Hi there Dragonfly readers! My name is Mahria Lebow and I am the new Regional Technology Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Region. I was lucky enough to meet some of you before I got started here at the Regional Advisory Council meeting a few weeks back.

This position brings me back from the Midwest to my favorite part of the country. I am a native Oregonian, going back six generations to Thomas Simpson Lebow who trekked on the Oregon Trail from Tennessee to Lane County, settling in 1850.  I’m excited to again be sandwiched between the Pacific and the Cascades. I enjoy both camping and surfing, so my recreational activities will be much improved upon from my time in a landlocked state.

Prior to obtaining my Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of British Columbia, I had a wide range of experiences from providing technology support to clinical work (including phlebotomy!) at Oregon Health and Science University. I am coming most recently from the University of Iowa where I was acting as a Data Manager.

For those of you I had the opportunity to meet before, hello again.  For everyone else, I hope I have a chance to meet you in person sometime soon.  In the meanwhile, please feel free to contact me via e-mail (mahria@uw.edu), skype (mahriatalksonhermac) or call me (206-221-3489).  I am here to support you and your endeavors as they relate to technologies (old and new) and improving health information access, so please feel free to introduce yourself!

Recently announced in the NLM Technical Bulletin are several items of interest to PubMed users:

• A new FAQ about article versions in PubMed citations: Certain citations will now be “versioned”, depending upon new data findings. The original article will be retained. Criteria not to be considered in defining a version are re-publication of an article, publication stages, and length of time after which an update occurs. Read all about it here.
• Citation management software and PubMed results: PubMed has been updated to include the choice “Citation Manager” as a destination for search results. This allows creation of a file to download into the software.
• PubMed and MyNCBI: It’s now possible to save citations directly into a MyNCBI Collection, via a new button in the PubMed Abstract view. A new Collection can also be created at this point, via a dropdown menu under Save Items.

 Enjoy enhanced PubMed searching with these new features!

Join your colleagues for the Medical Library Association (MLA) continuing education webcast Leveraging Mobile Technologies for Health Sciences Libraries on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 from 11 am -12:30 pm Pacific time. The topics that will be covered include innovative uses of mobile technologies, addressing technology challenges, and providing best practice guidance for applying mobile technologies in clinical and curricular support settings.

The Pacific Northwest Region (PNR) will host the webcast at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library, Library Teaching Lab.  If you will join us here in Seattle for the webcast at UW please register at http://tinyurl.com/PNRWebcastReg.

PNR is pleased to announce funding in Oregon at Oregon Health & Science University at Biomedical  Information Communication Center (BICC) room 124, located in the same building as the library. Lunch will be available for free for  Oregon Health Sciences Libraries Association (OSHLA) members and $10 for non-members. Please register for this location at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OHSLA_MLA_Webcast_April_2012

Software developers can learn how to tap into free data covering drugs, medical literature, clinical trials, consumer health information, molecular biology and much more during a webinar on April 10, 2012 from 11am – 12:30pm Pacific time (noon Mountain, 10am Alaska). The free webinar is sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health.

NLM API Showcase will highlight the following NLM resources:

• E-utilities (providing access to PubMed/MEDLINE, genetic sequences and more)
• MedlinePlus, MedlinePlus Connect
• UMLS
• RXNorm
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• ChemSpell, DIRLINE, Pillbox
• Metamap, a medical text indexer

To learn how to attend via Adobe Connect webcast or video webcast visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/api_webinar.html

WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) is a mobile application from the National Library of Medicine designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents. The second release for WISER for iPhone/iPod touch is now available.  Investigate what’s new in this updated release: WISER’s Help Identify Chemical capability is now available on the iOS platform. Identify and validate an unknown chemical based on the following criteria: physical properties of the substance gathered by observation or sensors signs and symptoms of victims of exposure the ability to categorize a substance, such as a substance used in a meth lab or a flammable substance hazard values from NFPA 704 placards transportation identification, including DOT placards, type of road trailer, and type of rail car Use WISER’s protective distance mapping feature on your iPhone or iPod touch. Visualize the areas likely to be affected during the first 30 minutes after a substance is spilled or released on a live map. The Department of Transportation’s Emergency Response Guidebook is the source of WISER’s protective distance data.

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The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region (NN/LM PNR) is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for sites around the region to host the upcoming Medical Library Association (MLA) continuing education webcast Leveraging Mobile Technologies for Health Sciences Libraries on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 from 11 am -12:30 pm Pacific time.

NN/LM PNR will pay MLA webcast registration fees for up to 4 selected sites that agree to promote and host the webcast for colleagues in their area.

Please contact Nikki Dettmar, Education and Assessment Coordinator, at snydern@uw.edu by March 23, 2012 if you are a Pacific Northwest Region Network Member (what does that mean?) interested in hosting the webcast for your institution and your local colleagues. Include a brief description of how you will promote the event in your area, estimated attendance, and confirm that your location can meet the technical requirements of Internet access, a computer with Windows Media Player, and a room to host the webcast.

Site participants will be selected based on geographic location, accessibility, and the potential number of attendees. All applicants will be notified of their application status by March 30, 2012.

PNR will also be hosting the webcast at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library, free registration details will be announced in an upcoming Dragonfly article.