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

Posted by Laurel K. Graham from the ADA on MEDLIB-L today:

My first thought was librarians need a true lobbying organization.
Please read this article. It is almost funny to hear technology wizards come
to same realizations Dewey and all those forgotten Library Scientists came
to years ago. Specialized indexes?? Organization?
This excerpt is telling:
If one man's trash is another man's treasure, that must explain the comment
by Yahoo's Tim Cadogan that "integrated information sets" should be
developed by editorial staff and product managers so that they could be
presented automatically at the top of the search results page for the most
common types of user query (such as weather). In some ways it seems as if
the four largest portals are today working towards doing more of the
"integrated answer set" work that Ask Jeeves itself has abandoned.
** Librarians are replaced with the terms "editorial staff" and "product
managers". Product managers? They broker information?
Yes they do and that is why librarians are vital to society. "Information
sets" = pathfinders by another name.
Ok, where's the ALA? MLA?
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3384481

Posted to MEDLIB-L today by Bruce Abbott at LSU HSC Library:
This article should be of significant interest to all Institutional Review
Boards. You may want to forward the citation to your committee(s).

Resnik DB.
Liability for institutional review boards: from regulation to litigation.
J Leg Med. 2004 Jun;25(2):131-84. Review. No abstract available.
PMID: 15204904 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Here is a metasearch medical search engine you may wish to try out. I received a direct mail on it today, and saw it discussed recently on [note on 30 July 04-I don't remember where I saw this discussed! Please let me know if you have seen any comments on it, as we are currently evaluating this new resource!]:
Omnimedicalsearch. com http://www.omnimedicalsearch.com/ . The company states that it has the following functions/options:
* 12 Medical Search Engines (Default Search)
* 8 Health and Medical News Sources
* 5 Medical Image Libraries
* MedPro Search for medical professionals.
* Basic Search for the general public.
* Related Search Options.
* Single Site Search Focus.
* One-Click Dictionary look up.
I am looking forward to what other librarians think of this resource, [as well as finding out who is behind it]. [note on 30 July 04 - I have heard from the developer of OmniMedicalSearch, Jason Morrow. Here is the link to an article offering background on the resource: http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/7/emw141182.htm]

SLA CONTRIBUTED PAPERS SESSION CALL FOR PAPERS
Biomedical and Life Sciences Division, Special Libraries Association
Conference June 4-9, 2005 in Toronto, ON, Canada
  
The SLA Biomedical and Life Sciences Division invites submissions for its
annual Contributed Papers Session at the Toronto Conference in June 2005.

 
SESSION THEME:
Digitization Projects in the Biomedical and Life Sciences

 
If you haven't already undertaken a digitization project, you are probably
at least considering how to translate some of your physical collections to a
web accessible format. We want to hear from members who have undertaken
innovative digitization projects. Tell us about your final product: the
challenges and pitfalls; the technology and products employed; your metadata
standards; your decision-making challenges; and your assessment of the
process. We would also be interested in hearing from members who have
launched institutional repositories or other open access sites.

 
ABSTRACT:
A 200-500 word abstract should accurately convey the subject of the paper,
its scope, conclusions, and relevance to the program theme. Attention will
be paid to evidence of scholarship and methodology.

 
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: September 15, 2004.

 
PAPERS:
If chosen, acceptance of your paper reflects a commitment on your part
to: 1) submit the complete text of your paper to the program convener by
March 31, 2005; 2) give a presentation of your paper for no longer
than 20 minutes at the SLA annual conference, June 4-9, 2005 in Toronto, ON,
Canada; 3) where appropriate and feasible, offer a brief
demonstration or representation of your project during your presentation.

 
SUBMIT ABSTRACTS TO:
Barbara A. Butler
butler@darkwing.uoregon.edu (e-mail submissions preferred) Oregon
Institute of Marine Biology P.O. Box 5389
Charleston, OR 97420
541-888-2581, ex.219 (phone)
541-888-3391 (fax)

As part of a settlement with the recording industry, school, public, and college libraries are beginning to receive free CDs. As this story in the Stevens Point Journal points out, though, the CDs are not what the librarians would have chosen for their collections: http://www.wisinfo.com/journal/spjlocal/292464933486275.shtml

I heard (through a Six Sigma discussion list) about a great resource for team building and other items of use to folks that do training is businessballs http://www.businessballs.com . This is a free online development resource for people and organizations, run by Alan Chapman, in Leicester, England.

"Robots get bookish in libraries" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3897583.stm . We might find use for these guys on the midnight to dawn shift, but probably not for creating user education on demand. Next thing you know, there will be copyright conferences discussing the legalities of having robots chock full of pdf documents running around digitizing and delivering on demand. Is there a mobile version of Ariel in our futures??

Check out Hubmed, "an alternative interface to the PubMed medical literature database": [ http://www.hubmed.org/ ].

Keeping up with usability issues is easier with a free newsletter like Usability News [ http://www.usabilitynews.org/ ]. Topics in the recent issue include: Reading online text; comparing data input methods on handheld computers; technology in the classroom; and Blackboard. There is a link to archived issues on the page as well.

A story from a recent edition of the Omaha World-Heraldon on how the Vatican is using RFID technology to track books in the library collection: [ http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=57&u_sid=1138621 ].
A longer version of the same story (cached by Google from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch): [ http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:x3munBS1_9oJ:www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/Life%2B%26%2BStyle/Religion/749BC57BB79F7FE886256EB1000234CA%3FOpenDocument%26Headline%3DVatican%2BLibrary%2Bgoes%2Bhigh-tech%2Bwith%2Bmicrochips+pergamon+system&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&strip=1]
Here is a link to blog that posts RFID news: [ http://www.rfidbuzz.com/ ].

From a recent post to MEDLIB-L by Joy Kennedy of Northwest Community Healthcare: Folks, I don't know how many of you are aware of WebJunction [ http://webjunction.org/do/Home ]. This is a site sponsored by OCLC and a number of other organizations and funded with a grant from the Gates Foundation to establish an online library community with information on using technology in libraries. Most of the information for now seems geared to public libraries but there's a lot of GOOD STUFF here. There are online courses and articles about technology and lots and lots of good ideas. The information on managing public access computers is great. How many times have we come in Monday morning to find that folks have done dastardly stuff to the computers over the weekend! The article on Protecting and Restoring Software and Data is great. Check it out. Joy

New FIND/SVP report: Flawed Online Searches Costing US Businesses $31 Billion Each Year [ http://www.find.com/about/survey.htm ]. This report may help your library put a better value on its services.

Are you looking for an opportunity to share with other librarians through publication? Consider the following sources when you are sharing what you have learned 'in the trenches' as a librarian.

"The One Person Library": A newsletter for Librarians and Management [ http://www.ibi-opl.com/newsletter/ ]

National Network of Libraries of Medicine regional offices have newslettters that offer sharing opportunities to their respective network members. Just click on your region to find out the contact information: [ http://nnlm.gov/ ]

Add to this or another library blog. Send me items of interest to other librarians: thartman@unmc.edu . A list of other library-related blogs can be found here:http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html

Create a blog of your own! (Search 'create blog' in Google, and locate many sites that will host your blog.)

This article is in today's Technology section of the NY Times: Old Search Engine, the Library, Tries to Fit Into a Google World [ http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/21/technology/21LIBR.html?ex=1088826624&ei=1&en=fcab43e86c2bc056 ]. Of additional interest is the April report: Access In the Future Tense, published by the Council On Library and Information Resources: [ http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub126abst.html ].

[listed on EQUIDAD email list (Pan American Health Organization)]

A glossary for evidence based public health

Lucie Rychetnik, Michael Frommer, Sydney Health Projects Group, School of
Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia

Penelope Hawe, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Department
of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Canada and School of
Public Health, LaTrobe University, Victoria, Australia

Elizabeth Waters, Centre for Community Child Health, University of
Melbourne, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Victoria, Australia, and
Cochrane Health Promotion and Public Health Field

Alexandra Barratt, Screening and Test Evaluation Program, School of Public
Health, University of Sydney, Australia

J Epidemiol Community Health 2004;58:538-545

[ http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/58/7/538 ]
[ http://jech.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/58/7/538 ]

This glossary seeks to define and explain some of the main concepts
underpinning evidence based public health. It draws on the published
literature, experience gained over several years analysis of the topic, and
discussions with public health colleagues, including researchers,
practitioners, policy makers, and students

Marketing and Partnership Resources & Contacts
These are posted for a the breakout session I facilitated at the recent Unlocking the Mysteries of Consumer Health Information conference, hosted by the University of Missouri-Columbia. If you have questions about any of these links, or about issues involved with marketing and/or library partnerships, please contact me by email.

Public Libraries as Partners in Community Information Provision
[ http://databases.si.umich.edu/cfdocs/community/LibPartnerDisplay.cfm ]
Community network partnering [ http://www.benton.org/publibrary/ ]

An early (1980) article: Consumer Health Information: Libraries as Partners
[ http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=226479 ]

Other organizations are looking for partners
[ http://www.health.org/initiatives/partnersinprev/ ]

Use Best Practices to plan for future activities
[ http://www.consal.org.sg/webupload/resource/brief/attachments/%7B16EE107F-F8D7-4FFB-B47C-B17BBE3CE680%7D.pdf ]
[ http://www.si.umich.edu/libhelp/best.htm ]
[ http://www.ala.org/ala/pla/resources/bestpractices.htm ]

Use Environmental Scans to help guide strategic planning
[ http://www.oclc.org/membership/escan/introduction/default.htm ]

Advertise where your audience will see it
[ http://www.mocities.com/default.asp?javascript=1 ]
[ http://clarionhotels.orbitz.com/Clarion_Collection_Hotel_Bothwell_Sedalia.htm ]
[ http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/extra/2178.asp ]
[ http://www.claycogov.com/Text/Links/links.php ]

Marketing resources
[ http://www.chrisolson.com/marketingtreasures/ ]
[ http://www.ssdesign.com/librarypr/toolbox.html ]
Learn from other industries also facing online competition [ http://solutions.sheshunoff.com/MarketingWorks/ ]
5 strategic marketing resolutions [ http://channelzone.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,1759,1427642,00.asp ]
[ http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/marketinglibs.html ]
[ http://www.lff.org/ ]
See if any of your other vendors have developed marketing resources (it is in their best interest, too!) [ http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/marketing/find_yourself/ ]
We can learn from the Canadians [ http://www.visityourlibrary.net/promoting_libraries.html ]
and the Australians [ http://www.nla.gov.au/libraries/resource/friends.html ]
Business cards as marketing tools [ http://www.professorprint.com/business_card_marketing.html ]
Make sure you are marketing quality services [ http://www.libqual.org/About/Information/index.cfm ]
An example of promoting multimedia collection (do you have health-related multimedia?) [ http://eduscapes.com/seeds/promote.html ]

Use consumer health information as a reason to gain/give training to library staff and trustees, as well as a way to get recognition for additional training you have taken
MLA Certification program [ http://www.mlanet.org/education/chc/index.html ]
ICON's "The Librarian Is In" Workbook and trigger tape set [ http://www.iconlibrary.org/hhqvideo.html ]

Two blogs that would interest librarians:
Open Access News: News from the open access movement [ http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html ]
The Handheld Librarian [ http://www.handheldlib.blogspot.com ]

The Network News: Newsletter for the South Central Region (NN/LM) has an article of interest to librarians working with National Library of Medicine databases: What's new with NLM Databases? [ http://nnlm.gov/scr/scnn/mar-apr04/databases.htm ].

An article in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Internet Research of interest to librarians working with consumer health: Health attitudes, health cognitions, and health behaviors among Internet health information seekers: population-based survey. [ http://www.jmir.org/2004/2/e15/index.htm ]

Two articles mentioned on medlib today that would surely be of interest to librarians dealing with EBM and/or search strategies:
Optimal search strategies for retrieving scientiffically strong studies of diagnosis from MEDLINE: analytical survey. Haynes, RB, et al. p. 1040 [ http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/content/vol328/issue7447/ ]
A simple method for evaluating the clinical literature. Flaherty, RJ [ http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20040500/47asim.html ]

Teach-nology, the web portal for educators [ http://www.teach-nology.com/sitemap/ ]. Designed for teachers, this site has resources that I have found useful. When teaching someone brand new to using the mouse, use the Practice With a Mouse [ http://teachers.teach-nology.com/web_tools/mouse/ ]. (Hey, that might even be a site that physical and occupational therapists would want to know about.) Another topic of interest to me is Fundraising, under General Ideas [ http://www.teach-nology.com/ideas/ ].The site has pop-up ads, but my Google toolbar catches most of them. There are membership options for the site, but some resources are available without signing in.

"Finding Technology Funding" at eSchool News online is a resource that may be of interest to librarians (or librarians that support educators looking for technology funding). [ http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/grants/ ]

For those interested in EBM - Evaluating Health Services: A Reporter Covers the Science of Research Synthesis [ http://www.milbank.org/reports/2004Moynihan/040330Moynihan.html#executive#executive ], by Ray Moynihan.

If you are considering collaboration on campus to create an 'institutional repository' as a way to share scholarly communication and open archives, you should read this article by Clifford Lynch: [ http://www.arl.org/newsltr/226/ir.html ]

I thought you would like to see what some of our future students were up to for prom: [ http://www.iolaregister.com/registerarchive/stuck.html ]. I found these students' creative use of duct tape for prom regalia refreshing! The fashions were created for a nationwide scholarship contest. (And as a mother of college-bound children, I will be encouraging my brood to apply and sweat for the scholarship as well!)

"Students check out the web instead of the library", Star Tribune, May 7, 2004: [ http://www.startribune.com/viewers/story.php?template=print_a&story=4763459 ]. This story is a real-world scenario that the OCLC Environmental Scan described in its findings.

ARL posted the latest salary survey in April here: [ http://www.arl.org/newsltr/233/salsvy.html ]

A MUST SEE for all librarians!
Lorcan Dempsey, OCLC's Vice President of Research and Chief Strategist, recently presented to the Library and Archives Canada. The presentation: "The pattern is new in every moment: observations on issues affecting libraries and archives within the frameworkof the 2003 OCLC environmental scan", has 60 slides, and can be viewed here: [ http://www.oclc.org/research/presentations/dempsey/larc.ppt ] The OCLC 2003 Environmental Scan can be downloaded (free registration required) here: [ http://www.oclc.org/membership/escan/default.htm ].

At the risk of becoming a suspect myself, I thought you would like to read about one student's experiences after filing a FOIA request for information on campus steam tunnels: [ http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/05/06/TopStories/Fbi-Investigates.Underground.Tunnel.Requests-678980.shtml?page=1 ]

The Public Library of Science has a new journal: PLoS Medicine. The open-access journal is now accepting manuscript submissions: [ http://www.plosmedicine.org/medicine/ ]. PLoS Medicine will publish "important advances in all disciplines, including epidemiology and public health." All you writing librarians out there - consider this avenue for publishing your manuscript.

Evidence based medicine article, posted to medlib today by Tanya Feddern:
Oosterhuis WP, Bruns DE, Watine J, Sandberg S, Horvath AR. Evidence-based guidelines in laboratory medicine: Principles and methods. Clinical Chemistry, 2004 May; 50(5):806-818.
[ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=PureSearch&db=pubmed&details_term=15105349%5BUID%5D ] You can also just type in the PMID number in the PubMed search box to retrieve the citation: 15105349

The Guardian put Google's claim of being the fastest and most accurate way to get information. Three reporters searched for answers, each using a different source: Google, phoning someone, and using the library (without assistance). The results might not surprise you: [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1210455,00.html ]. Now, for the contest between Google and a team of subject specialist reference librarians! That would be a reality show to watch.

Have you been wondering if your students are catching all the information and tips you present on your web pages or in your classes? Maybe not, according to studies on visual cognition reported in the Telegraph [ http://tinyurl.com/2jzwe ]. There is also a link to online demonstrations, in case you want to test your own powers of observation: [

The Kaiser Family Foundation has announced a site for health policy students and faculty: [ http://kaiseredu.org/ ]

Is your library considering migrating to open source? Here is an article about a public library and their migration to the Linux operating system: [ http://www.newsforge.com/os/04/05/03/1520209.shtml ]

The U.S. Department of Education has developed a guide to help with identifying evidence-based education research. This information would be useful to anyone going after an education grant. The report, Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported by Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide, can be found here [ http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/rigorousevid/index.html ]

A great article on Libraries in the New York Times: Libraries Wired, Reborn [ http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/technology/circuits/22gate.html?ei=5062&en=cad7513eee35ba2f&ex=1083211200&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=all ]

A free online newsletter for news and events on distance education in medicine and health: EduMed [ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/edumednewsletter/ ]

The Webby Awards may offer a few sites for your next education class. The Health nominees are here [ http://www.webbyawards.com/main/webby_awards/nominees.html#health ], and Science is listed here [ http://www.webbyawards.com/main/webby_awards/nominees.html#science ]

The complete text of Managing Knowledge in Health Services (2000) is now free to read online at [ http://www.shef.ac.uk/scharr/mkhs/index.htm ]. Chapters include Marketing a Service, Consumer Health Information, Evaluating information services, Keeping up to date with the knowledge base, and many others.

New book from National Academies Press: Electronic Scientific, Technical, and Medical Journal Publishing and Its Implications: Report of a Symposium . You can read an online edition of this book at [ http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10969.html ]

There is an interesting story on the FBI raiding a school district for copyright infringement, and a discussion among SlashDot members at [ http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/04/22/1223203.shtml?tid=123&tid=141&tid=146&tid=188&tid=99 ] . The Justice Department's official press release is here, calling it Operation Fastlink [ http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/April/04_crm_263.htm ]

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released its report "Broadband Penetration on the Upswing: 55% of Adult Internet Users Have Broadband at Home or Work" [ http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=120 ]. There are also two charts of interest to librarians. One, Daily Activities for Overall Internet Population [ http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/chart.asp?img=Daily_Activities_3.22.04.htm ]. The second chart shows the percentage of Internet users who have ever done an activity [ http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/chart.asp?img=Internet_Activities_3.22.04.htm ]

Somehow, I missed this April Fool's story on Outsourcing Library Directors and Staff , from the FreeRepublic [ http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1110271/posts ].
I found the above today while looking for outsourcing news, after reading this article in Modern Healthcare: Outsourcing Everything? [ http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article.cms?articleId=32223&TopicId=27 ]. If you are in a library that serves health care administration, you should share this article. It talks about how outsourcing can impact charitable status of health care organizations.

Higher Education Coalition Comments Filed With the FCC Regarding Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and Internet Service Providers [ http://www.educause.edu/asp/doclib/abstract.asp?ID=NET0404 ]. The Coalition includes the American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, and EDUCAUSE, along with higher education associations.

GREAT story on the benefits of using reference librarians! "Best Search Engine? A librarian" by Zay N. Smith, Chicago Sun-Times, April 11, 2004 [ http://www.suntimes.com/output/lifestyles/cst-nws-zay11.html ]

Your library users that are interested in community health and/or public health, as well as those working towards the electronic health record, would be interested in this site: eHealth Initiative: Connecting Communities for Better Health Resource Center [ http://ccbh.ehealthinitiative.org/default.mspx ]. There are many great links in the "helpful links" section on the right side of the home page, including MLA's consumer information sources, and the homepage for NLM.

Looking for resources to determine the return on investment for your library?
A great example of estimate of annual added value (plus has a citation at the bottom that you might be able to use) [ http://www.dot.state.mn.us/library/mndot_library_benefits.html ]

A discussion about ROI that may give you a starting place
[ http://www.dialog.com/communities/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=13 ]

Article on value and ROI from March 2003 Information Outlook
[ http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0FWE/3_7/99011610/p1/article.jhtml ]

There is also a pre-recorded webcast "The Library's Contribution to Your Community" on [ http://www.illinoislibrarysystems.info/advocacy/advocacyday2004.html ] that may help you identify value points.

Don't forget to check with your local Special Library Association chapter members for additional ideas. Special libraries have long been in the ROI arena, and may have resources to help you.

The Institute of Medicine has completed its report "Health Literacy: A prescription to end confusion" [ http://www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=19723 ] . The report can be purchased, or read free online at [ http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091179/html/ ].

The latest Pew Internet Project Data Memo has been released, showing the most recent Internet tracking data. [ http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_April2004_Data_Memo.pdf ] For the tracking survey done in February 2004, they recorded the highest numbers of Americans using computers.

Open access is discussed in a new article on the American Medical News site. "Journal free for all: The future of scientific publishing", by Victoria Stagg Elliot, April 19, 2004 [ http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/04/19/hlsa0419.htm ]. There is a link to send a letter to the editor.

The National Library of Medicine has announced the next NCBI Advanced Training Course, with a registration deadline of May 31, 2004. The five-day course is scheduled for August 2-6, 2004. The course website is: [ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Class/NAWBIS/ ]. Space is limited to 9 people.

Looking for ideas to help with training?
Quick Training Tips [ http://www.quicktrainingtips.com/ ]
Workshops for Trainers [ http://www.langevin.com/career ]
ASTD Do Your Own Research resources (some are members only) [http://www.astd.org/astd/resources/dyor/about_dyor ]
Bibliographic instruction topics in the i-DLR [ http://tiger.coe.missouri.edu/~rafee/iDLR/sitelist1.php?cid=33&catclick=148 ]

Developed by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kaiserEDU gives health policy
students and faculty easy access to data, literature, news and developments
regarding major health policy topics and debates.[ http://www.kaiseredu.org/ ] Thanks to Siobhan Champ-Blackwell for this item.

Informed Consensus: How to work with patients to achieve positive
treatment [ http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/04/05/hlsa0405.htm ]

excerpt of interest to librarians justifying their services:
"The ease of obtaining medical information from the Internet is another
driver, as is the growth of research on evidence-based medicine. "We
realized that if you really want evidence-based practice you need to not
only inform the professionals, but you need to inform patients," Dr.
O'Connor says."

Take a look at what Google has added in its search features: [ http://www.google.com/whatsnew/ ].

from an NIH press release [ http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/mar2004/od-26.htm ]: NIH and FDA Launch New Human Gene Transfer Research Data System. A quote from the release: "GeMCRIS, developed collaboratively by the two agencies, is a unique public information resource as well as an important new electronic tool to facilitate the reporting and analysis of adverse events on these trials. The new system will provide information to the public directly and will improve the government's ability to monitor adverse events in gene transfer research, also known as gene therapy." The GeMCRIS site is [ http://www.gemcris.od.nih.gov/ ].

Wonderful quote from Google executive, posted by Karen Albert on MEDLIB yesterday:
From:CBS News Sunday Morning:Inside The Wide World Of Google
March 28, 2004
[ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/25/sunday/main608672.shtml ]
But despite the tiny distraction of $20 billion, Google's executives hope they can keep their eye on the ball. For them, cataloging the Web is only the beginning.

"My guess is about 300 years until computers are as good as, say, your
local reference library in doing search," says Craig Silverstein. "But we can make
slow and steady progress, and maybe one day we'll get there."

Inflation projections for the next year, thanks to a message on MEDLIB posted by Nancy O'Brien:
Projected inflation for books is 5%
(Matthews); U.S. Journals 8-10%, UK Journals 10-12% and European
Journals 12-14% (Ebsco); Databases 9% (Ovid)

The Free Expression Policy Project has a public policy report that may be of interest to librarians: "The Progress of Science and Useful Arts": why copyright today threatens intellectual freedom [ http://www.fepproject.org/policyreports/copyright2dexsum.html ].

Here is an open source Course Management System that I just learned about: Moodle [ http://moodle.org/ ]. What the developers say is better about this software is its grounding in "social constructionist pedagogy", allowing teachers to keep in mind what is "best for learning from the learner's point of view".

The old AskERIC service has been discontinued, but the services it conducted are now hosted by Syracuse University, called The Educator's Reference Desk [ http://www.eduref.org/ ]. Librarians familiar with education sources of information can now volunteer to help maintain the online reference collection [ http://www.eduref.org/About/volunteers.shtml ].

TabletPCs are being used by patients in a Memphis cancer clinic, according to this Mobile Health Data story [ http://www.mobilehealthdata.com/article.cfm?articleId=706&banner=b1 ]. Wouldn't this be a great way to connect the patients to the health information library while they are waiting for their appointments?

The Pew Internet Project has just released its new report: Older Americans and the Internet [ http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=117 ] .

Creating community in distance classes can be a challenge. If you teach or support faculty that conduct distance classes, you may find this resource useful: Icebreaker Ideas Submitted By DEOS Members and SNHU Faculty [ http://acadweb.snhu.edu/DE/Goddard_Gretchen/icebreaker%20activities.htm ] .

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine has announced a Request for Proposals for projects involving Access to Electronic Health Information [ http://nnlm.gov/projects/funding/aehi_rfp2004/ ] . Deadline for proposal submission: June 4, 2004.

A paper in the Journal of Medical Internet Research that may be of interest to education librarians in medical schools: Experience and Attitudes Towards Information Technology Among First-Year Medical Students in Denmark: Longitudinal Questionaire Survey [ http://www.jmir.org/2004/1/e10/index.htm ] . The paper's author is Jens Dorup, MD, PhD.

A paper in the Journal of Medical Internet Research that may be of interest to librarians serving consumers: Online Pediatric Information Seeking Among Mothers of Young Children: Results From a Qualitative Study Using Focus Groups [ http://www.jmir.org/2004/1/e7/index.htm ] . The paper's authors are Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH, and Elizabeth M. Felter, MA.

AMNews reports on a study that tracked learning via online CME: [ http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/03/22/prsb0322.htm ] . This award-winning study was funded by the Merck Co. Foundation.

A resource for effective writing, writing for science, and writing for advocacy has been developed by the International Development Research Centre. Title: An Interactive Guide to Effective Writing, Writing for Science, and Writing for Advocacy.Authors are Alan Barker and Firoze Manji. To access the free online version, go to [ http://web.idrc.ca/IMAGES/books/WFC_English/WFC_English/ ].

An item was posted to the MEDREF-L listserv regarding a grant opportunity with the Rural Utilities Service’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program. Applications are being accepted until April 30, 2004. For more information, visit [ http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/dlt/dlt.htm ]

A source for grant and nonprofit fundraising related information [ http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/4fcelec.htm ] , maintained at the Michigan State University Libraries.

Two great web resources for Instruction/Education Librarians:

Resources for Instructors [ http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/projectsacrl/resourcesinstructors.htm ] , maintained by the Instruction Section of ALA/ACRL

Instruction Links [ http://www.emich.edu/public/loex/islinks/islinks.htm ] , maintained by the LOEX Clearinghouse for Library Instruction. (Thanks to Heather Brown for this posting-th)

Considering setting up electronic reserves to support faculty and students? There is a Electronic Reserves Clearinghouse (dated Aug 2003): [ http://www.mville.edu/administration/Staff/Jeff_Rosedale/ ] . Vendors, publishers, and copyright policies surrounding electronic reserves issues are linked here.

New Pew Internet report: Rural Americans’ Internet use has grown, but they continue to lag behind
others [ http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=112 ]

Keeping up with search engine news? Try the Search Engine Lowdown blog [ http://www.searchenginelowdown.com/ ]. If you have other favorite sources of search engine information that could prove useful to others teaching users, please email them to thartman@unmc.edu .

Google now has access to more than 6 billion items. Story from BusinessWire [ http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040217005529&newsLang=en ]

The National Library of Medicine's Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS) has introduced the "Review of PDA Applications in Toxicology and Environmental Health," [ http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/Tox/PDAReview/PDAHomePage.htm ] an ongoing descriptive review of selected PDA applications in the fields of toxicology and environmental health.
Individual reports in the review series are based on downloadable demo versions of selected PDA applications. Each review typically covers: General Information, Intended Users, Authorship/Data Source, Contents, Navigation, Requirements, Application Type/Price, Availability, Useful Web Links, and Updates when applicable.

URAC study finds problems with access to credible health information online, calls for more help for consumers [ http://www.urac.org/news_release.asp?navid=news&pagename=news_releases&id=1049 ]

Article of interest: Cochrane proposes further limits on commercial funding. BMJ 2004; 328:366 (14 February) Link to article [ http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7436/366 ]

Article of interest: Information needs of residents during inpatient and outpatient rotations: identifying effective personal digital assistant applications.
Barrett JR, Strayer SM, Schubart JR. Proc AMIA Symp. 2003;:784 PMID 14728289

If you are planning a new library or renovation to your current facility, the National Library of Medicine has a great page of planning resources, links to building projects, and help/advice links. Library as Place Planning Resources [ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/programs/building/index.html ]

Check out new PubMed search filters article in the Jan/Feb 2004 NLM Technical Bulletin: Beta Test on Health Services Research (HSR) Filters for Searching PubMed [ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/jf04/jf04_hsr.html ]

Article of interest posted by Cathy Jordon, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, on medlib today: Peterson MW. Medical students' use of information resources: is the digital
age dawning?
Academic Medicine 2004 Jan; 79(1): 89-95

Free online magazine of interest: eLearn Magazine-Education and Technology in Perspective [ http://www.elearnmag.org/ ] . There is a column listing Predictions for 2004 in the current issue.

If there is a governing or advisory board in your life, the Free Toolkit for Boards would be a useful resource. [ http://www.mapnp.org/library/boards/boards.htm ]

A study conducted by HP Laboratories on how and why people give up their private information is linked here: [ http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/papers/deviance/index.html ]

Free Management Library for non-profits and for-profits: [ http://www.mapnp.org/library/ ] . This resource is for personal, professional, and organizational development.

National Library Week is coming up, April 18 - 24, 2004. Browse on the following link to Microsoft Office resources to locate templates that can help with your library's public relations: [ http://office.microsoft.com/templates/ ]

You may find this site useful if you design web pages: Colorcombo - visualize color combinations for web-design [ http://www.colorcombo.com ] . There is a link on the page to allow free downloading of the site for off-line use. They also sell the charts on a cd for a nominal fee.

AskERIC has changed into The Educator's Reference Desk [ http://www.eduref.org/ ] . Resource guides, lesson plans, question archives, and Search ERIC Database are all linked from the site. There is a section on Librarianship that includes librarian education (although the information listed there isn't comprehensive).

The Information Commons Productions Services in
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at The University of Iowa has released a beta edition of iLecture, the simple online lecture delivery system. The system allows users to record voice-overs on PowerPoint slides. They are seeking beta users for this tool. Find out more about the system and request consideration as a beta user at this site: [ http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/commons/ilecture/ ]

If your organization is considering e-learning tools for purchase, please check out this site created by the US Department of Labor: Advanced Learning Technology Resource Center's Test Drive [http://www.altrc.org/testdrive.asp ] There are many other valuable resources on the ALTRC site for learners and developers of e-learning.

The LOEX Clearinghouse for Library Instruction has links to assignments, syllabi, electronic classrooms, tutorials, and many other topics. This is a great site to check out for teaching resources. [ http://www.emich.edu/public/loex/islinks/islinks.htm ]

There is a new set of quick, simple guides to using the Internet (tutorials plus assessment feedback) developed by the 21st Century Information Fluency Project: [ http://wizard.imsa.edu/teach/micro ]. The tutorials are suitable for 6th grade through adult learners. Topics covered include: copyright, search tips and tools, evaluating web resources, etc. A teacher's guide is also available [ http://wizard.imsa.edu/teach/micro/page3.htm ]

Findings from the first international study of Internet users are in the recently released World Internet Project Report [ http://www.ccp.ucla.edu/pages/WhatNew.asp ] at the UCLA Center for Communication Policy.

Online, full-text, and free - just what most patrons are asking for these days. As librarians, we are also looking for quality control. The Directory of Open Access Journals, in cooperation with SPARC [ http://www.doaj.org/articles/news/030512/ ] , based at Lund University, Lund, Sweden, is a database of nearly 700 journal worldwide journal titles. They also have information on how to include the journals in a library's collection [ http://www.doaj.org/articles/questions/#metadata ]. The database records can be harvested from the Open Archives Initiative [ http://www.openarchives.org/ ] .

To hide the toolbars and buttons on Internet Explorer in order to have more screen space for web site demonstrations, hit the F11 key. When the demonstration is over, or you need the regular buttons and toolbars back, hit the F11 key again.

There is a great blog that covers library career information and professional development information: Beyond the Job [ http://librarycareers.blogspot.com ]

Is your library considering purchasing/collecting resources to support Evidence-Based Health Care education? There is a list of resources on the Denison Library's page for their workshop on How to Practice Evidence-Based Health Care that may help your library's plans: [ http://denison.uchsc.edu/education/ebhc.html ]

Educating health professionals? Check out this free to read online book from the National Academies Press - Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality (2003) [ http://www.nap.edu/books/0309087236/html/ ]

Articles in the journal Lancet of interest to librarians:

Publishers face backlash over rising subscription costs: High prices have led some US institutions to cancel subscriptions to, or even boycott, scientific journals, The Lancet, Volume 363, Issue 9402, 3 January 2004, Pages 44-45

Where now for problem based learning?, The Lancet, Volume 363, Issue 9403, 10 January 2004, Page 174

IBM has developed Web Fountain, an analysis engine for web information that may prove useful to anyone mining data (especially librarians). [ http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/jan04/0104comp1.html ] One of the first resellers is Factiva, with the cost of their service estimated at $150,000 to $300,000 per year.

The UTHSCA Library publishes the Hispanic Americans and Health Bibliography Series annually. MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycInfo databases are searched, but the bibliography only lists citations from journals that are owned by the Briscoe Library at UTHSCA. [ http://www.library.uthscsa.edu/basics/hisbib.cfm ]

BMJ has an editorial of interest to librarians:
Preserving today's scientific record for tomorrow
[ http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7431/61?eaf ]

"Distance Education in Public Health" is a new title in the Current Bibliographies in Medicine at the National Library of Medicine. It lists 471 citations from January 1998 through October 2003. [ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/cbm/distanceeducationph.html ]