Announcing enhancements to MedlinePlus.gov’s health news RSS feeds.  The RSS health news feeds now feature images and links back to MedlinePlus health topics.  Subscribe to the RSS news feeds by copying and pasting this URL into your RSS reader:

MedlinePlus Health News (English):

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/feeds/news_en.xml

MedlinePlus Health News (Spanish):

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/feeds/news_es.xml

According to the latest study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, “Americans’ pursuit of health takes place within a widening network of both online and offline sources.” This June 2009 report highlights health information seeking behavior of American adults. The summary of findings show that:

• 61 % of American adults look online for health information
• American adults continue to turn to traditional sources of health information, even as many of them deepen their engagement with the online world
• the social life of health information is robust
• a majority of e-patients access user-generated health information
• social networking sites are used only sparingly for health queries and updates
• online health inquiries have an impact on decisions or actions and there are clearly more positive experiences than negative ones
• Internet users report a surge of interest in information about exercise and fitness
• Change is coming, whether through the spread of wireless devices or generational shifts.

The facts that I found most interesting in this report are the following:

• People polled about all the sources they turn to for health information responded they turn to a health professional (86%), a friend or family member (68%), the internet (57%), books or other printed material (54%), insurance provider (33%) or another source (5%).  I think this has important implications for libraries and the provision of health information to consumers.  We need to be aware that more times than not consumers are asking a question for a loved one.  Also, note that the Internet is a more popular source than print by only 3 %.  The provision of patient education resources to care providers by medical libraries is essential as the number one source people are seeking health information is a health professional!  The Information Rx is one way libraries can help to bring information directly to the patient via the care provider while raising  further awareness of other resources available from the library.
• I also found it important that health consumers are seeking tailored information to find a “just in time some one like me” story.  This speaks to the importance of social support for chronic conditions and new diagnosis.  Medical librarians can help consumers find this information by providing sources like this on their library site or sharing this kind of patient information in a tailored format for health providers.
• The most powerful finding of this report is that online inquiries have a positive impact on decisions and actions.  Six out of every ten e-patients said they had an impact on their health or the health of someone they care for.  Of these e-patients, 60% say the information found online affected a decision about how to treat an illness or condition.  56% said it changed their overall approach to maintaining their health or the health or someone they take care of.  53% said it helped them to ask a doctor new questions.
• The surge in interest about exercise and fitness is an opportunity for focused outreach.  It showed more growth than any other health topic.  Something to think about!

Check out the complete report for the Pew Internet and American Life and California HealthCare Foundation study, “The Social Life of Health Information.”

The Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce website, http://PHPartners.org, has been revised to make public health information easier to find and to highlight public health news and resources.

PHPartners is a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations, and health science libraries which provides timely, convenient access to selected resources on the Internet.

Revisions to PHPartners.org include:

● Access to public health topic pages from the left frame of every page:
Bioterrorism
Environmental Health
HIV/AIDS
Nutrition
Workforce Development

● Access to main topics from the left frame of every page:
Health Promotion and Health Education
Literature and Guidelines
Health Data Tools and Statistics
Grants and Funding
Education and Training
Legislation and Policy
Conferences and Meetings
Finding People
Discussion and E-mail Lists
Jobs and Careers

● Public Health News in center of the home page.
● In the Spotlight section to highlight links of particular interest to the public health workforce. Selected spotlight links will rotate on a weekly basis.
● Featured Resources on the right frame of the home page.
● What’s New on PHPartners.org on the home page allows users to keep up-to-date with news and new resources posted on PHPartners.org by subscribing to the PHPartners email list or RSS news feed.

The PHPartners team wants to hear feedback on the look and usability of PHPartners.org. Please submit your feedback and comments to Lisa Sedlar, sedlarl@mail.nlm.nih.gov, and Hathy Simpson, hathy.simpson@umassmed.edu. Users can also submit feedback using the Contact Us link on the About Partners page.

Do you work with public health professionals? Are you interested in public health? Are you interested in attending the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting?

This year’s APHA meeting will take place in Philadelphia, PA from November 7-11, 2009. Its theme will be Water and Public Health.

The Grace and Harold Sewell Memorial Fund, Inc. is offering stipends to librarians and other information professionals to help cover the costs of their attending and/or participating in this meeting. Successful applicants from the greater Philadelphia area will receive a stipend of at least $650. Successful applicants from outside greater Philadelphia will receive at least $1,000. This amount covers most of the APHA Membership at $195 and Early Bird (pre-August 28, 2009) Member Registration at $395. Though significant, these amounts will NOT cover all costs, so stipend recipients will need to find additional monies to cover remaining costs.

Completed applications are due July 24, 2009–just over a month from today. To apply, read and complete the application form attached or download the Word application form at http://phha.mlanet.org/. Add all required application materials to the completed form and send as a SINGLE email attachment to Joey Nicholson at jnicholson@nyam.org.

For more information, contact Joey Nicholson at jnicholson@nyam.org.

Please forward this message to others who may be interested.

Hope you’ll join us at this colorful and fascinating meeting!

Joey Nicholson
Chair, Client Relations Committee
PH/HA Section, MLA

National Library of Medicine’s Training for You Locally!

NLM Gateway/ClinicalTrials.gov, and PubMed® Training in Boston, MA!

The National Training Center and Clearinghouse (NTCC), in conjunction with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine New England Region (NN/LM NER) and Tufts University is offering two FREE hands-on classes at the Hirsh Health Sciences Library in Boston, MA!

The following two classes will be taught by the staff of the NTCC:

PubMed® (7.5 MLA CE Hours)

Monday, August 10, 2009

8:30am to 5:00pm

Anyone who has used PubMed regularly has noticed some of the many changes. This PubMed® class is of particular interest to those who want a review of recent changes to the system, including medical librarians, researchers, medical editors, and anyone who searches for biomedical journal article citations.

This full-day class is designed to teach students how to use PubMed® which includes MEDLINE citations. The class also includes an overview of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®) and its importance as a tool to both searchers and indexers.

The NLM Gateway and ClinicalTrials.gov (3.5 MLA CE Hours)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

8:30am to 12:00pm

The NLM Gateway and ClinicalTrials.gov class is of particular interest to public, consumer health, and medical librarians and all health information consumers.

The NLM Gateway allows users of NLM services to initiate searches from one Web interface, providing “one-stop searching” for many of NLM’s information resources or databases, including: PubMed®, MedlinePLUS, TOXNET®, Meeting Abstracts, and many more.

All the training sessions are FREE and intended for health sciences library staff, public librarians, health professionals, and anyone interested in using these free National Library of Medicine (NLM) databases.

To REGISTER for any or all of these classes, or to look for other class locations, simply click on this registration form link (http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/register.html).

We hope to see you there.

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For further information about our classes, please go to: http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/

For further information about the site location, please contact:

Cora Ho

Cora.ho@tufts.edu

(617) 636-2481

In the latest NLM Technical Bulletin posting is a full description of recent changes to MyNCBI. These changes include the ability to share your individual saved collection(s) by changing your settings to public. If you want to keep them private no change is needed. You can also create your own customized filters. A full explanation is given in the May 29^th posting.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj09/mj09_pm_myncbi_collections.html

If you’re interested in more information about MyNCBI go to the section in the online PubMed Help Book. This is a complete overview from setting up your account to managing your settings and data.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=helppubmed&part=pubmedhelp#pubmedhelp.My_NCBI

The NLM Theater Presentations from the MLA conference are now available online.
You can find them on the NLM Distance Education Program Resources page under the Medical Library Association 2009 Annual Meeting Theater Presentations. NLM Theater Presentations 2009

The presentations cover:

* ClinicalTrials.gov Update (16 min.)
* From Environmental Health to Disaster Information Management (coming soon)
* Journals Database: Did You Know? (14 min.)
* LinkOut for Libraries Tips and Tricks (7 min.)
* Medicare & Medicaid Resources for the Consumer Health Librarian (20 min.)
* MedlinePlus and Go Local Update (coming soon)
* MyMedicationList (coming soon)
* Public Health and Health Services Research: What’s Happening at NLM? (19 min.)
* PubMed Update (17 min.)
* PubMed Central and NIH Public Access Update (23 min.)

The PubMed Update covers citation searching, Advanced Search page, MyNCBI and more. Toward the end of the presentation you will find a mock up of what the PubMed Interface Redesign will look like. Changes are expected at the end of the summer.

The National Library of Medicine and the American Library Association want to show you how to find the information that will help you achieve good health. The site introduces the resources of the National Library of Medicine and provides information that helps communities of color in rural settings make good health decisions.

Why do I need this information?

The site specifically addresses the diseases and illnesses that disproportionately impact people of color by educating and making medical information more accessible.

How do I use the Good Health Information website?

Visitors will find quick links to health topics, as well as a tutorial to help them get started.

How do I find “Good Health Information?”

Simply visit Good Health Information at www.ala.org/goodhealth to learn more!

Look for Good Health Information at the Diversity and Outreach Fair at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago!

________________________________________________
NEW! http://twitter.com/ALA_OLOS

Announced by:
Isaac Tufvesson
Communications Specialist
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS)

American Library Association (ALA)
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, Il 60611
312-280-2140 or toll free:
800-545-2433, x 2140
fax: 312-280-3256

 Check out the June issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research.  

This edition features articles about:

• preventing sports injuries
• tick bites
• Medicare information for caregivers
• acupuncture for back pain

To request print copies free of charge for your library, doctor’s office or institution, please email or call 301-435-7489 for more information.

To recommend topics for upcoming issues or share how you use the newsletter, visit the NIH News in Health Facebook wall .

The MedlinePlus team is pleased to announce a new email alerting service for the NIH MedlinePlus magazine. Users can sign up online to join the list. They will receive an email whenever a new issue is published.

You can also find this information at the bottom of the NIH MedlinePlus Magazine home page. Click on “Subscribe” at the bottom of the page.

Also, please check out the Spring issue of the MedlinePlus Magazine featuring Katie Couric speaking out about Colorectal Cancer.