In March 2007, The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) applied for a Technology Improvement Award from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region (NNLM/MAR) for the purpose of setting up a wireless network in the Library’s Reading Room. In July 2007, the NNLM/MAR awarded $7,500 to the NYAM Library for this project.

 The New York Academy of Medicine’s building was constructed in 1927 and, as such, is an old building full of cement and steel bars, making the installation of a wireless network extremely difficult.  We are pleased to report that our installation was successful and the Library now has a completely wireless network.

 Although it is difficult to formally evaluate the impact of having wireless internet access in the Library, we can say that our patrons are very pleased as it has made their research process much simpler.  In the past, patrons would have to use the public workstations to search our catalog and databases and then enter their findings onto their laptops.  Now this is a one-step process that can be accomplished on their laptops anywhere in the Library.

 NYAM staff and visitors, in increasing numbers, are also using our wireless service. Mount Sinai students who will be using the NYAM Library while their library is renovated this summer were very happy to hear that wireless would be available to them here. The members of an evidence-based emergency medicine group that meets at NYAM each August were equally pleased when notified of our new wireless service.

 The availability of wireless internet access has made a positive impact on service at The New York Academy of Medicine Library and we are most grateful to the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/Middle Atlantic Region for their financial support.

 Yixiong Xu.  The New York Academy of Medicine Library.  New York, NY.

Our project was entitled “Sharper Image: Library Presentations Using Photoshop CS3″.  The Health Sciences Library of New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, used our Microaward grant to purchase a copy of Photoshop CS3.  The first photographs we edited using PhotoShop CS3 went up on our library web page on April 1st.  The photos were taken at a database search training session just a few days earlier.  You can view the results by going to our library web page http://nymlibrary.nyp.org/hslibrary.  Using photographs of familiar people and places in the hospital on the web site is an excellent way to feature our library users as well as to promote our activities.

Dorothy Schwartz- New York Methodist Hospital- Medical Library, Brooklyn, NY.

On April 5, 2008 the St. Francis Women’s Health unit and the St Francis Medical Library sponsored a health fair at the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The theme of the health fair was “Healthy Women=Healthy Moms=Healthy Babies”.   The target audience was the local Hispanic community.  We chose this area and population because Delaware has been cited as the sixth leading state in the nation for infant mortality. 

The exhibits included blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, glucose screening and HIV testing. Information was available on lead testing in the home, cancer screening, diabetes and a heart healthy lifestyle.  Great educational materials were provided by the National Library of Medicine.  Most of the materials were available in Spanish.

Our physicians and nurses that volunteered to work the fair were all Spanish speaking. The women and men attending the fair were given one on one attention. Several very ill women were identified and referrals were made. Information was given to all attendees concerning access to health care and insurance.

The health fair was a great success with over 80 attendees.  Everyone left with bags of health information and some fun giveaways. 

Rosemary Figorito.  St. Francis Medical Library.  Wilmington, DE

When Charlotte Fischman, Chairperson of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), New York Chapter, approached John Ganly, Assistant Director for Collections at the Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL), with a request to consider bringing the exhibit The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From A State Hospital Attic to SIBL, the response was an immediate yes.

 The exhibit The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From A State Hospital Attic, focuses on the over 600 suitcases discovered in the attic of the Willard Psychiatric Clinic near Albany after it had closed in 1995.  In the suitcases were the belongings of patients housed at Willard over the past century. Personal items such as, a shaving kit, a sewing box and photographs taken in a coin vending photo machine were among the reminders of lives lost within the institution.  Patient histories documented in the exhibit included that of a WW ll veteran, an Eastern European immigrant and a young woman accused of irrational thinking. Each patient’s story documented years of institutionalization that often ended in death and an unmarked grave.  Dr. Peter Stastny and Darby Penney spent 10 years researching the suitcases and the exhibit and an accompanying monograph recount the story.

 The response to the exhibit at SIBL was amazing. More than 30,000 persons visited the exhibit between December 4 and February 6.   Visitors would often stop SIBL staff members to offer thanks and to share personal stories related to family experiences with institutionalization. One particularly poignant story came from a woman who discovered that her grandfather had died at Willard and was buried in a grave marked only with his patient number. The woman found the grave and erected a stone in his memory.  Several public programs were offered in conjunction with the exhibit, each with a large turnout resulting in standing-room only. A final program focused on African American attitudes to mental health presented by Vanessa Jackson drew over 200 attendees.

 The on-line version of the exhibit can be viewed at suitcaseexhibit.org

John Ganly, Science Industry & Business Library- The NYPL, New York, NY

The sum of the three $500 grants for the “What Can the 21^st Century Library Offer to Mental Health Practitioners in Rural Areas?” project  have shown some initial success with significant potential for further expansion.  The Health Sciences Library at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY was looking to provide library services to unaffiliated health care professionals located in the rural counties of central New York.  This unmet information need was initially identified by our Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine.  The team formed to proceed with this project included George Blakeslee, a social worker in the Department of Psychiatry, Diane Davis Luft, Assistant Director of  Customer Services in the Health Sciences Library, and Bradley A. Long, Head of  Reference and Liaison Services in the Health Sciences Library.

The first group that we approached was Chenango County Mental Hygiene Services, located in Norwich, NY.  Our initial focus was to approach them to provide document delivery, mediated searches, and to potentially manage an extended trial of  the PsychiatryOnline database for them.  After an initial meeting, and after a subsequent meeting with the IV County Mental Hygiene Directors (Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, and Schoharie counties) it was determined that grant funded document delivery and mediated searching services were very desirable.  However, it was not an option to provide subscriptions to any online resources could not be financially sustained after the conclusion of the trial.  On a positive note, it was determined that their information needs could be redirected towards the creation of a project specific webpage containing links to free websites with quality mental health information for both the professional and the consumer.  This led us to create the R-Psych Library, specifically for this group, with Chenango County Mental Hygiene Services as apparently our most active user.

The one service that we were not equipped to handle was interlibrary loan requests for books.  However, after consulting with the Guernsey Memorial Library, Norwich, NY, they were more than willing to provide this service to the employees of the Chenango County Mental Hygiene Services who resided within the county.  By dealing directly with local public libraries for book ILL requests, this should help us remove this service barrier.  Also, it will open the possibility of working directly with the local public libraries on other community health initiatives that Health Sciences Library already has in place.

 The project has shown initial success with Chenango County, with unforeseen expansion to two state hospitals that no longer have their own libraries.  They are the Greater Binghamton Health Center and Hutchings Psychiatric Center in Syracuse.  Additionally, we have since been approached by the Broome County Health Department to expand the service to the public health sector, for which initial work has begun.  Other county mental health departments have been reluctant to engage in the project, but continued marketing and commitment on our part should hopefully address this issue.  Also, our continued effort to seek various funding resources will help this project continue to its fullest potential.

Bradley A Long- Health Sciences Library. SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY.

Join MAR staff and network members for online classes in June, July, and August. You can participate in a class from the comfort of your own (hopefully) air-conditioned office—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

10 classes will be offered—and 3 are new!

June

1. 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.

June 11, 11:00 am-12:00 pm

2. NEW! 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 new 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 summer months.  If you need this training, please contact Miguel Figueroa (figueroa@library.med.nyu.edu) to make individual arrangements.

June 19, 2:00-3:00 pm

3. 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.

June 24, 10:30 am-12:00 pm

4. 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.

June 24, 2:00-3:00 pm

July

5. Introduction to TOXNET

Learn how to find information on chemicals, toxic releases, toxicology literature, and toxicology data files with NLM’s TOXNET set of databases. TOXNET is a rich resource for environmental health, toxicology, and chemical hazards.

July 8, 10:00-11:00 am

6. NEW! Summer DOCLINE Tune-Up

This quick and informal session will highlight ten things you can do this summer 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.

July 9, 11:00 am-12:00 pm

7. DOCLINE: Reports, Routing Tables and More

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.

July 9, 1:00-2:00 pm

8. NEW! Service Continuity Planning

An emergency can be as wide-scale as a hurricane or as local as a burst pipe in the book stacks. Do you know how to ensure the continuation of your primary services and access to your primary resources in the event of an emergency at your library? Learn (and share) strategies during this 90 minute class.  Dan Wilson, Coordinator, NN/LM Emergency Preparedness Project, will present a simple, relatively quick, approach to creating a service continuity plan. Dan Wilson is Associate Director for Collection Management and Access Services at University of Virginia Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

July 15, 10:00am-11:30am

9. Introduction to RML Services

What can the RML do for you?  This one-hour introduction will help new and existing members answer that question and more.  Attendees will learn about free promotional materials, funding opportunities, and training sessions. Special focus will be paid to the NNLM MAR Website so that users can learn to find what they need when they need it.

July 16, 10:30-11:30 am

August

10. 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 one hour 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.

August 12, 2:00-3:00 pm

The June 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:

More than a Feeling
How the Arts Affect Your Health
For thousands of years, people have searched for the meaning and beauty of life in music, painting, poetry and other arts. Now scientists are finding that the arts can benefit both your mental and physical health.
full story

What Makes Your Head Hurt?
Tension is the Most Common Culprit
If you suffer from headaches, you’re not alone. Headaches are one of the most common health complaints. But only rarely do they warn of a serious illness.
full story

Health Capsules:

·   Fat Cell Numbers Stay Constant in Adults

·   Blood Pressure Control and Kidney Disease

·   Featured Web Site: Asian American Health

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.