Update:

NLM also has an online exhibition to accompany the show that includes a new education product—a higher education module for undergraduate professors and students. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/harrypottersworld/index.html.

___________________________________________________________
ALA Public Programs Office

Apply by May 1 to host “Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine”

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, in cooperation with the National Library of Medicine (NLM), announces a new small format traveling exhibition to libraries, “Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine.” “Harry Potter’s World” explores the plants, animals, and magic featured in the Harry Potter book series and their roots in Renaissance traditions that played an important role in the development of Western science. The exhibition looks at topics such as alchemy, astrology, and natural philosophy, as well as the ethical issues faced by both the fictitious characters from the novels and the historical figures that influenced them.

Public, academic (university, college and community college) and medical libraries may apply to host the banner exhibition by downloading an application at http://www.ala.org/harrypotter. In order to be considered, applications must be received at ALA by May 1. Complete press release at http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2009/march2009/ppoharrypotter.cfm. Following the application process, twelve libraries will be selected to host the exhibition for a four-week display period between September 2009 and November 2010.

http://www.medlineplus.gov/maryland

Maryland Health -> Go Local is a statewide web-based directory of health services and programs designed to improve public access to health services, programs, and information. The Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HS/HSL), University of Maryland, Baltimore partnered with the National Library of Medicine to create this valuable resource. On the second anniversary of Maryland Health -> Go Local, the Library is presenting a new blog, Maryland Health -> Go Local eUpdate (http://www.hshsl.umaryland.edu/golocal/eupdate/), containing updates, news, and information about project developments and activities.

eUpdate includes a Featured Site which highlights a different program or service each month; and By the Numbers, which provides monthly statistics, including how many people visited Maryland Health -> Go Local and how many pages were viewed. It also allows you to request a speaker or training session, suggest a resource, or provide us with a testimonial about how Maryland Health -> Go Local helped you.

Stay informed! Add Maryland Health ->Go Local eUpdate to your RSS reader! Copy this URL to your favorite reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GoLocalBlog

Thanks to all the SE/A members who responded to the mid-contract review survey in October and November. The year 04 budget is done and during its preparation we considered many of the ideas put forth by you in the survey. Here is a short review of what you said, more than once.

Services most important to you.

• Professional development opportunities
  • in-person workshops and classes
  • online/distance learning classes
  • webinars on current topics
  • informative presentations
• Support and advocacy
  • prompt and courteous customer service
  • online and phone consultations from knowledgeable and accessible SE/A staff
  • distribution of promotional materials for local use
  • site visits/onsite training
  • attendance at local professional association meetings
  • funding for technology improvements
  • letters to administrators
  • emergency preparedness efforts
  • ILL and DOCLINE
• Funding
  • outreach projects
  • introduction of express awards
  • technology funding

Unmet needs/suggestions for improvements.

• More outreach by SE/A staff for nursing, public health and rural health practitioners and more funding directed at these groups
• Group/consortial purchasing assistance/ Consortia development and support
• More Hispanic and bilingual materials and resources
• More marketing, promotion, development of promotional materials about libraries/librarians
• More funding to community based organizations
• More support for public libraries
• Increase funding for Go Local projects; more Go Local project development
• Research, assessments, funding to prove value of librarians
• Return to basic library management training for non-professionals/new librarians
• Funding for professional development
• Quality control of blog
• Webinars on technical services issues
• More online training; management in hard economic times training
• Be more visible, more site visits, more attendance at meetings
• More evidence-based resources and guides for librarians
• Share lessons learned from outreach projects
• Formal resource sharing/retention program

Strategies to advocate for libraries or librarians.

• Liaise with media/advertise in media such as state journals, local press, etc.
• Exhibit at meetings of hospital administrators, in communities at health fairs, grocery stores, etc
• Create promotional materials/campaign for local use
• Assistance with needs assessments
• Visits to librarians and administrators
• Partner with ALA, MLA and others to influence legislators
• Work with health professional associations for promotion of libraries/librarians
• Continue letters to administrators
• Illustrate librarians’ role in patient safety, patient outcomes, magnet status, etc.
• Continue to improve librarian skills through training
• Post/develop marketing tips for librarians

Suggestions for NLM programs and services.

• Make LinkOut utility easier to use
• Create/identify mentors
• Develop/provide more information resources for use in public libraries
• Increase funding of NN/LM for outreach, CBO funding, library resources, library technology
• Keep manuals up to date with changes to products; develop different ones for each segment of population using resources
• Step up recruitment for the next generation of librarians
• Design new poster/promotional materials for products
• Larger awards/grants for organizations
• Improve Go Local – increase funding, method to capture data, etc.
• Lower reading level of materials in MedlinePlus
• Have more dialogues with librarians through symposia and other methods
• Do national campaign about the importance of hospital libraries/librarians
• Develop more resources for handhelds

There were many specific ideas and suggestions made that we will include in our future work plans. Because of your suggestions, we recently introduced the express award for hospital library promotion. We will discuss these findings with our regional advisory committees as well as with the other NN/LM offices to see how we can address some issues nationally. As always, the SE/A staff appreciates your feedback and feel free to contact us by phone, email or in person with additional insights or concerns.
Per your suggestion, we will see you around the region.

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/hqops/pio/mediarelationsa/factsheets/nationallibraryweek.cfm

National Library Week, April 12-18, 2009, is fast approaching. It is a national celebration that hospital libraries can use to highlight their products and services. This year’s theme is “Worlds connect @ your library”. There are several connections that the library makes that you can promote:

• The research world meets the clinical world through medical literature resources such as point-of-care databases.
• The clinical world connects to the consumer market through patient education and wellness resources.
• And most importantly, the world of electronic information resources connects with humanity in the course of librarian-client interactions.

SE/A has promotional materials you can distribute during your National Library Week celebration. Please contact Toni Yancey at tyancey@hshsl.umaryland.edu to find out what promotional materials are available.

Friday, February 6, 2009 will be National Wear Red Day. Many will support women’s heart health by  wearing red dresses, shirts, ties, or pins. To learn more about women’s heart health week, visit The Heart Truth from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The National Wear Red Day observance promotes the Red Dress symbol and provides an opportunity for everyone to unite in this life-saving awareness movement.

For more information on how to get involved, visit the National Wear Red Day toolkit which provides useful information and resources that you can use to help celebrate National Wear Red Day in your community. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/material/toolkit.htm

Also, check out the MedlinePlus heart disease in women topic page.

by Bonnie DiGiallonardo, Reference Librarian
Nova Southeastern University
Health Professions Division Library
digibon@nova.edu

Just two months into my career as a health professions librarian, I had the opportunity to attend the Southern Chapter/Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, “Making the Magic Flow” October 26-30, 2008. Not only was this my first time at a librarian’s conference, it was my first time as an attendee at ANY conference.

In my previous life as a marketing professional, I had worked in exhibit hall booths of many conferences, but this was a completely different take on the experience. As some of you may attest, starting a new profession in your 40’s is no easy feat. Yet embarking on a journey that you have worked hard to begin makes you feel like a wide-eyed ingénue (anyone who knows me would fall on the floor laughing at this mental image). That is how I felt when I first arrived at the conference, but thanks to all the wonderful people I met at the chapter meeting, I left knowing that I had made the right choice, to become a medical librarian.

Without question, it was the people that made the conference most memorable for this first-timer. From my first contact with the people at the registration desk to my shuttle partners on the return trip to the airport (who happened to give me the idea to write this article), I found each and every person to be an absolute treasure. I felt right at home with this group – it was like the mother ship had called me home! No matter where I went or who I happened to sit down next to, everyone spoke to me and opened up about their experiences. I quickly learned that there is no such thing as a shy, retiring librarian…at least not at this event.

The conference’s content proved a valuable information resource for a newly ordained librarian. Many varied aspects of medical librarianship were covered, and while there were concurrent sessions that made me wish I could be in two places at once, my colleague (another newbie) and I were able to split up and compare notes later. An impressive lineup of plenary speakers, a CE session that gave me a ton of ideas, and poster sessions that gave a peek into what other library’s are doing all contributed to a fulfilling and rewarding conference experience.

Library school only marginally prepares one to actually work as a reference librarian so having access to the classes, speakers, presentations, posters, and most importantly, the librarians from all walks of the profession was so enriching that I would recommend conference attendance as a requirement in any master’s program. At Southern Chapter there was so much to absorb in just a few days, most of it new, but what we learned was useful and applicable to our jobs. So, we felt that this conference was a good solid foundation upon which to begin building our careers and professional networks.

I am already looking forward to next year!

While the students relax by the sun and sand, brush up on your health literature search skills.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine/Southeastern Atlantic Region is hosting a free webinar series titled “Summer Searching Sessions”.  Four experienced medical librarians will be demonstrating tips, techniques, new features and functions of four MEDLINE® interfaces.

MEDLINE® is the premier bibliographic database from the National Library of Medicine.  It is used by health care professionals and students worldwide.  Over 70 million searches are conducted every month.

Four one-hour sessions (description below) will be held over a two week period. The topics include new features on familiar interfaces, using the controlled vocabulary, MeSH®, review of the basics, finding full text and are you looking in the right place.

The sessions are open to all librarians in the Southeastern Atlantic Region but registration is required. To register, please contact Toni Yancey by email at tyancey@hshsl.umaryland.edu, or by telephone at 410.706.2855.

Session #1 - August 5, 2008 at 2:00 pm (EST) - Introductions

Search Scenario: The new and improved PubMed, Medline at Ovid, Ebscohost, and MDConsult Journals/Medline. Interactive questions and answers. What would you like to talk about searching.

Session #2 - August 7, 2008 at 2:00 pm (EST) - Quick and Dirty?

Search Scenario: A facility supervisor, is meeting with the administration next week to discuss ways for the hospital to go green. He needs to learn about reducing the amount of garage the hospital produces. He asks if you can help him. Between your regular work and preparing for a nursing symposium, you don’t have that much time to devote to Bill’s request.

Session #3 - August 12, 2008 at 2:00 pm (EST) - Not enough hours in the day

A famous athlete has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. The local ABC affiliate has asked the head of the oncology department to appear on the morning show tomorrow to discuss it. It’s already 4:30 and you have to leave at 5:00 for an appointment. You promise to have information to him (via email) by 8:00 so he can review it.

Session #4 - August 14, 2008 at 2:00 pm (EST) -The elephant in the room: Google Scholar and other challenges

Michaela, a second year student, tells you that she always uses Google to find articles and nothing you say can convince her that MEDLINE is better. You run a couple of searches in both MEDLINE and Google Scholar to see what all the fuss is about. What have you learned that you can use to teach students?

Looking for materials to use to share with clients, patrons, co-workers, on the National Library of Medicine’s premiere consumer and medical research websites? Download and copy these online brochures to use in promotion of resources you have access to at your institution.

PubMed Basics:
http://nnlm.gov/training/resources/pmtri.pdf

MedlinePlus Basics: (English and Spanish versions)

http://nnlm.gov/training/resources/mptri.pdf
http://nnlm.gov/training/resources/mptri_esp.pdf

MedlinePlus for Health Professionals:
http://nnlm.gov/training/resources/mp4hptri.pdf

Included among the revisions are mention of MedlinePlus’ “Multiple Languages” feature and updated snapshots of the PubMed and MedlinePlus home pages.

Additionally, The Exhibition Program: K-12 Resources on the Web brochure has been updated.  This PDF can be found at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/about/exhibition/pdf/EPonlineK_12resources.pdf.  Similar information is also available on an HMD/Exhibition Program web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/especiallyfor/teachersstudents.html#A1.

These and other brochures can also be found at http://nnlm.gov/sea/services/promotional.html

http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2008/innovationspr.htm

A new Web resource that allows users to learn, share, and adopt innovations in the delivery of health services was launched today by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The resource-called the Health Care Innovations Exchange-is available at www.innovations.ahrq.gov.

AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange is the federal government’s repository for successful health care innovations. It also includes useful descriptions of attempts at innovation that failed. The Web site is a tool for health care leaders, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who seek to reduce health care disparities and improve health care overall.

One of the innovations reads like an NN/LM funded outreach project:

Church-Based Initiative Supports Volunteers in Providing Education and Screenings to 150,000+ Memphis Residents, Leading to Improved Health Status (04/14/2008)

A church-based program trains congregational members to be volunteer “Health Representatives” for their churches. These representatives provide health and disease prevention education and health screenings related to health priorities established by the church and its pastor, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS.

Stay tuned, there is also an upcoming Webinar: Using AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange to Take on the Challenges of Care Delivery scheduled for May 12, 2:00 to 3:30 EDT.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce the solicitation of quotations from organizations and libraries to design and conduct projects that will improve access to HIV/AIDS related health information for patients, the affected community, and their caregivers.

Projects must involve one or more of the following information access categories:

• Information retrieval
• Skills development
• State-of-the-art resources
• Resource development
• Document Access.

Emphasis is placed upon the following types of organizations or arrangements for developing these programs:

• Community-based organizations (CBOs) or patient advocacy groups currently providing HIV/AIDS related serves to the affected community
• Public libraries serving communities in the provision of HIV/AIDS-related information and resources
• Health departments or other local, municipal, or state agencies working to improve public health
• Faith-based organizations currently providing HIV/AIDS-related services
• Multi-type consortia of the above-listed organizations that may be in existence or formed specifically for this project.

Standard Awards are offered for up to $60,000. Express Awards are offered for up to $10,000.

Quotations are due to NLM on Monday, June 16, 2008.

The solicitation for the 2008 AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects is posted at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/hiv/2008aidsrfq.html .

Previously funded AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects are posted at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/aids_cio_projects.html .

If there are any questions or concerns regarding the Request for Quotations (RFQ) or submission of the proposal, please contact Robin Hope-Williams, the NLM Contracting Officer, at (301) 496-6546 or email to: rhwilli@mail.nih.gov.