All of the MAR coordinators will be attending the Medical Library Association (MLA) Conference. So we will be out of the office from Wed., May 16th – Wed., May 23rd.

We will be monitoring our email account (nnlmmar@pitt.edu) and our 800 # during our absence. However, please bear in mind that we will try our best to respond to emails and calls within 24 hours during those dates. Also, please note that the conference is taking place in Seattle, WA. So there will be a 3-hour time difference between the East and West coasts.

Sunday, May 20th

Bases Loaded, Patient at Bat: Genetics clinicians, Clinical Librarian and Consumer Librarian Collaborate to Enhance Patient Care
Susan Robishaw and Patricia Ulmer

This successful, collaborative project among genetics clinicians and librarians has had a positive impact on patient care for both clinicians and patients. The clinicians need less time to prepare for a patient encounter. They maximize the time they spend with the patients. They have more information about the patient’s potential diagnoses at the time of the initial visit. Having more information allows the clinician to spend more time reviewing the diagnosis with the patient and addressing his/her concerns and to selectively order tests. Patients receive trusted, accurate and up to date health they use to better understand their condition/treatment.

Covering the Bases: Running a Library-Based Bioinformatics Service at a Health Sciences University
Carrie L. Iwema and Ansuman Chattopadhyay

iPad Lending Library for On Call/Night Float Residents: Home Run or Foul Ball?
Catherine M. Boss and Chunwei Ma

A pilot study was conducted to determine the usefulness of an iPad for independent learning and direct patient care by on-call/night float residents. An iPad with WiFi would allow for connectivity to the medical center's patient care portal with licensed patient-based and evidence-based databases, electronic books, and journals.

Poster Sessions

Building a Farm Team: Ten Years of Developing New Academic Health Sciences Library Directors; The NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program
Carolyn E. Lipscomb, Barbara A. Epstein, Lynn Kasner Morgan, Julia F. Sollenberger, and M.J. Tooey.

In response to a documented need to build the next generation of leadership for academic health sciences libraries, the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, with co-sponsorship from the National Library of Medicine, initiated a program to identify, encourage and develop candidates for director. The poster measures program results and identifies factors of success.

Gray Literature Searching in Health Sciences Systematic Reviews: A Survey Study
Ahlam Saleh, Melissa A. Ratajeski, and Marnie Bertolet

Using Quick Response (QR) Codes to Promote E-Books
Melissa A. Ratajeski

Monday, May 21st

Enhancing PubMed EBM Search Outcomes with Customized My NCBI Filters
Tanya Shkolnikov

The customized Levels of Evidence Filters (LEF) for PubMed searches provide medical residents with a much-needed tool for retrieving EBM information in accordance with the Levels of Evidence Pyramid. LEF allow users to locate materials with higher levels of evidence in one click, and to easily access articles with lower levels of evidence, if needed.

Tuesday, May 22nd

Partnering to Encourage Health Information Seeking at an Urban Minority Health Center: A Case Study
Prudence Dalrymple, Lenore Hardy, Lisl Zach, Michelle Rogers, Patricia Gerrity, Mary Green, and Kathleen Turner

A multidisciplinary partnership of librarians, health professionals, and LIS faculty collaborated to encourage health information seeking by medically underserved patients at an urban health center. The objectives of the program were to 1) gain greater insight into the information behaviors of these patients and 2) test the effectiveness of sending tailored text messages to participants in a group prenatal class.

The MAR headquarters are located in Pittsburgh--what we fondly call "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood." Find out when we'll be in your neighborhood by looking at our Google Calendar (on the right side of this browser window). We list all of our activities, locations, dates, and which MAR staff member(s) will be attending. We encourage you to join us. We would especially be delighted to meet you as we exhibit at various conferences throughout the region.

MAR is in the process of reviewing and updating the contents of our membership files. So we want you all to know that it may be several months before we’re able to send new certificates out to all our members. We thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, please contact our Network and Advocacy Coordinator, Michelle Burda: mburda@pitt.edu.