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 ]