The Rolling Prairie Library System hosted R3: A Reference Spree: Retool, Renew, ReDo, Monday, February 22, 2010. We presented Consumer Health Reference to public librarians at the workshop.

Topics covered print and online consumer health resources and ethical issues related to providing consumer health reference information. MedlinePlus, Health E Illinois, and Population Groups Health were some of the databases the librarians searched during the class.

The EthnoMed team has unveiled its redesigned website, EthnoMed: http://ethnomed.org/. The site also features a new, prize-winning logo:

For more information about the EthnoMed Transformation, see the post in the Dragonfly, the blog of our sister region, the Pacific Northwest.

The GMR is offering to sponsor a number of webcast sites for the upcoming
MLA Webcast:  “Now’s The Time: Understanding the Electronic Health Record Maze and Health Science Librarians’ Roles” to be held on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, from 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m., central time.

Visit:
http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/mlawebcast.html
for detailed information on how to become a
sponsored site. (more…)

by Brenda Fay
Lead Librarian
Aurora Libraries-Aurora Sinai Medical Center
Milwaukee, WI

61^st Annual Wisconsin Student Nurses’ Association Conference, Wisconsin Dells

Wisconsin Health Sciences Library Association (WHSLA) exhibited at the annual Wisconsin Student Nurses’ Annual Convention on February 6, 2010, at Chula Vista Resort and Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells, WI. Two hundred sixty-five nursing students, faculty, and nursing leaders from across Wisconsin attended the meeting. (more…)

December 1, 2009, has been designated World AIDS Day in order to bring attention to the increasing prevalence of HIV and AIDS. Organizations around the world will be joining together to promote awareness and education of HIV/AIDS through a variety of events.

The Specialized Information Services division of the National Library of Medicine provides information on HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research for the public, researchers/scientists, health professionals and students/educators at: http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/hiv.html

For more information on HIV/AIDS and World AIDS Day, please see: http://www.aids.gov or http://www.worldaidsday.org. These sites contain personal stories, links to awareness and promotional materials, common myths, and a wealth of information on HIV/AIDS including print resources and new media tools such as podcasts, blogs, ecards, Twitter, widgets and more.

By Kate Saylor
Outreach Librarian
Health Sciences Libraries
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

In recognition of October as Health Literacy Month, the University of Michigan Health Sciences Libraries organized a two-day forum with the aim of building a community network to improve health communication. This event closed our health literacy project that was funded with a GMR Health Disparities Subcontract. Another portion of this project included creating an online toolkit for improving health literacy that can be viewed here: http://guides.lib.umich.edu/healthliteracy.

On the evening of Thursday, October 22nd 2009, the Health Science Libraries (HSL) hosted a panel discussion of literacy statistics and local programs aimed at improving health literacy and health communication. A poster session followed, featuring 18 posters that covered a wide array of health literacy issues, research and tools. (more…)

Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
InfoPoint Librarian
Health Sciences Libraries
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

On the morning of November 4th, the staff of the Health Sciences Libraries, plus about a dozen visitors from the Health System, were treated to a demonstration by representatives from Paws with a Cause–of how a trained service dog can help a client who happens to be paralyzed or otherwise physically challenged.

Becky and her black lab Dart (short for D’Artagnan) worked together to illustrate how the dog can pick up fallen objects–some as small as a dime, pull off clothing (gloves, jacket, shoes) and even help an individual to rise from a sitting or supine position. We met another dog, a golden retriever puppy, who was being socialized by Diane, another Paws representative before being put through its training, a regimen that costs about $20,000 for each dog. Paws with a Cause pays for everything except the annual maintenance (vet’s fees, food) for the working dogs when they are placed.

(more…)

Thanks to Nancy Brothers, Coordinator of Programming and Public Relations at the Morton Grove Public Library for sharing this report:

The third annual Low Vision Fair was held September 26, 2009, at the Niles Senior Center, Niles, Illinois. The Fair, sponsored by eight north suburban Chicago public libraries, featured speakers, supportive service providers, and vendors of equipment and assistive devices. The intent of the Fair was to provide practical and useful information about new developments in eye care, retina and glaucoma screenings, and products and services available to help persons with limited vision.

An Exhibit Award from the GMR made it possible for the librarians to expand promotional efforts and to provide an honorarium for each of the speakers. The NN/LM briefcase exhibit and a variety of NLM brochures were positioned in the main meeting room, where two speakers gave presentations on diagnosis and treatment of retina disorders and current advances in eye and vision research. Everyone who attended the speakers’ sessions or who picked up refreshments passed by the display and had an opportunity to talk with the librarians and to pick up brochures. (more…)

By Ulrike Dieterle
Distance & Outreach Coordinator
Ebling Library
Madison, WI

On August 15th, Ebling librarians, Sandy Phelps and Ulrike Dieterle, made their way to Oregon, WI, where they staffed  the library exhibit table at the 11th Annual Latino Health Fair. This year the Fair’s health theme was Healthy Life, Healthy Weight.

The Fair, which draws hundreds of visitors, is organized by the Latino Health Council of Dane County and supported by over 40 organizations and agencies committed to providing quality health-related information and services to the Latino community. This year over 120 visitors received health screenings. Hundreds more stopped by to pick up health information, enjoy refreshments, listen to live music and more.

The library exhibit highlighted NLM and BadgerLink resources with Spanish-language brochures, bookmarks, pens, MedlinePlus magazines and handouts from the USDA website focusing on healthy food choices and active lifestyles. (more…)

NN/LM GMR network member Karen Anderson was recently featured in an article in the Minot Daily News, entitled Faster access: More resources make medical information readily available. Karen is director of the Angus Cameron Medical Library at Trinity Health in Minot, North Dakota, and is the University of North Dakota Northwest Clinic Campus Librarian.

Karen discusses the new technologies that bring health information faster to consumers. Check out the article online: http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/533406.html?nav=5010