Just a reminder that DOCLINE’s time triggered actions will not take effect on Wednesday July 4th in observance of Independence Day. This means that requests will not route on that day. For more information on time-triggered actions, please see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/doc_time_triggered_actions.html.

If you are taking a vacation over the Fourth of July holiday (or anytime this summer) and need to temporarily deactivate your DOCLINE account, don’t forget to use the DOCLINE Hold Request Form at http://nnlm.gov/rsdd/docline/dochold.html. Please allow at least forty-eight hours lead time to process your request.

HHS Launches Initiative to Improve the Health of Hispanic Elders

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced an initiative to improve the health and quality of life of Hispanic elders. The HHS initiative “Improving Hispanic Elders’ Health: Community Partnerships for Evidence-Based Solutions” is designed to encourage Hispanic elders and their families to take advantage of new Medicare benefits, including prescription drug coverage, flu shots, diabetes screening and self-management, cardiovascular screening, cancer screening services and smoking cessation programs. AHRQ, AoA, CDC, CMS, and HRSA are teaming up to assist local communities in developing more coordinated strategies for improving the health and well-being of Hispanic elders. HHS will start by convening a workshop where teams from the invited areas will learn about state-of-the-art strategies and tactics they can deploy to address disparities among their Hispanic elder populations. The communities invited to apply for this pilot project are: New York, NY; Chicago, IL, El Paso, TX; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; McAllen, TX; Miami, FL; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA.

Read the HHS press release:
http://www.aoa.gov/PRESS/pr/2007/June/6_13_07.asp

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Middle Atlantic Region (MAR), is pleased to announce the following award recipient for the Training and Online Training Development Awards.

The purpose of the training award program is to improve health professionals’, librarians’ and the public’s skills in accessing electronic health information and to foster partnerships between health sciences librarians and health professionals, the public and other librarians.Congratulations all!

Training Award Recipients

• MedlinePlus, PubMed, TOXNET and Clinical Trials.gov “Summer School” classes
  Rochester Regional Library Council, Fairport, NY
  Barbara Ciambor
• What can the 21^st Century Library Offer to Mental Health Practitioners in Rural Areas?
  SUNY Upstate Medical University Health Sciences Library, Syracuse, NY
  Diane Luft
• What can the 21^st Century Library Offer to Mental Health Practitioners in Rural Areas? (two awards)
  SUNY Upstate Medical University Health Sciences Library, Syracuse, NY
  Brad Long
• How to Evaluate Health Information on the Internet
  Northland Public Library, Pittsburgh, PA
  Susan Shea

Online Training Development Award

• Using Wikis in Education
  The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
  Mary Jo Dorsey

And with thanks to the Outreach Committee* who served as reviewers for the awards:

Chair: Valerie Gross, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Pennsylvania

• Marie Ascher, New York Medical College
• Christine DeGoyler, University of Rochester
• Jeff Garvey, Samaritan Medical Center
• PJ Grier, Delaware Academy of Medicine
• Linda Hasman, SUNY Buffalo
• Nancy Henry, Pennsylvania State University
• Diane Luft, SUNY Upstate
• Michelle McIntyre, Roaring Spring Community Library
• Jennifer Melinn, Mental Health Association of SE PA
• Maureen O’Connor, Queens Borough Public Library
• Eileen Smith, Frankford School of Nursing

[*Applications by committee members were reviewed by a subset of the committee and scored using a standard review sheet.]

The Health Literacy Virtual Tool Kit debuted at the conference, Health Literacy: Tools for Improving Health Communications on May 30, 2007 at New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York. Organized by New York Medical College (NYMC), School of Public Health and Health Sciences Library and the Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association (NorMet) the conference saw close to 200 attendees from all types of organizations and groups interested in health literacy. Attendees came from public and health sciences libraries, hospitals, community-based organizations and public health departments.

The Health Literacy Virtual Tool Kit is an outgrowth of the well-received toolkit given to attendees. The Virtual Tool Kit includes links to the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus, Info Rx program, Medical Library Association health literacy information and a Health Literacy video from the American Medical Association, amongst other resources.

The Health Sciences Library of New York Medical College was a recipient of an NN/LM MAR Outreach Conference Award.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Middle Atlantic Region (MAR), is pleased to announce the following award winners for the Technology Improvement Awards.

The purpose of the Technology Improvement Awards is to improve information services to health professionals and health care consumers through the application of appropriate technologies; to improve the adequacy of Internet connections in NN/LM-MAR libraries; or to introduce National Library of Medicine (NLM) services to a hospital that previously lacked access to these services.

Congratulations all!

Technology Improvement Award Recipients

• Microfiche Scanner Update Project
  Barney A. Slotkin Memorial Library, Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Cherry Hill, NJ
  Francine Silverman
• White Nights
  Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences, New York, NY
  Irina Meyman
• Get the Picture? Improving Graduate Medical Education with DVD Technology
  Health Sciences Library, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY
  Gail Hendler
• Going Electronic
  Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck, NJ
  Keydi Boss
• Saint Peter’s University Hospital 2007 Technology Project
  Medical Library, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ
  Jeannine Creazzo
• Lending Laptops in Group Study Rooms / UPS for Library’s Servers
  D. Samuel Gottesman Library, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
  Nancy Glassman
• Riverview Medical Center’s Mobile Computer Lab
  John V. Movelle, M.D. Medical Library, Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, NJ
  Amy Edwards
• Portable Interlibrary Loan / Document Delivery Scanning Station
  Levy Library, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
  Theodora A. Bakker
• Patron Computer Access in the Harold Fink Memorial Library/Reorganization and Increase
  Harold Fink Memorial Library, Coney Island Hospital, Brooklyn, NY
  Laraine Tursi
• Reading Room Wireless Project – NYAM Library
  The New York Academy of Medicine Library, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY
  Yixiong Xu
• St. Francis Medical Library Printer Grant
  St. Francis Hospital, Wilmington, DE
  Rosemary Figorito
• Polisher Research Institute Improvement of Knowledge-Based Information Access Services
  Edward and Esther Polisher Research Institute Library,
  Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life, North Wales, PA
  Rachel Resnick
• Mobile Computer Technology Initiative for Samaritan Medical Center Circuit Rider Librarians
  of the Hospital Library Program of the Northern New York Library Network
  Hunter-Rice Health Sciences Library, Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, NY
  Michael Chartrand

A special thanks also to our Technology Committee, including Wendi Ackerman, SUNY Upstate Health Sciences Library; Stewart Brower, University of Buffalo Health Sciences Library; Leigh Mihlrad, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Susan Robishaw, Geisinger Health System; Michael Wood, Weill Medical College Library; and RML Liaison Gregg Headrick.

Here’s a quick look at some of the events and happenings at the RML this week ending June 8, 2007:

NN/LM MAR’s Internal Advisory Board Meeting on June 6^th

NYU’s Internal Advisory Board (IAB) for the NN/LM MAR met on Wednesday, June 6, for a two hour lunch and meeting. At the meeting, the Internal Advisory Board – comprised of Gustavo Cruz, DDS, Francesca Gany, MD, Lewis Nelson, MD, and Joel Oppenheim, PhD – discussed regional outreach issues and potential partners with Karen Brewer, PhD, NN/LM MAR Director; Kathel Dunn, MSLS, Associate Director; and Arpita Bose, MS, Outreach and Communication Coordinator. The IAB offered their insights on how to make an effective impact with a small amount of resources and identified potential partners in the four state region. The IAB confirmed the direction of NN/LM MAR in choosing a “theme” to focus on; NN/LM MAR will be doing this in its Strategic Plan, drawing on the regional needs assessment conducted this past Spring.

Keeping UP with NLM’s PubMed

Arpita Bose, Outreach and Communications Coordinator, will be teaching a class, Keeping Up with NLM’s PubMed, at Albany Medical College, Albany, NY on June 11. A special thanks to the Capital District Library Council and Christopher Tosh for their work in organizing the course!

A Belated Thank You

Sue Hunter and Miguel Figueroa exhibited at the AAPA (American Academy of Physician Assistants) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, May 29^th and 30^th. They were aided by two wonderful volunteers: Margy Grasberger of Thomas Jefferson University and Kirsten Anderson of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Margy offered conference attendees some of the best 5-10 minute PubMed demonstrations we’ve ever seen while Kirsten showed how important public librarians are in providing health information. Our thanks to both volunteers!

Four Classes at NYU’s Ehrman Medical Library June 14^th and 15^th

Arpita Bose and Miguel Figueroa will be teaching four classes next week at NYU’s Ehrman Medical Library—Keeping Up with PubMed; PubMed for Experts; Docline Explained; and Getting Started with LinkOut. For those who have already registered, a reminder message will be sent out on Monday June 11^th. If you have not registered, you may send a message to rml@library.med.nyu.edu.

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 for NN/LM members. To join or renew your free membership, visit our web site: http://nnlm.gov/mar/services/

To sign up for a class, e-mail us at rml@library.med.nyu.edu

Six classes will be offered—and three are new!

1. NN/LM Funding Opportunities: An Overview

The hour-long webinar will provide an overview of both National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) and National Library of Medicine grants, and a brief discussion of other funding opportunities. The class will review needs assessments, goals and objectives, methodology, creating a budget and evaluation. At the end of the class, participants will be able to identify three methods of conducting a needs assessment, clearly state program goals and objectives and list program evaluations.

Thursday, June 28, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Tuesday, July 24, 9:30am - 11:00am

2. What’s New in PubMed

This hour-long class will review new and noteworthy features in PubMed that are of interest to current PubMed users. This class is offered as an update and is not an introduction to PubMed.

Monday, July 16, 11:00am – 12:00pm

3. NEW! PubMed MyNCBI

This class is presented in two parts. You may attend either session or both.

Part I. Learn how to customize your PubMed experience using MyNCBI (formerly Cubby). 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.

Part II. Create shared filters for your library users’ using MYNCBI. Shared filters 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.

Part I: Tuesday, July 17, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Part II: Tuesday, July 24, 11:00am - 12:00pm

4. LinkOut

This hands-on class is designed to provide step-by-step direction on how to activate LinkOut for a library’s print and electronic journal collections, so that users are able to view holdings and access full-text through the PubMed interface. Topics covered are registration for LinkOut, entering holdings, displaying a library’s icon for branding purposes, and access to free full-text through LinkOut. MLA CE credits available.

Three hours, divided into two sessions. *Attendance at both sessions is mandatory to receive CE credit*
Tuesday, July 31 2:00 - 3:30pm
Tuesday, August 7 2:00 - 3:30pm

5. NEW! 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.

Tuesday, August 14, 3:00 - 4:00pm

6. NEW! Creative Commons: What Is It?
The digital age has caused a plethora of problems concerning copyright. Along comes the concept of Creative Commons to help define the rights of creators, users, and consumers. What is it and how is it used? Take this one hour online class and learn more!

Monday, June 25, 2:00 - 3:00pm
Monday, July 23, 2:00 - 3:00pm