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)