An attendee visits the booth to learn more about NLM products and services.
MIDDLE ATLANTIC PERSPECTIVE
Newsletter of the
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
Middle Atlantic Region
New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware
| The New York Academy of Medicine - 1216 Fifth Avenue - New York, NY 10029 |
| Volume 14 Number 3 | May - June 2004 |
In This Issue...
News from the RML and from NLMNote: This is a newsletter. The links and information are up-to-date when published and are NOT updated after the published date.
If you would like to propose topics you feel should be covered in the Middle Atlantic Perspective, or, if you would like to write an article, please contact Joanne Jahr at jjahr@nyam.org. Your comments, suggestions and criticisms are welcome.
In RML-land (that’s Regional Medical Library for those who don’t know) the new year began on May 1, Year 4 of our five-year contract, and we are off to a very active start, with an excellent staff in place. Besides those who have been with the program for some time and those who started earlier this year, we are now pleased to welcome Lucretia Coley to a new administrative position. One of Lucretia’s responsibilities will be managing the increased workload connected with our outreach awards and subcontracts.
Our outreach plans for the Middle Atlantic Region for Year 4 can be found on our web site at http://nnlm.gov/mar/outreach/narrative.html. By the time you read this we will also have posted to the web page information about this year’s funding opportunities, which include ongoing Exhibit Awards, Library Technology Improvement and Connectivity awards, as well as $25,000 subcontracts for projects in consumer health information or with the public health workforce. (See Colleen Kenefick’s article elsewhere in this issue to inspire you to apply for an Exhibit Award.)
RML staff attended the Medical Library Association (MLA) meeting in Washington, D.C., which also included the annual meeting of the RML Directors and staff from all the regions. An always popular session at MLA is the annual National Library of Medicine (NLM) Update, this year delivered by Betsy Humphreys.
Among a number of interesting things coming out of NLM was the unveiling of NLM’s redesigned web pages http://www.nlm.nih.gov. The resulting look incorporates an entirely new feel, including easier-to-use navigation and, on many pages, a printer-friendly version option, as well as “bread crumbs,” allowing users to navigate back to previously related pages.
After 125 years of continuous publication, the print Index Medicus will cease in December 2004. With but 155 subscribers, NLM finally decided to “pull the plug.” However, NLM will continue to produce the annual “Black and White” printed MeSH tool and expects to continue the printed “List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus.” (See announcement on p.9)The availability of Index-Cat, the online Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office, (Index-Catalogue) printed from 1880-1961 was announced during the NLM Update. It can be found at http://indexcat.nlm.nih.gov. If I may indulge a personal reminiscence for a moment, I fondly recall in a previous library incarnation working with crumbling paper copies of this wonderful catalogue. I am delighted that its treasures are now readily available even while I look back to those days of hefting large, disintegrating volumes from the shelves of the historical library I then worked in.
During the NLM Sunrise Seminar, Maria Collins of NLM’s DOCLINE team presented some numbers which show just how amazing and efficient DOCLINE really is. During the previous 40 days, 91.4% of all DOCLINE requests were filled, of which 83% of the requests were completed on the first route and 96% were completed on the second route. Only 4% of the requests required more than two routes. On one average “day in the life,” May 19, 2004, of 31,505 requests entered into the DOCLINE system, 19% were completed in less than three hours; 30% were completed in less than six hours; 65% were completed in less than 24 hours; and 88% were completed in less than 48 hours. The average time to fill a request was 1.135 days! In addition, while postal delivery still accounts for 50% of the Network delivery, the percentage is going down and e-mail delivery is rising. To see Ms. Collins’s PowerPoint presentation in its entirety, you can go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/docline/doclinepresentations.html.
Finally, the latest release of DOCLINE (Version 2.1, released on April 5, 2004) features additional cues to alert users to free full text articles in both DOCLINE and Loansome Doc. Because of these additional cues, if requests are sent to NLM for articles that are free in PubMed Central, NLM will fill the request and charge its usual fee.
Returning to our own region, if you have questions regarding our outreach activities for the Region during Year 4, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our class and workshop schedule seems to be expanding exponentially, and we are eager to provide the kind of training and information you need. We strongly encourage Network members to provide us with your feedback and opinions at any time throughout the year, by e-mail, by phone, in person, or on evaluation forms. We are always happy to hear your opinions or to answer questions. We look forward to working with you!
(Thanks to Joanne Jahr for many of the statistics included above!)
The report of activities related to LinkOut at the MLA annual meeting 2004 is now available at the LinkOut home page http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/linkout/ (select “Library Submission” from the menu on the left-hand side and then select “LinkOut at MLA 2004.”)
The report can be found directly at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/linkout/doc/usermtg2004.html and includes a summary of the information presented at MLA as well as links to PowerPoint presentations, including “Getting Started with LinkOut” by Susan Barnes, Resource Sharing Coordinator at the NN/LM Pacific Northwest Region, and Denise O’Shea, Technology Coordinator at the NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region.
To join the Library-linkout mailing list, see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mailman/listinfo/library-linkout and, for further information or assistance with LinkOut, please contact Denise O’Shea at 212-822-7358 or doshea@nyam.org
We were very fortunate in recently receiving a NN/LM MAR award to exhibit at the Long Island Library Conference, held on May 5. Our goal was to promote the products and services of the National Library of Medicine and the NN/LM—particularly to staff members of the many public libraries on Long Island to expand their knowledge and comfort level with health and wellness information. Consumers often go to a public library first to receive answers to their personal health questions.
An attendee visits the booth to learn more about NLM products and services.
On a bright and sunny Wednesday, the conference was held at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. Sponsored by both the Nassau County Library Association and the Suffolk County Library Association it has become a traditional rite of spring for librarians, library directors, clerical workers, library aids, teachers and scores of others who attend the annual one-day conference. Mary Chimato, Michael Huang, Colleen Kenefick, and Susan Werner, Stony Brook University Health Sciences Library, and Kris Minschke, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, took turns staffing the booth throughout the day.
(l-r) Susan Werner, Michael Huang, Colleen Kenefick, and Mary Chimato enjoy
a moment at the exhibit.
Peggy Falls, the RML Outreach Coordinator, sent us a ready-made tabletop exhibit for this program. We received it a few days before the event, which was lucky, as we learned how to set it up and break it down in the privacy of the library. By the time we got to the conference, we almost looked like pros. On the day of the conference, we joined 98 other vendors at 7:00 a.m. for coffee and bagels in the exhibit area and were fully ready for business when the conference opened at 7:30 a.m.
Claire Joseph Horst, director of the Jules Redish Memorial Medical Library at South Nassau Communities Hospital, presented a session on the “TopTen” health web sites for consumers early in the morning, which generated a lot of interest in our exhibit for the rest of the day. We distributed ten different fact sheets adapted from the National Library of Medicine website as well as other materials. There were 58 attendees who entered to win an Elizabeth Blackwell afghan from the History of Medicine Collection at NLM. Karen Jaffe, a librarian at Comsewogue Public Library in Port Jefferson Station, won the coveted prize.
(l-r) Kris Minschke, Suffolk Cooperative Library System; Colleen Kenefick,
Stony Brook University Health Sciences Library; and winner of the NLM History
of Medicine Collection afghan, Karen Jaffe, Comsewogue Public Library, Port
Jefferson Station, NY.
At the end of a long day, immediately after all the exhibit materials had been loaded into our cars, the sky darkened and the rains came. As we headed back home in the rain and reflected on the day, we all agreed it was definitely a worthwhile venture. Throughout the conference, many librarians spent considerable time at our exhibit booth discussing their experiences with answering consumer health questions.
It was a great experience seeing a conference from a different perspective
and we would encourage other librarians to apply for this award. The proposal
was painless to put together and it was an eye-opening event to see a conference
from the vendor side of the table. Proposals are accepted from
NN/LM MAR full and affiliate members, state health science library associations,
health science library consortia, and public libraries. For more information
on this award please see:
http://nnlm.gov/mar/ExhibitAward.html
Would you like some free publicity for your library’s services in a
national resource?
Do you answer health-related questions from the public? Your library may be
eligible for the MedlinePlus “Find a Library” Directory http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/libraries.html
The MedlinePlus “Find a Library” feature was released in April
of 2003. Located under the ‘Other Resources’ section, it includes
a map of the United States with links to a directory of libraries willing to
answer health information questions from the public.
Of the 816 Network libraries in the NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region (full and affiliate members) there are three in Delaware, 27 in New Jersey, 32 in New York, and 27 in Pennsylvania that are currently listed in the directory. If you would like to add your library to the MedlinePlus “Find a Library” feature and you have a DOCLINE account:
Update your DOCLINE record by clicking on ‘Services and Fees’ in your record and then, either click on ‘Other Services’ or, scroll to ‘Other Services’ at the bottom of the screen. Click on the “Yes” bullet after the statement “Authorizes listing in MEDLINEplus Consumer Health Libraries Directory” and click on ‘SAVE’ at the bottom of the screen.
Remember to make certain that your contact information listed in DOCLINE is
accurate because that is what will appear in the MedlinePlus directory.
If you are an affiliate member (and consequently do not have a DOCLINE account),
and provide answers to health-related questions from members of the public,
and would like to be added to the directory, contact the RML office at 212-822-7396.
We will be happy to process the request for you.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 212-822-7353 or rallard@nyam.org.
In May 2003 the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) formed the Hospital Internet Access Task Force to identify common information technology (IT) barriers in hospital libraries and to recommend practical solutions to address those barriers. In this context barriers encompass categories relating to policy, security, software, hardware, firewalls, communication, and Internet connectivity issues. Best practices that have been identified thus far for overcoming these barriers include training, technical solutions and improvements in communication between IT departments and the library.
The task force is chaired by Ruth Holst, Associate Director, NN/LM Greater Midwest Region and includes several representatives from our region:
The Task Force met by conference call 16 times between May 22, 2003 and May 13, 2004. Among its many accomplishments, it made arrangements to host an Open Forum at the MLA Annual meeting held this past May in Washington, D.C. The Forum served as a venue to share the work of the Task Force; to gather additional information about barriers and solutions; and to get feedback on the best way to disseminate the results of the data gathered by the Task Force. The Task Force recruited three hospital librarians to present case study scenarios during the Forum. The panelists included Terrie Wheeler, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System; Janet Cowen, Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME; and Michelynn McKnight, Norman Regional Hospital, Norman, OK. Each librarian presented successes they have had in dealing with their IT departments and challenges posed by information technology. After their presentations, lively discussion ensued as members of the standing room only audience shared additional challenges and solutions they had encountered. The Task Force will take the ideas generated at the meeting and incorporate them into its final list of recommendations. At that meeting Marilyn Teolis, chair of the Hospital Libraries Section Information Technology Committee, volunteered to collaborate with the Task Force in disseminating information to hospital librarians. We will continue to keep you informed as the Task Force continues its work.
The Internet has introduced a number of challenges for physicians in their daily interactions with patients. Of these, one of the most profound challenges is the availability of unreliable sources of health information on the Internet. Ask any practicing physician to explain why this availability often hinders as opposed to aiding patient education. First, the physician spends precious examination time explaining or proving to a patient why a resource found on the Internet is not reliable. The information may be inaccurate or out-of-date. In addition, some physicians are not aware of the best available Internet resource to refer patients.
The American College of Physicians Foundation (ACPF) has teamed with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to address these challenges to make the task of educating patients easier. In 2003, the ACPF and NLM launched the “Health Information Referral Project” in Iowa and Georgia. The “Health Information Referral” or Information Rx project provides physicians with the tools and resources needed to provide patients with prescriptions for quality health information from MedlinePlus. Instead of the patient coming to a visit with information obtained from searching Google on the Internet, the physician writes an Information Rx directing the patient to MedlinePlus.
Physicians participating in the project write the patient an Information Rx on a prescription pad similar to the one used to prescribe a medication. The physician provides the patient with an information prescription at the time of diagnosis or when a medication is prescribed. Consider the following scenario: Dr. John Smith has just diagnosed his patient Josephine Doe, 45, with Type II Diabetes. Dr. Smith believes that patients who are knowledgeable about their health have the best outcomes with disease management. For this reason, Dr. Smith wants Ms. Doe to learn as much about her newly diagnosed condition as possible so he writes her a prescription for the drug Avandia and an Information Rx for Diabetes. Ms. Doe has two options for filling her information prescription. Either she can take her information prescription home to access the MedlinePlus Web site, or she can visit a branch of her local public library or a consumer health library to access the site.
Selected ACP and non-ACP members in Virginia are working with the ACPF and NLM to continue the pilot. While physicians from across the state can participate, a core group of Richmond-area and Northern Virginia physicians working with Jean P. Shipman, Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences and Elizabeth McTigue of Inova Health System’s Jacob D. Zylman Health Sciences Library respectively, will provide detailed feedback to NLM and ACPF.
In January 2004, NLM sent a letter to public and health sciences librarians across the state announcing the project and soliciting input. Librarians from VCU’s Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, the University of Virginia’s Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, and Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Edward E. Brickell Medical Sciences Library responded by offering in-depth MedlinePlus training sessions to public librarians in their respective regions. One outcome of the initial pilot was that physicians did not give information prescriptions to some patients because they assumed they did not have access to computers or the Internet. This is why the Virginia pilot has among its goals exploring the role libraries can play in ensuring that all patients can fill their information prescriptions through their local library.
To order Information Rx materials,
http://www.InformationRx.org
Physicians and librarians in need of Information Rx products can order through the Information
Rx online ordering system.
Information Rx Took Kit,
http://nnlm.gov/hip/inforx
The Information Rx Tool Kit is a result of the partnership with the Virginia
health sciences libraries. The Tool Kit is designed to assist libraries with
any project-related outreach activities they may wish to initiate. This Tool
Kit was collaboration with Virginia health sciences libraries, the National
Library of Medicine, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and other
libraries in Iowa and Virginia. The Tool Kit contains tested materials, outlines,
contact information for assistance, and suggestions for a variety of activities
associated with the promotion of the Information Rx Project.
American College of Physicians,
http://www.acponline.org/
The American College of Physicians (ACP) is the nation’s largest medical
specialty society. Its mission is to enhance the quality and effectiveness
of health care by fostering excellence and professionalism in the practice
of medicine. ACP membership includes about 115,000 physicians and students
in general internal medicine and related subspecialties, including cardiology,
gastroenterology, nephrology, endocrinology, hematology, rheumatology, neurology,
pulmonary disease, oncology, infectious diseases, allergy and immunology, and
geriatrics.
National Library of Medicine (NLM),
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
The National Library of Medicine, on the campus of the National Institutes
of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world’s largest medical library.
The Library collects materials in all areas of biomedicine and health care,
as well as works on biomedical aspects of technology, the humanities, and the
physical, life, and social sciences. The collections stand at more than seven
million items—books, journals, technical reports, manuscripts, microfilms,
photographs and images.
Virginia Council of Health Sciences Librarians (VaCOHSL) Rx page
http://www.cbil.vcu.edu/mac/vacohsl/informationprescription.htm
The Virginia Council of Health Sciences Librarians consists of members from
the state of Virginia who work, consult, volunteer, or who have a general interest
in health sciences libraries.
Reprinted with permission
Please note: For further information, contact Rhonda Allard, the NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region Consumer Health Information Coordinator at 212-822-7353 or rallard@nyam.org
We welcome Manhattan Psychiatric Center, NYUIVK, as a Level 3 BHSL participant.
If you add it to your Routing Table, please place it in cell 3.
New EFTS Participants
We welcome the following DOCLINE institutions to EFTS:
Franklin Hospital Medical Center, NYUFRK
Oncology Nursing Society, PAUONS
St. Joseph Medical Center, PAUJHM
WCA Hospital, NYUACW
Mergers
General Hospital Center at Passaic, NJUPGP, and Passaic Beth Israel Hospital, NJUBIH, have merged. The new entity is now PBI Regional Medical Center. The collection at the Passaic Beth Israel library has been merged into that of General Hospital Center at Passaic and the LIBID used by the merged collection is NJUPGP. Passaic Beth Israel, NJUBIH, appears in the routing tables of 64 institutions. If it is in your routing table, please remove it.
The Bayley Seton Library of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (NYUUSP) has closed and its collection merged with that of the Fournarakis Medical Library, St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers (NYUNSI). If the Bayley Seton Library is in your routing table, please remove it.
2004 March - April; 337
Technical Notes: - e1Link to Clinical Queries Added to MeSH® Database - e2
PubMed Central™: New Journals Participating and New Content Added - e3
Entrez Programming Redesign Improves PubMed ® - e4
NLM Classification 2004 Edition Now Available - e5
New Look for NLM® Web Site Coming Soon - e6
2004 MLA Meeting Reminder and Invitation - e7
PubMed® History Feature To Include Extra Options - e8
Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS®) Changes - e9
New Book Added to NCBI Bookshelf™
Additional Digitized Back Issues Available in PubMed Central™
New Clinical Alert Issued
ChemIDplus Update
Review of PDA Applications in Toxicology and Environmental Health
New TOXNET Resource: International Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER) Database
Changes in MedlinePlus®
Inactive PubMed® Cubby Accounts to be Canceled
“Microbial Diversity: Let’s Tell It How It Is” Added to Coffee Break
PubMed for Handhelds Has New URL
NLM Gateway Searches TOXLINE® Special
PubMed® MeSH Database Animated Tutorials
MedlinePlus® Goes Local With Missouri Community Connection
PubMed® LinkOut Display for Links to HSDB® Updated
NCBI Bookshelf Adds New Book
Serials Data for Titles in NLM’s List of Serials Indexed for Online Users is Now Available in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Format
PREFERENCE FOR DVD VS. VHS FORMATS
In February 2004, at the behest of NLM’s Preservation Department, the eight NN/LM Regional Medical Libraries were asked to poll their members regarding library use of VHS tapes vs. DVDs. When acquiring audiovisuals, NLM has been specifying VHS when this format is available, and when preserving old AVs it has been making VHS patron copies. They undertook to examine this policy and asked for feedback. We posted an announcement on MARL, our regional email list, reproducing the questions asked by the Preservation Department. Below are the results of the survey, with the responses from all of the regions.
Preferences for DVD vs. VHS Formats Survey of Members by NN/LM Regional Medical Libraries
1. Would libraries that borrow AVs from NLM prefer DVD or VHS?
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Some problems playing DVDs:
- Patrons don’t know how to use DVD players.
- A DVD brought in by a patron would not play.
- Foreign DVDs are a problem.
- Some DVDs only play on a PC DVD drive.
- Scratches and dirty surface cause DVDs not to play.
4. Some General Comments from respondents
We would like to thank all of those in the NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region who took the time to respond. As a result of the information collected, NLM will continue to purchase VHS tapes when they are available and to produce VHS user copies when duplicating for preservation. The primary reason for this decision is the significant number of NN/LM libraries that do not have DVD equipment. NLM will monitor the availability of VHS tapes from publishers and progress toward a standard for DVDs and repeat the survey of NN/LM libraries in about two years—or sooner—if developments warrant.
After 125 years Index Medicus to Cease as Print Publicationfrom: NLM Technical Bulletin,. 2004 May-June (338):e2. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj04/mj04_im.htmlThe printed Index Medicus, started by John Shaw Billings in 1879 and published for 125 consecutive years, will cease at the end of 2004. Once an indispensable tool for health professionals and librarians, it is now a seldom used alternative to PubMed® and other Internet-based products that contain the database from which Index Medicus has been generated for nearly 40 years. For years, Index Medicus has been invaluable in medical care, education, and research, but use of the printed index declined slowly once MEDLINE® became available in 1971. Subscriptions to Index Medicus declined more noticeably in the 1980s with the introduction of end-user searching and dropped precipitously once MEDLINE was available free on the Internet in 1997. In 2000, NLM® ceased publication of the annual Cumulated Index Medicus. In that same year, the Government Printing Office recognized PubMed as the definitive permanent source of MEDLINE data and no longer required Depository Libraries to retain the printed Index Medicus. By 2003, the number of subscribers to the monthly Index Medicus fell to 155 and even for countries in the developing world demand for the publication is almost non-existent. The lack of use of Index Medicus is a natural result of free world wide availability of more complete, current, and easily searched electronic versions of the NLM's authoritative indexing data. Although the printed Index Medicus will cease, journals recommended for inclusion in MEDLINE by NLM's journal selection advisory committee will still be distinguishable from other journals in PubMed. NLM will continue to produce the annual Black and White printed MeSH tool and also expects to continue the printed List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus, perhaps expanding its coverage to all indexed MEDLINE journal titles. NLM also will continue its indexing practice of starring MeSH terms as the main point of an article. Even though the printed Index Medicus (which lists citations under their starred headings only) will cease, there is still a need to designate the main points of an article for online retrieval. For those users who do not wish to rely solely on PubMed access to NLM indexing data, there are numerous other Internet versions of MEDLINE as well as several commercial CDROM products. The MEDLINE data are available free under a license agreement should any company wish to publish a printed product. For many years, NLM has considered the MEDLINE database to be the definitive version of its indexing data, and the Library is firmly committed to ensuring the integrity and availability of the data via its online systems. MEDLINE data are backed up each night and after one month the data is stored off site. In addition, NLM is currently establishing a remote site for critical NLM systems, including the indexing data creation and maintenance system and the complete version of PubMed. If necessary, users will be switched over to full searching of PubMed at the remote site without any interruption in access. If you have questions or comments about Index Medicus please send them to: publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov. |
NN/LM, Middle Atlantic Region
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10029
Phone: 212-822-7396 or 800-338-RMLS; Fax: 212-534-7042
Email: user name (first initial last name) followed by @nyam.org; URL: http://nnlm.gov/mar
NN/LM STAFF
Director - Maxine L. Rockoff, Ph.D.
Associate Director - Mary Mylenki
Consumer Health Information Coordinator - Rhonda Allard
Education Programs Coordinator - Joan Seidman
Network Programs Coordinator - Joanne Jahr
Outreach Programs Coordinator - Peggy Falls
Technology Coordinator - Denise O'Shea
Administrative Assistant - Dorothy Weyeneth
Administrative Assistant - Lucretia Coley
NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER AND CLEARINGHOUSE STAFF
Assistant Director - Maureen Czujak
Online Analyst - Sharon A. Brown
Online Analyst - Mary Van Antwerp
Assistant for Training Services - Eva Daniels
Middle Atlantic Perspective is supported under NLM contract N01-LM-1-3521and is published bi-monthly.
Middle Atlantic Perspective Index | NN/LM
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NN/LM-
Middle Atlantic
Region New York Academy of Medicine 1216 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10029 Site maintained by MAR STAFF Revised: April 12, 2004 URL: http://www.nnlm.gov/mar/perspec/2004/0003.html |