If you missed the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting this year, you can still catch all the updates that were presented at the NLM booth in the exhibit hall!  The presentation recordings are listed below and are accessible from the NLM Distance Education Program Resources page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/dist_edu.html#mla.  To listen to the recordings and view the captions you may need the latest version of Flash® Player which you can download for free from the Adobe web site.

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When: Thursday, April 25, 2013
Time: 1:30 – 2:30pm (Eastern)
Who: Disaster Information Management Research Center, National Library of Medicine

There are many mobile resources and apps available to assist responders, public health professionals and others in the disaster and preparedness workforce with information needs before and during emergencies and disasters.  However, loading these resources on a mobile device just prior to or during a disaster may be too late.  Finding and evaluating the best tools and resources takes time, as does learning how to use the effectively and quickly.  The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has developed a suite of widely-used resources for mobile devices such as WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) and has evaluated and made accessible on their web site many other mobile apps and information resources that are useful in emergency and disaster situations. (more…)

Edit: A recording is now available at https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p41966141/

This month’s RML Rendezvous will provide an introduction to all things data.  There are a lot of jargon and buzzwords around data, data management, data curation and e-science.  We’ll discuss what all of these terms mean to librarians and health sciences researchers.  We’ll also take a look at a few example data sets to see how data sets can be combined, why researchers might need a librarian’s help with their data and why this is important for forwarding scientific discovery.

Come join us on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 1pm Pacific time (Noon Alaska, 2pm Mountain) during our free monthly webcast at http://webmeeting.nih.gov/rendezvous to learn more about the terms used when discussing data and a look at some open health data sets, presented by Mahria Lebow, Technology Outreach Coordinator here at the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region (NN/LM PNR).

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By Christine Wilson Owens and Yetta Levine, Harborview Medical Center.

Made possible in part by a professional development award from the NNLM/PNR, two staff members from Harborview Medical Center’s EthnoMed program participated in the Eighth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations, March 11-14 in Oakland, CA.

The theme of this year’s conference was Achieving Equity in an Era of Innovation and Health System Transformation. It offered keynote speeches, workshops and roundtable discussions on issues related to cultural/linguistic competence and the reduction of health disparities. Sessions ranged from candid discussions about redressing the legacy of racism and bias in health care, to dialogues about interpreter training and community partnership models in tight fiscal times. Highlights included reports about national initiatives underway at the HHS Office for Civil Rights and opportunities for advancing health equity through the Affordable Care Act.

The conference presented a rich opportunity for EthnoMed to promote its work to a national audience and foster relationships with new partners. In particular, two new patient-education projects underway at EthnoMed were highlighted and generated a lot of interest. Yetta Levine networked with attendees from across the country during her poster session about a series of culturally-tailored, narrated diabetes education video slideshows regarding foods and their effect on blood sugar. Christine Wilson Owens shared about a project funded by NNLM/PNR in which HMC’s caseworker/ cultural mediators are using iPads to share health information with limited –English proficient (LEP) patients.  Christine also participated in an interactive discussion with stakeholders working in the area of eHealth Equity, and a workshop about plain language and high tech strategies to communicate across language barriers.

Many programs from across the country emphasized best practices and innovative projects in their communities. EthnoMed’s team attended the conference with a strong contingent from Seattle – including staff and providers from Harborview, Swedish, Seattle Children’s and the Cross Cultural Health Care Program – and was thrilled to have the chance to learn and share skills and knowledge among recognized leaders in the field of  health care and diversity.

April 23, 2013, 3pm – 4pm Eastern time

As part of National Preservation Week, the National Library of Medicine will sponsor a one-hour webinar for NN/LM Members on preserving personal digital photos, documents, and videos.  A panel of NLM staff including Walter Cybulski from the Preservation and Collection Management Section and Stephen Greenberg, Christie Moffat, and Ginny Roth from the History of Medicine Division will discuss h0ow to preserve personal digital information.

To access the webinar on the day of the event, visit: http://webmeeting.nih.gov/preservationweek2013/
The system is set up so that you can enter your phone number and have it call you.  However, you can also dial in at:

1-888-850-4523
Passcode: 825882

Sponsored by: National Network of Libraries of Medicine, National Network Office

Space is still available in this free WESTPAS workshop, but registration is required (see below).

Mark your calendar now and register for a free 2-part disaster preparedness and response workshop, “Protecting Cultural Collections”, sponsored by the Western States and Territories Preservation Assistance Service (WESTPAS). This workshop is part of a coordinated regional approach to raising awareness about disaster planning for collecting institutions throughout the Western United States.

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