Pillbox, DailyMed, MedlinePlus and more! The National Library of Medicine hosts a suite of drug information resources, each with a different slant. Where to begin?

Come join us on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 1pm Pacific time (Noon Alaska, 2pm Mountain) during our free monthly webcast at http://webmeeting.nih.gov/rendezvous for a session presented by Gail Kouame, PNR Consumer Health Outreach Coordinator where she will help demystify where to go for what type of drug information. Feel free to share any pearls you’ve discovered along the way too!

If you are unable to join us then, we invite you to view a recording of the webcast at the Rendezvous website later.

As part of our Federal agency services regarding electronic and information technology resources being accessible to people with disabilities, closed captioning is available on this and future RML Rendezvous webcasts.

For more information please visit How do I connect to the Rendezvous? to test your computer connection as a Flash update may be needed. We look forward to seeing you at the webcast!

Of recent interest to medical librarians is an article that was published in BMJ regarding search results in PubMed and how evidence from randomized clinical trials is retrieved. Here is some updated information from the National Library of Medicine, Bibliographic Services Division:

Re: Wieland LS, Robinson KA, Dickersin K. Understanding why evidence from randomised clinical trials may not be retrieved from Medline: comparison of
indexed and non-indexed records. BMJ. 2012 Jan 3;344:d7501. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d7501. PubMed PMID: 22214757.

Readers of this article should recognize that the authors assumed no changes took place in the NLM indexing of Randomized Controlled Trial
[publication type]. In fact, NLM has made changes since 2005 that we think affect the conclusions and projections made in the article. These changes
are: (more…)

Edit: A recording of the webcast is now available at https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p97232219/

Below are the resources mentioned in the presentation, and they are also accessible via the LinkOut section of our website:

LinkOut Home: Journal Lists, Provider Lists, Library Submission Utility, etc.
FAQ on LinkOut: LinkOut for Libraries Frequently Asked Questions.
LinkOut Help: National Center for Biotechnology Information Help Manual.
How LinkOut Works For Libraries: Detailed Information on How to Register for LinkOut and Manage Holdings.
Training and Educational Resources: Animated Tutorials, LinkOut Presentations from MLA Meetings.
Promotion: Materials to Assist Libraries in Training Users and Promoting LinkOut.

Are you curious about LinkOut? Do you have questions? Are you interested in what’s changed?

Come join us on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 1pm Pacific time (Noon Alaska, 2pm Mountain) during our free monthly webcast at http://webmeeting.nih.gov/rendezvous  for a LinkOut Refresher session presented by Patricia Devine, PNR Network Outreach Coordinator. She will cover the benefits of LinkOut, getting started with LinkOut, the Submission Utility and which vendors provide holdings, and getting statistics from LinkOut.

If you are unable to join us then, we invite you to view a recording of the webcast at the Rendezvous website later.

As part of our Federal agency services regarding electronic and information technology resources being accessible to people with disabilities, closed captioning is available on this and future RML Rendezvous webcasts.

For more information please visit How do I connect to the Rendezvous? to test your computer connection as a Flash update may be needed. We look forward to seeing you at the webcast!

The National Library of Medicine Technical Bulletin, your source for the latest searching information, has a new look. See the article for more details, and sign up for the RSS feed to stay current.

A special reminder as we ring in the New Year!   Your Regional Medical Library for the NN/LM PNR offers funding opportunities for network members!  Proposal instructions vary by type of award, but here’s a summary about deadlines for applications.

Our larger awards support personnel, travel, equipment and other costs for 9-12 months projects to implement innovative services in your organizations, or to conduct health information outreach in your communities. Current opportunities for larger awards include: Medical Library Pilot Project awards; Express Outreach awards; Technology Improvement awards; and Outreach to Under-Connected Health Organizations subcontracts. For each award, proposals will be accepted until February 1, 2012. However, if you plan to submit a proposal, we need a brief statement of intent no later than January 13, 2012 to help our planning process. Please submit your statement of intent to apply to nnlm@uw.edu. 

We also fund smaller awards to support costs for Professional Development, Assessment and Planning, Exhibiting, Training, and EFTS activities by network members.   We welcome applications at any time for these ongoing funding opportunities.

So, if you work in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon or Washington, and are a Network member of the PNR, send us your proposed ideas so we can help put your projects in motion.  Our funding page will be continuously updated with the latest information about available awards and descriptions of projects we’ve funded.

Subscribing to the NLM Technical Bulletin is an excellent way to keep up-to-date on changes to the National Library of Medicine systems, such as PubMed, MeSH, MyNCBI, LocatorPlus, and PubMed Health.

In PubMed the week, the Advanced Search page was updated. Terms entered in the Search Builder will automatically populate the search box, and MeSH term searching has been enhanced to include an autocomplete feature. See the full article for more details.

Another recent article announces new features for PubMed Health, NLM’s clinical effectiveness database. Change include enhanced information from the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Data Query database, two new full-text books about understanding heathcare decisions and treatments, and an improved display of medical encyclopedia search results. With the inclusion of the Database of Reviews of Effects (DARE) from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination in England, PubMed Health is getting close to comprehensive coverage of reliable systematic reviews on clinical effectiveness.

Read the article here, and stay current with  email updates or an RSS feed.