From Ship to Shore...
Tox Town's New Port Scene Delivers the Goods on Coastal Environmental Health

What do longshoremen, sunbathers, ship crews, and shrimp lovers have in common? Whether they live on the coast, work in a maritime industry or play on the beach, they can find information about the environment and how it might affect their health at Tox Town's new Port neighborhood. This imaginary port illustrates drinking water and air quality concerns along with wastewater treatment, shellfish safety, work hazards, sun and surf safety, aquaculture and many other topics. The port also highlights possible locations and descriptions of 26 hazardous chemicals.

Tox Town, http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov, uses neighborhood scenes - the Port, City, Town, Farm, and US-Mexico Border region - along with color, graphics, sounds and animation to add interest to learning about connections between chemicals, the environment and the public's health. Each scene focuses on unique environmental health concerns. There are 16 new locations to explore in the Port: beaches, shipyards, algae blooms, coastal brownfields, fuel tanks and pipelines, shipping centers, cruise ships, marinas, nuclear power plants, shellfishing, fish farms, storms and floods, urban and industrial runoff, septic systems, cesspools, and wastewater treatment facilities.

Tox Town's target audience is the interested public, plus high school, college and graduate students, and educators (see the link on the home page For teachers). Tox Town also has a growing number of resources en espanol.

Librarians interested in promoting classroom use of Tox Town and other National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources may find these useful:

• Resources for Science Teachers - Classroom Resources from NLM. Introduces NLM web resources useful in Biology, Chemistry, Genetics, Earth Science, and Environmental Science courses. Also includes resources on the history of medicine, information on health careers, and Spanish-language resources.
  o 38 PowerPoint slides with script
  o Color handout, one page, double sided
  o Trifold brochure

  Tox Town

  o 27 PowerPoint slides with script introducing Tox Town to teachers and students              

  o Video and transcript for a general audience. This 2-minute video file is 20              megabytes and uses Windows Media Player.

Tox Town is a project of the Specialized Information Services Division of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Promotional materials and Tox Town images for Web sites and publications are listed at http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/clipart.html. Please send your comments or questions on Tox Town to tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov.

MedlinePlus Magazine Bulk Order

Are you a fan of the new MedlinePlus Magazine? Want to receive 25 or more copies? Bulk order is now available at a cost of one dollar per copy. Order now at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine.html

NLM in the news!

Jane Brody's Personal Health column article, "The Importance of Knowing What the Doctor is Talking About" (January 30, 2007, New York Times) discusses health literacy and the importance of "taking the lead" to communicate better with your doctor.

Here is a great excerpt from the article:

"If the doctor says something you do not understand, ask that it be repeated in simpler language. If you are given a new set of instructions, repeat them back to the doctor to confirm your understanding. If you are given a new device to use, demonstrate how you think you are to use it.

Insist that conversations about serious medical matters take place when you are dressed and in the doctor's office. Take notes or take along an advocate who can take notes for you. Better yet, tape-record the conversation to replay it at home for you and your family or another doctor."

In her conclusion, Jane recommends looking for more information about your diagnosis on reputable sites like MedlinePlus and Healthfinder!

A recent online ABC News column (December 8, 2006), "Health Care is a Consumer Decision Too" urges patients to rely on a reputable source like MedlinePlus for education about a disease or condition.

NN/LM offers free distance learning education

Check out new offerings for free distance learning opportunities for Medical Library Association contact hours. Eight NN/LM coordinators attended the MLA web based course development institute in Chicago last year. The classes are finally ready and currently being offered. The MLA institute included 8 other scholars from around the country. Some of the "non-NN/LM" classes are offered for a fee. Many of the classes qualify for the Consumer Health Information Specialization. Look for the CHIS logo. "Caring for the Mind: Providing Reference Services for Mental Health Information" is being offered by Michelle Eberle in February, April and July.

Check out the new distance learning classes offered by the Medical Library Association!

MedlinePlus: NLM Director's Comments

Want to hear about what's new with MedlinePlus while you are on the go? You can subscribe to Donald Lindberg's (Director of the NLM) latest director's comments on iTunes. You may also listen to the audio files online or check out the transcript. The latest director's comments focused on tuberculosis in Senegal and colonoscopy safety.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Regional Health Administrators are requesting proposals from community-based organizations and others to evaluate the impact of a unique set of healthy lifestyles activities in local settings that support the President’s HealthierUS initiative. As part of the Take Action: Healthy People, Places and Practices in Communities Project, the proposed activities should address one or more of the four parts of the President's HealthierUS initiative: 1) be physically active, 2) eat a nutritious diet, 3) get preventive screenings, and 4) make healthy choices/avoid risky behaviors.

Not-for-profit, community-based organizations including faith-based groups, after school programs, coalitions and others are encouraged to submit proposals. The one-year project period will run from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008. Funding for these activities will be between $2,000 and $5,000 and a national evaluation of the project will be conducted. The deadline for receipt of proposals is March 30, 2007. Background information on the project, proposal instructions and forms are attached and also available at www.osophs.dhhs.gov/ophs/healthypeople.

If you have questions or need more information about the Take Action: Healthy People, Places and Practices in Communities Project, please call 1-866-224-3815 or email your questions to answers@JSI.com.

Genetics Home Reference InformationRx

A new program launched by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) encourages practitioners to refer their patients to Genetics Home Reference, a free, user-friendly NLM Web site at http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov. Under this program, doctors can request free "Information Rx" pads, which enables them to write "prescriptions," pointing patients to the Genetics Home Reference site for information about newborn screening and related genetic disorders. Four of the nation's most respected medical associations-the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American College of Medical Genetics-have teamed with NLM and NICHD on this initiative. The Information Rx pads can be ordered from the following Web site: http://www.informationrx.org.

Genetics Home Reference includes over 500 topics on genetic conditions and related genes. The site also features an illustrated tutorial that explains the basics of genetics and a glossary of genetics terms. The site is regularly updated by scientific staff and reviewed by external experts.

The press release announcing the Genetics Home Reference InformationRx program is available at: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/nov2006/nlm-20a.htm