetings are not possible and e-mail is not practical. Topics covered will include wikis, document sharing, instant messaging, and Microsoft SharePoint. We will also discuss organizational culture issues that can hinder effective online collaboration. After the session, participants will have access to a course wiki they can use to experiment with these new technologies and continue the conversation about how to implement them in our workplaces.

UPDATE 5/6/08: The recording of this Rendezvous is now available, and there’s some interesting conversation happening on the course wiki. Access to the wiki is by invitation only, but contact Alison and she will happily invite you.

The NIH Public Access Policy was signed into law at the end of 2007. This new law grew out of a 2005 NIH request that researchers submit final versions of their published manuscripts to PubMed Central. As of April 7, submitting manuscripts to PubMed Central is no longer a request; now it is a requirement. The goal was and is to extend public access to publicly funded research literature.

Complying with the policy is a three-step process. When submitting articles for publication, principal investigators on NIH-funded research projects are required to:

1. Address copyright issues by making sure journal publication agreements allow for submission to NIH.
2. Submit articles to PubMed Central using the NIH Manuscript Submission System.
3. Cite PubMed Central identification numbers for articles referenced in NIH grant applications, proposals, and progress reports (required beginning May 25).

Even if NIH-funded researchers are not among your library’s primary clientele, it is important for you to be aware of how much and what types of literature will eventually be made public as a result of this policy. Developments in scholarly publishing and open access have critical implications for all types of libraries.

MLA’s November 2007 webcast “Scholarly Publishing and Open Access: Straight Talk” provides an excellent overview of the key issues and controversies. The DVD and participant manual are now available in the Lending Library for NN/LM PNR network members. To borrow either or both, please send e-mail to nnlm@u.washington.edu.

Additional Resources:

Web guides from the University of Washington and Oregon Health & Science University
SPARC brochure – Information for Authors
History of Dragonfly updates on this topic - http://nnlm.gov/pnr/dragonfly/?s=public+access+policy

by Gail Kouame

About a year ago, I learned that I have uterine fiboids, benign growths that are quite common in women my age. A year later, however, they have grown and are starting to cause me some problems. My physician referred me to a gynecologist who, after examining me, determined that I am a good candidate for a laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy, a minimally invasive alternative to a total abdominal hysterectomy. My gynecologist explained some other options and also described the procedure and we agreed that this was my best option.

So, what’s a gal to do upon receiving news like this? Of course, I went straight to my computer and navigated to MedlinePlus.gov, NLM’s consumer health information portal. I went to the “Health Topics” page, clicked on the letter “H” for Hysterectomy and found that there was a link to a video of the exact procedure that I will be having! (more…)