The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region (NN/LM MAR) is pleased to announce the awarding of MicroAwards to the following network members:

Shelly Warwick
Touro-Harlem Medical Library, New York, NY
Project: Library Branding Design Project

Nancy Glassman
D. Samuel Gottesman Library, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Project: Let Me Show You How It’s Done (Glance subscription)

Peter Cole
St. Michael’s Medical Center - Aquinas Medical Library, Newark, NJ
Project: National Evidence-Based Practice Conference (presentation)

The Small Project Awards are small awards of up to $1,000 awarded to network members to enhance their services and provide seed money for ongoing or one-time projects through the purchase of displays, brochures, presentations, materials, equipment, supplies, or presentation of small programs.

Small Project Awards are currently available and will be awarded until funds are depleted. Small Project Award applications are reviewed in-house by RML staff, with notification of award given 10 days from receipt of a complete application.

Apply online at: http://nnlm.gov/mar/funding/microawards.html Questions?
Call or email Arpita Bose at 1.800.338.7657 or bose at library.med.nyu.edu

The NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region (MAR), as part of its outreach and library improvement programs and its Strategic Program Plan for Network Members, is accepting applications from MAR full and affiliate network members to plan or determine the feasibility for future library improvement and outreach projects. Library improvement includes strengthening the technological capabilities of libraries to respond to changes in the health information environment and to users’ needs, the ability of libraries to share resources, share and build on best practices, identify emerging opportunities and threats to libraries and develop a plan to address them. Outreach includes reaching out to communities that a library does not usually serve, or expand services to communities that are underserved and offering training, document delivery partnerships, collaborative programming and reference and research support.

Planning is the foundation for success of any project. Three awards at $15,000 each are available.

Deadline for submission of applications: August 1, 2008

Examples of potential planning award projects are:

• Developing, expanding or promoting consortia that provide improved access to biomedical literature or provide improved library services
• Developing models of e-licensing and e-serials management that can be used by small to medium-sized hospital libraries
• Developing a region-wide leadership institute and mentoring program
• Hosting a series of planning meetings with potential outreach partners.
• Conducting a state-wide library disaster/emergency preparedness planning meeting.
• Holding meetings to identify historical medical collections in the region for inclusion in NLM’s Directory of History of Medicine collections.

Other planning projects or ideas are welcome.

Eligibility

• Full or affiliate MAR members in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
• Partnerships between MAR members and community, health, senior and diversity organization are strongly encouraged.

For more information, including cost proposal instructions and online application form go to: http://nnlm.gov/mar/funding/planning.html

If you have questions or require assistance contact Kathel Dunn, Associate Director, at 1-800-338-7657, 212-263-4197, or rml@library.med.nyu.edu . Awards will be announced on the MAR discussion list, MARL as well as the MAR newsletter, the MARquee.

Library Space and Its Impact Conference Award

Announcement

At the 2003 National Library of Medicine - Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) symposium, “Library as Place: Building and Revitalizing Health Sciences Libraries in the Digital Age,” asked questions of what the role of the library in the 21st century would be; the roles of computers and books; and what these new and newly reconfigured library spaces would look like.

The symposium found that the library of the future would change from, “static bricks and mortar transforming into fluid, light-filled spaces wired for both physical and virtual learning, and flexible, collaborative problem solving superseding isolated, monastic-style study.”

Five years since that symposium, the pace of change has accelerated:

* Many, if not most, academic health sciences libraries’ conversion to e-only journals has largely taken place;
* Print journal volumes are going into storage or are being discarded;
* Library space is being identified for other institutional needs;
* Library leaders are identifying new roles for librarians, while discarding or adjusting traditional roles and services

NN/LM MAR seeks to hold a conference on the transformational change of library space and its impact on librarians and library services.

Requests for Letters of Interest
The NN/LM MAR is accepting letters of interest for a one-day conference award on: Transformational Change of Library Space and Its Impact on Librarians and Library Services from NN/LM MAR full members. The applications will address the issue of library and librarian identity in light of changing or reduced physical space. The conference should also
address the following issues:

* Models or best practices in libraries’ reduction of a print collection;
* Models or best practices in libraries’ reduction of space and/or re-purposing of existing space
* Emerging roles and identities of librarians in the changing physical environment
* Models or best practices of adjusting traditional library roles and services
* Offer models or best practices across all of the issues that are applicable to hospital libraries and librarians

Purpose
The purpose of the Transforming Space Conference Award is to allow full members to host conferences on models or best practices in libraries’ reduction of space and/or re-purposing of existing space as well as identify emerging roles for librarians in the changing environment. This conference is part of the NN/LM MAR Strategic Plan 2008-2009. The conference should be
held at a level to attract attendees from a wide geographic area within the Middle Atlantic region (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania).

Audience
The audience is both academic health sciences librarians and hospital librarians. The conference should be broad enough in scope to address issues and suggest best practices that could apply to both types of libraries.

Application Process
Applicants should email or fax a 2-3 page proposal letter. The proposal letter should include:

* Applicant’s name, contact information
* Name and contact information of any partners
* Approach to conference themes
* Proposed agenda
* Names of speakers
* Facility capacity
* Draft budget

Letters of interest will be reviewed by the NN/LM MAR Executive Committee. Reviewers may contact the applicant with questions or comments for clarification and revision of the proposal letter. The merits of each application will be carefully evaluated, based on responsiveness to the call for applications.

The Executive Committee will select a proposal letter for submission of a complete proposal. Upon receipt of a complete proposal, and final review by the Executive Committee, the applicant will receive the conference award.

Awards must be applied to hold a conference scheduled within twelve months of the award date.

Email letters of interest to: rml@library.med.nyu.edu

Evaluation Criteria
CONFERENCE THEME
Ability to imaginatively address conference themes and propose models and suggest best practices for academic health sciences librarians and hospital librarians.

35 points
CONFERENCE PLAN
Ability of applicant to host a conference, including facilities, a/v, technology and geographic location within the region.

35 points
EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS OF STAFF
Experience and qualifications of key personnel, including names of potential partners
30 points

Total Possible Points: 100

Cost Proposal Instructions
Total expenses must not exceed $15,000.

Allowable expenses include:

* Speaker fees and honoraria
* Travel
* Publicity
* Space rental
* Electricity
* Telephone lines/data lines
* Audiovisual costs
* Printing/reproduction/duplication
* Equipment rental

Non-allowable expenses include:

* Indirect costs
* Personnel costs
* Food
* Furniture

Deadline for submission of letters of interest: April 15, 2008

If you have questions or require assistance contact Kathel Dunn, Associate Director, at 1-800-338-7657, 212-263-4197, or rml@library.med.nyu.edu . Awards will be announced on the MAR discussion list, MARL; as well as the MAR newsletter, the MARquee.

On Monday, November 5, 2007, the Richard M. Johnston Health Sciences Library sponsored an online, synchronous training session entitled Wikis in Education: Exploring theory and practice.  This workshop was designed and delivered to fulfill the requirements of the NN/LM MAR Online Training Development Award given June 2007.  The workshop was designed and delivered by instructional design consultant Marcy L. Brown.

The workshop offered the following learning objectives, which were shared with participants at the beginning of the session:

1-  Define a wiki

2-  List and describe educational uses of wikis

3-  Evaluate an educational wiki for clarity, usability, and pedagogical value

4-  Explain ways in which a wiki might be used in the participant’s environment

The workshop was designed to take advantage of synchronous technology (Adobe Connect) and also required additional reading and pre-work by participants in order to fully engage them in a topic of using wikis in education.

The 90-minute synchronous session was attended by 13 individuals froma variety of clinical and academic health science library environments.  Six librarians who registered for the session did not actually attend the workshop.

Mary Jo Dorsey, The Richard M. Johnston Health Sciences Library- The Western Pennsylvania Hospital.  Pittsburgh, PA

The Middle Atlantic Region (MAR) of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) announces the availability of awards that support access to health information for libraries, consumers, health professionals and in particular reaching underserved populations; enhance the capacity of libraries to share resources, strengthen network member librarians’ skills in the use of NLM databases and increase the visibility of the NN/LM and NLM products and services.

 Awards are for full network members for technology, library improvement, and outreach.

 Deadline for applications for all awards is April 15, 2008.

 Technology Innovation Awards
For Full Network members to provide access to health information using technologies in a creative manner to reach underserved or difficult to reach populations. Projects must involve training or demonstrating the use of technology to the target population.

Technology Improvement Awards

For Full Network members to expand their access to health information, enhance services and provide seed funding for one-time technology projects or to bring technology to a library or community that has previously not had access to NLM products and services.

For more information, or to apply for an award go to: http://nnlm.gov/mar/funding/

The gerontological research library of Polisher Research Institute, at the Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life, applied for this award.  This was a quality improvement project enabled by a Technology Improvement Award from the NN/LM MAR. The funds facilitated the purchase of resources to improve quality and delivery of documents, and facilitated the purchase of resources for a presentation to local patrons about the improved services.  The most impressive piece of equipment purchased was a scanner whose flatbed glass extends just 1/8” from the edge of the machine, making it ideal for scanning bound materials without damaging the spines.  Before obtaining this scanner, articles were copied on a copier that was not well-suited for tightly bound materials, then the pages were run through the document feeder of a (different) scanner before emailing the resulting PDF files.  This resulted in reams of paper left over.  So the new scanner certainly has made the library greener.  The scanner’s software can sense the orientation of the print and flip the pages as needed so that all pages are oriented correctly.  PDF files (even those in color) are small, facilitating transmission via email.  Color and grayscale scans are created with the press of a button, and adjustments to scan different page sizes can be made without fuss.  The funds also enabled the purchase of a new color fax and color print machine, to replace older models that kept having problems.  How nice it is to be able to print photos of people that don’t look like little green men from Mars! 

Receipt of the Technology Improvement Award has greatly improved document digitization and color quality for the benefit of the library’s external and internal customers.

Rachel R. Resnick- Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life, Edward and Esther Polisher Research Institute Library- North Wales, PA.

The Booker Health Sciences Library has been exhibiting at community health fairs since 2004 as an outreach effort to promote the library’s consumer health information home delivery service, as well as reliable consumer health resources.  Experience had shown that attendees at community health fairs do not generally stop at tables that only offer literature as a ‘giveaway’ or require an electronic demonstration.   The library’s home delivery service has grown in popularity over the years, particularly with the proliferation of active adult communities within Meridian Health’s catchment area.   Many of these residents, we found, did not own a computer or used a computer primarily for emailing or quick reference.   Providing reliable, credible health information for this target population helps to meet the NN/LM’s mission.  Refrigerator magnets provide the target population with a handy way to facilitate this.

Catherine Boss- Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, NJ.

The Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC) is a multi-type library network serving libraries and library systems in the Rochester, N.Y. region.  RRLC members include school, public, academic and special libraries.  The training grant awarded by the NN/LM offered the RRLC the opportunity to reach those members who were not necessarily familiar with using MedlinePlus and other NLM resources.  Three classes, which varied in format, provided hands-on training and take-home instructional material that could be shared with colleagues and patrons. These classes were scheduled over a period of three months, from August-November, 2007.

The first session was part of the popular “Summer School for School Librarians” series targeted to school librarians. Offered during August to attract school librarians “on vacation”, this session focused on MedlinePlus, demonstrating its usefulness for consumer health related questions.  Other NLM databases, including PubMed, Clincial Trials.gov and the Toxnet group of resources were also presented.

In a post-class evaluation, one of the librarians in attendance expressed her newly discovered knowledge of MedlinePlus as a wonderful source of consumer health information:  “I appreciate the different facets of this extensive database and the class notebook contributed to remind me of the various facets of MedlinePlus.  I was already able to share this with a colleague.”

The second session was offered as part of RRLC’s regular Monday Pizza Night series.  The Pizza Night series presents a different topic every week with librarians and other “experts” as presenters who provide information in an informal, friendly environment (with free pizza!)  “Pizza and Health Resources, featuring MedlinePlus” again focused on accessing MedlinePlus for consumer health questions, with emphasis on the type of questions asked by patrons in the public library.  PubMed, Clinical Trials.gov and Toxnet were described, using examples that might typically occur in a public library setting.

The third session, “Consumer Health Information:  Resources from NLM, NYS and Rochester”, included extensive coverage of the MedlinePlus database, a description of  PubMed and ClincialTrials.gov and Toxnet.  This expanded, three-hour session also included presentations from Carole Joyce, Project Director of CLIC-on-Health and Mary Ann Howie, Wellness Librarian, Stabins Wellness Information Center, Rochester General Hospital. 

Carole Joyce described how CLIC-on-Health is a RRLC administered project that brings together libraries, health organizations and associations, healthcare delivery systems and educational institutions in order to provide the greater Rochester area with high-quality healthcare information and resources.  CLIC-on-Health includes a web portal with information that is specific to Rochester health care, and also includes in its interface the ability to search MedlinePlus and retrieve information from this resource.

Mary Ann Howie described how she utilizes MedlinePlus, as well as other NLM databases, to provide free service to the public (including libraries) through the Stabins Wellness Information Center, Rochester General Hospital.  During this session, emphasis was placed on how the librarians in attendance could work with area health sciences    librarians, developing partnerships through their use of MedlinePlus and the NLM resources. Attendees indicated the value of hearing from librarians who use these health resources on a regular basis.  One attendee stated “The binder and handouts and the multiple presenters made everything very easy to understand and you left feeling empowered with knowledge to pass on to patrons.”  Training materials created through this program are available for RRLC member libraries.

Through this series of classes our member libraries will be better able to use NLM’s consumer health resources and promote them to their patrons.  Improving access to quality health information is the rewarding result of the communication between  RRLC’s public, school and health sciences library members.

Catherine Allen and Mary Ann Howie during RRLC’s classes in the MARquee.  

Barbara Ciambor- Rochester Regional Library Council, Fairport, N.Y. 

Reference librarians in public libraries are passionate about seeking the answers to questions for their patrons. When searching for consumer health information they are faced with a wealth of information on just about any health topic you can think of. So, what is the problem – searching through this information to find the best quality information in an appropriate format and level to meet the needs of the patron walking through the door is both critical and often daunting.

Portals to high quality information make the job easier. Using tools like Medlineplus and healthfinder.gov provide a guiding light for library staff to direct patrons to worthwhile and appropriate consumer health information.

As a librarian, I have over the years promoted these resources to public libraries through various projects including tabling at health fairs, presenting talks at conferences, and this year presenting a poster session at the Pennsylvania Library Association Annual Conference through a Micro-Award from the Middle Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

Each experience brings a new opportunity to enlighten folks about resources they may not have used before, provides them with fresh ideas to try in their library to promote consumer health resources, and provides a learning opportunity for me (there are many library’s out there implementing innovative ideas to promote and educate the public in finding consumer health information).

The environment is different today than it was more than seven years ago when I started promoting consumer health information to public libraries. Library staff are more familiar and comfortable with the resources available to them – now we need to put all of our effort behind marketing and promoting these resources to the public. We know the public is looking for this type of information. We need to let them know that we can help them find it!

Susan Jeffery, Albright Memorial Library, at the 2007 PaLa Annual Conference (Pennsylvania Library Association) State College, PA October 14-17, 2007

Susan Jeffery- Albright Memorial Library (Scranton Public Library)- Scranton, PA.

The Swedish Institute accepts students with visual impairments and other disabilities.  Our goal is to provide blind and visually impaired students access to today’s software applications and the Internet.   By receiving a Technology award from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, we were able to purchase JAWS 8.0 (screen reading software for the blind) and ZOOMTEXT 9.1 (text magnifier for the visually impaired students).

Before the equipment was purchased, visually impaired and blind students did not use the library.  JAWS 8.0 offers an audio alternative to the computer screen, allowing users to surf the Internet, communicate with the faculty and their peers via e-mail, type and edit documents using Microsoft Office applications.  ZOOMTEXT 9.1 provids excellent magnification of the computer screen.  Disabled students are now frequent visitors of our library.

This project touched me in a personal way, because my mother is visually impaired and I have experienced first hand the challenges a disabled person faces.  The major challenges facing blind students in college today, center on an overwhelming amount of printed materials such as: textbooks, class outlines and bibliographies.  Our goal was to supply tools necessary to succeed and overcome the challenges that they face in college.

Some years ago, a reporter asked a prominent blind woman, “What is it that blind people would want from society?” The woman replied, “The opportunity to be equal and the right to be different”.  With the completion of the project we provided our blind and visually impaired students with the right “to be equal” to other students, the right to get access to all the resources they may need to get a good education, to succeed in life, and to reach the goals and dreams, which would never have been possible before.

Irina Meyman- Swedish Institute, College of Health Sciences.  New York City, NY