No doubt many medical librarians throughout the Greater Midwest Region (GMR) are dreaming of beaches and beautiful sunsets thanks to this year’s Medical Library Association (MLA) conference being held in Hawaii (May 15-20, 2009). Others may be dreaming of the recently announced funding opportunities in the GMR (http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/). Some may be dreaming of both.
If you are in the “both” category, perhaps you missed a great MLA News article from March 2009 entitled Seeking Grant Funding for Consumer Health Projects. Although the GMR does not fund grants per se (our subcontracts and awards work on a cost-reimbursement basis), the information in the article available online to MLA members after signing in to the MLA News website has some great pointers that are useful to anyone looking to secure funding for a great consumer health or other project. (more…)
The creators of the Second Life, Linden Lab announced their 1st Linden Prize winners last week (http://lindenlab.com/lindenprize). Among the two winners was “Virtual Ability Island”; the virtual island that was created as a part of the Alliance Virtual Library. This is a group of virtual islands use by people with chronic health and disabilities.
The Alliance Library System (ALS) in Illinois, a member of the GMR, worked with the Virtual Ability Organization to plan and build this award winning orientation center. Virtual Ability Island was partially funded by the NN/LM consumer health subcontract - “Share the Health”. The ALS will have the distinction of being the first NN/LM supported project that has received this prestigious virtual award. ALS and Virtual Ability continue to partner on health information services in Second Life.
Please contact Lori Bell (lbell927@gmail.com), if you would like to know more about this award winning virtual island or the partnership! Congratulations!!
Christopher Childs
Education & Outreach Librarian
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences
University of Iowa
New Influenza A (H1N1) also known as the Swine Flu Resource Guide Available from the Hardin Library
A new resource guide containing information on Influenza A (H1N1) has been created and is available from the Hardin Library. All of the information contained in this guide is free and available to the public. The guide includes: national & international resources, maps, blogs, an RSS and Twitter feed, Iowa resources, articles, and consumer health resources available in English, Spanish and multiple Languages.
The National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide links to resources about the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak. The National Library of Medicine Division of Specialized Information Services has released an Enviro-Health Links page on Swine Flu. This page contains links to resources about the flu outbreak, including transmission, prevention, treatment, and the genetic makeup of the influenza virus. MedlinePlus released a new health topic page on Swine Flu: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/swineflu.html. The page is also provided in Spanish: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/swineflu.html.
MedlinePlus - Multiple Languages provides information in Arabic to Vietnamese on the MedlinePlus: Flu - Multiple Languages site: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/flu.html. Related Multiple Language links from MedlinePlus include the Germs and Hygiene resources: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/germsandhygiene.html translated in ASL (American Sign Language), Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
The World Health Organization site: http://www.who.int/ provides information in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and English.
An easy way to post updated information is to use the widget seen below:
Clicking on Get widget now! will bring you to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Image and Icon Library and the code for this installing the widget on your web page.
Additional resources are included on PandemicFlu.gov providing one-stop access to U.S. Government swine, avian and pandemic flu information.
Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
InfoPoint Librarian
Health Sciences Libraries
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
The University of Michigan Health Sciences Libraries’ outreach program promoted MedlinePlus in a multitude of venues this year. In some cases, there were repeat performances-at the U of M’s Dental School’s Give Kids a Smile (U of M Health Science Libraries Cooperate with Give Kids a Smile) and at the Asian-American Health Fair (Asian American Outreach at U of M) for example. Other situations were first-time events, like the Ann Arbor Art Fair (After the Ann Arbor Art Fair) and the Ann Arbor Bookfest. And at some times, we found ourselves in a very special place with very special people, as in the instance of our appearance at the Washtenaw County Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (Going Beyond: A Workshop for the Blind and Physically Disabled) or the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living. We also mixed and mingled with a nice cross-section of the public when presenting reliable online health information at the Ann Arbor District Library. Occasionally during our outreach events, we ran into people who remembered us from previous encounters and even seemed rather pleased to meet us again. (more…)
Last week, Go Local North Dakota reported utilizing the Featured Site option on the North Dakota Go Local homepage. For those of you in Minnesota, the Featured Site on My Health Minnesota→Go Local links to flood Information as well. Take a look at the useful and interesting information on both the North Dakota and Minnesota Go Local sites.
For all you Web 2.0 participants, of particular interest is the the social network site created by The Forum, the newspaper for the Fargo-Moorhead area: http://flood.inforum.com/. To access MedlinePlus Go Local, see http://medlineplus.gov and follow the link to Go Local.
Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
InfoPoint Librarian
Health Sciences Libraries
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
The Give Kids a Smile free annual dental care event, held at the University of Michigan (U of M) School of Dentistry on February 7, 2009, was extremely well attended. Members of the Health Sciences Libraries contacted schools, PTO, and an online paper to help publicize the event.
A lengthy line of parents and children aged 5 through 12 were already waiting at the door of the building by 8:30 am. The many pre-dental and dental students, volunteering dentists, and all their assistants were very welcoming, kind and friendly. Several dental students walked around to demonstrate how to brush one’s teeth using a huge toothbrush and employing a stuffed animal’s mouth. (more…)
Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
InfoPoint Librarian
Health Sciences Libraries
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Three years in a row at the Asian American Health Fair
The University of Michigan (U of M) Health Sciences Libraries once again staffed a booth at the Asian American Health Fair, giving out reliable MedlinePlus information as well as MedlinePlus pens. On January 31, 2009, we distributed about 50 pens and a multitude of different National Library of Medicine (NLM) brochures, including information from the Asian American Health site: http://asianamericanhealth.nlm.nih.gov/. Once again, the information that was targeted specifically to the Asian American group was very popular. Fair participants also appreciated learning that MedlinePlus information was available in multiple Asian languages as well as in English. (more…)
Christopher Childs
Education & Outreach Librarian
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences
University of Iowa
A couple of month ago, I submitted a poster proposal to the American Library Association’s (ALA) new Virtual Poster Session for the Midwinter meeting held in Denver, CO, from January 23-28, 2009. I wanted to showcase what we’ve done with Iowa Go Local and encourage the states that don’t have a Go Local program to start one up in their area. A virtual poster through ALA, seemed like a great way to do this, as their conferences always attract large numbers of people. (more…)
The creators of the Second Life, Linden Lab announced their 1st Linden Prize winners last week (
Christopher Childs
