Network News
September/October 2003
- Contents:
- New From the NN/LM SCR
Office
- Clinical
Alert
- Diversity
- New Consumer Health
Coordinator
- Inside Funding
- New DOCLINE
Libraries
- DOCLINE
Update
- Two Special Populations
Projects Awarded
- PDA Resources from
NLM
- What's New with NLM
Databases?
- Spotlight On...LSU Law
Library
- Technology
Notes
- The National Institutes of
Health: NINDS
- Connections
- Reaching Out
- In Every Issue:
- Regional Training and
Exhibit Calendar
- Employment
Opportunities
- NLM
Technical Bulletin
News From the
NN/LM SCR Office
--Renée Bougard, Associate Director
The NLM Site Visit and
Review was held at the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas
Medical Center Library on September 22, 2003. Thank you to
the 19 Network members who traveled to Houston to
participate in the Network member part of the agenda, and
the five Network members who submitted feedback to the
website. And thank you to all our Network members for your
continuous support. The results of the Site Visit will be
shared at a later date.
The NN/LM SCR staff attended the annual South Central
Chapter of the Medical Library Association (SCC/MLA) in
Shreveport, LA, October 4-7, 2003. We hope you were able to
stop by the booth to see demonstrations of the NLM
products, including Wiser and the Hazardous Products
Database. The NN/LM SCR staff held the following NN/LM SCR
Committee meetings: Michelle Malizia - Outreach Contacts
Committee, Ruicha Mishra - Document Delivery Committee, and
Greg Bodin - Technology Committee. I presented an NN/LM SCR
Update at the SCAMeL Consortium meeting and during the SCC
Business Luncheon. My PowerPoint presentation is located
at: http://nnlm.gov/scr/ppt/scc03.ppt. Please
let me know if you have questions or comments.
Karen Vargas joined the NN/LM SCR Staff on August 25,
2003. A lengthier feature on Karen appears at: http://nnlm.gov/scr/scnn/sep-oct03/karen.htm.
Many of you had an opportunity to meet Karen in Shreveport
at the SCC/MLA meeting. Karen has pretty much "hit the
ground running" and is interested in hearing about your
needs, so please feel free to contact her.
The Directors and Associate Directors from the eight
Regional Medical Libraries and key NLM staff meet twice
each year: at MLA, and at one of the RMLs or NLM for a
mid-year meeting. Topics of concern to or impact upon the
Network are discussed. The HAM-TMC Library will host this
year's Mid-year RML Director's meeting in Houston, December
4-5, 2003.
The NN/LM SCR Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) will
meet in Houston on December 12, 2003. Mary Ryan, Director,
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Library, Little
Rock, AR will preside over the meeting. The current RAC
membership is located at: http://nnlm.gov/scr/aboutus/raclist.html.
An upcoming issue of Network News will include
highlights from the December 2003 meeting. Two new members
have been appointed to the RAC. Jeffrey Baskin, Director of
the William F. Laman Public Library, North Little Rock, AR
is now the Consumer/Public Library representative and
Marian Frear, Librarian, Sandia Medical Library,
Albuquerque Regional Medical Center, Albuquerque, NM is the
Primary Access Library representative. We welcome Jeff and
Marian to the RAC!
As a reminder, the classes scheduled throughout the SCR
are located at: http://nnlm.gov/scr/edn/calendar.htm.
The staff has developed a few new classes over the summer.
A list of classes taught by our staff is located at:
http://nnlm.gov/scr/edn/class.htm.
If you are interested in one of the classes, but it is not
yet scheduled in your area, please complete the Request for
Training form (http://nnlm.gov/scr/edn/trainreq.htm)
and submit it to us. We will soon be developing our
teaching schedules for the winter and spring and would
appreciate learning where we can meet the training needs of
our Network members.
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Contents
Clinical Alert
On October 14, 2003,
the National Cancer Institute (NCI) issued a new clinical
alert: New Treatment Significantly Improves Long-term
Outlook For Breast Cancer Survivors: International clinical
trial concludes women should consider taking letrozole
after five years of tamoxifen treatment to continue to
reduce risk of recurrence. It is available at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/breast_cancer_letrozole.html.
The list of current Clinical Alerts and Advisories can
be found at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/clinical_alerts.html.
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Diversity
--Barbara Cosart, Special Populations
Coordinator
AIDS Foundation Houston Helps Released
Prisoners Rebuild Lives
AIDS Foundation Houston
(AFH) (http://www.aidshelp.org),
Houston, TX, has been providing resources for HIV/AIDS
services and information for over twenty years in the
Houston area. AFH works in collaboration with other AIDS
service organizations and non AIDS-related community-based
groups to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS infection and to
support people living with HIV/AIDS.
AFH has just embarked on a partnership with University
of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX, to develop a
centralized medical record depository in order to improve
and track the continuity of care for released prisoners
with HIV/AIDS. Medical care in Texas prisons is provided
through a managed-care program, most of which is provided
through UTMB. Currently very little happens in the way of
discharge planning for prisoners, who are all released
through the Huntsville Prison, Huntsville, TX, says AFH CEO
Michael Mizwa. They are given five day's worth of
medication, a one-way bus pass, and a resource directory.
Unfortunately, health care may not be a high priority as
they seek to find their way in society again, usually at an
economic disadvantage. Many fall through the healthcare
cracks until they are in prison again.
Rates of recidivism are extremely high in Texas, which
has an incarcerated population of approximately 150,000, a
group that is disproportionately minority and economically
disadvantaged. Over a third of released prisoners are
re-incarcerated within a three-year period. Those who find
their way back to prison often do so with scant or
nonexistent medical records. This is a particularly
difficult problem for HIV-positive inmates who require
specialized, ongoing care. It is hoped that through direct
encouragement to the patient-prisoner prior to release, and
through marketing to family members of incarcerated
individuals, that this program will encourage them to take
advantage of medical resources available to them when they
are released, and that effective maintenance of medical
records will ensure quality treatment, whether inside or
outside prison.
This is only one way in which AFH is helping those
afflicted with HIV/AIDS to rebuild their lives. While it
will be a benefit to health professionals and patients
alike to have a reliable medical record, it is likely that
encouraging released prisoners to look after their health
will assist many in rebuilding their lives in such a way
that they will not see the inside of a prison again.
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Contents
New Consumer
Health Coordinator
Karen Vargas joined the
NN/LM SCR as the Consumer Health Coordinator on August 25,
2003. She will be responsible for coordinating, promoting,
and implementing consumer health information programs for
the Region. Karen comes from a public library background
during which she managed two urban branches in the Houston
Public Library system. In these positions she specialized
in outreach, working with community organizations such as
the Center for AIDS, Houston Area Teen Coalition of
Homosexuals, and Project Row Houses. Prior to that she was
a reference librarian in the Harris County Public Library
system and received a fellowship at the Library of Congress
in Washington, D.C. Karen received her MS in Library
Science from the University of North Texas in 1997.
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Contents
Inside
Funding
--Michelle Malizia, Outreach
Coordinator
Grant Opportunity: Educating Librarians
for the 21st Century
Recognizing the loss of
over 50% of the professional librarian workforce by the
year 2019, the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) has announced an initiative aimed at educating and
training a new generation of librarians. The program also
includes grants for research related to library education.
IMLS has identified the following priorities for
funding:
- Recruit and educate the next generation of librarians
by increasing the number of students enrolled in
accredited library programs.
- Develop faculty to educate the next generation of
library professionals by increasing the number of
students enrolled in doctoral programs.
- Enable pre-professional library staff to make the
transition to librarianship, especially in areas where
recruitment is historically difficult.
- Provide the library community with research
information needed to support successful recruitment and
education of librarians.
All types of libraries (excluding federal and
for-profit) may apply. Institutions of higher education,
including public and not-for-profit universities are also
eligible.
For more information, see: Educating Librarians for the
21st Century (http://www.imls.gov/grants/library/lib_bdre.htm).
DUNS Numbers: Required for all Federal
Grants
Effective October 1,
2003, all federal grant applicants are required to provide
a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Number System (DUNS)
number when applying for a grant. The DUNS number will be
used to validate the address and point of contact
information of applicants as well as help government
agencies improve the statistical reporting of federal
grants.
A DUNS number can be obtained at no cost by calling the
toll free DUNS number request line at 1-866-705-5711 or by
applying online at http://www.dnb.com/us/duns_update.
Updates to the PHS 398 form
NIH has made formatting
enhancements to the PHS 398, 2590 and 416 forms. The forms
are commonly used to apply for NIH grants (including NLM
grants). The enhancements include minor formatting changes
designed to increase compatibility with MS Word
applications.
The forms can be found at: http://grant1.nih.gov/grants/form.htm
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Contents
New
DOCLINE Libraries
--Re Mishra, Education-Communications
Coordinator
The following libraries
have joined recently DOCLINE as Borrow-Only libraries:
University of Arkansas for Medical Science, Reynolds
Center on Aging Resource Library, Little Rock, AR
LIBID: ARUJBG
Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services,
Education Dept. Library, Gallup, NM
LIBID: NMUJHT
National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of
Terrorism, MIPT Library, Oklahoma City, OK
LIBID: OKUJJB
The collections in these libraries are too small to make
them Lenders in the DOCLINE system at this time. If you are
willing to lend to these libraries for free, please contact
me.
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Contents
DOCLINE Update
--Re Mishra, Education-Communications
Coordinator
DOCLINE v.2
NLM anticipates
releasing DOCLINE v.2 on Nov. 15, 2003. DOCLINE
participants will have an opportunity to test the new
system from Oct. 27, 2003-Nov. 7, 2003. NLM requests that
all DOCLINE libraries test the system during this time.
The new release will have a new look and functionality.
The new look was created so DOCLINE would load faster. The
functionality is mostly concerned with DOCUSER. Searching
and Updating DOCUSER should be much easier and
friendlier.
For more information, see: DOCLINE V2.0 Sneak
Preview (http://nnlm.gov/libinfo/docline/doclinev2.ppt).
Successful Load of First SERHOLD to OCLC
Batch Update
The processing for the
first SERHOLD to OCLC batch update was completed on
Saturday, August 16th. Of the 166,100 eligible records,
OCLC successfully updated 165,764 Local Data Records (LDRs)
in WorldCat for 271 libraries. NLM is very pleased that
more than 99% of the holdings loaded without error during
the first SERHOLD to OCLC batch update.
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Contents
Two
Special Populations Projects Awarded
--Barbara Cosart, Special Populations
Outreach Coordinator
Colonias Project: A Consumer Health
Information Hispanic Outreach Project in Texas-Mexico
Border Colonias
The Colonias
Project subcontract, funded by NLM through the NN/LM
SCR office, was awarded to the University of Texas Health
Science Center in San Antonio, Briscoe Library, San
Antonio, TX. The project will increase access to and the
use of health information through training of peer
educators (promotoras) in the colonias on the Texas-Mexico
border. Building upon a successful pilot project of the
Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley Health Information Hispanic
Outreach Project, the Colonias Project will bring
MEDLINEplus en español to several communities in the Lower
Rio Grande Valley area, using a train-the-trainer approach.
The promotoras will assist in identifying additional people
who will serve as chispitas, or "sparklers" in the
community. Chispitos are enthusiastic innovators who are
eager to learn about and share health information with
other members of the colonia.
Closing the Gap: Health Information
Outreach to Health Professionals Serving Special
Populations
The University of New
Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC), Center for
Development and Disability, Albuquerque, NM, has been
awarded the Closing the Gap: Health Information Outreach
to Health Professionals Serving Special Populations
subcontract. They will provide information and training to
health professionals serving people with developmental
disabilities utilizing a train-the-trainer approach at
several clinics in New Mexico.
The Library and Information Network at the Center for
Development and Disability will collaborate with UNMHSC
Continuum of Care to determine the current knowledge and
use of NLM databases among health professionals at targeted
sites. Training, information packets, and follow-up
assistance will be individually tailored to each site
according to their need.
For more information about UNMHSC Center for Development
and Disability see: http://cdd.unm.edu/.
For more information about UNMHSC Continuum of Care see:
http://www.unmcoc.org/index.htm.
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PDA Resources
from NLM
--Greg Bodin, Technology Coordinator
NLM recently introduced
several information resources specifically designed for use
on personal digital assistants (PDAs). While some of these
products are still being tested and have been only released
as beta versions, they are all openly available to anyone
who wishes to try them out.
PubMed on the PDA
PubMed on the PDA is a method of accessing the PubMed
interface via a PDA equipped with an Internet browser.
Typically, a PDA will need to have either a wireless or
physical connection to the Internet and an Internet browser
to use this service. Users can also search offline by
utilizing a product such as AvantGo (http://www.avantgo.com/).
AvantGo allows Internet content to be captured and loaded
to a PDA that has no Internet connection.
In order to connect to the PubMed on the PDA interface,
the user enters the PubMed on the PDA URL (http://certif.nlm.nih.gov:8080/nlm/)
and navigates to the search interface. There are three
options available with this interface:
- Search MEDLINE/PubMed
- Read new Journal Abstracts
- Clinicaltrials.gov
The "Search MEDLINE/PubMed" option provides the user
with a specialized PubMed interface that is formatted for
the PDA. One search method is "Search PubMed with no
filters" allows a basic keyword search. The "Systematic
Reviews" filter adds the PubMed Systematic Reviews subset
to the search. The "Clinical Queries" filter adds the
PubMed Clinical Query filters to the search. Users can
select which filter they prefer. Limits can only be applied
using the search field tags (i.e. [la], [mh], [sb]).
Results are displayed in a text format.
Another search option "Read new Journal Abstracts"
allows users to view current journal abstracts from major
journals. Users click on a list of journals from the PubMed
Core Clinical Journals subset or enter a keyword to search
the titles list.
The last search option allows users to search
ClinicalTrails.gov (http://clinicaltrials.gov/).
Users can enter keywords for disease/condition, location,
experimental treatment, etc. in order to identify clinical
trails that may be occurring.
PubMed on Tap
PubMed on Tap (http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/pmot/pmot.php)
is another NLM product that allows users to access PubMed
via a PDA. The primary difference between PubMed on the PDA
and PubMed on Tap is that while PubMed on the PDA is a web
site accessed via a PDA Internet browser, PubMed on Tap
requires a software client to be installed on the PDA. Once
the user installs the software, PubMed can be searched via
an Internet connection. PubMed on Tap allows basic keyword
searching through its interface. Limits can be applied
using the search field tags ([la], [mh], [sb], etc.).
PubMed on Tap allows users to manage their search
results, view a history of their searches, and store
several profiles with stored search limits such as subsets
and publication dates. Users can apply the profile limits
to their search. Another option is to limit searches to
particular journals.
WISER
WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency
Responders) (http://www.nextcentury.com/WISER/)
is a PDA application designed to assist emergency personnel
in handling hazardous material accidents. WISER software is
installed on the PDA and provides information to assist in
identifying hazardous substances, human health information,
and containment and suppression advice. WISER contains
three principle features:
- Hazardous Substance Data Bank data, covering basic,
physical, hazardous material, medical, and environmental
areas
- 44 Substances, selected from the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) Medical
Management Guidelines (MMG)
- Substance identification support, based on physical
properties and patient symptoms
WISER allows the user to perform a search for substances
from the database and retrieve information about that
substance. The main search screen allows users to enter a
keyword or check from a list of substances.
Users can search for and identify unknown substances by
providing symptoms that result from patient exposure to the
substance or by entering the observable physical properties
for the substance.
Once a substance is selected, there are several types of
information that may be retrieved such as physical
identification, fire procedures, treatment, etc.
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What's New with NLM Databases?
--Re Mishra, Education-Communications
Coordinator
OLDMEDLINE Added to PubMed
On September 30, 2003,
OLDMEDLINE was added to PubMed. OLDMEDLINE is a database of
over 1.5 million, pre-1966 citations (as opposed to
MEDLINE, which covers 1966 to current citations).
OLDMEDLINE citations have different data entry standards
then MEDLINE citations so all the fields available in
MEDLINE will not be available in OLDMEDLINE. PubMed will
display OLDMEDLINE citations with a "PubMed - OLDMEDLINE
for pre1966" status tag.
For more information, see: Demsey A, Nahin AM, Von
Braunsberg S. OLDMEDLINE Citations Join PubMed®. NLM
Tech Bull. 2003 Sep-Oct;(334):e2.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/so03/so03_oldmedline.html.
News Headlines List from MEDLINEplus
MEDLINEplus has a new
Monday - Friday list which includes all news headlines
published on the website. To sign up, go to: http://list.nih.gov/archives/medlineplus-nw.html.
NLM Online Survey
NLM began a pop-up
survey of the NLM website, MEDLINEplus and MEDLINEplus en
español on October 1, 2003. The survey will run until
September 30, 2004 and will be used to help determine user
satisfaction and possible improvements to the website. The
survey will not track information that could identify a
specific user.
Sabin Papers Added to Profile in
Science
The papers of Florence
R. Sabin, M.D. have been added to Profile in Science
(http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/),
an archival collection of scientists, physicians, and
others who have made significant scientific
advancement.
Dr. Sabin (1871-1953) was the first woman to teach at
the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the first woman
elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and the first
woman to hold full membership at the Rockefeller Institute
for Medical Research. Her work focused on tuberculosis
research and public health.
Searching Journal Titles
The Journals Database
now has two new features that make it easier to conduct
journal searches. Users can now send their retrievals to
the Search Box or to Single Citation Matcher.
For more information, see: Ruiz N. New Features Coming
to Journals Database. NLM Tech Bull. 2003
Jul-Aug;(333):e8.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ja03/ja03_features.html.
NTCC Classes
The National Training
Center and Clearinghouse (NTCC) (http://nnlm.gov/mar/online/)
has scheduled its 2004 NLM databases classes. In our
Region, they will be held at: University of North Texas
Health Sciences Center Library, Fort Worth, TX
February 9, 2004 - PubMed, 7.5 MLA continuing
education credits
February 10, 2004 - TOXNET, 6.45 MLA continuing
education credits
February 10, 2004 - NLM Gateway and
ClinicalTrials.gov, 3.5 MLA continuing education
credits
Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center
Library, Houston, TX
March 29, 2004 - PubMed, 7.5 MLA continuing
education credits
March 30, 2004 - NLM Gateway and ClinicalTrials.gov,
3.5 MLA continuing education credits
September 29, 2004 - PubMed, 7.5 MLA continuing
education credits
September 30, 2004 - TOXNET, 6.45 MLA continuing
education credits
To register, go to: http://nnlm.gov/mar/online/request.html
or call 800-338-7657 option 2.
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Contents
Spotlight
on ….The Paul M. Hebert Law Center Library
--Ajaye Bloomstone, Acquisitions
Librarian, Paul M. Herbert Law Library, Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge, LA
The Paul
M. Hebert Law Center Library (http://www.law.lsu.edu/library),
part of the Louisiana State University (LSU) system in
Baton Rouge, LA, is one of the 20 largest academic law
libraries in the United States and holds more than 410,000
volumes in print, 208,000 volumes in microforms, and
129,385 court records. In addition to the standard
Anglo-American legal materials, the library has substantial
collections of foreign, international, and comparative law.
It is a selective depository for U.S. Government documents
and Louisiana documents, and a depository for Louisiana
Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal briefs and records.
In 2002, the Law Center established a Center of Law,
Medicine and Bioscience with a goal of enhancing the
bioscientific and legal initiatives of the LSU Pennington
Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA, the LSU
Medical Centers in Shreveport, LA and New Orleans, LA, and
the bioscience program at LSU. In order to support the
research initiatives of this new program at the Law Center,
the Law Library has been developing a library collection to
support the program by subscribing to journals of a
medico-legal and bioethical nature.
In addition, the Law Library joined DOCLINE to insure
that these materials are available to other health-related
libraries within the DOCLINE system. The Law Library
participates in FreeShare and anticipates that there will
be no charge to medical libraries requesting journal
articles. Ajaye Bloomstone, Acquisitions Librarian,
administers the DOCLINE program. The Library has long
standing subscriptions to medico-legal texts and loose-leaf
materials that cannot be accommodated by DOCLINE at this
time, but ILL photocopies and ILL borrowing requests can
still be instituted for most of these materials via an ALA
request form. Contact Ajaye for more information at:
225-578-4044 or llajaye@lsu.edu.
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Contents
Technology Notes
--Greg Bodin, Technology Coordinator
Keeping Up with Equipment
Specifications
Manufacturers are
constantly producing new models and introducing new
features on computers, printers, scanners, and other
hardware. How do you keep up? What's the best way to find
out the current standard for office or personal-use
computers? How do you find ratings and rankings to
determine which computers are best?
First, be familiar with the terminology. If you are
reading computer specifications and are not sure what a
specification is, check a computer/Internet terminology
dictionary.
Once you're familiar with the terminology, how do you
find out the current recommended specifications? How do you
find rankings and ratings? There are many sites available
that will give you current information that is frequently
updated. Most of these sites provide general product guides
with current recommendations for size and speed, etc. as
well as ranking tables of current products. These guides
are typically updated frequently, so information changes
from month to month.
Webliography
Tech Encyclopedia
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/
Webopedia
http://www.pcwebopedia.com/
Tips for Buying a Computer, NN/LM SCR Technology Fact
Sheet
http://nnlm.gov/scr/techsheets/tips.html
CNET.com
http://www.cnet.com/
PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/
PCWorld.com
http://www.pcworld.com/
ZDNet.com
http://www.zdnet.com
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The National
Institutes of Health: NINDS
--Michelle Malizia, Outreach
Coordinator
Created in 1950, the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
(NINDS) (http://www.ninds.nih.gov)
conducts and supports research on brain and nervous system
disorders. NINDS undertakes basic and clinical research on
the normal and diseased nervous system, fosters the
training of investigators in clinical neuroscience, and
seeks better understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of neurological disorders.
An estimated 50 million Americans each year are
diagnosed with a neurological disorder. The public is
familiar with many of these disorders, such as Alzheimer's,
stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson's, and autism. However, there
are over 600 disorders that can affect the nervous systems.
Only patients, their doctors and the scientists who are
looking for an understanding of the disorder and
ultimately, a cure, know many of these rare disorders.
The NINDS website contains information for the public,
researchers and physicians. Patients and their families
will find basic information about disorders such as
descriptions, treatment, prognosis and what research is
being conducted. There are also links to studies that are
seeking patients. The links are actually pre-formulated
searches in ClinicalTrials.gov (http://clinicaltrials.gov).
Researchers will find a wealth of information on
research grants. Approximately 90% of the overall budget of
NINDS is used to fund extramural research. Research results
and neuroscience news can be found on the NINDS home
page.
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Connections
--Karen Vargas, Consumer Health
Coordinator
Stalking the Wild Consumer
Looking for ways to
make contact with the elusive consumer? First, you are not
trying to make a contact but a relationship. Contacts might
lead to an exhibit or a class if you are lucky, but a
relationship, a friendship, a connection, can lead to a
series of classes, ideas for more outreach projects, and
introductions to other people. Simply stated, a consumer
health partnership! Great project ideas do not come from
contacts; they come out of relationships.
How do you form relationships with complete strangers?
One good way is to get involved in a community
organization. Choose one that interests you. Sign up for
committees. Get on a board. Make sure that everyone knows
who you are and what your job is, and that you are there to
help. And, more importantly, get to know the members of
your group. You may be surprised at what they can do for
you. For example, I am an active member of a recreational
organization. The members just happen to include a
representative of Mothers for Clean Air, a social worker
who works with refugees who are HIV positive, and the
president of a health insurance company that happens to
cover Texas Library Association. All three are well
connected in communities in which we would like to do
outreach.
Once you are in a community organization, whether it be
a church group, a neighborhood association or a Friends
group at your local public library, start to network. We
have great resources that fundamentally help people's
lives. Not only do people want to know about them, they
know people who want to know about them. Hopefully, the
networking will lead to program opportunities.
The best way to plan a successful program to a consumer
group is to mold it towards the group attending. Speak to
potential attendees and ask them what they would like. Will
they come to the public library for a presentation, or
would they do much better at their club meetings? If you
present at a business meeting are they a captive audience
or are you wasting their time? Go to a meeting of their
organization and ask what are the best options. The only
way to know is to ask.
Most importantly, you cannot do outreach alone. Look for
help from your coworkers and your friends. These are people
who have connections and belong to organizations throughout
the community in which you work, expanding your network
exponentially. Get them involved and excited about what you
are doing and you may find them doing your work for
you!
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Reaching
Out
--Michelle Malizia, Outreach
Coordinator
Hitting the Road
Dana Neeley and Lisa
Berry, Texas Tech University Health Science Center at
Amarillo (TTUHSC), Harrington Library, Amarillo, TX,
recently completed an outreach road trip to several towns
in the Panhandle of Texas to target public libraries and
pharmacies. In three days, they visited approximately 22
pharmacies and six public libraries to educate them on NLM
databases and services.
To prepare for the trip, Lisa performed a Google search
to locate all the pharmacies in the targeted area. A
postcard was mailed to all of these pharmacies, notifying
them that the librarians would be visiting their work
place. The postcards also listed the URLs for the TTUHSC
Library website. Prior to the trip, Dana and Lisa prepared
different packets of information specifically designed for
the pharmacists or the public librarians.
The outreach journey began in Fritch, TX and wound its way
throughout the Panhandle. Dana and Lisa stopped at each of
the pharmacies they had located through their Google
search. They also made "cold calls" at pharmacies they
passed on the road. The pharmacy visits took approximately
15 minutes each, during which they discussed PubMed and
MEDLINEplus. Dana and Lisa were pleased to discover that
based on the postcard, many of the pharmacists had looked
at PubMed. The pharmacists seemed most interested in
obtaining information for themselves on new drugs and
related research.
The public library visits went equally well. Dana and
Lisa were able to supply information and answer questions
concerning MEDLINEplus for the library staff.
The two are planning on taking another road trip in the
future. As Dana noted, "In rural areas, they're really glad
to see you."
Thinking "Outside of the Box"
When designing and
planning an outreach activity, it is easy to get in the
habit of concentrating on the same groups every time such
as rural physicians, clinic nurses or other librarians. For
your next outreach project, consider focusing on a
different audience, maybe a group you've never even
considered contacting.
In August, Cathy Rhodes and Linda King, University of
North Texas Health Science Center, Gibson D. Lewis Library,
Fort Worth, TX, assisted the NN/LM SCR in staffing the NLM
booth at the American Fire Rescue International annual
conference. The main audience for this meeting, fire
chiefs, first responders, incident commanders and emergency
medical technicians, was unlike the usual health conference
attendees. Nevertheless, NLM databases are invaluable to
the fire rescue profession. In addition to MEDLINEplus and
PubMed, SIS resources (WISER and TOXNET) were demonstrated.
Booth visitors were amazed that NLM resources were
free.
Both Cathy and Linda commented that since NLM products
are relevant to the information needs of fire rescue
personnel, medical librarians interested in providing
outreach services should consider approaching the first
responder community. Indeed, the librarians have already
contacted the local fire rescue-training center to explore
the possibility of holding training classes at the
site.
Back to
Contents
Published bimonthly by the
National Network of Libraries of
Medicine, South Central Region
Supported by NLM Contract N01-LM-1-3515
NN/LM SCR Regional Advisory Committee
Chair
Mary Ryan
Network News Editor
Ruicha Mishra
Houston Academy of
Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library
1133 John Freeman Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030-2809
Phone: 800-338-7657 or 713-799-7880
Fax: 713-790-7030
nnlmscr@library.tmc.edu
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