Hello to all, and for many in our region this is a “It’s great to see you again!” introduction. My name is Nikki Dettmar and as of May 1st I am the Acting Education & Assessment Coordinator here in the Pacific Northwest Region. My job duties include developing educational activities in web-based learning formats, as well as coordinating the assessment and evaluation of our regional network and outreach programs with my RML colleagues.

I graduated from the University of North Texas (UNT) School of Library and Information Sciences Health Informatics program via distance learning in December 2007 under a generous fellowship from an IMLS-funded grant that was shared by Dr. Ana Cleveland, AHIP, at UNT and Dr. Gale Hannigan, AHIP, from Texas A&M College of Medicine and Medical Sciences Library. I had the pleasure of working here at the RML as an intern with Gail Kouame on consumer health outreach in 2007, and have enjoyed meeting and getting to know many of you at our local and regional conferences since my UNT studies began in fall 2006.

Although this is my first librarian position, I’m bringing ten years of experience in health information needs from my administrative positions in both the Patient Financial Services and Information Technology Services departments at UW Medicine. My professional interests include distance education (both teaching and taking web-based courses, as well as research on information-seeking behavior and efficacy of distance education), health informatics (especially electronic medical records or EMRs), consumer health, and health literacy. When I’m not enjoying family time with my husband and our 5-year-old son, I enjoy photography, gardening and genealogy. My ancestors passed through most of the states in our region on the Oregon Trail in the 1800s!

I am thrilled to be a part of the RML again in my new position, and welcome hearing from you at any time. I look forward to talking with you soon at MLA in Chicago and on our Rendezvous web conferences.

Phone: 206-543-3409
Email: snydern@u.washington.edu
Google Talk: Nicole S. Dettmar
Skype: nikki_pnr
Twitter: eagledawg

Join us for an RML Rendezvous this Wednesday, April 30 at 1:00 pm Pacific Time (2:00 Mountain Time, 12:00 Alaska Time). There’s no need to RSVP. We’ll see you online! To connect to the Rendezvous, go to http://webmeeting.nih.gov/rendezvous at the appointed time. Please sign in with your full name.

Working Together Apart: Online Collaborative Workspaces

Learn about new ways to manage group projects when face-to-face meetings are not possible and e-mail is not practical. Topics covered will include wikis, document sharing, instant messaging, and Microsoft SharePoint. We will also discuss organizational culture issues that can hinder effective online collaboration. After the session, participants will have access to a course wiki they can use to experiment with these new technologies and continue the conversation about how to implement them in our workplaces.

UPDATE 5/6/08: The recording of this Rendezvous is now available, and there’s some interesting conversation happening on the course wiki. Access to the wiki is by invitation only, but contact Alison and she will happily invite you.

Geeks Bearing Gifts is a course designed to get you thinking about how new and evolving web technologies can transform your library’s services and your own professional development. Geeks will be offered at beautiful Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington on Thursday, March 27 from 8:30 to noon. The course is approved for 4 hours of MLA CE credit.

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Are you a new MEDLINE searcher or do you feel that you’ve forgotten some of those tips you learned about searching MEDLINE when you took the class years ago? Join us for this exciting distance learning seminar.

The seven one-hour bi-weekly web sessions will help you get, or remember, tips and tricks for becoming, or remaining, an expert searcher. (more…)

New professional development opportunities for NN/LM PNR Network members. To borrow, please send email to: nnlm@u.washington.edu. To view the entire collection, please see the NN/LM PNR Lending Library web page.

	Medical Librarians 2.0: Use of Web 2.0 Technologies in References Services. Edited by M. Sandra Wood. Haworth Press, 2007.

	Teaching Web Search Skills: Techniques and Strategies of Top Trainers. Greg R. Notess, Information Today, 2007.

The NN/LM offers many resources you can use when showing healthcare professionals or the public how to access good health information. Recently some of the brochures have been revised. Below is information on how to access three updated resources. By the way, a new feature: you can customize many of the trifold brochures by adding your organization’s information in the space provided on the back! Be sure and go to http://nnlm.gov/training/pamphlets.html to see all of the pamphlets and brochures available. (more…)