by Robin Sabo
Assistant Professor/Health Professions Librarian
Central Michigan University

As both a Registered Dietitian and a Health Professions Librarian, I know how valuable MedlinePlus can be to health professionals. Not only is MedlinePlus the best consumer-health website for dietitians to refer their clients, but MedlinePlus also contains exceptional resources for dietetic practice.

Exhibiting at the Michigan Dietetic Association 2012 Annual Conference, April 26-27 in East Lansing was a great opportunity to share the power of MedlinePlus with my dietitian colleagues. Three hundred and twenty dietitians from throughout the state attended the conference. They work in positions involving clinical practice, foodservice, community nutrition, education, public relations and media and in settings including acute care hospitals, long-term care, universities, government, corporations and non-profit organizations.

The dietitians were eager to learn about LactMed, Daily Med and the Dietary Supplements Label Database. Resources for Your Health brochures particularly African-American Health, the Consumer Health for Seniors card and MedlinePlus bookmarks and pens were especially popular. In future dietetic meetings, the anatomy video collection would be an excellent resource to highlight as well as content aimed at seniors since many dietitians work with that population. I felt energized after having the chance to spread the word about all that MedlinePlus offers dietitians.

By Fran E. Kovach MLIS AHIP
Reference & Education Librarian
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Springfield, IL

Mark LaRoque
California Indian Manpower Consortium Inc.
Workforce Development Coordinator
Chicago Based Operations
Chicago, IL
On June 1-3, 2012, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Library participated in the 7th Annual Taylorville Black Horse Pow Wow in Taylorville, Illinois, at the Christian County Fairgrounds. This is the fourth year that we participated at this event.  New this year was the National Library of Medicine release of the free iPad app, Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness which we shared on an iPad 3. The stories of traditions, healers, and the journey of the totem pole across the United States captivated and delighted the audience. Visitors to our booth left with enthusiasm to hear more of the traditional stories. For more information on this app, please see: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/native_voices_app.html 

Special guest this year, Mark LaRoque of CIMC California Indian Manpower Consortium, Inc. (CIMC), stopped by our booth. Mark is Native American and is the Workforce Development Coordinator for the CIMC training program based in Chicago whose mission is to create positive change for Native communities in Illinois. (more…)

Fran E. Kovach, MLIS, AHIP
Reference & Education Librarian
Medical Library
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Springfield, IL

The ILLINOIS RURAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE, “Building a Sustainable Future”, was held April 24-26, 2012, at the Keller Convention Center in Effingham, Illinois. In rural Illinois, many different mobile devices including iPhones, Androids, BlackBerries, and iPads are the new stethoscopes. Exhibitor immersion in the conference sessions led to discussions of the use of the National Library of Medicine mobile apps and mobile sites in rural communities.  TOXNET, Medline Plus Farm Health and Safety, and Wiser NIH all received high praises from the HazMat teams.

Through a NN/LM GMR exhibit award, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Library displayed the new NLM exhibit banner, provided NLM pamphlets, gave out the afghan of “The Curious Herbal” as a booth prize, and offered demonstrations on the iPad of the various NLM mobile sites and apps, including Wiser. After seeing the Wiser demo, a family physician immediately downloaded it onto his iPad. Exhibiting and participating in the annual Illinois Rural Health Association meeting continues to be a worthwhile and rewarding experience.

Congratulations to the following sites receiving GMR funding for the
Wednesday, April 18, 2012, MLA Webcast:
Leveraging Mobile Technologies for Health Sciences Libraries

For information on the webcast and a list of additional sites, visit: http://www.mlanet.org/education/distance_ed/techtrends/

(more…)

By Jessica Page
Assistant Professor and Head
Veterinary Medicine Library
Ohio State University

The Midwest Veterinary Conference, hosted by the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association, draws over 5000 veterinarians, technicians and others from Ohio and neighboring states. I often field calls from practicing veterinarians and alumni of OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine regarding how they can access the veterinary literature. Exhibiting at the 2012 MVC seemed like a good opportunity to reach these veterinarians on their own turf to let them know about some of the resources available to them.

The practicing veterinarians who visited our booth had varying degrees of familiarity with PubMed. Some were completely unaware that a free resource for searching the medical literature was available to them, and were eager to have a more targeted search tool than Google. Others who already used PubMed were happy to gain demonstrated and written tips on effectively searching the veterinary literature. Most veterinarians we spoke with were unaware, and pleased to learn, that they were eligible for library cards from the State Library of Ohio, which would give them convenient access to materials from the OSU Libraries and those of other OhioLINK member institutions. (more…)

The GMR is offering to sponsor a number of sites for the upcoming MLA Webcast: Leveraging Mobile Technologies for Health Sciences Libraries to be held on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, from 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m., CT.

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

The GMR will cover the registration costs for up to two (2) sites per state in the region for this webcast. Because of the limited number of sites we can sponsor, we encourage you to work with your state and local librarian groups to identify centralized locations. Sites will be selected based on geographical location, accessibility, and potential number of attendees.

The deadline to email/fax your registration and email supporting information to the GMR is NOON, Friday, March 23, 2012.

Contact Holly Burt at the GMR, if you have any questions.
For more information on this webcast, visit:  http://www.mlanet.org/education/distance_ed/techtrends/

Register for a FREE hands-on PubMed for Trainers class provided by the staff of the National Library of Medicine Training Center (NTC)!

Would you like to gain new skills, brush up on existing PubMed skills and collaborate with colleagues to help create an effective training strategy? Join us for three Adobe Connect distance education classes and a one-day in-person class at the University of Illinois at Chicago Library of Health Sciences in Chicago, IL. These hands-on classes will include 9 presentations created by the National Library of Medicine, interactive demonstrations, hands-on exercises and networking opportunities. Upon completion of all four sessions the course will be worth 15 hours of MLA CE credit.

View the full announcement and register at: http://nnlm.gov/ntc/promos/PMT_Chicago.html
For other classes in the GMR, Register at: http://tinyurl.com/gmrregistration

Join us for a very exciting Lake Effects on Thursday, December 15, 2011, from 1-2 pm CT. Hospital librarians Denise Rumschlag, Melinda Orebaugh, and Barbara Platts will be sharing how librarians can become advocates for change in their institutions. We will examine ways of reducing waste and the cost of care, addressing services lines, and increasing the visibility of the library. Learn about collaborating to create tools for advocacy and participating in business performance reviews and LEAN projects. Hear about successful activities revealing that library expertise can have a powerful impact on the larger organization. Discover how you can add value to your library and library services. This is one webinar you won’t want to miss. Register today as space is limited.

The Greater Midwest Region’s Outreach Program Summary May 1, 2011-April 30, 2012 is now available online, linked from the GMR home page under News & Announcements or directly at the following URL: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/about/01outreachsum.html. You will find information about NLM targeted outreach populations and the following three new priorities the GMR has defined for the 2011-2016 contract:

• To place greater emphasis on engaging hospital librarians in the work of the Network, including assistance with professional development and capacity building;
• To develop programs that assist health professionals with integrating health information technologies into their clinical practice and research endeavors;
• To increase the health literacy of the public by developing programs for librarians, health professionals, and community health advocates that enhance public access to trusted health information resources that are culturally and linguistically appropriate.

The GMR is pleased to announce the availability of two types of subcontracts for Year 1 of the GMR contract (May, 2011-April, 2012). A summary of all awards and subcontracts can be found on the Current Funding Opportunities page on our website: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/.

Please read carefully as some of the procedures have changed.

Major Outreach Subcontracts:

The GMR is planning to fund two subcontracts at $25,000 each to support major outreach projects that address the health information needs of health professionals and the public. See the Request for Proposals (RFP) for this subcontract on the Current Funding Opportunities page of our website, or directly: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/outreachmajor/outreachmajorsub.html. The deadline for submitting proposals is August 31, 2011. We apologize for the short turn-around on these subcontracts, but due to changes in our contract from the National Library of Medicine, all projects proposed for Year 1 must be completed by September 30, 2012. The short deadline is meant to allow enough time to review and process your proposals for a possible start date of October 1, 2011.

Target Outreach Subcontracts:

The GMR is planning to fund two subcontracts at $14,000 each to support specific target projects. The following five targets are recommended for Year 1 of the contract:

• Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA)
• Evidence-based health information practice
• E-science initiatives
• Health information technology
• Minority health professionals / Minority populations

For more details, please read the Call for Applications (CFA) provided for the Target Outreach subcontracts linked from the Current Funding Opportunities page mentioned above, or directly: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/target/targetoutreachsub.html. The submission deadline for this subcontract is September 15, 2011. To streamline the application process for this subcontract, we have provided an online application form linked to the CFA.

As always, you may contact me or your state contact librarian if you have any questions.

Ruth