Municipal broadband story of interest to you if you have customers that access your services over the Internet. cNet News.Com: http://news.com.com/Cities+brace+for+broadband+war/2009-1034_3-5680305.html
There is also a map showing municipal projects in the U.S., and a link to last summer's story on "How the U.S. can build a national network."

iPods-other uses, including podcasting, are mentioned in the May issue of Health Data Management. http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html/current/CurrentIssueStory.cfm?PostID=19487 Have you thought of using podcasting to get your message out?

Libraries are concerned with quality of information - so is Google, as mentioned in this New Scientist story: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/info-tech/mg18624975.900 (spotted on today's Slashdot). Google plans to rank sources with a patented process used to rank search results.
A quote from the story: "The patent also reveals that the same system could be roped in to rank other search results, not simply news. So sales and services could in the future be listed on the basis of price and the reputation of the company involved."
Something cool to consider - your local library might have the chance to prove its worth against other search services if libraries used this system as well.

Free global health resource - Little Green Data Book, 2005 edition. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20455564~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Copies can be requested by emailing an address listed on this page: http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/envext.nsf/44ByDocName/EnvironmentalIndicatorsCurrentInitiativesTheLittleGreenDataBook2005

Are you able to include pdf files of ebooks in your OPAC? If so, here is a link to the pdf:
http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/envext.nsf/44ByDocName/TheLittleGreenDayaBook2005/$FILE/2005Littlegreendatabook.pdf

Using html to create user education resources? Writing HTML: a tutorial for creating web pages, by the Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction, is a great site to use as a reference as well as a tutorial for basic html code. The index of lessons is at this site: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/lessons.html .

Looking for a web-based news aggregator? You and your users may be interested in this one: Waggr http://www.waggr.com . I had been using a desktop-based aggregator, but like most librarians, I use many computers during the day. Waggr has been great for me, since it is so easy to use. The registration is free, and pretty simple - just your email address and a password, and you are set. Take a look at it, and consider it the next time your users ask about the best way to keep up with your library's blog.

Slashdot [http://slashdot.org] has a thread asking about Open Source Software solutions for managing a library collection: http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/21/1535213 . The answers contain many links to resources, as well as advice, that should be useful if your library is considering a similar issue.

McGoogan Baseball Card

McGoogan Info Card
Originally uploaded by Bibliotek.

Our library introduced baseball cards last year as part of a promotional program. Our customers like the cards, since they are easy to carry in a wallet. The cards also contain our email, website, toll and toll-free numbers on the reverse. Our card set now includes: a basic information card, shown here; a distance education card; and a card that highlights our consumer health information reference service [CHIRS]. Consider creating a set of cards at your library as another way to promote your library's services.

I just learned of this site and its service on the boingboing.net. Wondir http://www.wondir.com/wondir/jsp/index.jsp appears to be the ultimate in virtual reference - only the questions are being asked to the public, not to any particular library. Your library could partner up with this site as well http://www.wondir.com/wondir/jsp/index.jsp . The site includes this disclaimer: "Wondir is not a substitute for professional advice." I would love to see if this is being used in current reference classes in library school, as real-life examples of questions that are looking for answers. And if you are looking for ways to reward your reference department, check out the Wondir Bowl contest. Librarians should know their own Answer Quality Rating, and get rewarded for a high average!

The National Health Information Technology Coordinator, Dr. David Brailer, spoke to the American Medical Informatics Association spring meeting yesterday in Boston. His theme: interoperability. If you are planning a library conference, or are looking for a speaker idea for your campus, this might be someone to bring in if possible. I am not sure how much they are keeping library information resources in mind while they are planning the "national health information network". More on the what Dr. Brailer spoke about is in this Health IT World News article (spotted on the iHealthbeat.org site) http://tmlr.net/jump/?c=12519&a=296&m=2954&p=1629440&t=164 .

I just discovered a great blog: SNTReport.com . Edited by K. Matthew Dames, the blog has categories of particular interest to library educators, including Education & Training. Take a look at it and consider adding it to your RSS reader: http://www.sntreport.com/ .

Boingboing.net has a posting about a Minneapolis Star-Tribune article on the first session of the Association of College and Research Libraries conference: http://www.boingboing.net/2005/04/08/take_me_to_the_dinos.html The topic of the session: how do libraries best serve the 'millenials', the students that have grown up with the Internet. There is a link to the newspaper article, registration is required.

A great new marketing blog for librarians has been launched: http://librarymarketing.blogspot.com/. Created by Jill Stover, Undergraduate Services Librarian of the James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, it promises to be a great way to share successful ideas.

If you or the health professionals you serve are interested in access to health information in 'resource poor settings', and would benefit from a global perspective, HIF-net is the email list for you. A joint project between the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications and the World Health Organization, the subscribers to the list include librarians, care providers, and others concerned with answering the call for access to information. Instructions on joining the list as well as more information about the project are here: http://www.inasp.info/health/hif-net.html

Yahoo has a beta version of a Creative Commons search engine. I saw the story on boingboing: http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/24/creative_commons_sea.html . Take a look to see if there are materials/images for your education needs that you can adapt or use as is. Also, check to see if your materials that you have registered with CC show up so that others can find them.

OCLC has a library advocacy section to their website. Check out the new posters they have designed that you can download and customize to use in your marketing campaigns: http://www.oclc.org/advocacy/default.htm .

For those of you who are in the position of explaining what a blog is, you may want to check out and forward this article on the Digital Divide Network: The Blogging Phenomenon, by Cedar Pruitt http://www.digitaldivide.net/articles/view.php?ArticleID=86 . I also recommend that you join this community if your interests include any facet of "bridging the digital divide"!

Interested in the future of medical libraries? Check out the newest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine for a great article :
Lindberg DA, Humphreys BL
2015-The Future of Medical Libraries
N Engl J Med. 2005 Mar 17; 352 (11): 1067-70

Are you looking for a teen resource to teach public health issues? If your library supports high school career, Explorer, or Area Health Education Center programs and their leaders, pass this link along:
Outbreak at Watersedge http://www.mclph.umn.edu/watersedge/
This online game was developed by the Midwest Center for Life-long Learning in Public Health in Minnesota.

Interested in open access to peer-reviewed literature? Take a look at this conference report.

The Implementation of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access:
Report on the Berlin 3 Meeting Held 28 February - 1 March
2005, Southampton, UK, Stevan Harnad, Université du Québec à
Montréal, D-Lib Magazine (March 2005),
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march05/harnad/03harnad.html

Wondering what the future could hold for your library? If you serve any facet of the health care industry, you will probably want to check out this story in Healthcare Informatics : Nine Tech Trends http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/issues/2005/02_05/cover.htm . See where your library and its services can plug into the coming electronic healthcare record world. The story was also discussed on a UK NHS site here: http://www.informatics.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=1229 . Both were mentioned on a recent post to the TELEHEALTH discussion list: http://www.telehealth.net/subscribe/subscribe_list.html .

A call for public comments to the US Copyright Office for the Orphan Works problem is here: http://www.orphanworks.org/ , a service of Public Knowledge . If you have ever had to search unsuccessfully for a copyright holder for an item one of your patrons is interested in using, you have experienced an 'orphan work'. A link for public comments at the US Copyright Office is here http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/index.html . Deadline for public comments is March 25, 2005. Let them hear your comments on a solution.

If your library is supporting handheld users, you may want to put this blog on your RSS reader: The Handheld Librarian http://www.handheldlib.blogspot.com . If you want to check out some readers to add your RSS feeds into, check out this page of suggestions for readers hosted by Blogspace: http://blogspace.com/rss/readers .

If you are a MLA member, please take this survey:

Don't miss out on your chance to participate in MLA's Leadership and
Management Section's Career Development Survey at
http://www.lms.mlanet.org/survey.html
We've received over 750 responses so far! But time is running out to
complete the survey, which ends on Monday, February 28th. If you
haven't already taken the 10-15 minute survey, why not pop in right
now?
There is a survey option here for absolutely everyone. If you're
aspiring to middle management, or a current middle manager we want to
hear from you! We also want to hear from upper management and
individuals who are not interested in pursuing management at all.
To complete the survey:
1. Link to: http://www.lms.mlanet.org/survey.html
2. Select the survey option that best reflects your current situation.
Please complete only 1 survey.
Approximate Survey Time: 15 minutes.
To learn more about MLA's Leadership and Management Section, visit our
website: http://www.lms.mlanet.org/
Thank you!
PDCAMM Task Force
MLA Leadership & Management Section

Here is a Christian Science Monitor article on the Wikipedia: http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2005/0211/p25s01-stin.html .

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is already alive and well in libraries, but using it to track humans is a relatively new issue. Here is a story about a school that implemented, then withdrew, a student tracking program based on RFID name tags: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5520 . Weak prediction here, but in the future we as user educators will probably keep attendance based on nametags and a reader over the computer lab door instead of relying on sign-in sheets.

If your library runs Windows XP on your machines, you may want to forward this notice to your system librarian and/or tech support: Ready or Not, Here Comes Windows XP SP2 http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/21/1543243&tid=201&tid=128&tid=172&tid=185&tid=218 .

Great book on web design is mentioned in this recent review: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/16/2058234&threshold=0&tid=95&tid=156&tid=6 . Carrie Bickner is the author, and her blog is here: http://www.roguelibrarian.com/index.html . More about the book, Web Design On a Shoestring, is here: http://www.roguelibrarian.com/shoestring/index.html , and here http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0735713286/qid=1109021924/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-7769119-5097505?v=glance&s=books , or you can subscribe and read it online at Safari http://safari.informit.com/?XmlId=0-7357-1328-6 . Yes, folks - the great advice in this book comes from a great librarian.

Share this with your patrons!
New Science.gov Service Delivers Science Information to Desktops
Alliance helps public stay "alert" to the latest science discoveries from 12 federal science agencies, introduces Science.gov Alert Service
Media Contact For immediate release
Cathey Daniels February 17, 2005
(865) 576-9539
danielsc@osti.gov
Science.gov, the "go to" Web portal for federal science information, now provides a free and convenient "Alert" service that delivers information about the most current science developments right to desktops each Monday.
Launched at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Feb. 17-21, 2005) in Washington, D.C., the Science.gov Alert Service provides weekly emails to those interested in science.
From the Science.gov homepage (http://www.science.gov), individuals can set up an account and let Science.gov do the searching for them. Each week, up to 25 relevant results from selected information sources will be sent to the subscriber's email account. Results are displayed in the Alert email and in a personalized Alert Archive, which stores six weeks of alerts results. In the Archive, past activity can be reviewed and Alert profiles edited.
Individuals can choose specific sources to monitor, or select the "All Sources" option. Science.gov drills down into hard-to-find research information collections, spanning more than 47 million pages of government R&D results. More than 1,700 government information resources and 30 databases on a wide variety of scientific topics are available - all in one place and searchable with just one search tool.
Since its launch in 2002, Science.gov, the science companion to FirstGov, has been the one-stop gateway to reliable federal science and technology information. Science.gov allows individuals to search for information based on subject, rather than by government agency.
Science.gov is made possible by the Science.gov Alliance, a collaboration of 12 federal agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services and the Interior, as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Government Printing Office, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation, with support from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Here is a business seminar source that I recently learned about (and it is connected to the University of Nebraska!): NU Skills http://www.nuskills.unl.edu/ . A class that would be of particular interest to librarians is coming up next week: Presenting with Power (it should be the first class listed on this page https://nuskills.webex.com/nuskills/mywebex/default.php?Rnd8635=0.7188375822167214 ), and it only costs $39 ($45 if you register within 24 hours of the course time and date).

Managing Digital Assets: A primer for library and information technology administrators
This CLIR workshop took place on Feb 4-6, 2005. The speaker notes, presentations, and reading list are now available online at http://www.clir.org/activities/registration/feb05_managing.html .

The Pew Research Center has published an online reference book that can be downloaded by chapter or as a complete volume at: Trends 2005 http://pewresearch.org/trends/ .
Chapters (pdf) include:
The American Public: Opinions and Values in a 51%-48% Nation
Religion & Public Life: A Faith-Based Partisan Divide
Media: More Voices, Less Credibility
Internet: The Mainstreaming of Online Life
Hispanics: A People in Motion
The States: Policy Innovation Amid Fiscal Constraint
Global Opinion: The Spread of Anti-Americanism

Just stop and think a moment on how our work and personal lives have been changed by the Internet! A recent report from the Pew & Internet Life Project details the changes that have happened over the last decade:
A Decade of Adoption: How the Internet Has Woven Itself Into American Life
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/148/report_display.asp

From a great librarian on the Medwebmasters list, Patricia F. Anderson:
----------------
I stumbled on this and love the idea of 'digital environmentalists'.
Another concept word I see linked with this is 'copyfight' or
'copyfighter(s)'.
The bottom line seems to be to apply environmentalism concepts of
preservation and stewardship and a shared environment in the digital
realm. This is seem to especially touch on intellectual property laws
(just as natural environmentalism touches on physical property laws).
I thought several of you on this list might also enjoy
it. FYI!
BookForum (Feb/Mar 2005): Righting Copyright - Fair use and "Digital
Environmentalism" / by Robert S. Boynton:
http://www.bookforum.com/boynton.html
What Boynton says actually has its roots in international library
policies.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA):
IFLA Position on Copyright in the Digital Environment:
http://www.ifla.org/V/press/copydig.htm
Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR): Authenticity in a
Digital Environment: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub92/pub92.pdf
Society of American Archivists (SAA): Copyright, Archival Institutions and
the Digital Environment:
http://www.archivists.org/statements/stmt-copyright-arch.asp
And other places. :-)
Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER),
Department of Information Science, City University (London): SCHOLARLY
COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: WHAT DO AUTHORS WANT? Findings
of an international survey of author opinion: project report Ian
Rowlands, Dave Nicholas and Paul Huntingdon, 18 March 2004:
http://www.publishers.org.uk/paweb/paweb.nsf/0/b93e724b16fbc7f880256ea9003b77ae/$FILE/ciber-pa-report.pdf
Institute for Information Law (IVIR): The Future of Levies in a Digital
Environment: http://www.ivir.nl/publications/other/DRM&levies-report.pdf
---------------

Spring 2005 – Copyrightlaws.com offering online
courses on "Managing Copyright Issues", "U.S.
Copyright Law", "Digital Licensing, and "Canadian and
International Copyright Law" --
Need to learn more about copyright law and licensing
but never seem to have the time to attend a course or
read an entire book on the topic? Let these practical
online courses guide you through the "copyright maze"
to provide you with a strong understanding of
copyright basics and managing your copyright and
licensing issues.
These are 8 week courses, comprising 16 lessons, which
are e-mailed directly to you. (Digital Licensing is 9
weeks, with 27 e-lessons.) To make sure you’re paying
attention, there is a quiz following each lesson.
Further information and registration is at
http://www.acteva.com/go/copyright ,
http://copyrightlaws.com , or e-mail
seminars@copyrightlaws.com
Sincerely,
Amritha
amritha@copyrightlaws.com

Will copyright kill the blog? Information Week has a story for any fellow bloggers out there:
The Weblog Question (Jan 31, 2005) http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=35OKXRKT1IFACQSNDBESKHA?articleID=59100462

If you serve Public Health professionals or students, here is an article of interest to you:

B. Lynn Whitener, Virginia V. Van Horne, and Anne K. Gauthier
Health Services Research Tools for Public Health Professionals
Am J Public Health 2005 95: 204-207.

Thanks to Kris Alpi (PHHA-LIB mailing list) for the citation!

Library renovation story from North Carolina State University Libraries: http://technicianonline.com/story.php?id=010918

Did you ever watch Desk Set ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050307/ ) and figure that computers will never replace librarians? A news item that broke in yesterday's USA TODAY might be of interest to you: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-02-01-chasing-ai_x.htm . Would we still be needed if our researchers had a desk-top that read the available ejournal literature and helped identify relevant articles? What do we do that could not be easily replicated by machines, anyway?

MSN announced its new Search yesterday, and now the question in Forbes is "which search engine is best?" http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/02/02/cx_js_0202polldujour.html . I think it may be time for librarians to start writing those letters (to editors, to bosses, open letters to patrons, etc.) in an effort to educate folks on how to evaluate search engines and search results. We already include tips on using search engines in our general library classes at my library. Let me know how you introduce your library or Internet use classes to these concepts, please.

Does your library need web hosting, email, and internet services? Do any of the 501(c)3 nonprofits or public schools you serve need those services? Grassroots.org provides free web hosting, email, and other internet services as a way to help nonprofits serve their communities. The application is online at http://www.grassroots.org/do/Tools .

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has a site that contains reports of use to anyone making plans that involve their audience using technology (and that means us librarians!). http://www.pewinternet.org/index.asp . A report they released on January 23rd has been making the news - "Search Engine Users: Internet searchers are confident, satisfied and trusting - but they are also unaware and naive." http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/146/report_display.asp . I imagine that the report will only reinforce what you have seen first-hand when teaching your users to evaluate what they see in their search results, and in their choice of search tools.
Some of the news links covering this report:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050124/D87QEK3O0.html
http://news.com.com/Study+Net+users+confused+about+search/2100-1032_3-5547932.html
And a good discussion on Lorcan Dempsey's blog http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000552.html, that leads back to the information literacy discussion - http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000540.html .
We just have to find a better way to reach all these 'satisfied' people - or not.

This article from Harvard may be of interest to you if you are getting ready to do a survey on your campus. "Drug Records, Confidential Data Vulnerable" http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=505402 .
The site that provided the loophole mentioned in the article was one that allowed people to design and conduct surveys.

If you are exploring research options to evaluate your services, you may find this excellent research bibliography useful: http://research.mlanet.org/resbib.html . This bibliography was prepared by the Library Research Section of the Medical Library Association's Research Resources Committee.

I have been thinking about our role as librarians, as well as ways to market library services to a sometimes less-than-excited public. I think I have a draft of an analogy that might fit our circumstances, and help get across to our many audiences how important it is to keep connected to information and those that know where it lives.
A suspension bridge has been built, joining two geographic areas in a new-fashioned way, or as the first time either side has been joined to the other. News crews appear, interviewing the construction project manager, the steelworkers, the painters, the concrete workers, the architects, the funders. A crowd appears, expressing awe at the expanse gleaming in the sun. Numbers might get tossed around - the many square yards of concrete, the many miles of cable, the distance of the bridge above the ground, how long it took to plan and build the bridge. There might be a ceremony, attended by dignitaries, marking the bridge open and serving the public. Everyone acknowledges how great the bridge is and how it will impact mankind. But rarely does anyone interview the cable supplier or manufacturer. No reporter asks what types of cable were considered, how the cables were made of individual strands of wire, which cable type was selected and why, how the cable got to the worksite (well, maybe that last one might be newsworthy). Usually, there is talk about how many pounds of force the number of cables must be able to support, and sometimes the topic of cable comes up in discussion if there was any trouble acquiring it or if the cost was extraordinary. Otherwise, discussion about the intricacies of cable takes place at cable suppliers' association meetings, on the floor of cable manufacturing factories, and among engineers that design new versions of cable. Those involved with cable know that the number of suspension bridges might be reduced in the future in favor of new bridge styles, but they have responsibility to keep renewing the cables on existing bridges, as well as identify new uses and forms of cable to support emerging markets.
Information and its delivery is the cable of "suspension bridge" research projects that join mankind to new ways of living. Research results make big news, but rarely discuss in press releases or documentaries where information (or lack of access to information, or information providers, or librarians) played a role in the outcomes. Research would suffer and projects could not be built strong without information being a key support to the discoveries. While I personally think libraries, librarians, and information providers should be showcased every day on the 6 0'clock news for the vital role they play in the world, I don't mind playing the role of cable supplier in the scheme of things. Every once in a while, though, I would like to see a few documentaries covering ground-breaking research add discussion on the role that information played in leading to the results. It would be great if librarians and vendors would get together to do such a series, if only to educate the public that appear to think running a simple search through the internet constitutes research. Maybe this would work to reduce the comments of, "oh, you don't need to have funds to support a library; information is free and easy to get for everyone on the Internet." Librarians [and vendors] could start buying 'congratulations' ads in the newspaper whenever a research project hits the news, like the concrete company and architect's office does when a new bridge is built, just to remind everyone what our role is in the finished product.

Thank you for reading this, and please let me know if this analogy can be improved, changed, or if you want to challenge it. -Teri

An announcement I received from the WHO today might serve as a template for your library when you start offering a blog or RSS news feed:

"World Health Organization (WHO) news headlines and summary texts are now
available via "really simple syndication" (RSS). RSS is a straightforward
way for you to keep up-to-date with the latest news from WHO. To use RSS
on your computer you need to obtain a program called a News Reader, which
allows you to collect and display RSS feeds from your chosen web sites.
Every time a news article is published on the WHO web site, you will
receive an automatic update without having to visit our site. You will
find further information about RSS and details of how to access WHO RSS
feeds on the following URL:
http://www.who.int/about/licensing/rss/en/
Advantages of RSS technology are:
- you can scan the headlines of many different web sites via a single
browser window. When you see a headline that interests you simply click on
the link to visit the publisher's web site;
- you only receive information from the web sites that you have selected
eg BBC, NY Times, WHO etc;
- information is automatically updated on a regular basis;
- most RSS feeds consist of text only, so this technology is ideal for
slower internet connections.
WHO plans to launch additional RSS feeds for subjects such as disease
outbreaks and emergencies in the coming weeks."

An additional resource that your library might want to use - Podcasting. Like a blog, Podcasts are sound files instead of text files, an "Audioblog" if you will (yes, that is a site: http://www.audioblog.com). This method of reaching out to our users could be similar to leaving a voice mail with instructions on how to access a certain database, or an update from your library's mascot on what events are coming up. Users then download to their portable handhelds or iPods to listen to while on the run, or they can listen to them on their desktop. I found a really good illustration of how these files can be more useful than a text file or HTML page on the directory site Podcast.Net http://www.podcast.net/viewshow.cgi/410 . What better way to teach someone American English idioms than through a sound file? [I wish I could have had this in a German form while I lived in Germany (in the before-time: before I discovered that computers could do more than add and subtract!). ] Users don't have to wait for large video files to load, and instructors don' t have to worry about the sound and visuals not matching up on the receiver's side. This technology won't replace great interactive computer-based instruction, but it might offer your users another 'co-pilot' for them the next time they head out to access an ejournal or search PubMed using MeSH.

If you are considering adding a blog to your library site, this BBC article may give you the push you need: Blog Reading Explodes in America http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4145191.stm .
And wouldn't you know - there is a great blog about libraries using blogs:
http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/ .
There is also a book on the subject (but I am not sure if this blog is listed-grin!). Review here:
http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/weblogs.htm
Using a blog to serve our users is along the same lines as having a phone for them to call us, a web site for them to access the collection, an email address for them to contact us...

Here is a site you may wish to share with your researchers.
Creative Commons now (as of January 1, 2005) has Science Commons http://science.creativecommons.org/ . Its mission is: "to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific intellectual property and to share their knowledge with others. Science Commons works within current copyright and patent law to promote legal and technical mechanisms that remove barriers to sharing."

In case you have marketing thoughts as you consider the new year ahead, Mary Niederlander's site is full of great links that you can use:
Marketing Our Libraries On and Off the Internet
http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/marketinglibs.html

One of the links that she has on her site is the Library Lover's Month in February:
http://www.librarysupport.net/librarylovers/

Other health-related observances planned for 2005 that you can highlight in your library's programming and marketing are listed at this site:
National Health Observances (US focus) http://www.healthfinder.gov/library/nho/

Here is a collection of online books that might prove useful to your health professional students that are volunteering over the class break. I learned of them on the hif-net-at-WHO discussion list.
HealthWrights-Workgroup for people's health and rights books online
http://www.healthwrights.org/booksonline.htm

Your students could leave this link with their host clinics/organizations, and point out the additional resources that are available in each of the titles, such as the link to Addresses for Teaching Materials included in "When There is No Doctor" - http://www.healthwrights.org/books/WTINDonline.htm

Imagine having to get licensed permission to access your home DVDs, similar to the procedures we go through to access licensed journal articles. Here is a story from one person's experience in dealing with DRM - Digital Rights Management - in order to view a DVD of Terminator 2.
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1765/

Market your library's services by using the National Observances Calendar to guide your announcements about the resources you offer your customers:
http://www.healthfinder.gov/library/nho/
Examples:
-offer training sessions on how to evaluate health information during Wise Health Consumer Month in February
-create a table-tent listing healthy recipe resources to put on the cafeteria tables to showcase National Nutrition Month in March
-collaborate with a local community college to conduct Senior Health computer users training sessions during Older Americans Month in May
-and don't forget to toot your own horn during National Medical Librarians Month in October

While searching the Penn State site for more news on how the browser switch is going, I found this article on human-Web interaction that might be of interest to you and your customers that work with the Web to reach humans:
Research at Penn State McKeesport focuses on human-Web Interaction
http://live.psu.edu/story/9448

In case you are in charge of making sure your library web site is compliant with the various browsers that our users have, here is a story in the December 10th Information Week that might be of interest. Penn State Tells 80,000 Students to Chuck IE
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=55301109
(I learned about this story from Patricia Anderson, on the Medwebmasters-L list.)
I currently use Firefox http://www.firefox.com/ , and Safari http://www.apple.com/safari/ on both work and home computers. Some library electronic resources have a ways to go in order to be easily accessible on those browsers, however. With news like the article above, I am sure that distance education and eresource vendors will have to address the 'alternative' browsers, or lose money and/or users.

Index Medicus ceases print publication. From today's News From NLM email notice:

Index Medicus Ceases as a Printed PublicationDecember 14, 2004 [posted]
The NLM will cease publishing the monthly Index Medicus (IM) with the December 2004 edition (Volume 45). For more information see the article Index Medicus to Cease as Print Publication. NLM Tech Bull. 2004 May-Jun;(338):e2.

Free cross-cultural communication web course:

FREE WEB COURSE ON CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION:
UMDNJ - School of Public Health-Office of Public Health Practice, in
collaboration with the New York New Jersey-Public Health Training
Center, invites you to participate in a, free, Web-based interactive
learning experience: Communicate to Make a Difference: Exploring
Cross-Cultural Communication. This course, in three modules, introduces
many facets of culture and communication in a real-world public health
scenario. Learners must make decisions while discovering communication
strategies they can employ in their daily work.
The course is designed for public health professionals and may be
completed at one's own pace within a 30-day period. Completion requires
approximately six hours.
For more information go to the Web site: http://www.nynj-phtc.org/cc or call
Robyn Shumer at the School of Public Health-Office of Public Health
Practice at 732-235-9451 shumerrb@umdnj.edu
Learning Objectives:
* Increase the participant's awareness of his/her own cultural
framework, including core assumptions in public health.
* Give examples of discriminating and non-discriminating practices in
providing public health services.
* Recognize and choose effective methods/strategies/techniques for
unbiased communication.
* Identify specific factors that influence an individual's or group's
acceptance of public health information and services.
* Develop increased awareness of diversity.
* Understand how and why stereotypes/generalizations are created.

Share this free curriculum resource with your nursing school, medical school, physician assistant program, and/or inservice trainers - Reproductive Health Initiative Model Curriculum, 2nd Edition http://www.amwa-doc.org/index.cfm?objectId=CD3E4EE4-D567-0B25-5478CC52AE257FE2

From the site: "The RHI Model Curriculum, 2nd Edition (Curriculum), is a comprehensive, 7-module resource designed to assist educators, students, and health care providers with improving reproductive health education and services. As an adaptable teaching tool, the Curriculum can be used in medical schools, nursing schools, physician assistant programs, residency training programs, and as an inservice training tool to strengthen the services of practicing health care providers. "

If you are a librarian in charge of CME, here is a new resource you will want to let your customers know about.
A Family Physician's Practical Guide to Culturally Competent Care
http://cccm.thinkculturalhealth.org/
This HHS resource offers up to 9 free CME credits.

More information on the Google-libraries pilot project:
FAQ at Harvard: http://hul.harvard.edu/publications/041213faq.html
Announcement at U 0f Mich: http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2004/Dec04/library/index

Microsoft has released a test version of its new desktop search tool: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4094807.stm . It will be interesting to compare Google's, Yahoo!'s, and Microsoft's version, once all are available for testing.

True digital library coming? Google has announced that it will scan the entire library holdings of Stanford University, University of Michigan, Harvard University, New York Public Library, and Oxford University. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/14/BUGADABBS91.DTL
The project page at google is http://www.print.google.com .

Top Ten [Technology] Trends for 2005: http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=11046&hed=Top%2BTen%2BTrends%2Bfor%2B2005%A7or=Briefings&subsector=Trends .

Serials Review 2004; 30(4) is a special issue on Open Access, and is openly accessible at
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00987913 .

Yahoo! Desktop Search is a step closer to becoming reality and competing with Google Desktop Search, according to this story in The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/11/yahoo_licenses_x1_search/ .

The Digital Divide Network has just launched its new website today: http://www.digitaldivide.net/ . Two items you may want to check out right away:
Article by Andy Carvin on RSS feeds and agregators: http://www.digitaldivide.net/articles/view.php?ArticleID=68 .
The Literacy & Learning Community section: http://www.digitaldivide.net/community/literacy .

Librarians are questioning this Walgreens and ALA partnership:
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=67309%3E
Here are some of the questions in the Library Journal http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=articleArchive&articleid=CA434411& . Here is a list of other sponsorship programming: http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/sponsorship/sponsorshipprograms.htm
Sorry to see that Omaha was not chosen to be a site for the "Be Well Informed @your library" consumer health education seminars. If you are a medical or academic library employee, note the cities that are involved, and see if your public library could use some assistance. http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=77619

Looking for free resources to use in your library? Thomson Gale offers free marketing promotion tools, product reviews, and dedicated sites to Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Women's History Month, and poetry. http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/
An example of a product review is this one on Google Scholar in the December issue of Peter's Digital Reference Shelf: http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/reference/peter/dec.htm#googlescholar

A pat on the back for librarians everywhere:
A Billion Dollar IPO for Johns Hopkins, by William R. Brody
http://www.jhu.edu/gazette/2004/06dec04/06brody.html
A great quote that now lives in my sig file: "Today's technology is spectacular — but it can't always trump a skilled human. "

I bet you would be a great presenter at this conference! Abstracts are due April 30, 2005.

9th World Congress on Health Information and Libraries
The Main Theme: Commitment to Equity
ICML 9 - CRICS 7
Salvador, Bahia - Brazil, 20-23 September, 2005
Website: http://www.icml9.org/?lang=en
Organized by: The Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information - BIREME/PAHO/WHO
the IFLA Section of Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries and the Brazilian Ministry of Health.
§ Focusing on the understanding that knowledge should permeate all action in human health the organizers expect to provide an analysis of the international advances and challenges the health sciences information are facing,
§ with a view to strengthening the universal and equitable access to scientific and technical information worldwide
§ to promote the citizenship participation and health decision making based on information towards the health for all.
The paper and poster submission is open, select one of the subject tracks and submit an abstract in English before April 30th 2005:
1. Health and medical library development and innovation
2. Decision based on scientific evidences
3. Information and knowledge management. Learning organizations
4. Information policy
5. Scientific communication & electronic publishing. Open access, open archives
6. Health consumer & patient
7. Traditional and complementary therapies
8. Virtual libraries & virtual communities
9. Human resources development
10. Other topics

Libraries and National Security: an Historical Review, by Joan Starr, an LIS Graduate Student
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_12/starr/#s4
I learned about this paper published in First Monday from the SOLOLIB-L digest of Dec 3.

HON is conducting a new survey on medical Internet usage (Autumn 2004).
Whether you are a non-medical user, a patient, a care-giver for an ill
person or a health professional, your opinion is important
to us and helps us determine current trends and improve the quality
of the medical Internet.
You will need 10 to 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire.
It would therefore be of infinite value to us if you would
visit and fill out the questionnaire at:
http://www.hon.ch/Survey/quest_internet.html
The study is not commercially sponsored. This study has been developed
and conducted by Health On the Net Foundation, an independent
Non-Governmental Organisation dedicated to improving the quality
and accessibility of online health information.
[ from an HON Team email message]

OCLC has released its top 1000 titles owned by member libraries. The top 10 and a link to the entire 1000 titles is located here: http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/default.htm . There is an additional link on the right side of the page for subject categories such as banned books, and librarianship, but this user could access only the first four categories due to bad web links.

If you are keeping up with open access issues in your library, check out the conversations on this listserv: American Scientist Open Access Forum http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/date.html . Another one is the SPARC-OAF list, at https://mx2.arl.org/Lists/SPARC-OAForum/List.html . A recent message on that list announced that Congress has reaffirmed support for the NIH proposal to enhance public access to research information.

"Nation of Learners" funding opportunity, deadline March 1, 2005: http://www.partnershipforlearners.org/ . $3 million will be provided by this new partnership of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to cover competitive grants over multiple years. Grants are to support existing and new collaborations, encourage professional development, and conduct project evaluations to measure effectiveness. Guidelines are available at the site.

Teaching and presenting topics to groups are skills most librarians gain while on the job. There are resources for help with public speaking and presentations. Some of the free resources are:

Presentations: Technology and techniques for effective communication (magazine, http://www.presentations.com ). Be sure to check out this magazine and site when it is time to purchase a new projector or microphone for your training room.

Located on their website is a list of presentation-related associations: http://www.presentations.com/presentations/business_resources/industry_links.jsp

Another great resource is the one hosted by Website Estates. Tutorials, how-to articles on presentation topics, and free PowerPoint templates are available on this site: http://www.websiteestates.com/ .

Interested in community-based health information outreach? The National Library of Medicine is sponsoring an Outreach Symposium on December 2-3, 2004: "Symposium on Community-Based Health Information Outreach" to explore new models of health information outreach. Those interested are invited to view the Symposium live via the Internet. The program and instructions for connecting to the broadcast are on the Symposium website at http://www.nlmoutreachsymposium2004.org
The goal of the symposium is to explore new models of health information outreach that are emerging as technology dramatically changes the abilities of medical and health services libraries to provide resources and services beyond their traditional institutional boundaries. Particular emphasis will be given to consumer health information outreach through community-based organizations. The National Library of Medicine's Strategic Plan to Reduce Health Disparities will be reviewed with special emphasis on NLM's programs targeting Native Americans. The knowledge and insights gained in the Symposium will also inform the RFP for the next National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) contract.
The proceedings of the Symposium will be published in a special supplement to the Journal of the Medical Library Association.

A recent Library Journal on virtual reference services may be of interest: Rethinking Virtual Reference by Carol Tenopir
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA475028?display=Online+DbsNews&industry=Online+Dbs&industryid=3761&verticalid=151&

Google has a search feature for scholarly literature: Google Scholar (beta) http://scholar.google.com/ . Take a look at the About Google Scholar page to learn more about the features and limitations: http://scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html . The really good news - they direct users back to libraries here:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html#search4 , here http://scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html#access2 , here
http://scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html#access3 , and here http://scholar.google.com/scholar/about.html#access4 .

Thanks go to Jon Harrison of the Michigan State University Libraries for this resource :

Grants for Individuals:Library and Information Science http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/3libsci.htm .
It includes support staff as well as library student and professional grant opportunites. Some resources are only available to Michigan State university faculty, staff and students.

The LIScareer site now has its own blog: http://liscareer.blogspot.com/ . You might want to pass this site on to the new librarians on your team, as well as take a look at it for your own career development needs.

The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology today issued a call in the Federal Register for public comment on "implementing the President's call for widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records [EHRs] within ten years." The site for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/rfi.html . To locate the Federal Register announcement, go to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/retrieve.html , click on 2004 Federal Register, Vol. 69, and enter the following page number in the search box: 65599 . When that page comes up, you just click on the Next Page link at the bottom of the screen to get to and print off the two additional pages. Please consider sharing this call for comment with fellow librarians in addition to those that administer patient records. Librarians have a big stake in any work towards future information interoperability.

Planning for 2005 National Library Week will probably start soon for your library, if you aren't already deep into committee work. Getting your mayor or governor to sign a proclamation would be nice, and should be one of your easier duties. ALA usually has proclamation text for you to adapt (example here: https://cs.ala.org/@yourlibrary/nlw2003/NLW03proclamation.pdf ). Next, you contact your mayor's and/or governor's office to ask them to sign it (remember to ask if they will allow you and board members/library supporters to be in a photo with them while they 'sign' the document). Examples of two governors' proclamation sites: Nebraska http://gov.nol.org/proclamations/ , and Missouri http://go.missouri.gov/procs/procs.htm . [If there is a page listing all 50 governors' proclamation sites, please send it to me as a comment -TH]

Remember that New Year's resolution you had about getting recognition for your professional experience, accomplishments, and academic preparation? If you are a health information professional, there is still time to send in your application portfolio for membership to the Academy of Health Information Professionals http://www.mlanet.org/academy/ .

Do you serve rural health professionals? Is there an Area Health Education Center on your campus? Do you serve rural health grant seekers? This National Academies Press online book might be of interest to you and your patrons:
Quality through collaboration: the future of rural health care http://www.nap.edu/books/0309094399/html/
Chapter 6 might be of particular interest to those creating shared libraries to support rural health professionals and consumers. Appendix B covers Characteristics of Rural Populations. The book is free to read online, and is available for purchase in hardback or paperback versions.

Blog silence explained: spouse recalled to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spouse is now readjusting to civilian life. If you work with recalled military members or their families, thank you for supporting them.

Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award: Is there an individual librarian in your past that you should recognize for their mentorship or the other work they did to make you the instruction librarian you are today? Nominate them soon - submissions deadline is December 3, 2004. More information is at this ALA site: http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlawards/miriamdudley.htm

Today's Business Week has an article that lists the Best Medical Web Sites:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_35/b3897456.htm

Call for papers and posters has gone out for MLA 2005 in San Antonio. The home page for the conference is here: http://www.mlanet.org/am/am2005/

The International Campbell Collaboration prepares, maintains, and disseminates systematic reviews of studies of social, behaviorial, and educational interventions. They are the "Cochrane" of the social science world. http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/index.html

Here is a New York Times article you may wish to pass along to your freshmen, as they start down the road of research in your library:
Dear Plagiarists: You get what you pay for
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/22/books/review/22HANSENL.html?ex=1250827200&en=c12688ef34fc026e&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

This message on public workstation software comes from a MEDLIB message sent by Stephanie John, M. Ln., Director, Information Resources at Synergy Medical Education Alliance. Added to this blog with author's permission (and with thanks from the blog owner!).
---
Have a look at WinSelect. It will also lock users out of everything BUT
the browser. http://www.faronics.com/html/WINSelect.asp
Blocks Access to Specific Web Browser and Application Features
Specify web browser and application features to be blocked, including:
* Control text that will be processed in a message box (such as
Internet Explorer's address bar). Specify that text must begin with,
must not begin with, must match exactly, or must not contain your
specified string(s) of text. For example, add a filter specifying that
text in the address bar must begin with http://www.yourorganization.com
to ensure that your users don't browse outside your intranet. The
possibilities are endless.
* Specify that only the floppy drive can be used to open or save
files
* Selectively block access to specific commands such as maximize,
minimize, resize, close, move, right mouse button, or restore
* Selectively block access to specific menu items.
* Selectively block access to individual buttons, checkboxes, and
edit boxes on dialogs
* Selectively block access to specific hot key combinations.
Nonprofit pricing is $50 per workstation.We've had the same version of
WinSelect for years and it just quietly does its job!
On the few occasions we've needed technical support, they've provided it
in depth, accurately [snipped for message length by TH]

Article in today's Boston Globe that mentions eMedicine and other health sites:
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/08/23/after_shakeout_medical_websites_find_new_health/

Nielsen/NetRatings has released figures on the current percentage of online households using a broadband connection to access the Internet in this DMNews story: http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=30170 .

Nielsen/NetRatings has released figures on the current percentage of online households using a broadband connection to access the Internet in this DMNews story: http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=30170 .

Nielsen/NetRatings has released figures on the current percentage of online households using a broadband connection to access the Internet in this DMNews story: http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=30170 .

The American Library Association is planning to distribute materials explaining copyright and concepts such as 'fair use' to schools this fall. Here is the link to the Wired story: http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,64543,00.html .

For your audience that is concerned with health disparities, the August 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine has an article and an editorial of possible interest:

Bach, Peter B., Pham, Hoangmai H., Schrag, Deborah, Tate, Ramsey C., Hargraves, J. LeePrimary Care Physicians Who Treat Blacks and WhitesN Engl J Med 2004 351: 575-584
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/351/6/575

Epstein, Arnold M.Health Care in America -- Still Too Separate, Not Yet Equal
N Engl J Med 2004 351: 603-605
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/351/6/603

Health Outcomes Core Library Project
The National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology, National Library of Medicine
AcademyHealth, Washington, DC - July 14, 2004
Available online in HTML: http://www.academyhealth.org/publications/healthoutcomesreport.htm

Available in PDF file [34p.] at: http://www.academyhealth.org/publications/healthoutcomesreport.pdf

The following AcademyHealth staff worked on this project: Sharon Arnold, Research Manager, Anne Gauthier, Vice President, Tamar Klaiman, Research Assistant, Ashley Young, Librarian, Virginia Van Horne, Director of Information Services

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) contracted with AcademyHealth to develop a core list of books, journals, Web sites and bibliographic databases and a desired list of books and journals in the field of health outcomes. Both lists are intended to serve as a guide for librarians who want to develop a health outcomes collection.

An editorial of interest to you :
BMJ 2004;329:242-244 (31 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7460.242
Travelling but never arriving: reflections of a retiring editor
Twenty five years of adventure, discovery, and conservatism
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7460/242