9/24
Washington State immunization opt-out rules a national model http://seattletimes.com/html/edcetera/2019221042_washington_states_immunization.html

9/25
Medical app HealthTap launches feature that lets doctors translate medical research for the masses http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/medical-app-healthtap-launches-feature-that-lets-doctors-translate-medical-research-for-the-masses/2012/09/25/6be364da-0687-11e2-a10c-fa5a255a9258_blog.html
Drop, cover & hold on! Prep for earthquakes with this FREE app! http://www.redcross.org/mobile-apps/earthquake-app
Physician assistants, nurse practitioners fill gap on primary care in Idaho http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/09/24/2286206/physician-assistants-nurse-practitioners.html
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Did you know the National Library of Medicine Training Center (NTC) now offers free distance learning classes that are completely online? Details about upcoming online classes this fall are below, and be sure to check out NTC’s website at http://nnlm.gov/ntc for a variety of posts related to adult learning and teaching!

Teaching with Technology – October 8 – November 9, 2012 – this online asynchronous course via Moodle offers 8 Medical Library Association (MLA) continuing education (CE) units for successful completion. The class will cover the options for software, website tools, and best practices for teaching distance and blended (both distance and in-person) classes. Find out more and register at http://nnlm.gov/ntc/2012/09/10/fall-session-of-online-class-teaching-with-technology-available-for-registration/

What we Learning in ‘School’: Stories from Three Training and Learning Conferences – November 7, 2012 – this free 1 hour webcast will share tips, techniques and research-based recommendations from three recent professional development conferences the NTC staff have attended. Find out more and register for the webcast at http://nnlm.gov/ntc/2012/09/24/1669

October 1 – October 26.

Work at your own speed! October 1 – 26, 2012

This free online class is for those new to PubMed or for those who need a refresher and an update of all the new features. We will cover search strategies, Medical Subject Headings, filters and managing results. Librarians from all types of libraries as well as non-librarians are welcome. The course is taught through an online course management system, Moodle, accessible via the Web. There are no required meetings. Participants will view class information at their convenience and complete three assignments. The course is designed to be completed over a three week period, with an additional week for catch-up.

Making PubMed Work for You is approved for 3 hours of MLA Continuing Education credit. Patricia Devine will be the course moderator.

Please RSVP for Making PubMed Work for You by completing this registration survey. Priority registration will be given to residents of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, but others are welcome to join us as space allows.

Edit: A recording is now available at https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p94361960/

Local public health departments are participating in national health information exchange (HIE) initiatives, and librarians can have a role in facilitating community access to local health data. The Community Health Informatics Project, a partnership between University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana (UIUC) and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD), is step toward community access to data. The project transformed a collection of data and statistics into an easily-accessible web portal and an informal service became a sustainable partnership among the UIUC Illinois Informatics Initiative, faculty in two schools, and a health department.

Come join us on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 1pm Pacific time (Noon Alaska, 2pm Mountain) during our free monthly webcast at http://webmeeting.nih.gov/rendezvous to learn more during this session presented by Elaine R. Hicks, MS, MPH,MCHES, Education/Outreach Librarian Rudolph Matas Library of the Health Sciences at Tulane University. We will also feature Ann Madhavan, Public Health Seattle & King County, presenting on 20 Ways to Reach Out to Public Health.

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October is National Medical Librarians Month, as declared by the Medical Library Association.

This year’s theme, “Medical Librarians: Your Best Return on Investment”,  highlights medical librarians as the best and most cost effective way to obtain quality health information.

To recognize Medical Librarians Month, NN/LM PNR is sponsoring a contest to find out what emerging and new roles librarians in our Region are undertaking.  Tell us what you have done in your institution, or what you plan to do, in order to remain vital and assist with the mission of your organization. We are interested in learning about your activities with patient education, electronic health records, bioinformatics, data management, clinical effectiveness research, disaster response planning and more. Entries will be judged on creativity, originality and relevance.

Winners will be chosen and will receive a membership to the Pacific NW Chapter of the MLA, a $25 value.  Submit your entries by October 31 to Patricia Devine, devine@uw.edu. Winners will be announced in early November and a summary of the entries will be posted on Dragonfly.

Submitted by Jane Saxton, Director of Library Services, Bastyr University, Seattle, WA

This year, the NN/LM PNR awarded funds to several Network Members allowing them to attend Continuing Education courses at the Medical Library Association 2012 Annual Meeting in Seattle in May.  The awardees were asked to write up their “thoughts and reflections” on these classes, which were published in the July 3, 2012 issue of the Dragonfly. Claiming “too busyness” at the time, I promised to send something along later.  Later it certainly is, but a perfect time to assess the lasting impact of the CE I attended: “New Generation Tools for Advanced Biomedical Literature Study.”  What exactly did I learn way back then?  Which new tools am I using today?

Dr. Yi-Bu Chen, Program Coordinator in the Norris Medical Library at the University of Southern California, discussed three categories of new resources that are designed to answer your scientific and clinical questions: Innovative information retrieval (IR) tools, information extraction (IE) tools, and text-mining (knowledge discovery) tools.  Here are three resources, one from each category, that are now part of my search repertoire.Thank you to the NN/LM PNR and to Dr. Chen for introducing me to them! Read more »