Send in Your Application to Participate in a New Bioinformatics Training Course: “A Librarian’s Guide to NCBI”

In sponsored partnership, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) National Library of Medicine Training Center (NTC), are pleased to invite participation of health sciences librarians in a new bioinformatics training course: “A Librarian’s Guide to NCBI.” Instructors will be NCBI staff and Diane Rein, Ph.D., MLS, Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology Liaison from the Health Science Library, University at Buffalo.
The course provides basic knowledge and skills for librarians interested in helping patrons use online molecular databases and tools from the NCBI. Attending this course will improve your ability to initiate bioinformatics services at your institution and/or extend current initiatives. Prior knowledge of molecular biology and genetics is not required. Participants who complete the class will be eligible for MLA Continuing Education credits. The course is free but travel costs are at the expense of the participant.

There are two parts to the course and applicants must take both parts:

• Part 1: “Fundamentals in Bioinformatics and Searching,” a three week, online, (asynchronous) self-paced pre-course, March 4-18, 2013.
The aim is to provide, from a librarian’s professional perspective, the fundamental knowledge and background information necessary for the subsequent, more intensive, hands-on second portion of the course onsite at NCBI. Bioinformatics will be introduced both as a discipline and as a research practice. Select NCBI databases, tools (including search tools) and bioinformatics records will be previewed. A beginning working knowledge of the necessary molecular biology vocabulary necessary to enable successful NCBI searches will be developed.

• Part 2: A 5-day in-person course offered on-site at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, April 15th-19th, 2013.
Topics will include using the BLAST sequence similarity search and Entrez text search systems to find relevant data. This portion of A Librarian’s Guide to NCBI describes the various kinds of molecular data available, and explains how these are generated and used in modern biomedical research.
Applications are open to health science librarians in the United States. Applications will be accepted from librarians currently providing bioinformatics services as well as from those desiring to implement services. The application deadline is January 25, 2013. Applicants will need to fill out the application form, submit a supervisor letter of support form, and provide a curriculum vitae (CV). Applicants will be notified of acceptance on or about February 15, 2013.

Please view the application form at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6H6L3GJ. The course page with additional information is at:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/education/librarian/
Please direct any questions to: ncbi_course@lists.utah.edu

[From NLM Technical Bulletin, Dec 13, 2012]

One of the services offered by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine is trainings and education on NLM products like MedlinePlus® and NCBI databases such as GenBank® and OMIM® and MeSH ®.  This month we would like to take an opportunity to introduce you to Nancy Harger. Nancy will be teaching TOXNET® to interested users and librarians in the New England Region.

TOXNET® is a database for hazardous chemicals, toxic releases and environmental health. It is intended for the public as well as professionals. Anyone (with a working internet connection) can access and use.  A librarian might decide to use TOXNET® to answer a patron’s question related to a toxic chemical or environmental hazard or a researcher might use it to find evidence of oral contraceptives affecting the composition of a mother’s breast milk.  One of the more interesting aspects of this database is Tox Town, a program designed to help the public find and learn about toxic substances they may encounter in their daily lives.  Tox Town is interactive and an excellent resource for any age group (let teachers and friends know about it!).  You can become more familiar with TOXNET® by visiting these sites:

ToxLearn:  http://toxlearn.nlm.nih.gov/

Toxicology Tutorials:  http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/toxtutor.html

For those of you who don’t already know Nancy, she serves as the Clinical and Education Services Librarian at the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  Nancy attends teaching rounds, chart rounds, and morning report with her laptop to help locate information to answer clinical questions posed by the residents (How’s that for meeting our library constituents where they are?!).

If you are interested in having her come to your library or place of employment for training and education on how to use TOXNET® you can contact her at: (508) 856-3334 or nancy.harger@umassmed.edu.

What is National Health IT Week?

“Now in its seventh year, National Health IT Week is a collaborative forum assembling key healthcare constituents—vendors, provider organizations, payers, pharmaceutical/biotech companies, government agencies, industry/professional associations, research foundations, and consumer protection groups— working together to elevate national attention to the necessity of advancing health IT. “

There are a number of activities and forums planned, and plenty of opportunities to attend, virtually (http://www.healthitweek.org/activities.asp).

If you attend any of the forums or activites, please let me know!

Additional resources new on HealthIT.gov:

Stage 2 Meaningful Use—Final Rules: On Thursday, August 23, ONC and CMS released final requirements for the Stage 2 Electronic Health Records Incentive programs and Standards & Certification Criteria. Information and resources about both rules are available on a new Meaningful Use Stage 2 page.

New Consumer Videos Available: In recent weeks, ONC has expanded its library of consumer-friendly videos. New videos available in the Patients and Families section of HealthIT.gov include an animated video about the benefits of health IT, as well as winners of two consumer video challenges. Watch the videos.

GeneEd

The National Library of Medicine is pleased to announce the release of a new educational resource, GeneEd. Developed in collaboration with the National Human Genome Institute (NHGRI), teachers and experts in genetics and genetic counseling, GeneEd is a safe and useful resource for students and teachers in grades 9 – 12 to learn genetics. GeneEd allows students and teachers to explore topics such as Cell Biology, DNA, Genes, Chromosomes, Heredity/Inheritance Patterns, Epigenetics/Inheritance and the Environment, Genetic Conditions, Evolution, Biostatistics, Biotechnology, DNA Forensics, and Top Issues in Genetics.

Teachers can use the site to introduce topics, supplement existing materials, and provide as a reliable source to students conducting research. The site links to categories such as research articles, animation, games, videos, interactive tutorials, and labs and experiments. 3D images, illustrations and text from NHRGI help to enrich the user experience by providing vivid imagery to reinforce genetic concepts. Text varies from easy-to-read to advanced reading levels, which makes this a versatile tool both in and out of the classroom. Specialty pages including Teacher Resources and Labs and Experiments highlight those tools that teachers may find particularly helpful.  Other specialty pages such as Careers in Genetics and Highlights allow students to see what is new and noteworthy in the field of Genetics along with links to different careers related to the science of Genetics.

Go to http://geneed.nlm.nih.gov/ to check it out!

New LinkOut Library Submission Utility Quick Tours

Three new Quick Tours have been added to the LinkOut for Libraries Training and Educational Resources (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/disted/linkout_for_libraries/loforlib.html) Web Page:

• Uploading Icons demonstrates the different ways to upload an icon image into the Library Submission Utility.
• Contact Info shows how to add, edit and delete contact information in the Library Submission Utility.
• Library Info, PrId and NameAbbr explains where to find your library information such as ProviderId (PrId) and NameAbbr, which is the same as your User Name, in the Library Submission Utility. This information is frequently requested by library vendors.

These Quick Tours replace the “Library Submission Utility: An Introduction” Quick Tour.

A New System of Registry Number Identifiers for Chemicals in the MeSH Database

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Substance Registration System (SRS) – Unique Ingredient Identifiers (UNIIs) are being introduced into the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary starting with the 2013 MeSH Supplementary Concept Records (SCRs). The UNIIs are an integral part of the FDA Substance Registration System. They appear in several databases such as the Veterans Administration National Drug File Reference Terminology, the USP Dictionary of United States Adopted Names (USAN) and International Drug Names (INN), and the RxNorm database. Each UNII is a unique series of ten characters that includes a check digit to ensure data integrity (see Figure 1).

For more information, please go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/ja12/ja12_fda_unii.html