When searching the medical literature for health disparities and minority health information resources, be sure to take a look at the National Library of Medicine’s Health Disparities Home Page search http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/health_disparities.html. This page includes a link to a pre-formulated search strategy on PubMed. Also included on this page are links to other NLM resources, links from NIH and HHS, and various foundations focusing on health disparities.

The Public Health Partners web site also includes pre-formulated searches of PubMed in the Healthy People 2010 focus areas. http://phpartners.org/hp/index.html The purpose of this site is to make information and evidence-based strategies related to the Healthy People 2010 objectives easier to find. [scb]

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced that it is granting emergency responders electronic access to the Emergency Response Guidebook 2008 (ERG2008), through laptops and personal digital assistants (PDAs), under a joint effort between DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest medical library and a component of the National Institutes of Health. This new hazmat safety guide for police, fire and other emergency response organizations is designed to aid emergency response personnel who may be the first to arrive at the scene of a transportation incident involving hazardous materials.

For more information on the ERG2008, or to download the ERG and WISER software application, visit http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/gydebook.htm , or call (202) 366-4900. Print copies of the ERG are also available commercially through the U.S. Government Printing Office Bookstore and other commercial vendors. For information on NLM’s WISER software, visit http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov. [Read the complete press release at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/hazmat_guide08.html ] scb

On May 7, 2008, MedlinePlus debuted a multilingual feature, providing access to high quality health information in languages other than English and Spanish. This new service benefits people who prefer to read consumer health information in their native language. It also helps the information professionals and health care providers who serve them.
Users can navigate the new collection of health information in multiple languages either by language or by topic. A page listing all of the languages covered is linked from the MedlinePlus homepage http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/languages.html. Users can browse these languages or link to the page listing all of the topics covered. In addition, a languages box displays on the English Health Topic pages. The languages box lists the languages with links on that topic in MedlinePlus. The languages box also links users to the collection of health information in multiple languages.

Users can also search the new collection of health information in multiple languages. A new collection called Multiple Languages appears on the MedlinePlus search results pages. Finally, an interactive world map http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/map.html teaches users about the number of people who speak nine of the languages in the MedlinePlus collection. The languages - Arabic, Chinese, French, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese - are among those most frequently spoken at home in the United States other than English, according to the U.S. census. [scb]

On December 26, 2007, President Bush signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R. 2764) which directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide public access to its funded research. NIH implemented its Public Access Policy as a voluntary measure in 2005. This new mandate requires researchers funded by NIH to submit their manuscripts to PubMed Central. Scientists who publish in journals that do not submit articles directly to PubMed Central must deposit their manuscripts using the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system.

The NIH Public Access Web site provides more information about the policy. Also, the NIHMS provides additional policy and help information. [rb]

From NLM:
Fernando Alvarez joins NLM as the new Bilingual Technical Information Specialist on May 13. He will provide leadership and expertise on MedlinePlus en espanol. Mr. Alvarez comes to NLM from the Library of Congress where he was a Senior Reference Librarian in the Hispanic Division for the past 5 years.
Norma Ruiz joins the Health Information Products Team on May 29 as a new Technical Information Specialist to work on both MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en espanol. Ms. Ruiz brings 9 years of experience at NLM providing outreach, training, and systems expertise. Most recently she has worked in the MEDLARS Management Section as a co-editor of the NLM Technical Bulletin, a member of the PubMed team and customer service coordinator. [ch]

The electronic version of the Plains to Peaks Post Newsletter for April 2008 is now available at: http://nnlm.gov/mcr/services/comm/newsletter.html

In this issue:

MCR Budget News for Next Year
The Most Shocking of All
Whooo Says
Frontier Forerunners
It’s Good to Pick Up a Book
Upcoming Training
Unique Historical Materials
Social Bookmarking: Bookmarking for the Greater Good
NN/LM MCR at MLA

A successful director search! Jean Shipman has accepted the position of director for the Eccles Health Sciences Library and NN/LM MidContinental Region. Ms. Shipman is currently director of the Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is past-president of the Medical Library Association and current member of the New England Journal of Medicine Library Advisory Board and the Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries Editorial Board.
Ms. Shipman is directing the NLM funded “MLA Health Information Literacy Research Project” as one of its principal investigators. You will begin encountering our new director starting, October 1, 2008, her first day of work. /ch

The May issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online at http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/. In this issue of NIH News in Health:

Frightened of Food: Living with Food Allergies
Of Air and Asthma: Air Pollution’s Effects
Health Capsules:

• Keeping Off Lost Weight

• Older Corneas Can Make Good Transplants

• Featured Web Site: Gear Up! http://www.healthyvision2010.nei.nih.gov/ [scb]

MidContinental Region Members,

Since July 2007 the NN/LM MidContinental Region (MCR) and the NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region have been sharing a Technology Coordinator position. We’d like feedback from MCR Network members about whether sharing a position between the two regions has had an impact on the services of the MCR technology project area. This questionnaire will take no more than 5 minutes to answer. We’d like your input by May 8, 2008. Please go to the following URL to answer a few questions. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2y4Ey46hah2V_2fjY7VGM1Cw_3d_3d /ch