An article about Laredo Public Library’s NN/LM SCR Express Outreach Award was published in the January/February 2009 issue of Public Libraries, the journal of the Public Library Association. The article, “Partnerships for a Healthy Community: Laredo Public Library’s Children’s Health Fair and Outreach Program” was written by Rena Ren, Public Services Manager at Laredo Public Library; Keith Cogdill, Director of South Texas Regional Information Services at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Libraries; and Alex Potemkin, Head of the Reference Department at Laredo Public Library. The article details the outreach project done in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; the City of Laredo’s Parks and Leisure Department and the Health Department; Laredo’s PBS station, KLRN; the Laredo Children’s Museum and the Laredo Fire Department.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has updated their newsletter Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Focus on Research and Care with a fresh new design and content that is more focused on research and patient care.  The publication has a new mix of feature stories and other information, which will be useful, lively, and quick and easy to read and use.

Forty-eight percent of the newsletter’s readers are health care providers, making them the largest audience segment. Eight pages of the newsletter will have a focus on news for clinicians, whether they are in conventional medicine, CAM, or integrative medicine. Patients, their families and friends, and the general public make up about 30 percent of the newsletter’s audience, and each issue will have an insert containing features targeted to them.

This award is offered by the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS) of the Medical Library Association (MLA) to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of consumer health librarianship. The recipient of the award will be presented a plaque and $500.00 at the CAPHIS membership meeting during the MLA annual meeting in Honolulu.

Nomination Requirements and Eligibility:

1. Members of the CAPHIS Executive Board are not eligible for the award.
2. Recipient is not required to be a member of MLA or CAPHIS or to attend the awards ceremony.
3. Nominations must specify how the nominee exemplifies outstanding contributions to consumer health librarianship through anecdotes and/or evidence. Self-nominations are also encouraged.

Examples of model customer service activities can include, but are not limited to:

• Conducted outreach programs
• Provided instruction on information access to consumers
• Made presentations of posters and/or papers at professional meetings
• Wrote consumer health publications in the professional literature
• Enhanced the work of CAPHIS for the profession
• Provided leadership to CAPHIS

Nominations should be submitted in MS Word and sent via e-mail to the co-chair of the CAPHIS Awards Committee:

Steven Douglas
Acquisitions Librarian
University of Maryland, Baltimore - Health Sciences and Human Services Library
601 West Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
E-mail: sdouglas@hshsl.umaryland.edu

Nominations must be received by April 1, 2009. Please note: Only the award recipient will be notified by April 15, 2009. The recipient is responsible for their own expenses if they choose to attend.

Hay una nueva revista para la gente que necesita información en español sobre temas de salud. Los Institutos Nacionales de la Salud, la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina y los Amigos de la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina publicaron recientemente NIH MedlinePlus Salud. Esta revista es producida en sociedad con la Alianza Nacional para la Salud de los Hispanos. (more…)

There’s a new magazine for people who want health information in Spanish. The National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine, and the Friends of the National Library of Medicine recently launched NIH MedlinePlus Salud. The magazine is produced in partnership with the National Alliance for Hispanic Health.  (more…)

October is National Medical Librarians Month. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is highlighting five NN/LM SCR funded outreach projects on the NLM National Medical Librarians Month 2008 web page.

• Informing the Health and Future of K-12 Students (Institution: University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center Library, San Antonio TX)
• The Next Step: Finding Cancer Information with MedlinePlus (Institution: Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge LA)
• Partners for Children’s Health (Institution: Laredo Public Library, Laredo TX)
• Promotoras and Libraries: Advancing Online Health Information in San Antonio Underserved Communities (Institution: San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio TX)
• Turning Evidence Into Practice: A Pilot Project (Institution: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health Library, Houston TX)

To read descriptions of these projects, go to: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/lo/profiles08/scr.html

To read a list of featured projects by region, see: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/lo/profiles08/

On September 16, 2008, the NN/LM SCR will offer two free classes from the NN/LM Outreach Evaluation Resource Center (http://nnlm.gov/evaluation/) at the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library.

8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Answering the Right Questions: Data Collection for Health Information Outreach (4 hours)

In this workshop, participants will learn to apply good principles of data collection to assure that data - both qualitative and quantitative - will be useful in making project decisions.

The emphasis will be on efficient methods that can keep data collection at a manageable level. Topics will include using evaluation questions to focus data collection; conducting short, to-the-point interviews to collect outcome data; using a “contact sheet” to organize interview notes and communicate findings with other team members; using participatory methods to get information from a large number of community members; using standard “counts” (attendance rates; drop-out rates) as evaluation data; and designing and administering short questionnaires.

By the end of the project, participants will be able to:

• Use end-of-session and session-follow-up questionnaires effectively
• Design short questionnaires and interview guides that can be used to collect very targeted feedback
• Design participatory methods to collect qualitative data from a larger group of individuals
• Identify existing information (e.g., attendance) collected for other reporting purposes that can be used for evaluation

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Finding Information in Numbers and Words: Data Analysis for Health Information Outreach (4 hours)

Participants will learn basic methods for compiling and analyzing qualitative and quantitative evaluation data to maximize their usefulness in project improvement and decision-making.

Discussion, presentations, and exercises will cover compiling and analyzing evaluation data. For quantitative data, participants will learn to use descriptive statistics and graphs to make sense of their data. For qualitative methods, participants will learn to organize and code text-based data, then analyze it. Topics will include analyzing qualitative data (e.g., developing and using codes, summarizing, interpreting); compiling and graphing descriptive statistics; and exploring the validity of evaluation findings.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Code text-based (qualitative) data, summarize findings, and use the findings to make improvements or decisions about health outreach programs
• Graph quantitative data to develop visual pictures of findings
• Summarize numerical (quantitative) data using frequencies, percentages, means, medians, and modes
• Interpret findings and use them to make improvements and decisions about health outreach programs

To register for either of these classes: http://nnlm.gov/scr/training/

Please contact Karen Vargas at 713-799-7880 or karen.vargas@exch.library.tmc.edu for more information.

Ruicha “Re” Mishra has re-joined the NN/LM SCR office as the Health Professionals Outreach Coordinator. She will be responsible for coordinating our outreach efforts to health professionals as well as coordinating document delivery for the Region.

Re worked as the Education-Communications Coordinator at the NN/LM SCR from 1998 – 2005. In this role, she created numerous classes including “TOXNET: Toxicology & Environmental Information.” She taught a considerable number of classes throughout the region and exhibited at conferences of health professionals, consumers and librarians. She also secured Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) accreditation for three classes that can be offered by other RMLs. This process took considerable work and diligence.

After her tenure with the NN/LM SCR, Re worked for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) as the Health Information Specialist II. Her responsibilities included teaching classes on National Library of Medicine (NLM) databases and exhibiting on behalf of NLM at national exhibits throughout the country.

Re brings to the NN/LM SCR years of experience as a medical librarian in a variety of roles from outreach to document delivery.

Please join me in welcoming Re Mishra to the NN/LM SCR! Her email is ruicha.mishra@exch.library.tmc.edu

The Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce, http://phpartners.org, has released two new topic pages: Nutrition and Workforce Development.

The Nutrition topic page includes links to government, professional and research organizations that focus on nutrition issues; grants and funding opportunities; legislation and health policy issues related to nutrition; published literature and research reports; and nutrition promotion, education and information resources.

The Workforce Development page provides links on public health workforce development activities and resources including education and training opportunities; legislative action; professional meetings, summits, councils, and conferences; new workers development programs; tools and resources on public health workforce issues; and workforce projects and research reports.

To keep up-to-date on new PHPartners resources, sign up for the weekly email update or subscribe to the PHPartners RSS feed.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region (NN/LM SCR) announces a new web page for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery: http://nnlm.gov/scr/services/prepare.html.

This web page highlights the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit, an emergency preparedness resource for libraries. Also included are links to emergency preparedness and recovery resources from the federal government; libraries, schools, and medical associations; community-based organizations; and animal health organizations.