October is National Medical Librarians Month–Share Your Story and Win a Trip to MLA 2013 in Boston!

MAR would like to celebrate medical librarians in our region. National Medical Librarians Month gives information professionals an opportunity to market their services and highlight their contributions to research, education and improved patient outcomes. Are you doing something to celebrate Medical Librarians Month? If so, share your story by sending to nnlmmar@pitt.edu. If applicable, also share a photo depicting your activities/events.

MAR will be collecting your stories and highlighting them in our blog and weekly postings throughout October. All those that submit a story before Oct. 31st will be entered into a random drawing to receive an award to cover registration and airfare to MLA 2013. Please, only one entry per library.

Be sure to check out MLA’s promotional items and resources to market library services and value at:
http://www.mlanet.org/resources/nml-month/

FYI—if you have not seen this report.  It is really neat how the data from the public libraries was captured and PowerPoints provided for public libraries to adapt/use.

http://www.oclc.org/uk/en/reports/stackup/default.htm

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Job opportunities at NLM, NIH
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/jobs/jobs.html

2013 Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Now Available

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/so12/so12_2013_mesh_avail.html

A New System of Registry Number Identifiers for Chemicals in the MeSH Database

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ja12/ja12_fda_unii.html

Future Plans of the 2011-2012 NLM Associate Fellows

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/associates_2011_2012_plans.html

MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing Activities

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/so12/so12_yep.html

New App is Authoritative Guide to NLM Mobile Resources

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/mobile_gallery.html

New Style and New Content for ClinicalTrials.gov

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ja12/ja12_clinicaltrials.html

NISO Publishes Journal Article Tag Suite (JATS) Standard

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/jats-niso.html

NLM Announces “Pick Your Poison: Intoxicating Pleasures and Medical Prescriptions,” on Display through April 12, 2013

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/hmd_pick_your_poison.html

NLM Launches GeneEd, Genetics Education Resource for Grades 9-12

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/geneed.html

NLM Library Operations Division Announces Two Appointments

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/appointments_lo.html

Retrieving History of Medicine Citations in MEDLINE/PubMed

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ja12/ja12_pm_history.html

What’s New in PMC: Another Facelift

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ja12/ja12_pmc_redesign.html

ALSO NEW FROM SIS

WISER for iOS 3.0, a universal app for Apple iOS devices, is now available. This new release adds native support for the iPad.  Search WISER’s full set of known substances, employ WISER’s popular Help Identify Chemical capability, and leverage WISER’s protective distance mapping feature with an interface customized for your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. WISER for iOS 3.0 can be downloaded and installed directly from the Apple App Store:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wiser-for-ios/id375185381?mt=8.

More at: http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/whats_new_iOS_3_0.html.

Almost 90% of adults struggle with complex health information. This is because most health information is presented in ways that make it hard to understand and use. People of color, older adults, and people with poor health status struggle the most with finding and understanding health information. It doesn’t have to be this way! Health information should be understandable, accessible, and convenient.

CommunicateHealth, a woman-owned small business, (and the same company that posted the Health Literacy Infographic a few months ago) is hosting a first of its kind Health Literacy Hackathon on October 13 and 14 at UMass Amherst. We are partnered with the UMass School of Public Health and Health Sciences and Mad*Pow (a research-inspired design agency focused on improving the experiences people have with technology, companies, and each other). The CommunicateHealth Health Literacy Hackathon will challenge participants to create a technology-driven tool to improve how people understand and use health information. It could be an app, a website, an interactive online tool, a media campaign, or something else! Inspiration and examples will be provided.

Participants will have 1 day to design their tool. Tools don’t need to be fully developed or complete, but presentations should include a plan for how the project could be implemented and launched.
Tools will be judged based on creativity, usability, feasibility, and best use of technology. The first place winner will be awarded $2,000. There will be cash prizes for runners-up.

If you are a:

• Graphic or web designer
• Developer or programmer
• Public health advocate
• Researcher
• Writer
• Person who’s passionate about health 2.0 or new technologies
• Then this event is for you!

Participants will compete in teams of 3 to 5 people. You can register as part of a group or as an individual. We’ll match individuals up with a group at the event.

Don’t forget to tweet – use #hack4health (and follow us @CommunicateHlth) to talk about the hackathon, or even find teammates! What are you waiting for? Learn more and register today!

http://hackathon.communicatehealth.com/

The legendary Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded in Boston.  The awards, which are in the 22nd year, “honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think.  The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.”

Among this year’s awards:  the neuroscience prize went to Craig Bennett, Abigail Baird, Michael Miller, and George Wolford [USA], for demonstrating that brain researchers, by using complicated instruments and simple statistics, can see meaningful brain activity anywhere — even in a dead salmon; the literature prize went to the U.S. government’s General Accountability Office, for issuing “a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports”; the anatomy prize went to Frans de Waal [The Netherlands and USA] and Jennifer Pokorny [USA] for discovering that chimpanzees can identify other chimpanzees individually from seeing photographs of their rear ends; and the medicine prize went to Emmanuel Ben-Soussan and Michel Antonietti [France] for advising doctors who perform colonoscopies how to minimize the chance that their patients will explode.  The (Alfred) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2012 is scheduled to be announced on Monday, October 8th.
http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2012

October is National Medical Librarians Month–Share Your Story and Win a Trip to MLA 2013 in Boston!

MAR would like to celebrate medical librarians in our region.  National Medical Librarians Month gives information professionals an opportunity to market their services and highlight their contributions to research, education and improved patient outcomes.  Are you doing something to celebrate Medical Librarians Month?  If so, share your story by sending to nnlmmar@pitt.edu.  If applicable, also share a photo depicting your activities/events.

MAR will be collecting your stories and highlighting them in our blog and weekly postings throughout October.  All those that submit a story before Oct. 31^st will be entered into a random drawing to receive an award to cover registration and airfare to MLA 2013.  Please, only one entry per library.

Be sure to check out MLA’s promotional items and resources to market library services and value at:
http://www.mlanet.org/resources/nml-month/

In the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants this month, the “Ask a Librarian” column includes resources for teen suicide prevention and a guide to understanding structured abstracts:

http://bit.ly/UhFGnW

This week we continue our participation in National Preparedness Month by providing resource on family and individual preparedness planning. Having a plan, building a preparedness kit, and ensuring you are informed if and when an event occurs in your area are critical steps in keeping yourself and your families safe.   Again, we encourage you to take some time to explore these resources and to share them with your patrons.

Coping with Disasters (MedlinePlus)

After any type of disaster, people feel relieved to be alive. But then they often feel stress, fear and anger. Most people will also find that they can’t stop thinking about what happened. Learn how to cope with these emotions effectively.

Disaster Apps and Mobile Optimized Web Pages

During a disaster, mobile devices may be your only way to connect with others. Learn how to use NLM’s disaster apps and mobile optimized web pages before disaster strikes.

Disaster News

Check out this RSS feed to the CDC’s Emergency Preparedness and Response site.

Disaster Preparation and Recovery (MedlinePlus)

Preparing for a disaster can reduce the fear, anxiety and losses that disasters cause. Be prepared.

Personal Preparedness

Explore this list of NLM resources on all types of man-made and natural disasters.

Ready.gov

Maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this site is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters.  The three tenets of Ready.gov are:  (1) build an emergency supply kit, (2) make a family emergency plan and (3) be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses.

Special Populations: Emergency and Disaster Preparedness

Certain populations have unique needs during emergencies and disasters. Be prepared to help these groups.

Sources of Emergency and Disaster Health Information from the U.S. Government

Discover these sources of emergency and disaster health information.

As always, you can find more information on disaster medicine and public health preparedness on DIMRC’s website: http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/

Caroline Spellman (Contractor)
Associate Consultant
Aquilent, Inc., supporting the mission of the National Library of Medicine
Specialized Information Services Division
Disaster Information Management Research Center
6707 Democracy Blvd., Ste. 510
Bethesda, MD 20892-5467
Phone: 301-496-3440
Fax: 301-480-3537
spellmancm@nlm.nih.gov

he MCH Library at Georgetown University presents a new knowledge path, Nutrition in Children and Adolescents.  The knowledge path directs readers to a selection of current, high-quality resources that present evidence-based nutrition guidance, describe public health campaigns and other promotion programs, inform policy and legislation, and report on research aimed at identifying promising strategies for improving nutrition and eating behaviors within families, schools, and communities.  Health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, and researchers can use the knowledge path to learn more about child and adolescent nutrition, improve care, develop programs, and locate training resources and information to answer specific questions.

View the knowledge path online at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_childnutr.html.

Companion resource briefs include the following:

Nutrition in Kids and Teens: Resources for Families http://www.mchlibrary.info/families/frb_childnutr.html

Nutrition Education and School Meals: Resources for Schools http://www.mchlibrary.info/schools/srb_childnutr.html

Food Marketing to Children and Adolescents http://www.mchlibrary.info/guides/foodmarketing.html

Food Safety http://www.mchlibrary.info/guides/foodsafety.html

Food Security and Nutrition Assistance Programs http://www.mchlibrary.info/guides/foodsecurity.html

Nutrition in Child Care http://www.mchlibrary.info/guides/ccnutrition.html

In previous weeks, we featured online preparedness resources that can be consulted before and during an emergency or disaster.  Our last featured resource has a topic page that addresses the emotional needs in the aftermath of disasters or emergencies:  http://www.bt.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/.

This site from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is categorized for specific populations.  You will also find selected information available in multiple languages.

Here are examples of the groups listed:

• Individuals
• Patients and Families
• Teachers and Schools
• Responders
• Healthcare Professionals

We hope you have found this series on emergency and disaster preparedness resources both interesting and educational.  Please share them with others in your institution or organization.

Michelle Burda
Network & Advocacy Coordinator
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
Middle Atlantic Region