TechSoup.org, “The Technology Place for Non-Profits” has released a free guide with practical tips and stories from small and rural libraries about keeping public computers available.

According to Chris Peters on the Washington State Library Updates Mailing List, “The Joy of Computing is an eighty page cookbook on the ins and outs of providing computing resources for patrons in small and rural libraries. Concise and easy-to-read (lots of lists and headings and links to further resources), the cookbook discusses fundraising and budgeting, IT planning, training for staff and patrons, and how to recruit and supervise technology volunteers. Furthermore, there’s a wealth of information on computer maintenance and security. The Joy of Computing is available for free download.”

Sample Tips from “The Joy of Computing”:

Short on space? Build a mobile computer lab.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes Library, located in Parker, AZ, currently has five public-access computers that are networked and equipped with a high speed DSL Internet connection. The library hopes to expand its lab by adding new machines, but its facilities are too small to accommodate any extra computers. To help solve this lack-of-space problem, Gil Harper — The Colorado River Indian
Tribes Library’s Computer Technology Specialist — devised the idea of a mobile computer lab, which would house nine wireless laptop computers. According to Harper, a mobile computer lab would not only give the library more room for computers, but would also bring technology to community residents who can’t travel to the library …

Convert your old computers into thin clients to squeeze life out of them.
Your library’s old computers may not be able to run the latest version of Windows, but they’re not junk! In fact, Kinney County Public Library in Brackettville, Texas, with the help of IT consultant Rodney Greensage was able to add eight computers to its lab using systems that would have been destined for the junkyard. By converting your computer network into what’s called a thin client (a network computer without a hard drive that runs its programs from a server), the libraries were able to squeeze life out of old computers and save money at the same time …

The NW Center for Public Heath Practice presents “Hot Topics in Preparedness“, a monthly online hour-long forum on topics of crucial importance to the public health practice community.

The upcoming topic for June 19 is The Art of Dialogue: Collaboration in Public Health Preparedness. The Regional Medical Library will host a site for this webcast, in the University of Washington Health Sciences Library, Room T319, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.

Description

Preparedness means developing the readiness to respond to emergencies with creativity and flexibility, the way all living things respond to challenges in their environment. The more complex the challenge, the more creative the response needs to be. But how can we develop this kind of readiness? What kinds of things would we need to do to achieve this kind of preparedness?

Daniel Martin is proposing that Dialogue is the glue that holds the elements of preparedness together. In fact, it is often the missing link in a process where connection and collaboration are critical. (more…)

NN/LM PNR recently learned that Network member, Dolores Judkins, received special recognition from the Multnomah Education Service District (MESD) for her professional collaboration with their Department of School Health Services. In a letter we received from Janice Gratton, the Board Chairperson for MESD, she states that “Dolores’ ongoing commitment to providing information and growing internet navigation competency and information resources for school nurses has supported the advancement of clinical school nurse practice and ultimately student’s health and safety across the state of Oregon.”

Dolores was recognized at the MESD Board meeting on December 19, 2006. Ms. Judkins has been working with the Department of School Health Services since the late 1990s. She has obtained several grants to develop trainings for the use of internet resources and focuses her work on the needs of the school nurse. Janice Gratton goes on to state, “Today, for best practice, school nurses must continuously use the web and be discriminating to ensure use of evidence-based information. Dolores facilitated staff’s readiness for today’s professional practice obligations.”

The NN/LM PNR joins the Multnomah Education Service District in congratulating Dolores Judkins in her unwavering commitment to providing quality service to school nurses, and ultimately students, across the state of Oregon!

We have to start meeting like this!

Your Regional Medical Library, NN/LM PNR, is unveiling its new series of web-based meetings and talks with its network members - RML Rendezvous.

For our premier “at your desktop” meeting, on April 18th at 1:00 pm Pacific time, Susan Barnes, Assistant Director, Outreach Evaluation Resource Center (OERC), is our presenter. Everyone will find information they can use in Susan’s talk, “Do You Make a Difference? Providing Evidence of Program Value”. (more…)

More opportunities to learn at your desktop! Try these FREE distance learning classes from NN/LM, available in 2007. Classes are led by an instructor and are asynchronous in delivery, allowing flexibility in adapting your schedule to training. Most are using open access software called Moodle as the platform. Moodle is a course management system similar to Blackboard or WebCT.

To register for any of these classes, please contact the instructor via e-mail. Registration will be held on a first-come, first-served basis. Classes will each be offered a minimum of two times in 2007.

Basics of Electronic Document Delivery
Description: This course will help health sciences library staff make decisions regarding whether to provide electronic document delivery, and what software and equipment should be acquired. It will also provide information on how to work with different file types and how to determine whether a library’s electronic publications can be used in electronic document delivery.
Instructor: Andrea Ryce (NN/LM Pacific Northwest Region)
E-Mail: rycea@u.washington.edu
Starting: February 2007
Length: Four weeks
Students: Currently limited to 10
MLA CE Contact Hours: to be determined
**February class full; registrations no longer being accepted**

Caring for the Mind: Providing Reference Services for Mental Health Information
Description: Participants will develop an increased awareness of mental health issues and cultivate their reference skills in the context of mental health information including enhanced knowledge of resources and ability to handle emotional patrons.
Instructor: Michelle Eberle (NN/LM New England Region)
E-Mail: michelle.eberle@umassmed.edu
Starting: February 2007
Length: Four weeks
Students: Currently limited to 10
MLA CE Contact Hours: to be determined
**February class full; registrations no longer being accepted**

From Snake Oil to Penicillin: Evaluating Consumer Health Information on the Internet
Description: This course will introduce participants to issues surrounding the quality of health information resources on the Internet. A set of recommended criteria to evaluate health information will be provided.
Instructor: Gail Kouame (NN/LM Pacific Northwest Region)
E-Mail: gmarie@u.washington.edu
Starting: February 2007
Length: Three weeks
Students: Currently limited to 10
MLA CE Contact Hours: to be determined
**February class full; registrations no longer being accepted**

¿No Comprende?
Description: This course covers resources for learning basic, library, medical, and Internet Spanish vocabulary, along with the evaluation and identification of health websites in Spanish.
Instructor: Sheila Snow-Croft (NN/LM Southeastern Atlantic Region)
E-Mail: ssnowcro@hshsl.umaryland.edu
Starting: February 2007
Length: Two Weeks
Students: Currently limited to 10
MLA CE Contact Hours: to be determined
**February class full; registrations no longer being accepted**

NLM Gateway
Description: This class is designed to teach students how to use the National Library of Medicine Gateway.
Instructor: Maureen Czujak (NN/LM National Training Center & Clearinghouse)
E-Mail: mczujak@nyam.org
Starting: March 2007
Length: 1/2 day
Students: Currently limited to 15
MLA CE Contact Hours: to be determined
**February class full; registrations no longer being accepted**

Nursing on the Net: Health Care Resources You Can Use
Description: This course is designed for librarians responsible for information services to the Nursing and Allied Health professions. Participants will learn to use and evaluate web based health information resources, find online news services, continuing online education courses, and consumer health web sites. Participants will also learn to use the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed and MedlinePlus databases.
Instructor: Tammy Mays (NN/LM Greater Midwest Region)
E-Mail: tmays@uic.edu
Starting: March, 2007
Length: Four weeks
Students: Currently limited to 10
MLA CE Contact Hours: to be determined
**February class full; registrations no longer being accepted**

Thinking Like An MBA: Time, Money, Resources, and Change Management in the Library
Description: As not-for-profit institutions adopt more business practices and processes, librarians need to be more knowledgeable about adapting to these current strategies. The class covers the basics of Project Management, its three components, time , money, and resources, as well as change management.
Instructor: Marty Magee (NN/LM Midcontinental Region)
E-Mail: mmagee@unmc.edu
Starting: Feb. 2007
Length: Four weeks
Students: Currently limited to 10
MLA CE Contact Hours: to be determined
**February class full; registrations no longer being accepted**

For more online learning opportunities, visit the MLA CE Institute Web-based Courses and Offerings webpage.

The NN/LM PNR Lending Library has recently grown by 23 new titles. Our new NetLibrary collection includes titles in marketing, evidence-based medicine, evaluation, and licensing and copyright, to name a few. You can view the full list of titles here: NN/LM PNR NetLibrary Collection.

The titles in the NetLibrary collection are accessible online, anytime and anywhere, but they are not downloadable. However - pages from the titles can be printed, page by page, and sections of text can also be copied and pasted.

Access is available with your network membership. Please email nnlm@u.washington.edu to request a username and password. And remember – we still have ‘real’ books available for circulation! Items circulate for two weeks and postage is prepaid by the RML.