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

Samaritan Medical Center Circuit Librarian Betsy Meldrim shows Lewis County General Hospital Staff Development Director Kathy Millard how to find nursing articles in PubMed using the new notebook computer and wireless Internet router provided by a technology award from the Mid-Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

Michael K. Chartrand - Hunter-Rice Health Sciences Library, Watertown, NY                

The 18th Annual Health and Fitness Fair, sponsored by NYS Senator Jim Alesi, again drew over 3,000 attendees from the greater Rochester metropolitan area.  One hundred and sixty-two exhibitors participated in the largest health fair of its kind in the area.

During the time period set aside for professional interchange, about a half dozen professional health care providers stopped by the booth to get more information.  These included nurse educators, physical therapists and chiropractors.  Many members of the public, who were unaware that accurate and reliable health information could be found on the Internet, were surprised that there was no charge for this service.

We were very pleased with the interest that the booth generated and became even more aware of the need for outreach activities to inform the public of the services that we and NLM offer.

Carole Joyce- Rochester Regional Library Council- Fairport, NY

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:

Susan Jeffery, Albright Memorial Library-Scranton Public Library, Scranton, PA for her project, Presentation of MedlinePlus poster at the Pennsylvania Library Association in State College, PA October 15 & 16, 2007.

Loida Garcia-Febo, Queens Library, Queens, NY for her project, Community Health Fairs (promotional materials of pens and magnets) throughout Queens, NY during 2007.

The MicroAwards are small (micro) awards of up to $500 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, refreshments, equipment, supplies, or presentation of small programs.

MicroAwards are currently available and will be awarded until funds are depleted. MicroAward 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@library.med.nyu.edu

The conference entitled, “Health Literacy: Tools for Improving Health Communications” was held on May 30, 2007.  The conference was co-sponsored by the New York Medical College (NYMC) Health Sciences Library (HSL) and School of Public Health (SPH) along with the Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association (NorMet).  It was jointly funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) and the New York State Department of Health.  The conference goal was to provide health professionals and hospital staff with an educational opportunity to develop awareness of health literacy issues and improve communication skills with individuals throughout the Hudson Valley Region of New York.  In fact, the revelant issues and communication skills needed are basic to all health professionals.  NN/LM network members, regional health professionals, and individuals from community agencies were encouraged to attend.  The expectation was that the conference would serve as a platform from which to develop a regional coalition and be able to draw upon the community building skills already in place among the participants: it did.  One outcome was the creation of a health literacy tool kit, which was soon followed by a virtual version.  The conference page web now includes the scope and agenda for the conference as well as the tool kit, with new links added as needed http://library.nymc.edu/PHInformatics/hltoolkit.cfm.  When the so-called “dancing nurses” video shown by one of the speakers was requested more than 14 times, the link was immediately added to the site: http://www.ahrq.gov/QuestionsAreTheAnswer//.

Attendees rated the conference overall close to excellent by all measures by the end of the day, and post-conference survey evaluations completed July 16, 2007 also generated extremely positive results.  Although plans initially estimated 100 likely attendees, the final total was 194 individuals.

Diana J. Cunningham, MLS,MPH- New York Medical College- Health Sciences Library- Valhalla, NY

The Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey (HSLANJ) sponsored a table display at the Organization of Nursing Executives of New Jersey (ONE/NJ) Research Day held on June 22, 2007.  This was possible thanks to an exhibit grant awarded to HSLANJ from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region.  The conference highlighted the results of the statewide Readiness of New Jersey Nurses for Evidence-Based Practice survey.  This survey was done to replicate the study conducted by Dr. Diane Pravikoff, who was the keynote speaker that day, and reported on in the September, 2005 issue of the American Journal of Nursing.  Health Sciences Librarians were dismayed to read the results of the survey.  We discovered that many nurses either did not know there was a library in their hospital or did know and thought it was only available for physician use.  HSLANJ considered this conference to be a perfect opportunity to speak with nurses regarding what is available to them through NN/LM MAR, the National Library of Medicine and their own hospital libraries and librarians.

More than 100 members of ONE/NJ attended the conference and stopped by our table display.  HSLANJ members Michelle Brewer, Jeannine Creazzo, Robb Mackes, Patti May, Erica Moncrief, Jenny Pierce, Lia Sabbagh, Robin Siegel and Jan Skica staffed the table, answered questions and gave out bookmarks with contact information stickers attached so that the attendees would know how to reach the librarian at their institution.  Laptop computers were used to demonstrate the various databases that are available to New Jersey’s hospital libraries via the National Library of Medicine, HSLANJ’s Group Purchasing program and the New Jersey State Library.

Additional handouts included Fact Sheets created by HSLANJ members describing the evidence-based nursing resources available for demonstration at the booth.  These included CINAHL, Joanna Briggs Institute, Mosby’s Nursing Consult, EBSCO’s Nursing and Allied Health Collection and Biomedical Reference Collection, National Guideline Clearinghouse and the Cochrane Library.

In addition, the HSLANJ exhibitors participated in the Research Day ‘breakout sessions’, that were part of the conference.  The nine health sciences librarians each worked with one breakout group of nurse executives.  Together, we created working documents for use by ONE/NJ that developed strategies for improvement in New Jersey of evidence-based nursing research and practice in the hospital setting, and for the improvement of nurses’ knowledge of, access and use of hospital library services and evidence-based information resources.

The entire day gave us a wonderful opportunity to interact with nursing executives from around the state.  It was gratifying to hear so many of them express how much they appreciate all the work their hospital librarians do for them.  We hope that HSLANJ can be involved in the ONE/NJ Research Day again next year, on an even bigger scale.

Robin Siegel- Health Sciences Library Association of NJ and CentraState HealthCare System- Freehold, NJ

Holy Name Hospital is currently undergoing a construction project.  The Hospital is currently building a new Emergency Room, Conference Center and Library.  The new Library will combine both the Bartholomew Medical Library and School of Nursing Library catalogs, and will be open to the public.  Prior to moving the Library, we are automating the Library’s technical operations: cataloging; circulation; serials control using an integrated Library system.  Each of these operations is currently done manually.  Automation of the card catalog will allow for patrons to access our catalog from any PC and will allow for easier and less labor-intensive updating.  Automation of the circulation processes will allow for better tracking of circulated items, for improved report generation and for tracking of utilization patterns that will help in acquisitions.  A serials component will facilitate the checking in and claiming of journal subscriptions, indexing journal articles and linking to them, as well as hopefully tracking interlibrary loans.

Keydi Boss- Holy Name Hospital- Teaneck, NJ

The AECOM Library is in the midst of a major renovation.  An integral part of this project was the construction of five group study rooms.  Each of these rooms is equipped with a 42″ LCD monitor.  The rooms are available to all members of the AECOM community for student group projects, PhD dissertation defense, library training, presentations and meetings.  With funding from the NN/LM MAR Technology Improvement Award, the Library purchased three Dell Latitude D630 laptop computers, which can be borrowed from the Library’s Circulation Desk.  The laptops connect easily to the LCD monitors with a VGA cable.  They have been loaded with the following software: Microsoft Office 2003, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Internet Explorer, Firefox, SciFinder Scholar, QuickTime, RealPlayer, and Windows Media Player.  The AECOM Library’s laptop lending policy can be viewed at http://library.aecom.yu.edu/library/laptops.htm.  There is a record for the laptops in the Library’s catalog, which allows patrons to see if laptops are available for loan.

When laptops are returned, Circulation Desk staff will be able to restore them to their original configuration using Ghost 12.0 software (also purchased through the NN/LM MAR technology Improvement Award).  This will prevent system changes, viruses, and other “infelicities” from being passed on to future users.

The AECOM Graphic Arts Center designed special decals for us.  These decals are affixed to the tops of the laptops with an extremely strong adhesive.  The hope is that in addition to “branding,” the decals will serve as an additional theft deterrent.

The laptops will go into service in October as part of our celebration of National Medical Librarians Month.  Response from patrons who have helped test them has been positive.  Although many of our patrons own their own laptops, they do not always carry them.  They appreciate the option of borrowing one from the library.

The UPS Project

During the past four years the AECOM Library has experienced three major power outages.  The first was the blackout that affected the Northeast in August 2003.  The second, in March 2007, was due to an electrical fire in our building.  The third, in August 2007, was due to another fire in front of our building.  Because the Library’s web sever and EZproxy remote access server were not connected to a UPS (battery backup power supply), these electrical outages caused them to power off without going through the proper shutdown procedures.  Fortunately this did not lead to data loss or corruption.  AECOM faculty, students, staff and residents from our five affiliated hospitals use the Library’s web site and remote access system to connect to our electronic resources.  In order to protect our servers in the future, the electricity in the Library’s server room was switched to the emergency ground, so they will automatically receive power from the College’s emergency generators in the event of another power failure.  Because there could still be an interruption of power before the emergency generators kick in, the library used the NN/LM MAR Technology Award to purchase an APC Smart-UPS 1000XL backup battery supply.  The Smart-UPS 100XL will supply electricity to the Library’s servers during this gap.  Additional software was purchased to allow the servers to power down gracefully in the event that power is not restored.  this software has not yet been configured.

Nancy R. Glassman- D. Samuel Gottesman Library- Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Bronx, NY