The National Training Center is offering What We Learned in School:  Stories from Three Training and Learning Conferences on Nov. 7, 2012 at 3 pm ET.   They will also record and post the session for those who can’t attend at that time.

Their blog announcement and link to registration is here:  http://nnlm.gov/ntc/2012/09/24/1669/

A new report from a consortium representing six Gulf States lays out how to make health information exchange among states part of disaster preparedness and response.

The effort, begun in late 2010 and supported by the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT, included representatives from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Recommendations in the report pertain to other states, as well. A major goal of the initiative is to incorporate disaster planning earlier in health information exchange projects, according to a new ONC blog posting.

Recommendations include:

• Review state disaster response and governance policies, as they may not address the sharing of health information during a disaster.
• Develop standard procedures to share electronic health information across state lines before a disaster occurs.
• Establish a waiver of liability for release of records and to default state privacy and security rules to existing HIPAA standards in a disaster.
• Engage local HIEs, and private and public health information networks such as delivery systems, insurers, and electronic health records vendors, to increase sources from which health information may be exchanged. “Health information sharing during a disaster should not rely solely on the State HIE, but on a more effective network of health information-sharing networks.”
• Consider a phased approach to building interstate HIE capabilities. The report includes a three-phased approach as a roadmap for state HIEs to consider.

The report is available here.

The National Training Center is offering the “Teaching with Technology” online Moodle class (asynchronous) from Oct. 8 – Nov. 9, 2012 (8 MLA CE credits).  Registration is limited to 60.

Their blog announcement and link to registration is here:

http://nnlm.gov/ntc/2012/09/10/fall-session-of-online-class-teaching-with-technology-available-for-registration/

Executive Director, Health Sciences Libraries Consortium (HSLC), Philadelphia PA

Salary: Dependent on experience and qualifications (minimum $90K)

Duties:
HSLC, located in Philadelphia, is a not-for-profit, grant-funded consortium that supports, develops, and coordinates library services, and information and technology resources for more than 2900 qualifying public, academic, school and special libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. HSLC services include Pennsylvania Electronic Library Catalog, Ask Here PA, The POWER Library Network, the Pennsylvania Digital Repository, and SPARK- Pennsylvania’s Statewide Library System.

HSLC Board of Directors is seeking a dynamic Executive Director with strong leadership skills, strategic vision, and entrepreneurial spirit. The Executive Director is the chief operating officer of the Consortium, and is charged with implementing the policies and programs of the Consortium, exercising general supervision and management over all the property and affairs of the Consortium, and coordinating day-to-day operations and activities, and developing and implementing long-term organizational strategies and goals.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Preparation and administration of the budget.
• Oversight of all HSLC systems, in particular the ongoing transition to the Evergreen System.
• Preparation of grant applications.
• Exploration and development of funding sources.
• Negotiation of agreements, licenses, and contracts with members and outside agencies.
• Management of a staff of 18, including hiring, training, and evaluation.
• Communication and presentation of Organization goals, activities, and progress to Board of Directors, Members, and stakeholders.
• Other duties and assignments as the Board of Directors may require.

Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications and Competencies:

• A graduate degree is required, with a strong preference for information systems, library science, or business degrees. Other degrees will be considered, depending upon work experience.
• At least 10 years increasingly responsible professional experience, with a minimum of five years management level experience preferably with a large educational or research institution, public library system, information systems development group, or library or research information vendor.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, and commitment to excellent customer service.
• Adaptability to changing funding patterns, and ability to identify new revenue sources.
• Willingness to consider and take measured risks, especially in the area of emerging technologies.
• Experience with the application of computer-based systems in library operations with an emphasis on Open Source environments.
• Enthusiasm for keeping abreast of new technological developments and insight into their potential for creative application to library services.
• Desire to foster a collaborative work environment.

To Apply:
Applicants should submit a letter of interest, resume, and the names of three professional references with telephone numbers and e-mails to the Search Committee: hslcjobapplication@gmail.com.

Applications will be accepted until December 3, 2012, or until position is filled. Application packages must be submitted electronically, neither fax nor print will be accepted. Documents must be in Word 97-2003 or higher, or .pdf format. Submit any questions about the position or application process to the e-mail above.

HSLC is an equal opportunity employer.

http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/APF/JobPlacement/Search/JobPostings/display/details/?id=11455

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

The New York Times reports, "In findings that are fundamentally reshaping the scientific understanding of breast cancer, researchers have identified four genetically distinct types of the cancer.  And within those types, they found hallmark genetic changes that are driving many cancers.  These discoveries are expected to lead to new treatments with drugs already approved for cancers in other parts of the body and new ideas for more precise treatments aimed at genetic aberrations that now have no known treatment."  The study was released by Nature on Sunday and "...is the first comprehensive genetic analysis of breast cancer, which kills more than 35,000 women a year in the United States.  The new paper, and several smaller recent studies, are electrifying the field."
http://tinyurl.com/9urfelh
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11412.html

The History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine is planning a major update of its IndexCat database, the online version of the Index Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office.

We invite you to take part in a brief survey so we may better understand your current use of IndexCat and what new features you would wish this resource to offer in the future. Our apologies in advance if you receive duplicate invitations to participate.

The survey can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IndexCat

If you are not familiar with IndexCat, please take a moment to explore it. IndexCat contains over 4.5 million references to over 3.7 million bibliographic items dating from over five centuries and covering subjects of the basic sciences, scientific research, civilian and military medicine, public health, and hospital administration. A wide range of materials can be discovered through IndexCat, including books, journal articles, dissertations, pamphlets, reports, newspaper clippings, case studies, obituary notices, letters, portraits, as well as rare books and manuscripts. Recently, two new collections, involving medieval scientific English and Latin texts, were made available through IndexCat. Opening a new frontier in historical research, these additional collections encompass over 42,000 records of incipits, or the beginning words of a medieval manuscript or early printed book. IndexCat users can search incipit data by manuscript, library, author/translator, title, subject, date and other information.

The IndexCat user survey we are undertaking has been approved by the National Library of Medicine’s Survey Review process and responses will be anonymous. This survey will remain open until October 15, 2012.

For direct access to IndexCat, please visit: http://indexcat.nlm.nih.gov/

For more information about IndexCat, including its contents and development, please visit: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/indexcat/aboutic.html/

Thank you for your participation.

Stephen J. Greenberg, MSLS, PhD
Coordinator of Public Services
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
Department of Health and Human Services
Bethesda, MD

For the last installment in our National Preparedness Month resources series, we’ve provided resources below on taking care of pets and animals during disasters.  We understand that pets are an important part of the family, and once again, we encourage you to take some time to explore these resources and to share them with your patrons.

Animals in Disasters

This page from DIMRC offers links to various resources on animals and pets in disasters.

Disaster Preparedness (ASPCA) (in Spanish)

Emergencies come in many forms.  Each type of disaster requires different measures to keep your pets safe.  The best thing you can do for yourself and your pets is to be prepared.

Pets and Disasters (American Veterinary Medical Association)

Pets are part of the family, and we need to be prepared to take care of them during a disaster.

Protect Your Pets in an Emergency (CDC)

Make plans to ensure your pet’s safety before, during, and after an emergency.  This page provides organizations and resources that you can contact or access to help you plan how to protect your pets.

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