On February 26, NER hosted a Town Hall Meeting, inviting all Regional Advisory Council (RAC) participants and Member representatives to hear about different topics that will affect our work in the present and in the years to come. The goal of the meeting to was discuss new roles and opportunities for libraries, librarians, and the RML. The forum provided opportunities to learn about emerging trends in health care and discuss how these trends help us identify new roles for health sciences libraries. (more…)

Here is a statement from the National Library of Medicine with more details on deciding factors and eventual plans to phase out Go Local.

For approximately ten years, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has provided infrastructure support and minimal start up funding for Go Local sites around the United States. In 2001, Go Local was an exciting new service and many organizations around the country accepted the challenge of building and promoting local sites and providing what many considered a natural extension to existing library services. It was a service that our partner organizations supported and promoted to the extent possible, even with limited resources. Many Go Locals gained support from state and university officials and funding from external resources. Go Local sites, now over 30 in number, provide excellent outreach services, opportunities for partnerships, and greater visibility for libraries in the local community.

However, there have always been concerns expressed by staff at the sites and also at NLM. Among these concerns are: the amount of staff time required to maintain each Go Local site, low use at many sites, the inability of some sites to keep records current, shrinking library budgets that result in fewer resources to support and sustain sites, and NLM’s inability to increase funding levels due to a tight federal budget. As the members of South Central Academic Medical Libraries Consortium (SCAMEL) described the situation in a recent letter to Betsy Humphreys, Deputy Director, NLM, “an under-defined or under-maintained Go Local database has the potential to cause more harm than having no information at all”.

In late 2009 and 2010 NLM staff, partnering with Go Local staff, began examining the situation. The group did an environmental scan, identified goals and strategies, looked at use statistics, and had conference calls with the Go Local sites. The goals of the examination and subsequent recommendations were to find ways to decrease the level of effort required to maintain the Go Local sites while increasing the usefulness of Go Local to the public.

NLM staff and Go Local partners have spent almost 300 hours since last July examining Go Local, hoping to come up with a redesign or a revitalization plan to increase usage, better meet user needs, and achieve a strong buy-in from partner institutions. What we found was this:

1. Other sources, such as search engines, do an equal or better job providing access to health services information. Moreover, their costs are negligible because they crawl Web sites whereas Go Local contributors manually create and maintain data, thereby incurring higher labor costs. Insurance company sites provide added value that Go Local can’t, and at the provider level, such as service hours, parking information, fee schedules, quality measures and in some cases, even patient reviews.
2. Use of Go Local is trending dramatically downward even as we add sites and the percentage of population served increases.
3. Neither NLM nor many Go Local sites have the funding or staffing needed to support and grow Go Local.
4. Staff hours spent at Go Local sites are declining and there is a backlog in auditing the information provided at many sites.
5. Users don’t return to Go Local, or recommend it to colleagues, family or friends as evidenced by the decline in use. Compelling web sites increase in use by providing a service people return to and recommend.

Despite NLM staff at all levels wishing fervently that this program could be reinvigorated and sustained, we were left with no choice but to eventually cease its support. With shrinking usage, it is an extremely poor return on time and effort by NLM and our Go Local partners. Today’s Internet resources have surpassed what was an exceptional idea in 2001. Many Go Local sites are struggling to keep current; and data shows that even strong outreach efforts yield low use in return.

NLM is working with all the Go Local partners to discuss the next steps. We have no intention of stopping support at once. NLM and your Regional Medical Library (RML) will work with each Go Local, individually, to determine what to do next for these sites. Some may wish to continue on their own in some fashion; many have commitments to staff and their institutions. We take this transition effort quite seriously and recognize our obligation to work with each of the Go Local sites. NLM thanks the hundreds of people who worked so hard to build Go Local, to share its many successes, and to demonstrate the strength of the medical library community. Now it is time to move forward.

Those of you who attended our Town Hall Meeting last Friday (26 February). Heard presentations on Health IT and their current implementation at the states and hospital level. NER and NAHSL are hosting several sites for the next MLA Webcast on the Electronic Health Record:

MLA’s Educational Webcast: Now’s the Time: Understanding the Electronic Health Record Maze and Health Sciences Librarians’ Roles

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m., Eastern time.

The goal of this program is to clarify the terminology surrounding the emerging electronic health information environment and to illustrate how and why health sciences librarians can and should become engaged with the efforts to achieve the national 2014 goal of instituting an electronic health record for each person in the United States.
Program Objectives

* To remove the ambiguity and confusion revolving around the electronic health environment. Technology, management, and the exchange of health information will be discussed.
* To illustrate the emerging electronic health information environment by profiling working electronic medical records (EMRs), electronic health records (EHRs), and personal health records (PHRs).
* To highlight the recent involvement health sciences librarians have had with EMRs, EHRs, and PHRs.

Sites: Lamar Soutter Library in Worcester: Register online!

Watch the NAHSL Blog for details on registering for the session at other sites.

Dan Willson, NN/LM National Coordinator for Emergency Preparedness, has recently created a screencast discussing the importance of disaster planning in libraries and why libraries should put together an emergency preparedness or service continuity plan. (more…)

NER Regional Advisory Council and Associations Planning Meeting

On July 24, 2009 health science library leaders were convened as part of the annual NER RAC meeting. The RAC meeting is held regularly to gather feedback for NER programs. The overall goal of this year’s meeting was to gather leaders of the region’s health science library associations, RAC participants, and Resource Library directors to identify areas of need and to possibly draw a plan that combines the work of all constituents to work together towards meeting those needs.

24 librarians from the region and 6 NER staff attended the meeting moderated by an outside facilitator. Through large and small group exercises the group discussed our roles and needs in the areas of education and training, advocacy and outreach, and resource sharing and consortial arrangements. (more…)

NLM recently announced its newly selected Associate Fellows for the 2009-2010 Year. This is a good time to think about recent library school graduates interested in the health sciences and pass along information about the program. There is plenty of time to consider the program and apply before the next deadline: February 5, 2010

The National Library of Medicine Associate Fellowship Program is a stipended one-year postgraduate training fellowship. The program is designed to provide a broad foundation in health sciences information services and to prepare librarians for future leadership roles in health sciences libraries and in health services research. The Associate Fellows are introduced to a wide range of technologies and skills used in managing information at a national library. There is a second year option for placement at an academic health center or other health care organization.

Fellows receive training through a curriculum that introduces them to 18 functional units at the National Library of Medicine. A project-based component has Fellows create and follow a self-directed course of study on topics facing the modern library and information management environment.

Recent graduates of an ALA-approved library/information science Master’s program–earned by August of the year of appointment or within 2 years–are eligible.

More information on the program including further details about eligibility and how to apply are available at NLM’s Associate Fellowship Progam page. See the page to read about the current group of Fellows and a link to the list of more than 10 years of Fellows cohorts.

The Joint Commission is proposing strengthened accreditation requirements for hospitals to advance effective communication, cultural competence, and patient-centered care. Comments are currently being received. Implementation of the proposed requirements would occur in January 2011.

The final release of the requirements is part of an 18-month project (August 2008 through January 2010) designed to increase national attention to cultural competence, highlight the intersection of cultural competence with patient-centered care, and improve the safety and quality of care for all patients.
(more…)

NER announces the availability of subcontract and awards for 2009 through April 2010. More subcontract funding is available this year!
Network members can apply for funding for extended and short-term projects in support of outreach, technology improvement, and professional development. Proposals are also encouraged from community-based agencies and organizations working with providers and patients or other agencies seeking to conduct a health information project.There are two major categories of available funds: subcontracts and awards.

Subcontracts
Subcontracts fund extended health information outreach projects that generally run from 12 to 18 months. Projects can target health care providers, public health workers, and/or consumers. The aim of outreach is to broaden access to health information to audiences not normally reached. Outreach projects should provide opportunities to feature and promote National Library of Medicine resources.

This year there are funds for one $40,000 subcontract and two $25,000 subcontracts.
Proposals are due September 25, 2009.
Awardees will be contacted on or before October 30, 2009.
Funded projects can begin their performance period after January 1, 2010.

The complete Request for Proposal (RFP) is available at http://nnlm.gov/ner/funding/rfps/health_info_outreach_subcontract_y4.pdf

Proposals are accepted from Full or Affiliate members of the NN/LM NER. Successful projects include partnerships with other affiliate members, public health agencies, state, county and /or local public health agencies and community-based groups.

Awards
Awards are made for smaller-scale projects for outreach, library improvement, and professional development for health care providers, public health professionals, and consumers.

Community Engagement Awards support short-term outreach projects for advancing health information.
Course Development Awards support the development of instructional programs.
Exhibits Awards are for members’ participation at venues that promote health information resources.
Technology Awareness Program Awards fund learning programs for the application of technology in health information.
Internet Connectivity Awards fund the expanded access to health information needed in libraries and other settings.

There’s more information for both subcontracts and awards available at http://nnlm.gov/ner/funding/.

Subcontracts and Awards provide opportunities for Network Members to enhance their services and raise their visibility throughout their community or institution.

Please contact Javier Crespo if you have any questions or want to talk about project possibilities you’ve been thinking about.

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.

According to the CDC, as of yesterday (26 April) there were no reported cases of swine flu in the New England region.

The CDC with HHS has compiled information available on the swine flu at: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

Among the information pages are:

Interim CDC Guidance for Nonpharmaceutical Community Mitigation in Response to Human Infections with Swine Influenza (H1N1) Virus: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/mitigation.htm

Guidance for Clinicians & Public Health Professionals: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidance/

You can use the following widget to code in the CDC’s Swine Flu Information website (a green box with links):

<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://transparency.cit.nih.gov/widgets/swinelinks.cfm?javascript“></script><noscript><iframe src=”http://transparency.cit.nih.gov/widgets/swinelinks.cfm” name=”swineframe” frameborder=0 id=”swineframe” scrolling=”no” height=”160″ width=”198″ marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ ></iframe></noscript>