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Survival Spanish for English Speaking Librarians
By Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator
The scenario is familiar. A patron walks into your library and starts speaking a foreign language. Let's say it's Spanish. How do you handle this?
Do you have some basic skills to get the information needed even if it’s not a literature search
but just a patient looking for directions to the Blood Laboratory.
This column provides an introduction to "survival" Spanish with a step by step approach to "get by" in such situations.
Step one: Expand your vocabulary
Section 1: For librarians with little or no knowledge of Spanish
Learn key phrases. If you have no knowledge of the Spanish language, finding someone who is fluent is the best thing you can do. (You will find a pronunciation key in the class handout listed at the end of this article.)
Espere un momento, por favor.
Wait a minute, please.
Voy a traer a alguien que habla español.
I will get someone who speaks Spanish.
Lo siento, no hablo español. ¿Habla usted inglés?
I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish. Do you speak English?
Section 2: For librarians with basic working knowledge of Spanish
Expand your knowledge of library, medical and technology Spanish vocabulary.
Spanish for Librarians – An Introduction
http://www.reforma.org/SpanishforLibrarians.pdf
This PDF was created for a program for public librarians in North Carolina in 2002. The resource contains everything from
numbers to conversational Spanish and conjugations. The PDF is not the best visual quality, but the information is great. Check it out!
Polyglot – Multimedia Spanish and English Medical Translator
http://polyglot.topsailmultimedia.com/polyglot.html
Do you want to provide your hospital staff with key Spanish phrases? Polyglot includes a phrase book and conversations for medical professionals including audio.
Learn conversations for emergency services adult triage, conversations of the nurse and more.
Spanish Flashcards
http://www.flashcardexchange.com/tag/nnlm
Do you have fond memories of quizzing yourself with index cards to prepare for exams? If yes, this is the site for you. The site has over
749,000 flashcards from 26 languages with 14 different main categories of words including science and medicine. The
flashcards are created by the Internet community. You can even add your own flashcards and share them with others. One of my favorite
parts of the site is the “Memory” game you can play to practice your vocabulary.
Step 2: Practice, practice, practice…
Get on the Spanish news mailing list for MedlinePlus.gov to keep up your vocabulary.
The sign-up page for the Spanish list is in English.
Use MedlinePlus.gov’s Interactive Health Tutorials in Spanish to improve your
vocabulary and listening skills.
Step 3: Need Spanish Health Information Resources?
Your best bet – try a site that has parallel translation.
MedlinePlus.gov
http://medlineplus.gov
National Library of Medicine’s consumer health resource. The medical encyclopedia,
interactive health tutorials, drug information and herbal supplement information
are exact translations. Toggle from anywhere on the site to Español.
Cancer.gov
http://www.cancer.gov/espanol/
The National Cancer Institutes comprehensive cancer information database
(PDQ). Includes information on treatment by stage and coping resources
Familydoctor.org
http://familydoctor.org/spanish.xml
From the American Academy of Family Physicians, user friendly health information
FirstGov.gov en español – salud y seguridad
http://www.firstgov.gov/Espanol/Topics/Salud.shtml
Health and safety websites from the federal government
PubMed.gov
http://pubmed.gov
To see citations in Spanish click on: Limits | Language | Spanish
Step 4: Need to go beyond familiar sites?
Learn tips to evaluate Spanish health information on the Internet
Examine the "ABCs"...
Accuracy — Authority — Bias – Currency — Coverage — And, user friendliness
Look for cognates, or words that are similar between English and Spanish.
Look for these words to identify an "About Us" page:
Sobre nos
Sobre
Acerca de nos
¿Quienes Somos?
Acerca de Name of Organization
Use one of these tools to 'translate' the "About Us" section:
Babelfish and Google Translate
http://babel.altavista.com/
http://translate.google.com/translate_t
Note: These tools are helpful but not reliable. You can get a better
idea about the page. Use them to translate a word, a sentence or paragraph, or an entire site.
Look for these words to check currency:
Fecha – date
Actualizado – updated
Modificado – modified
Remember that dates are displayed day.month.year
Want to explore this in more depth?
Check out MedlinePlus.gov topic Evaluating Health Information (also in
Spanish). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/evaluatinghealthinformation.html
Step 5: Better with written Spanish than spoken word?
Ask this...
¿Favor de escribir su pregunta aquí?
Would you please write down your question here?
Buena suerte
For more information:
¿No Comprende? Spanish Health Information Resources for English Speaking Librarians
Class Handout (Author: Becky Hebert / Editors: Kay Deeney; Sheila Snow
Croft)
http://nnlm.gov/training/nocomprende/NoComprende.pdf
¿No Comprende? Spanish Health Information Resources for English Speaking Librarians
Class Links
http://nnlm.gov/training/nocomprende/nocomprendedesc.html
Consumer Health Library Profile
The Ben Franklin Center Library
and Community Outreach
By Emily Scribner
Franklin Memorial Hospital's library has traditionally welcomed members of the
community as well as the organization's own staff. In 2003, the hospital added
a new wing with conference rooms for community as well as staff educational
programs and meetings. At that time the library was relocated near the main
entrance to the hospital and the conference center, conveniently accessible
and very visible. The space was planned to meet the needs of both the hospital's
professional staff and the public. The library was renamed the Ben Franklin
Center Library to reflect its connection to the conference center and to sound
inviting.
After the library moved to its new location, use by the general public increased slightly. It was felt that the time was ripe for making a concerted effort to raise awareness of the library throughout the community. Funding was sought from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine's New England Region and a subcontract was awarded for outreach. The Outreach Project was carried out from July 2005 through April 2006.
The project reached out to three populations: public librarians, health care providers outside the hospital, and members of the community. In addition to promoting the library, the librarians provided training on finding reliable and appropriate health information, emphasizing MedlinePlus. Programs on specific health topics were offered to the public at the hospital and the librarians went out into the community to deliver presentations to outside groups.
One example of the programs offered at the hospital for the community was "Tips and Tools for
Finding Information to Help Your Special Needs Child." For health care providers from within the hospital and outside, Michelle Eberle, the NNLM/NER's Consumer Health Information Coordinator, came from Massachusetts to speak on complementary and alternative medicine information resources. Visits made by the librarian to area public libraries provided demonstrations of MedlinePlus and other reliable online resources. Presentations tailored for each individual group were given to staff of nursing homes, a home health agency, and social services organizations. The librarian also attended meetings of civic groups, including a PTA and Seniors Plus.
Although attendance at most gatherings was small in number, feedback indicated that the value to participants was great. Evaluations were done by participants at the end of most events and follow up surveys were also sent to the public libraries. Perhaps most significantly, people from all the target populations who participated in the events have come to the library subsequently to ask for help researching questions of personal interest. Use by unaffiliated members of the community had been tracked before the outreach began and has continued to be counted on an ongoing basis. In 2004 approximately 20% of all reference questions handled came from unaffiliated community patrons; in 2006 it was over 30%.
In addition to offering educational presentations, the librarians joined the local community health education organization, the Healthy Community Coalition, when they offered health screenings and services at locations across the service area. A librarian would take a laptop and a few basic consumer health reference books and offer to find information while people waited to get their blood pressure or cholesterol checked.
In order to make the library more accessible to working people and students, Saturday hours were added to the regular weekdays.
The outreach subcontract provided the funding and the impetus to begin doing outreach work which has been continued. The librarians learned that they are able to reach people best by going out to them at their regular meeting places; they hope to continue doing that as opportunities arise. The Hospital administration is supporting the continuation of "road trips" with the Healthy Community Coalition and the Saturday hours. The librarians are grateful to the National Library of Medicine
and the New England Region of the National Network for Libraries of Medicine for giving them the initial push into the community and to the hospital's support for continuing that effort.
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