The National Library of Medicine’s History of Medicine Division recently announced the following new projects:

• Completion of a project to catalog Imperial Russian Era Holdings.  Pre-1917 collection includes pamphlets and dissertations on a spectrum of medical topics, including some by future Nobel Laureates – http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/russian_holdings_cataloged.html
• Medical history comes to life through first person accounts in the National Library of Medicine’s Oral History Collections.  The new web interface allows easier searching of text and audio content – http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/oralhistory.html
• New education resources added to Online Exhibition, “Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature” – http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/frankenstein_enriched.html

And, don’t forget: If you have a collection of unique historical health sciences materials, we would appreciate your filling out our survey – http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N3QKT67. To learn more about the background of the survey, read the previous Dragonfly post.

Preserving health sciences materials is an important part of the National Library of Medicine‘s (NLM) mission.  In addition to its own large collections, the NLM has created a directory of historical materials to highlight unique collections at other institutions and to provide contact information to researchers wishing to access them.  The NLM has asked its Regional Medical Libraries to identify collections in each region that should be included in the Directory of History of Medicine Collections.  The collections described in this Directory database provide research and reference services to scholars interested in the history of the health sciences.  Some of the subjects include: dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing, military medicine, and pharmacy.

Here’s where you come in!  We are asking organizations throughout our Network to participate in this effort by filling out a questionnaire, telling us whether they have relevant collections, or know of relevant collections in the Pacific Northwest.  Please go to this link to answer the brief  (4 question) online questionnaire – http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N3QKT67.  Thank you  for your participation!

Email Gail Kouame or Cathy Burroughs at the Regional Medical Library if you have questions or want to share relevant information about this effort.

Office phone: 206-543-8262 or 1-800-338-7657.

NLM’s Emergency Access Initiative, http://eai.nlm.nih.gov, is now available through November 20 for access to resources usually available only by subscription. Publishers are providing access only for those affected by the cholera outbreak in Haiti and for those providing assistance to the affected population. (more…)

UPDATE: This session has been postponed until Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 12:00 noon Pacific Time. See you then! 

Guest speaker Jolanta Sliwinski, EFTS Program Coordinator from the University of Connecticut Health Center , will join us this month on Wednesday, October 20, at 12 noon Pacific Time (note time change for this one session). She will tell you the advantages of using EFTS and answer your questions. If you can’t attend, a recording will be available later on the RML Rendezvous page.

We look forward to seeing you at the webcast! For more information and to test your computer connection, please visit How do I connect to the Rendezvous?

The NN/LM PNR announces a new award (up to $200) to promote participation in the  Electronic Fund Transfer System (EFTS).

EFTS, a joint effort between the National Library of Medicine and the University of Connecticut, is a system used by health sciences libraries to process payment of document delivery transactions. From a tab within DOCLINE, EFTS members easily build a transaction file and submit it for payment. EFTS eliminates the need to produce invoices or write checks. Benefits of EFTS participation include reduced costs, improved cash flow, reduction of human error, increased efficiency, and reports of transactions.

Not yet convinced? Read comments from satisfied users.

EFTS membership is free, and regular deposits are made to maintain a balance in members’ accounts to pay for transactions. If you are not yet a member of EFTS, apply for these funds to get started. If you already are a member and would like to expand your document delivery services to a new group, consider applying as well. See the full funding announcement for more information.

Wondering what’s going on with LinkOut?  Several new LinkOut “Quick Tours” (short videos) have been released, including Library Submission Utility: Entering Online Holdings Information (5 min., March 2010). For a full list of available Quick Tours, see: NLM Distance Education Programs and jump to L for LinkOut.

Remember, in the PubMed redesign, LinkOut icons don’t show up in the default Summary View. Chose Abstract View to display your library’s icons. In a list of citations, icons will appear at the bottom of each citation. When citations are viewed individually, icons appear on the upper right side of the page.

Any questions about LinkOut?  Contact your Regional LinkOut representative, Patricia Devine, at 206-543-8275 or devine@uw.edu. More information is also available in the NLM Technical Bulletin article, LinkOut in the PubMed Redesign.