Jenny Pierce, MS
Public Services Librarian
UMDNJ-Health Science Library

Like many libraries the UMDNJ Health Sciences Library at Stratford has a board review collection. These books circulate for 7 days and are the most heavily used of our collection.

Formal cataloging isn’t always useful for this collection. Students refer to books by series or remember the covers. Previously all information regarding board review books was in an html file that listed them by subject. Updating that file was time consuming.

As part of the library’s effort to make information about board review books easier to find we are using the social networking site, LibraryThing.org, as an additional way to organize the Board Review Collection. Librarything uses tagging and other social bookmarking technology. Tagging creates a more intuitive way to both capture information and use it to search.

Part of our collection by title

We joined LibraryThing as a library. Any member can tag up to 200 books. We paid the membership fee so we can tag more. At $15 a year it’s a bargain!

One staff person tagged our entire board review collection and we have been adding books since.

Our tag cloud

Books are added using the ISBN code and a scanner. Tags are added using call numbers, series name and subjects. All information is based on the book’s cover.

Most books have a pre-existing cover image. If not a blank is created by the system.

In addition we have created a review bookmark for students, interns and residents to evaluate the books as learning resources. Once the review is returned the review is added by a staff member.

You can look at our Board Review Collection from our home page or at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/somboardreview.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

The New York State Nurses Association is a multi-purposed professional association with a membership base of over 36,000 nurses. We participate in a variety of library networks which for practical purposes makes us ‘open to the public’ for a wide variety of users. Over 10 years ago the initial design and construction of the library’s computer network was integrated into an association wide network. At that time issues related to security were not of major importance. However, as the library has expanded its user base and access to a variety of databases, security has become a major concern. The current network configuration allows library users inappropriate access to association proprietary information, as well as, potential harm to the network.

The grant was intended to acquire wireless equipment (PCs and printer) that would remove computers used by the ‘public’ from the association’s network and add them to the wireless network designed for outside users who attend various meetings and workshops at the facility. The grant application process was eased by NNLM staff assistance. Our only bump in the road was the delivery of a partial equipment order resulting in a small delay in replacing all the older equipment. All users have commented on the increased speed and better aesthetics of replacing the older PCs with wires everywhere. Library staff stress levels have also decreased slightly as we worry less when someone use and external drive on a PC since only a single PC may be affected by a problem rather than crashing an association wide, multi-office network.

Warren Hawkes- New York State Nurses Association

From the “About Reference Extract”

Intel is ready to begin trials of their new platform for remote patient care with Aetna and others. Their platform encompasses a touchscreen unit, the Health Guide PHS6000, that has a touchscreen, built in webcam and licensed content from the Mayo clinic and others.

Read more about Intel’s endeavor.

Due to the lapse of time between confirmation of award receipt and the actual receipt of the payment, some modifications had to be made to the item order. The shredder was a different brand, but the same quality, and several hundred dollars less (we were unable to get the original quoted price because of a state contract renegotiation). As a result of that major different, an additional toner cartridge was ordered, and two of the ‘regular’ cartridges were upgraded to the ‘extra’ toner cartridges. Lubrication sheets for the shredder were also purchased. Also because of the time delay and contract changes, two of the three printers ordered where of a different series due to discontinuation of the previous series (there was minimal price difference).

The purpose of improving the technology in the Library was to increase the patronage of the physical library, as well as to encourage patrons to use the space for research and discourse. By upgrading the existing printers, and adding a new printer to the computer lab, patron satisfaction has been significantly improved. No longer are there ink stained, illegible print outs from the previous dinosaurs of printers, and no longer are there patrons waiting for the printer to ‘warm-up’ (previously a ten minute process). In the computer lab, students are now able to print out class work, tip sheets, or screenshots, adding value to the attended workshop. The shredder is in a central location, in a locked file room, easy and convenient for the shredding of confidential papers. The scanner has already seen quite a bit of use, as it was immediately converted to upon receipt – the old scanner was given to another team because it was still in usable order, just not for high volume use.

Receiving new public printers has made us rethink the organization and layout of the Library and how useable it is for its patrons. The three public access computers are not in the line of sight from the front entrance so people are surprised to learn that there are computers in the Library. In a similar fashion, there are several public study tables in the back of the Library that are tucked out of the way and are not often used. There are plans in place to rearrange the furniture of the Library before the end of the year, moving the computers and the tables to the front of the Library and the shelving units to the back, with the intention of making patrons aware of the technology improvements and creating a more user-friendly and inviting space.

A before and after photo will be posted on the DSAMH Medical Library webpage as soon as the page’s edits go through the approval process and can be found here: http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dsamh/medical_library.html

Susanne Ingle, MSIS, MLS - Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Medical Library

New Castle, DE 19720

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region, is looking for librarians within the four state region to volunteer to be members of the Technology Committee.  Librarians from member libraries in Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are eligible to serve on the committee for a tenure of 2 years.

The committee undertakes a variety of responsibilities based on the RML’s strategic plan goals, but the main responsibilities include evaluating applications for the technology awards offered by the RML and writing short blog articles on technology in libraries for our web site.  The committee will also aid in shaping future technology award offerings.  Most meetings are held by teleconference so you won’t be limited by distance.

You don’t have to be a tech-head to be a member of the committee, but an interest in technology and how it affects the work of libraries is essential. If you are interested in volunteering to be a member of the committee simply email gregg.headrick@med.nyu.edu with the following information:

• Your name
• Your title
• Your library and type of library (e.g. hospital, academic, public etc..)
• A brief statement of interest on technology and libraries.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Microsoft’s electronic personal health record system has just reached an agreement with Aetna to offer its services to all of Aetna’s clients.  Kaiser Permanente is also, apparently, working on a similar deal with HealthVault.

Read more about the deal at Ars Technica

We have received numerous calls over the past few days regarding LinkOut.

NLM has responded to our questions about these issues.

MyNCBI experienced a system glitch which affected library and publisher icons in PubMed. This was a transient system glitch which was resolved.

If you continue to experience problems, please contact the RML.

The Schaffer Library of Health Sciences used the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region Small Project Grant Award to fund the purchase of Adobe Captivate and Flash software. These products were used to create interactive web-based tutorials for third year medical students in the Family Medicine Clerkship.

Three tutorials demonstrate how students must participate in the editorial process of a daily news service, Physician’s First Watch. Each student is required to submit one newsworthy pitch and sign up for PFW conference calls. A fourth tutorial teaches students how to use Sakai’s wiki tool and the fifth tutorial teaches RRS technology.

Enid Geyer, MLS, MBA, AHIP

Associate Dean for Information Resources and Technology

Google released their own open-source web browser today entitled “Chrome.”  They have released an online comic discussing the various virtues of their new browser which include, among many other new features, fast rendering of pages and tabbed browsing that run each tab as a separate process.  Users of Chrome will also see thumbnails of their most visited pages as well as being able to search directly from the address bar.  

Chrome looks to be a new contender against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox. Take a look at Google’s new browser and let us know what you think!