MAR invites applications for the position of Associate Director. See the full job announcement and application instructions.

NN/LM MAR will offer two sessions of the class Measuring Your Impact: Using Evaluation for Library Advocacy this November. One session will be held in New York City at NYU’s Frederick L. Ehrman Medical Library on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.. The other session of the same class will be held in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the Penn State College of Medicine, George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library on Friday, November 21, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m..

Class Description:

Show the value of your libraries’ services. The ultimate goal of this class is to insure that library users and stakeholders will recognize and value the importance of their library’s services and of the librarian to the organization. Participants will become familiar with an evaluation process by using methods and tools for assessment, evaluation planning, creating logic models, data collection and reporting. The workshop will feature a case-based scenario that moves participants through the steps of an evaluation process. Class discussion, lecture, and exercises will help participants take away the skills needed to show the value of their library’s services.

Upon completion class attendees will receive 6 hours MLA CE credit.

Instructors:

Maryanne Blake, Outreach/Evaluation Coordinator, NN/LM, Pacific Northwest Region, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Sue Hunter, Planning and Evaluation Coordinator, NN/LM, Middle Atlantic Region, NYU Health Sciences Libraries, New York, NY.

Class Details:

Session 1: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: New York University, Frederick L. Ehrman Medical Library, 550 First Ave., NY, NY.

Session 2: Friday, November 21, 2008, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Penn State College of Medicine, George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library, 500 University Dr., Hershey, PA.

Register for the class by sending an email to rml@library.med.nyu.edu. Please specify which class session you plan to attend. Registration is free. Class break refreshments and lunch are provided for attendees. The classes are limited in size. Please register by October 30, 2008. Directions and classroom locations will be provided to registrants closer to the class date.

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 NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit is an online resource for emergency preparedness and service continuity planning. The toolkit includes samples of disaster plans, a “first aid kit” for emergency contact information, an eight-step guide to service continuity planning, prepared PubMed searches on specific topics, current alert services for health, weather, and national security, and so much more in-depth information on emergency preparedness.

Some MAR highlights in the toolkit include an insightful interview with Michelle Volesko Brewer, New Jersey Hospital Association, in the Lessons Learned/Stories Told section. Under the Creating an MOU link is a sample memorandum of understanding written by Michelle Volesko Brewer and Barbara Reich, Hackensack University Medical Center.

For more information visit the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit, http://nnlm.gov/ep/

Mark your MLA calendar for the launch of the Middle Atlantic Region Strategic Plan!

Based on feedback from network member libraries in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and with the endorsement of the Regional Advisory Committee, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) Middle Atlantic Region (MAR) is pleased to invite MLA attendees to the launch of our Strategic Program Plan for Member Participation. Please join Karen Brewer, Director of NN/LM MAR, and members of the RML staff for this informative and celebratory launch. Attendees will receive a pocket copy of the plan and our brand new MAR eco-friendly bag.

Date: Sunday, May 18/08
Time: 8:00 a.m. -9:00 a.m.
Place: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Hong Kong room, Gold level, West Tower

For those who cannot attend, the full version of the plan is available on the NN/LM MAR website, http://nnlm.gov/mar/about/plansreports.html

The RML is pleased to announce the newest addition to our website: our new AV Lending Library.

You can now borrow from our collection of videos, DVDs, and CD-ROMs in order to keep up on everything from MLA’s last webcast or to learn more from “Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians!”

Just follow this link to the online order form http://nnlm.gov/mar/services/lendrequest.html

We look forward to sharing these items with you!

Three New Sections Debut on MAR Website

Two new sections debuted on the Resource Sharing & Document Delivery section. Copyright and ILL (http://nnlm.gov/mar/rsdd/copyright.html) will help members navigate the ins and outs of copyright and ILL, including copyright guidelines, the Copyright Clearance Center, and general copyright information. DOCLINE Stats (http://nnlm.gov/mar/rsdd/docstats.html) provides some enlightening numbers for DOCLINE both nationally and regionally. Under About MAR, The Value of Libraries Planning Study page (http://nnlm.gov/mar/about/value.html) keeps members current on one of the exciting projects being conducted by the Regional Advisory Committee. An outline of the project, core group members, and reports from meetings are available. If you have comments or suggestions for improvements or new additions to our Website, please contact us at rml@library.med.nyu.edu.

New Course: PubMed MyNCBI

Arpita Bose and Miguel Figueroa introduced a new course for the Middle Atlantic Region, PubMed MyNCBI. Several attendees learned the unique features of MyNCBI that librarians can utilize for their own work or for enhancing their users’ experiences with PubMed. In addition to filters, saved searches, and automatic updates, attendees learned how to establish shared institutional filters and activate LinkOut holdings with MyNCBI.

RML Reaches out to HUD Neighborhood Networks

Arpita Bose taught a workshop on consumer health information and grant writing to eight members of the Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Networks group in New York City. She was joined by Ms. Fu Mei Yang, who works at the Health Information Center (http://www.nypl.org/health/) of the Mid-Manhattan branch of New York Public Library. Ms. Yang presented local health information web sites to the participants. The class participants, who work at senior centers in New York City, learned about MedlinePlus and NIH Senior Health as well as awards (http://nnlm.gov/mar/funding/) from the RML. Many participants had not heard of MedlinePlus before, and they were excited to learn about this authoritative, reliable consumer health resource.

The RML offers free training on NLM’s consumer health resources, including MedlinePlus, NIH Senior Health, and more. If you represent a community-based organization or faith-based organization in DE, NJ, NY, or PA, please contact Arpita Bose (arpita.bose@library.med.nyu.edu), Outreach and Communications Coordinator, for more information about our training opportunities.