One of the perks of a job at the Regional Medical Library are the abundant opportunities for professional development since we exhibit at all the New England library conferences. This fall I exhibited and/or attended NAHSL, NELA, the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries Conference and the CMRLS annual meeting. Embracing change specifically the changes in technology and the changing role of the librarian was a theme at all conferences. Wikis, podcasts, blogs, RSS, web 2.0, text messaging, Google, IM, Skype, Flickr, iTunes, Tivo, YouTube, Librarians are grappling with how to learn, embrace and leverage these new technologies to remain relevant to our audiences. So, here I would like to share some reflections of fall library conferences. Most of all, I hope to encourage you to embrace change.

Meeting patrons where they are is not always that easy. At NAHSL, the panel of "millennials" with Richard Sweeney hit home that millenials' information needs are definitely quite different than previous generations. Yes, they IM, text message, play video games and have a different approach to research. It makes me think of my younger sister and her need to constantly multitask and how my cousin uses Skype to stay in touch with his girlfriend abroad for a semester in Australia. Times have changed. I can think back to when I was in college and my friend said she was doing all her research at home on her computer, and I was in disbelief. I thought you could only do research in the library. I hadn't heard of the Internet before. Or the first time one of my friends in high school called the volleyball coach from her car phone to say she would miss practice and we all laughed because most of us had only seen car phones in the movies. Of course, these scenarios are from the 80's and early 90's, but we will probably look back on today with such giggles come ten or twenty years down the road.

At the New England Library Association, it was clear that public librarians are also grappling with changing roles and new technologies. Rob Favini of Nelinet presented "Dealing with Diversity: What Changing Demographics Mean to Libraries". I enjoyed very much his discussion of generational differences. He discussed not just the Millienials, but the consequences of providing services for all generations from Boomers to Gen Z (the folks who have never known life without the Internet) and what that means for librarians. I particularly liked his suggestion to stay on top of trends by watching VH1 to see what the teenagers are up to and following the Las Vegas Technology Show, because technology trends happen much earlier than they reach the library literature! Another presentation at NELA titled, "I've Got Google - Why Do I Need the Library?" proved to me what I already knew. Put Google in your title and you will pack the room. There is my tip for instructional librarians.

The Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries Conference, "Cool Tools and New Technologies", presented many practical applications of new technologies. Roy Tennant, the keynote, spoke about the similarities between white water rafting and riding waves of technology advances. I liked what he said about not being too far ahead of the curve and not being too far behind the curve with changes. The overriding message of the day was the only constant is change. Fostering, guiding it and using it to our advantage - those are our challenges. Roy's presentation, "Never the same river: Libraries and Technological Change" is available on the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries Conference site at: http://www.nelib.org/conference/2006/proceedings/

Wikis were the next topic at the Dartmouth Conference. Meredith Farkas, author of the soon to be published book, "Social Software in Libraries" and creator of Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki shared many interesting applications of wikis. I learned wiki means quick in Hawaiian. She shared uses of wikis for collaborative document sharing as a research guide, as a web site, as a content management system, as a course management system, as a staff Intranet, as a knowledgebase, as a guidebook, for conference planning and for library instruction. At the NN/LM, we have been using a wiki for our Intranet for two years now. It has become a great tool for sharing information and increasing staff participation in developing Intranet content.

In my opinion, one of the best presentations I have attended in a long time, was at the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System by Candy Schwartz titled, "What has Google done to my library school?" Candy, one of my favorite professors from Simmons, shared about technological advances and implications for librarians. I liked her comparison of "Googlezilla and Amazoogle" for librarians' perspective of either fearing or embracing technology advances.

Three or four presentations I went to all ended with a discussion of "Second Life", a 3-D virtual world. There is a Second Life Information Island where there are even book talks. Universities have already bought property here including Harvard Law School who is having a course here. According to Candy, Simmons GSLIS is applying for a grant to do bibliographic instruction there. This is truly meeting the younger generation where they already are.

Yes, the information landscape is changing. And, change is constant. So, let's take the advice of the NAHSL Marketing Committee in their brochure, "Embrace, encourage and don't be afraid of change". Let's take Candy's advice and, "Figure out how you will use it, rather than run away from it." Even just seven years out of library school, this one is a challenge for me. I hear so many librarians worrying about Google, the changing search behaviors of our patrons and the future of our profession. The best thing we can do is to experiment and familiarize ourselves with new technologies. Get your feet wet. Try out new technologies and see how they can be relevant for you. Embrace change.

Conference Proceedings

Information Rx: Findings of NLM/ ACP recent publication

A new article, "Information Rx: Evaluation of a new informatics tool for physicians, patients and libraries" in Information Services and Use, outlines the Information Rx program and shares the findings of two comprehensive evaluation studies of this program. For those of you unfamiliar with the Information Rx, the National Library of Medicine collaborated with the American College of Physicians Foundation (ACPF) in 2002 to educate physicians about quality consumer health information on the Internet, specifically MedlinePlus. The program encourages physicians to send their patients to MedlinePlus for more information on their health conditions with an InformationRx, which is pretty much a prescription pad for information. Hence the program was originally called Information Prescription, now Information Rx.

Findings from the article "imply an information prescription fosters a dialogue between providers and patients, helps patients use the Internet more effectively to find credible health information, and seems to favorably impact patient education (Siegel 9)." The study found that the program encouraged patients to talk more openly with their doctors and to seek more health information leading to improved understanding and treatment of a health condition.

The Information Rx Tool Kit for health sciences librarians is available at: http://nnlm.gov/hip/infoRx/. The tool kit has many creative ideas for outreach to physicians including:

• Set up a breakfast or lunch meeting with a group of physicians
• Plan a meeting during new residents' orientation. You can also use this meeting to introduce new residents to your library's staff and the various services and resources.
• Participate in weekly departmental meetings to introduce Information Rx. This is the perfect opportunity to offer an extended introduction to your library or offer one-on-one training sessions, and to offer MedlinePlus classes.

The National Library of Medicine would like feedback on your success stories with the Information Rx. Have your library's success story posted on the Information Rx Toolkit by e-mailing your story to Karen Hajarian at hajariak@mail.nlm.nih.gov. Please include type of organization, number of health professionals on staff, promotion, outreach and training activities, and evaluation.

You may order free Information Rx materials for your library at http://informationrx.org. The MedlinePlus bookmarks, "business card" and posters are great for health fairs too.

Check out the full text of the article on PubMed Central at:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1610110

The NN/LM-NER has a limited number of printed reprints available. If you are interested in receiving copies for outreach, please contact me at michelle.eberle@umassmed.edu.

Source: Siegel ER, Logan RA, Harnsberger RL, Cravedi K, Krause JA, Lyon B, Hajarian K, Uhl J, Ruffin A, Lindberg DA. Information Rx: Evaluation of a new informatics tool for physicians, patients, and libraries. Inf Serv Use. 2006;26(1):1-10. PMID: 17060946

By: Michelle Eberle

ToxMystery
http://toxmystery.nlm.nih.gov
An NLM interactive learning site for young kids

ToxMystery (http://toxmystery.nlm.nih.gov) is the National Library of Medicine's new, interactive learning site for 7-10 year old kids. It provides a fun, game-like experience while introducing potential environmental health hazards sometimes found in the home.

"Toxie" the cat helps find the hazards hidden in each room, and offers hints when needed. The objective is to find all the hazards. Ever seen a cat dance? Players will be treated to fun animations when they complete each area. When all the hazards in the house have been discovered, Toxie delivers an animated celebration, and players can print a personalized certificate.

ToxMystery's Parent Resources page provides more detailed information about everyday environmental hazards that can be harmful to one's health. A For Teachers page contains more than ten downloadable activity pages that can be used in elementary school classrooms.

ToxMystery has been enthusiastically tested by real kids, who enjoyed "answering the questions and playing the game," hearing Toxie talk "about all the hazards," watching items in the rooms "hover around and made sounds," and seeing "Toxie do funny things when you finish a room."

The NLM has provided an important set of environmental health databases for toxicologists and other scientists for many years. ToxMystery joins a number of other new NLM resources geared towards the general public (http://tox.nlm.nih.gov).

Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the National Library of Medicine, the world's largest library of the health sciences, is a component of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.

The Webster Community Health Reach Collaborative was formed to provide consumer health information services to the community of Webster, Massachusetts and its neighbors. The Consumer Health Outreach Award program, offered by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, provided us with an opportunity to help consumers find high-quality, reliable and current consumer health information. When I first began working at the Corbin Public Library in Webster, especially after coming from an academic library background, I found the medical reference and circulating health collections to be sorely in need of collection development. Medical sources of information are quickly outdated, not to mention the cost of quality medical reference materials. Questions from patrons regarding medical issues were coming in fast and furious and with few up to date or relevant materials to refer them to, I turned to the best consumer health online database that I could find. The NN/LM and MedlinePlus and its other components became my standard for medical and health reference services.

When the outreach award was offered to public libraries in 2005, I jumped at the opportunity to help educate my community regarding this incredible resource. My first thought was to evaluate all those who would really benefit from this online resource. I telephoned and met with Directors and other outreach coordinators from local health service agencies and found that there were others whom shared my opinion regarding consumer health information services. The library was not alone, our community members needed to know where to turn for their health information needs.

A partnership was built among the Corbin Public Library, Tri-Valley Elder Services, Webster Senior Center, Christopher Heights of Webster, South County Pediatrics and Hubbard Hospital. We deliberated for months before deciding that a community health fair would be helpful to educate our community. We planned programs and activities which would encompass all age groups and would deliver the information to students in the schools; patrons in the library; parents and children at the pediatrician's office; patients and visitors in the hospital; residents at rest homes; seniors at the senior center and all those that attended the health fair. We worked with our newspaper, cable TV and radio resources to reach all other members of the community. Flyers and posters were created and distributed to stores, pharmacies, churches, schools and other places of business. Articles were written in company newsletters as well as the creation of computer web sites and blogs, linking the sources of NN/LM and MedlinePlus. Science and Health Teachers were given a flyer explaining the resources available on MedlinePlus which correspond to the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks, and its capability to support homework assignments and especially, science fair projects.

A major concern was the need to provide computer Internet support for those community members who do not have Internet access at home. A customary service that I provided at the library-basic computer and Internet instruction was already available to those inclined to learn how to use the computer. I combined this instruction with search samples-asking students to practice by locating health information using MedlinePlus. This program still continues to draw patrons not familiar with computer technology. I have included an evaluation component comparing poor health information resources to the resources of NN/LM and MedlinePlus.

As we evaluated our services to the community, we decided that it would be in their communities best interest to provide online consumer health information resources at one other public facility, one which could provide support for searching MedlinePlus and its other components. The Webster Senior Center became home to our second consumer health information station. MedlinePlus workshops have been held at the Webster Senior Center, South County Pediatrics, Christopher Heights of Webster and also in the library. We have also used the outreach award to provide workshops on specific health issues identified by Massachusetts statistics for specific health problems suffered by members of our community. They included coronary problems, asthma in children and adults and nutritional problems in the elderly.

Consumer Health programs are still ongoing as are the informational sources found within the library and the senior center. NN/LM and MedlinPlus is a definitive source for health information needs of this community. As an affiliate member of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine New England Region, the Corbin Public Library will continue to be in the vanguard for providing this important community health information resource.

Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator
michelle.eberle@umassmed.edu