Of interest to public libraries:

The American Library Association is pleased to announce that it is working with WGBH Boston on the upcoming national outreach campaign for the film The Truth About Cancer, which will air on PBS April 16th at 9 p.m. (check local listings). The 90-minute documentary film, followed by a 30-minute expert panel, hosted by news journalist and cancer survivor Linda Ellerbee will be the launching pad for events and projects across the country focused on creating community conversations around cancer survivorship.

ALA and WGBH encourage libraries to reach out to their local PBS stations to collaborate with them on events surrounding this film. In addition, WGBH encourages libraries to reach out to its national outreach partners on this project including the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, Lance Armstrong Foundation, YMCA of the USA and the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups. These collaborations will provide an excellent opportunity for libraries to develop new—or strengthen existing—community partnerships, while offering a valuable service to their communities.

To assist in these outreach efforts, WGBH will offer extensive online resources, including downloadable handouts, which will be available on www.pbs.org/takeonestep <http://www.pbs.org/takeonestep> starting in March 2008. In addition, a limited number of free Outreach Toolkits including two event posters and a DVD Screener that will include 30 minutes of the film and the full expert panel to libraries that request them. WGBH asks that libraries not hold public screenings using the DVD screener until one week prior to the premiere broadcast.

To order the Outreach Toolkit, please go to:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/takeonestep/request.html

Materials are limited and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

This collaborative project with WGBH is administered by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of ALA. Contact Barbara Macikas, RUSA, bmacikas@ala.org <mailto:bmacikas@ala.org> or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4395.

health08.org

Health08 is a new web site from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation with information about health care issues addressed by the presidential candidates in the 2008 presidential election. It features news, video clips, analysis, poll results, and side-by-side comparisons of the candidates’ positions on health care issues, such as expansion of public programs, insurance premium subsidies, cost containment, and financing.

On October 11, 2007, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) released a new search engine for MedlinePlus, MedlinePlus en español and the NLM Web site. NLM selected search engine software from the Pittsburgh-based company Vivisimo®. Vivisimo is also the current search solution for the www.usa.gov site (formerly FirstGov).

The new search results feature enhanced relevance rankings and bold-face search words in context to help you select the best Web document for your query. An integrated spell checker suggests alternative search terms and spelling corrections. The new search engine also expands queries using synonyms specific to the sites and medical synonyms from the NLM Unified Medical Language System®.

MedlinePlus Searches

The default display for MedlinePlus searches is a comprehensive list of “All Results” from all areas of the site. Users can also focus their search on one part of MedlinePlus by navigating to these individual collections of results:

• Health Topics
• External Health Links
• Drugs and Supplements
• Medical Encyclopedia
• News
• Other Resources

For MedlinePlus searches that retrieve one of the 700+ English language health topics, the relevant topic is spotlighted at the top of the screen with an image, an excerpt of the health topic summary and links to the topic.

Read more about the new search engine:

*New Site Search Engine Allows Easier, More Efficient Navigation of MedlinePlus and NLM Web Site

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/searchengine_vivisimo.html

*NLM Technical Bulletin, Sep-Oct 2007, NLM Launches New Web Search Engine: NLM Web Site, MedlinePlus, MedlinePlus Español

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/so07/so07_nlm_search_engine.html

Consumers often visit the public library to find health information. How do public librarians meet consumer health information needs? Delaware librarians have medical library expertise right in their own buildings, thanks to Delaware Consumer Health Information Services (DCHIS, http://www.healthyde.org), a program funded by Delaware Health and Social Services’ Division of Public Health and administered by the Delaware Academy of Medicine. DCHIS was established in 2003 and now covers Kent County, Sussex County, and New Castle County. Recently Arpita Bose, NN/LM MAR Outreach and Communications Coordinator, interviewed the DCHIS librarians, Patty Hartmannsgruber, Linda Leonard, and Susan LaValley, about their unique role as medical librarians in public libraries.

What do you do at DCHIS?

We are each stationed at a host public library: Patty is in Kent County at Dover Public Library; Linda is in Sussex County at Rehoboth Beach Public Library; and Susan is in New Castle County at Bear Public Library. Our duties include collection development, staffing the public reference desk, and programming.

What kinds of health programs do you present?

We have facilitated programs on diabetes and nutrition, homeopathy, and complementary medicine. One of the programs was called Facts Versus Quacks; it focused on evaluating health information web sites. We present the programs ourselves, or we have expert speakers lead the programs. Our events happen inside the library and also outside the library, at senior centers, for instance.

What other projects do you do?

We are responsible for Go Local Delaware, which links MedlinePlus with local resources in the state. Patty has also started to prepare a binder of consumer health resources along with sample questions that patrons might ask. Other public librarians will be able to refer to this binder when they receive consumer health inquiries.

What is the best part of your job at DCHIS?

We enjoy working with the public. This program gives us the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of activities, and we have the freedom to be creative about collection development and programming. We enjoy going outside the library to spread the word about consumer health. We attend senior expos, women’s health fairs, Spanish language health fairs, and alternative health expos. The public librarians in our branches also appreciate knowing that we are there to answer complex consumer health information questions.

What’s next for DCHIS?

We are rethinking our image to give us more name recognition in the public libraries. We are planning a name change, logo change, and branding for ourselves. We have become involved with a coalition of health educators and plan to ask them about marketing strategies for our services.

For more information about DCHIS, visit their web site, Healthy DE.

Would you like your library to be featured In the Region? Contact Arpita Bose (arpita.bose@library.med.nyu.edu) for more information.

Delaware Consumer Health Information Services Librarians (from left): Susan LaValley, Linda Leonard, Patty Hartmannsgruber. Not pictured: PJ Grier, Director of Library and Information Services, Lewis B. Flinn Library, Delaware Academy of Medicine

Today NLM released the “What’s New on MedlinePlus” page, available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/whatsnew.html. Visit the page to stay up to date on new MedlinePlus topics, podcasts, featured sites, and new issues of the NIH MedlinePlus Magazine. The “What’s New” items will display for three weeks and are also available through an RSS feed. The “What’s New on MedlinePlus” page and corresponding RSS feed are available in both English and Spanish.

This page and RSS feed compliment the already-available MedlinePlus Health News RSS, which delivers press announcements and HealthDay news stories. The News RSS is available in both English and Spanish. You can access the “What’s New on MedlinePlus” RSS and the MedlinePlus Health News RSS from the E-mail Lists and RSS Feeds page at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/listserv.html.

The Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week grant will award $5,000 to a single U.S. library for the best public awareness campaign during American Library Association’s National Library Week 2008. All types of libraries and library organizations are welcome to apply.

This year’s grant focuses on the National Library Week theme, “Join the circle of knowledge @ your library®.” All proposals must use this theme.

Funds are to be used to support the winner’s National Library Week promotional activities as outlined in the application and cannot be used for capital expenses, such as books or equipment.

DEADLINE:
Applications must be postmarked by October 1, 2007

Application materials are available at ALA’s web site.

The Health Literacy Virtual Tool Kit debuted at the conference, Health Literacy: Tools for Improving Health Communications on May 30, 2007 at New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York. Organized by New York Medical College (NYMC), School of Public Health and Health Sciences Library and the Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association (NorMet) the conference saw close to 200 attendees from all types of organizations and groups interested in health literacy. Attendees came from public and health sciences libraries, hospitals, community-based organizations and public health departments.

The Health Literacy Virtual Tool Kit is an outgrowth of the well-received toolkit given to attendees. The Virtual Tool Kit includes links to the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus, Info Rx program, Medical Library Association health literacy information and a Health Literacy video from the American Medical Association, amongst other resources.

The Health Sciences Library of New York Medical College was a recipient of an NN/LM MAR Outreach Conference Award.

On March 28, 2007, MedlinePlus will introduce a number of new features to the Health Topic pages. Highlights include:

• Each page will now display a photograph or illustration.
• A brief summary of each disease or condition will also display at the top of the page. Composed by experienced medical writers and reviewed by NLM staff, the summaries are based largely on NIH and other government information. They are written at an easy-to-read level and include links to related topics. As of March 28th, summaries will appear on about half of English pages. All English and Spanish Health Topic pages will include a summary in the near future.
• Synonyms will appear right under the health topic name.
• A new category, labeled Start Here, will link users to overviews and important information for first-time visitors.
• A centrally-located Table of Contents will divide the MedlinePlus categories into six boxes to show users everything on the page at a glance.

A new program launched by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) encourages practitioners to refer their patients to Genetics Home Reference, a free, user-friendly NLM Web site at http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov. Under this program, doctors can request free “Information Rx” pads, which enable them to write “prescriptions,” pointing patients to the Genetics Home Reference site for information about newborn screening and related genetic disorders. Four of the nation’s most respected medical associations—the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American College of Medical Genetics—have teamed with NLM and NICHD on this initiative. The Information Rx pads can be ordered from the following Web site: http://www.informationrx.org.

Genetics Home Reference includes over 500 topics on genetic conditions and related genes. The site also features an illustrated tutorial that explains the basics of genetics and a glossary of genetics terms. The site is regularly updated by scientific staff and reviewed by external experts.

The press release announcing the Genetics Home Reference InformationRx program is available at: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/nov2006/nlm-20a.htm

Online pharmacy

MAR exhibited at National Women’s Heart Day on Friday, February 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. National Women’s Heart Day, organized by Sister-to-Sister, is an annual women’s health fair with free screenings for personal heart risks. We distributed MedlinePlus fliers and pens and demo’ed MedlinePlus for more than 200 visitors.

Many thanks to our volunteers, Colleen Bradley-Sanders, Archivist, NYU Ehrman Medical Library, and Gloria Willson, Dept. Principal Librarian at Public Health Library,NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene!

Pictured above: Arpita Bose, Outreach & Communications Coordinator, and Sue Hunter, Planning & Evaluation Coordinator, NN/LM, Middle Atlantic Region