Network News
March /April 2003
- Contents:
- New From the NN/LM SCR
Office
- NLM to Join EFTS
- Inside Funding
- What's New with NLM
Databases?
- Technology
Notes
- Partners in Information
Access
- The National Institute of
Mental Health
- DOCLINE
Update
- New DOCLINE
Libraries
- e-Gov Health Information
Exchange Standards
- Clinical
Alert
- In Every Issue:
- Regional Training and
Exhibit Calendar
- Employment
Opportunities
- NLM
Technical Bulletin
News From the
NN/LM SCR Office
--Renée Bougard, Associate Director
The NN/LM SCR is
winding down another contract year and preparing for Year
03, which begins on May 1, 2003. We do not have our final
budget at this time; however, our Year 03 plans and
offerings will be made available on our website. We will
announce this on the NNLMSCR listserv, so please keep an
open eye near the end of April - early May for Year 03
information.
The NLM recently announced that libraries can list
themselves on the Consumer Health Libraries page in
MEDLINEplus, beginning April 22, 2003. The list is located
at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/libraries.html.
Currently, there are eight listings for the South Central
Region. DOCLINE libraries can edit their DOCUSER record to
supply the contact information for this page by checking
the "Authorizes listing in MEDLINEplus" box on the Services
tab on the Consumer Health page. If you have questions,
please contact Re Mishra in the NN/LM SCR office. After
April 22, 2003, the Consumer Health Libraries page will be
updated from the DOCUSER database each Monday evening at
midnight, ET.
The NLM 2004 Fiscal Year Budget Request presented by NLM
Director Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD has been posted on the
NLM website at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/appropriations.html.
It includes summaries on a number of accomplishments made
by the NLM, and plans for the upcoming fiscal year.
Network members who are attending the Medical Library
Association's annual conference in San Diego, May 2-7,
2003, have an opportunity to meet NLM staff and learn new
information from NLM. See the March-April 2003 NLM
Technical Bulletin for a list of NLM activities at MLA
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma03/ma03_technote.html#mla.)
The NN/LM SCR office has ordered a copy of the videotape
of the Medical Library Association's teleconference, Get
HIP to HIPAA: Health Information Professionals and the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,
which aired on March 12, 2003. It will be available for
loan to Network members through our office. The
availability of this tape will be announced on the
NNLMSCR-L.
Finally, the Special Populations Outreach Coordinator
and Consumer Health Coordinator positions are still posted;
however, we will begin interviewing soon to fill these
vacancies. If you are interested in joining the NN/LM SCR
office in either capacity, please do not hesitate to
contact me. The job ads can be found at: http://nnlm.gov/scr/aboutus/jobopp.htm.
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Contents
NLM to Join
EFTS
--Rosalyn M. Leiderman, Head, Systems
Unit, Collection Access Section, Bethesda, MD
In May 2002, at the
Medical Library Association Conference in Dallas, TX, NLM
announced that it would participate in the Electronic Fund
Transfer System (EFTS) managed by the University of
Connecticut Health Center (UCHC), Farmington, CT.
EFTS is a banking function with institutional financial
responsibilities between the University of Connecticut
Health Center (UCHC) and the EFTS participating
institution. EFTS participation has to be negotiated with
the EFTS office at UCHC. More information about joining
EFTS can be found at http://efts.uchc.edu/.
During the past few months NLM has been working closely
with EFTS staff to ensure that EFTS can process NLM's
billing transactions for its document delivery services.
EFTS has successfully processed files sent by NLM.
NLM will begin sending the quarterly billing
transactions for April-June 2003 to EFTS in July 2003. In
order for NLM to send billing transactions to EFTS, your
library's DOCUSER record must indicate that you participate
in EFTS.
NLM will continue to offer billing to its customers
through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).
Billing transactions will be sent to either NTIS or EFTS
depending on information in each library's DOCUSER record
on the day that NLM creates its billing transactions. If a
library's DOCUSER record has "Participates in EFTS" marked
YES, then the library's billing transactions will be sent
to EFTS. If a library's DOCUSER record has "Participates in
EFTS" marked NO, then the library's billing transactions
will be sent to NTIS.
Once NLM prepares its billing files, it cannot be
changed. Therefore, it is important that your library's
DOCUSER record has the correct information regarding
participation in EFTS. We encourage all DOCLINE
participants to review their DOCUSER record to ensure that
NLM will send your billing information to the correct
organization. Network members cannot edit the EFTS fields
themselves.
To review your DOCUSER record, select DOCUSER from the
DOCLINE main menu, and then select Update. Click on the
Interlibrary Loan Tab. Under the "Select ILL Information
Category" drop-down menu, select ILL Services. Contact the
EFTS office at 866-561-5045 or efts@uchc.edu if you need to
update your information.
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Contents
Inside
Funding
--Michelle Malizia, Outreach
Coordinator
Recent Awardees
Texas Women's
University (TWU), Denton, TX received an NLM Access to
Electronic Health Information award. TWU, the Houston
Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library, Houston,
TX and Camp For All (CFA), Houston, TX, will partner to
facilitate access to electronic health information at the
CFA camping facility. CFA is a barrier-free camp working in
partnership with organizations to enrich the lives of
children and adults with chronic illnesses and disabilities
and their families by providing camping and retreat
experiences. Funds from the award will be used to place
Internet-connected workstations in the health center at the
lodge of the camp. The CFA staff will be provided training
in the use of electronic health information resources.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
Library, Little Rock, AR, recently received the NN/LM SCR's
Information Access for Public Health Professionals award
for a project entitled: Arkansas Public Health
Information Network. The UAMS Library will collaborate
with the Arkansas Department of Health, the Arkansas Center
for Health Improvement and the UAMS College of Public
Health to improve information services for public health
professionals in the state. A website is planned and the
UAMS Library will conduct training sessions with health
workers and public health students.
Foundation Grants - Writing the
Proposal
Once you have decided
to apply for a grant from a foundation or other private
organization, there are a few things to keep in mind when
you are writing your proposal.
- Proposals sent to foundations are usually fairly
short (between five-seven pages in length), unlike
proposals to Federal agencies, which can be over 100
pages long.
- The most important portions of the proposal package
are the Cover Letter, Executive Summary and Budget.
According to The Foundation Center, some reviewers will
immediately read only these portions of the proposal
before deciding whether the project merits further
attention. Pay special attention to these sections when
writing your proposal.
- Always make sure your project idea matches the
organization's interests. No matter how well written and
well conceived your proposal, if you send it to a
foundation that does not focus on that particular subject
area (e.g. health, education), your project will not be
funded. If you are in doubt as to whether your idea
matches your organization's goals, take a look at some of
their previous grant recipients.
- Read then re-read the instructions! Believe it or
not, one of the ten most common mistakes in proposal
writing is not following the organization's instructions.
Become very familiar with the directions for submitting
an application for funding. The answers to all of your
proposal writing questions are usually contained within
the instructions.
For more information on proposal writing for
foundations:
Proposal Writing Short Course (from the Foundation
Center)
http://fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html
Grant Writing Tools for Non Profit Organizations
http://www.npguides.org/index.htm
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Contents
What's New with NLM Databases?
--Re Mishra, Education-Communications
Coordinator
CANCERLIT
The National Cancer
Institute (NCI) (http://cancer.gov/) recently
retired the CANCERLIT database. The NCI Cancer.gov website
now links to PubMed. CANCELIT Topic Searches have been
replaced with Cancer Topic Searches that search
preformatted searches in PubMed. Plans are underway to
create a Cancer Subset in PubMed.
For more information see: Wright L. CANCERLIT® Retired,
NCI and NLM Collaborate to Improve Access to Cancer-Related
PubMed Citations. NLM Tech Bull. 2003
Mar-Apr;(331):e9. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma03/ma03_nci.html.
Summary Icons
PubMed now displays an
icon link next to each citation. The three icons indicate
if the citation:
- has no abstract (picture of icon - empty notebook
paper),
- has an abstract (picture of icon - notebook paper
with a few lines),
- or has a full-text article (picture of icon -
notebook paper with many lines), available in PubMed
Central (PMC).
For more information see: Nahin AM. PubMed's ®Summary
Display to Include Icons. NLM Tech Bull. 2003
Jan-Feb;(330):e9.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/jf03/jf03_icons.html.
Publication Types and Automatic
Mapping
PubMed will
now map to the Publication Type [PT] when search terms are
entered. In the past, PubMed would normally map to the MeSH
[MH] term only. PT terms search all fields so there are
possibilities of false drops.
Example: Search term - clinical trial (screenshot)
Automatically maps to: (("clinical trial"[Publication Type]
OR "clinical trials"[MeSH Terms]) OR "clinical trial"[Text
Word])
For more information see: Ruiz NI. PubMed®: Publication
Type Mapping. NLM Tech Bull. 2003 Mar-Apr;(331):e1.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma03/ma03_pt.html.
SARS Added to MeSH
Following the issuance
of the global alert by the World Health Organization, NLM
has added Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) to
MeSH.
For more information see: Savage A. New MeSH Descriptor:
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). NLM Tech
Bull. 2003 Mar-Apr;(331):e5. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma03/ma03_sars.html.
British Spelling in MeSH Mapping
NLM has improved the
PubMed MeSH Automatic Mapping feature by adding more
British spelling of words. Users may now enter either the
American or British spelling and the term will map to the
corresponding MeSH term.
For more information see: Nahin A. PubMed's MeSH Mapping
Feature to Include More British Spellings. NLM Tech
Bull. 2003 Mar-Apr;(331):e7.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma03/ma03_british.html.
Phrase Searching in PubMed
The Automatic Term
Mapping in PubMed has changed. Previously, the PubMed
search would automatically map to the MeSH Translation
Table, the Journals Translation Table, the Phrase
Translation Table and the Author Index. Now the Phrase
Table has been moved.
The reason behind the removal of the automatic phrase
mapping is that sometimes the phrase mapping would stop
mapping to the other tables. This would mean that the MeSH
mapping would not occur. Forced phrase searching using
search tags, double quotes and truncation is still
possible.
The change in phrase searching may affect stored Cubby
search strategies. It will be necessary to review any
stored searches to be certain they are still correct
strategies.
For more information see: Nahin AM. Change to PubMed's
Automatic Term Mapping Affects Phrase Searching. NLM
Tech Bull. 2003 Mar-Apr;(331):e3.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma03/ma03_phrase.html.
Subsets in NLM Gateway
The NLM Gateway now
includes subsets under PubMed Journal Citations,
Books/Serials/AVs, and Meeting Abstracts. The subsets can
be found under Limits and are AIDS, Bioethics, History of
Medicine and Space Life Sciences. The subsets are not
available in OLDMEDLINE, Consumer Health and Other
Collections.
For more information see: Demsey A, Shooshan S. Search
Subsets Available in the NLM Gateway Limits Feature. NLM
Tech Bull. 2003 Jan-Feb;(330):e10.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/jf03/jf03_filter.html.
Phrase Detection in NLM Gateway
Multiword searches in
NLM Gateway will no longer require double quotes to force
phrase searching and MeSH mapping. The new Phrase Detection
will automatically map these searches to MeSH terms.
Demsey A. and Shooshan S. NLM Gateway Implements Phrase
Detection. NLM Tech Bull. 2003 Mar-Apr;(331):e8.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ma03/ma03_gateway.html
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Contents
Technology Notes
--Greg Bodin, Technology Coordinator
XML
XML (eXtensible Markup
Language) is a markup language like HTML, the language used
to build traditional web pages. The primary difference
between the two is that while HTML was designed to display
information and dictate how the information appears in a
browser, XML was designed to describe information.
Unlike HTML, XML is an "extensible" language. In HTML
predefined tags such as <strong>, <p>,
<h1>, etc. must be used. Using improper tags or
inventing new tags will cause display errors. In XML the
user can define tags such as <library>,
<database>, <journal>, etc. This gives great
flexibility to describe and store information. Because XML
creates a standard for describing information, it can allow
data transfer between incompatible systems. For example, if
the tag <author> is used, different systems can be
programmed to understand that tag to describe an author of
a published work.
XML focuses on structure and content and not on
presentation (like HTML); therefore, it can be used with a
variety of interfaces and display environments. For
example, a database of library journal holdings could be
created in XML using tags such as <journaltitle>,
<ISSN>, <publisher>, etc. The journals in the
database could then be displayed in a variety of
environments such as a web browser, PDA screen, or cell
phone display. Because XML does not focus on presentation
and formatting, applications can be written to handle
formatting in a variety of environments for the same
content. This is different from a comparable web page
listing library journal holdings, written with HTML. HTML
is written for a particular type of browser; therefore, it
will display properly in Internet Explorer, for example,
and not on a PDA screen or a cell phone display. XML allows
for a smooth transition between various communications
devices.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3) has in-depth
information about the XML specification. There are also a
variety of tutorials available to learn more about XML and
how to construct XML applications.
Webliography
World Wide Web Consortium XML Information
http://www.w3.org/XML/
CNET Builder.com Web Authoring Spotlight on XML
http://builder.cnet.com/webbuilding/pages/Authoring/XmlSpot/
Cover Pages: Extensible Markup Language
http://xml.coverpages.org/xml.html
XML Tutorial
http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp
XML Files - Extensible Markup Language
http://www.xmlfiles.com
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Contents
Partners in Information Access
--Greg Bodin, Technology Coordinator
The revised Partners in
Information Access for the Public Health Workforce website
(http://phpartners.org/) has
been released. This site is a collaborative effort between
U.S. government agencies, public health organizations and
health sciences libraries. The goal of both the Partners
project and the Partners site is to provide the public
health workforce with timely, convenient access to
information resources to aid them in improving the health
of the American public.
The Partners website contains a wealth of useful
resources, including health promotion and health education
resources, literature and guidelines on public health
issues, public health grants and funding information, and
information on legislative issues that affect public
health. Specialized resources such as the Healthy People
2010 Information Access Project (http://phpartners.org/hp/)
and Children's Environmental Health Information Resources
(http://phpartners.org/cehir/index.html)
are also available. (screenshot of Partners home page)
The Partners in this endeavor include:
American Public Health Association
http://www.apha.org/
Association of Schools of Public Health
http://www.asph.org/
Association of State and Territorial Health
Officials
http://www.astho.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/
Health Resources and Services Administration
http://www.hrsa.gov/
National Association of County and City Health
Officials
http://www.naccho.org/
National Library of Medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
http://nnlm.gov/
Public Health Foundation
http://www.phf.org/
Society for Public Health Education
http://www.sophe.org/
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The National
Institute of Mental Health: NIMH
--Michelle Malizia, Outreach
Coordinator
The National Institute
of Mental Health (NIMH) http://www.nimh.nih.gov/,
established in 1949, was one of the first four NIH
Institutes. The mission of the NIMH is to reduce the burden
of mental illness and behavioral disorders through research
on mind, brain and behavior.
Approximately one in five Americans is said to suffer
from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. Major
depression is the leading cause of disability and suicide
is listed as one of the leading causes of preventable death
in the United States. The NIMH is dedicated to turning
research in neuroscience, behavioral science and genetics
into the information necessary to recognize, treat and, in
the future, prevent often crippling mental disorders.
The NIMH website contains separate sections devoted to
practitioners, researchers as well as the general
public.
- The practitioner section contains information
designed to keep mental health professionals up-to-date
on treatment, diagnosis, and statistics by turning
research into practice. Also included in this section are
a significant number of patient educational materials
that can be downloaded for practitioners to hand out to
their patients.
- The researcher section contains a wide array of
information such as NIMH funding, research opportunities,
patient privacy issues, mental health services research
and neuroinformatics.
- The section for the public contains a considerable
amount of brochures, information sheets, reports and fact
sheets designed for the layperson. Topics covered
include: ADHD, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression,
Eating Disorders, Schizophrenia, and Suicide.
The NIMH website is clearly designed for the
dissemination of information. There are links on all second
level pages to PubMed, MEDLINEplus, and Healthfinder.
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DOCLINE Update
--Re Mishra, Education-Communications
Coordinator
DOCLINE v.1.5 Released
DOCLINE v.1.5 was
released on March 3, 2003. Enhancements in this release
include:
- A new Region code, Region 21, was established for
libraries in Mexico to become full DOCLINE participants
enabling them to report holdings data, create routing
tables, and use DOCLINE to request and lend
documents.
- The display of the ISSN will include a description of
physical format for each serial. If multiple ISSNs exist
for a single bibliographic record, all ISSNs will
display. The words '(Print)' or '(Electronic)' will
display following the corresponding ISSN. The following
functions are affected by this change:
- Borrow
- Receipt
- Resubmit
- SERHOLD Record Display
- SERHOLD Add
- SERHOLD Update
- SERHOLD Reports
- Receipts were modified to accommodate the longer
display of ISSN information. ISSN will be moved to its
own line under the PubMed UI field. The Verify field is
being moved to the previous location of the ISSN, on the
line with the NLM Unique ID.
- Receipts were modified to accommodate very long
citations. The citation length was increased to 100
characters.
- The Receipts process was modified to suppress the
display of the Print Receipts button until all request
data has been transferred to the user's browser. The
secondary window for printing and downloading of receipts
has been eliminated, except for Netscape 4.x browser that
continues to require the new window to properly print
receipts.
- Netscape 7 is now supported.
DOCLINE Discontinues Support of Netscape
4.x
As of June 15, 2003 NLM
will no longer support the Netscape 4.x browser for use
with DOCLINE. Libraries using Netscape 4.x to access
DOCLINE should upgrade to Netscape 7, Internet Explorer 6.x
or Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 (Service Pack 2). Netscape 6
continues to be unsupported for DOCLINE use due to numerous
issues with this browser version.
Discontinuing Netscape 4.x support will allow DOCLINE to
take advantage of improved browser technologies in future
development efforts.
DOCLINE system requirements and browser settings can be
viewed at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/docline/system_requirements.html#system.
Ten Millionth DOCLINE Request
The 10 millionth
DOCLINE request was entered into DOCLINE on March 19, 2003
at 11:09am ET. The request includes both Loansome Doc and
DOCLINE transactions. The transaction is a Loansome Doc
request that routed to the Sharp Memorial Hospital (CAUSHX)
in San Diego, CA and was filled.
Here are some recent summary statistics for requests
entered in DOCLINE between February 14, 2003 and March 19,
2003:
Final Action of DOCLINE Requests:
- 91.24% were filled
- 3.12% retired as Beyond Routing Map
- 2.91% were Not Filled (Cost, Incomplete citation,
Copyright, or Canceled)
- 2.46% were Canceled by the borrower
- 0.28% Expired
Delivery Methods of Filled DOCLINE Requests:
| Delivery Method |
by Network |
by NLM |
| Ariel |
19.75% |
40.83% |
| Email (PDF) |
4.52% |
23.19% |
| Email (TIFF) |
0.44% |
1.81% |
| Fax |
10.64% |
4.73% |
| Mail |
64.03% |
28.64% |
| Web (PDF) |
0.40% |
0.77% |
| Web (TIFF) |
0.00% |
0.02% |
Since July 2000, 7,944,336 DOCLINE requests have been
completed. The fill rate since web DOCLINE was implemented
is 91.5%.
The average number of libraries to which a request
routes before it is completed is 1.22.
- 83% of requests are completed on the first route
- 96% of requests are completed after routing to two
libraries
- 4% of requests routed to more than two libraries
Summary statistics for Loansome Doc requests:
- 65.51% are filled by the LD library
- 12.01% are not filled by the LD library and
retire
- 21.12% are transferred into DOCLINE and are
successfully filled
- 1.32 % are transferred into DOCLINE and cannot be
filled
Here are some SERHOLD statistics since June 2000:
- 2,806 libraries have updated 463,254 holdings
- 1,916 libraries have deleted 24,135 holdings
Currently, 3,046 libraries report owning 1,386,125
holdings. There are 52,070 unique serial titles for which
holdings are reported.
The numbers illustrate the success of DOCLINE and the
reciprocal ILL arrangements among DOCLINE libraries.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone.
DOCLINE Statistics
NLM released on
February 27, 2003 the following DOCLINE yearly reports:
1-1AY Summary DOCLINE Borrower Statistics
1-1BY Summary DOCLINE Lender Statistics
1-2AY Detailed DOCLINE Borrower Statistics
1-2BY Detailed DOCLINE Lender Statistics
1-8B Ranked List of Serial Titles Requested (January
2002 -- December 2002)
Further schedule information may be found in the DOCLINE
- Quarterly Reports (Statistics) FAQ,
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/doc_quarterly_reports.html.
Instructions for downloading and printing reports may be
found at HELP/Online Manual/Requests - Reports or at
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/faqdocline.html#reports.
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New
DOCLINE Libraries
--Re Mishra, Education-Communications
Coordinator
The following library
has recently joined DOCLINE:
US Army Institute of Surgical Research Library, Fort Sam
Houston, TX
LIBID: TXUISR
The following library has closed:
Medical Library Presbyterian Tower, OU Medical Center,
Oklahoma
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e-Gov Health
Information Exchange Standards
The Departments of
Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense (DoD) and Veterans
Affairs (VA) announced on March 21, 2003 the first set of
uniform standards for the electronic exchange of clinical
health information to be adopted across the federal
government.
These standards are part of the foundation of the
National Health Information Infrastructure that will serve
consumers, patients, health care providers and public
health professionals. Standardized information exchange,
with privacy and security protections, makes it easier for
health care providers to share relevant patient information
and for public health professionals to identify emerging
public health threats. Standardized information exchange
also makes portable electronic medical records more likely
and easily achievable. The three federal departments that
deliver health care services are coordinating with numerous
other federal agencies to standardize across federal
clinical health information as part of the Consolidated
Health Informatics initiative.
For more information, see the complete press release at:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20030321a.html.
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Clinical Alert
On March 13 , 2003, the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NAIAD) issued a new clinical alert: Important Interim
Results from a Phase III, Randomized, Double-Blind
Comparison of Three Protease-Inhibitor-Sparing Regimens for
the Initial Treatment of HIV Infection (AACTG Protocol
A5095). It is available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/hiv.html.
The list of current Clinical Alerts and Advisories can
be found at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/clinical_alerts.html.
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Published bimonthly by the
National Network of Libraries of
Medicine, South Central Region
Supported by NLM Contract N01-LM-1-3515
NN/LM SCR Regional Advisory Committee
Chair
Kathryn
Hoffman
Network News Editor
Ruicha Mishra
Houston Academy of
Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library
1133 John Freeman Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030-2809
Phone: 800-338-7657 or 713-799-7880
Fax: 713-790-7030
nnlmscr@library.tmc.edu
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