NN/LM PNR is pleased to announce this year’s round of funding to support implementation of Go Local in the Pacific Northwest. The MedlinePlus Go Local project links MedlinePlus users to health services in their local community related to the health topic they are researching. Conversely, the project also directs users of the Go Local site to MedlinePlus health topics. For example, users get medical information on diabetes from MedlinePlus and then visit a Go Local site for nearby health programs, services, and providers.

The end user experience for Go Local is that each MedlinePlus health topic links to relevant local services on the Go Local site. Go Local sites receive this user traffic from each MedlinePlus health topic and route it to a page listing matching Go Local records or to a page explaining that the site contains no matching local services. To see how these links work, choose a Go Local area from the pull-down list or map link on any MedlinePlus health topic page.

To see the full funding announcement and call for submissions, please visit - http://nnlm.gov/pnr/funding/golocal-2008.html

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No, not a new online dating service! The NN/LM PNR is once again accepting applications for Express Outreach Awards, and relationships (collaborations) are strongly encouraged as an effective means to increasing and improving use of health information.

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October is National Medical Librarians Month! During the month, please visit NLM’s Web pages highlighting medical library projects across the NN/LM regions.

Congratulations to 2 PNR librarians featured for their 2008 library projects: George McAlister at Spokane County Medical Society Library, and Hope Leman at the Murray Memorial Library, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, Oregon.

These projects are 2 wonderful examples of the good work being done by libraries in the PNR!

Remember, too– in celebration of National Medical Librarians Month, the RML would like to send a
congratulatory letter to hospital administrators informing them of the invaluable services medical librarians provide.

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Dynamic Duo - PNR and the Idaho Commission for Libraries

For the past several months PNR staff, especially Roy Sahali our Community Resources Coordinator, have been working with the Idaho Commisson for Libraries (ICFL) to strategize about how to raise interest in having libraries in Idaho partner with community-based organizations for health information outreach activities. Based on input received at a planning meeting held in July, we have worked with the ICFL to arrange a pre-conference workshop at the upcoming Idaho Library Association meeting taking place this week in Idaho Falls.

“Just for the Health of It (or Taking the Fear of out Providing Consumer Health Information)” will guide participants to learn how to find resources in their communities that address consumer health needs. (more…)

NN/LM PNR is glad to welcome three new members to the EFTS system:

	Billings Clinic 2825 8th Ave North PO Box 3700 Billings MT 59107-7000
	Devers Eye Institute - Legacy Good Samaritan 1040 NW 22nd Avenue Suite 160 Portland OR 97210
	Salem Hospital 665 Winter Street SE PO Box 1400 Salem OR 97309-5014

Participation in the EFTS System is up to 57 members, or 37.5% of the DOCLINE Libraries in our Region.

The Electronic Fund Transfer System (EFTS), is a transaction-based electronic billing system for interlibrary-loan (ILL) and document delivery.

EFTS eliminates the need to create invoices and write checks for re-imbursement for interlibrary loans and document delivery between participants. Among the advantages are monthly detailed transaction based reports, the ability to handle variable charges and the ability to handle non-DOCLINE transactions.

Want more information? Contact Patricia Devine at devine@u.washington.edu or 206-543-8275.

This month, September 2008, marks the resignation of Sherri Fuller as director of the University of Washington Health Sciences Libraries and as our director of the RML.

Thinking about Sherri and the RML, it is very difficult to encapsulate what she has meant to our program, and our region. And, that challenge (how to do so adequately?) is not the point of this post. But, I know that many projects instigated or taken on by Sherri have made a difference in the direction that NLM has taken with the RML program. I’m thinking of several examples such as: Bench to Bedside, the NN/LM Outreach Evaluation project, Tribal Connections, Web-STOC, and most recently public health informatics (i.e. myPublicHealth). (more…)