National Network of Libraries of Medicine

Pacific Northwest Region

Quarterly Report
August 2002 to October 2002

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Table of Contents

A. NETWORK PROGRAMS

1. Health Professional Access to Information
2. Assess Needs of Health Science Librarians
3. Network Membership Program
4. Document Delivery
5. Resource Libraries
6. Communication
7. Regional Advisory Committee
8. Monitor Region's Programs
9. User Feedback
10. Training Facility
11. NLM User/Non-User Needs Assessment
12. NLM Grants
13. Follow-up with NLM-funded Projects

B. OUTREACH PROGRAMS

1. Outreach to Health Professionals
2. Consumer Health Information Services
3. Training to Support Electronic Access to Health Information
4. Exhibits and Presentations at Meetings
5. Technology Awareness and Integration
6. Library Improvement
7. Connections

C. ENHANCEMENTS

D. NN/LM WEB SERVICE

E. ADMINISTRATION, STAFF AND OTHER

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A. NETWORK PROGRAMS

1. Health Professional Access to Information
Susan Barnes, Resource Sharing Coordinator led a conference call between members of the Washington Medical Librarians Association board and two nationally-recognized experts on consortial purchasing in libraries: John Helmer of the ORBIS consortium, and Ann McKee of the Greater Western Library Alliance. Mr. Helmer and Ms. McKee were very generous in sharing their experience and insights. The discussion resulted in important logistical decisions regarding the management of the WMLA group subscription to 140 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ejournals from Ovid: each participating institution will sign its own contract with Ovid, and each participant will also sign a memorandum of agreement with WMLA. This memorandum of agreement documents willingness to pay the amount that is determined to be the participant's share. This was valuable in the continuing development of local experience and knowledge about consortial buying arrangements.

Meanwhile, Ovid presented its final price for renewal of the package of 140 LWW ejournals for the 2003 year, and negotiations regarding cost-sharing among participants began in earnest. This negotiation was complicated by last year's arrangement in which some libraries generously paid more than their share in order to assure availability of the package to the wider group. As a result, it was not possible to simply tack on a straight percentage price increase for each library's share of the renewal cost; several iterations of fairly intricate pricing algorithms were required. As the quarter ended, it was still unclear whether enough participants would be able to pay enough money for the group subscription to be renewed for a second year.

2. Assess Needs of Health Science Librarians
The Technology Committee of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association, chaired by the NN/LM PNR Resource Sharing Coordinator, S. Barnes, developed and administered a Web-based survey to learn about how libraries are using electronic document delivery (EDD) to receive and deliver copies, what the positive and negative aspects of these libraries' experiences with EDD have been, how patrons have reacted to EDD, and what issues stand in the way of other libraries' using EDD. The committee used the CTLSilhouette software provided by Washington State University to create a Web-based survey. The survey was then publicized on September 6, 2002 via the HLIB-NW email discussion list. 119 libraries responded to the survey and provided more than just straight answers to the survey's multiple-choice questions -- they also graciously contributed a wealth of valuable comments. In summary, two-thirds of respondents were from hospital libraries and the most common ways to receive documents via EDD are by:

• receiving pdfs via email (79 libraries
• picking up pdfs on the Web (49 libraries), and
• receiving tiffs via email (44 libraries).

Fewer have used EDD to send documents, with emailing pdfs (37 libraries) and Ariel (20 libraries) the most commonly used routes. Among the advantages to EDD use are speed, quality, improved service and public relations, and savings in supplies, phone costs, and postage. Disadvantages cited included cost, quality of x-ray and other film images, printing speed, trouble opening documents, slow scanners, problems with notifications that documents are available for pickup via the Web, and the fact that some libraries do not want to receive documents via EDD. In their survey responses, libraries cited such barriers to EDD use as lack of knowledge or time, cost of equipment and software, insufficient IT support, firewall constraints, and staff resistance.

The survey results revealed the following needs among libraries in the region:

• information on EDD in general
• information on inexpensive ways to begin offering EDD
• information on free software for EDD
• information on selecting scanners
• assistance with Ariel and firewalls
• assistance with copyright and license questions
• funding support for startup costs, and
• strategies for staff development.

During the coming year, the committee will develop training, beginning with the approaches of supporting receipt of documents. Encouraging use of EDD for sending documents will be a goal to be addressed later.

3. Network Membership Program
In this region as of the end of this quarter:

In this region as of the end of this quarter:

• 158 Full Members -- 1 new one: SDL Library Services, a small private dental library in Spokane, WA. (Note that this number does not include WAUPNR, which is counted as a full member by DOCUSER because WAUPNR is active in DOCLINE. However, WAUPNR is the LIBID for the NN/LM PNR office.)
• 147 Affiliate Members -- 1 new this quarter: Health Education Materials of the Public Health -- Seattle & King County.
• 162 DOCLINE participants -- 1 new one: SDL Library Services. (4 of these are borrow-only libraries and therefore not full members)(Note that this number also omits WAUPNR, which is an active DOCLINE participant but is the LIBID for the NN/LM PNR office.)
• 13 Public Libraries, 1 of which is a DOCLINE participant (and therefore a full member). (This is no change from last quarter.)
• 149 SERHOLD participants (two fewer than last quarter because two non-DOCLINE libraries with SERHOLD records -- holdovers from past practices when this was allowed by NLM -- were discovered. Their SERHOLD records were removed.)(Note that this number omits 2 demonstration libraries plus WAUPNR from DOCUSER's list of SERHOLD participants.) Investigation into the 9 Full Members that are not maintaining SERHOLD records has revealed them to be either tiny libraries that lack current journal subscriptions, or libraries that intend to participate in SERHOLD but lack staff resources at present to begin entering holdings data.

Work on the new edition of the Directory of Health Science Libraries in the Pacific Northwest continued, with data formatting issues being addressed.

4. Document Delivery
The Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS) was a focus for the NN/LM PNR exhibit at the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association and was also the topic for two presentations on the meeting program. Ralph Arcari from the University of Connecticut brought the exhibit and made the presentations, for a successful introduction of the system to the region that resulted in several libraries' deciding to join.

An article about ILL activities at the American Library Association annual meeting was published: "ILL News from ALA." MLA News, September 2002/Number 349, p. 8.

The DOCLINE Interface Review Team (DIRT) continued its work, with a focus on reviewing specifications that had been developed out of the conference calls that had taken place during previous months. S. Barnes made a presentation about DOCLINE at the first annual Northwest Resource Sharing Conference. The presentation focused on benefits of DOCLINE for non-medical libraries, and also summarized ILL options for access to medical publications for non-DOCLINE libraries.

5. Resource Libraries
At the Pacific Northwest Chapter of MLA annual conference in Vancouver, BC. Neil Rambo, Associate Director, and Ms. Barnes, met with the Resource Library representatives who were attending the conference. This included Jim Morgan (Oregon Health & Science University), Kathy Murray (University. of Alaska Anchorage), and Vicki Croft (Washington State University). Resource library issues, particularly budget cuts and e-journal management, were discussed.

6. Communication
RML staff members participated in various NN/LM conference calls, including Tribal Connections, consumer health, outreach/education, and DOCLINE calls.

There were a total of 202 messages on HLIB-NW, the region's discussion list, this quarter. Thirty-six of those, or 17%, were sent from PNRNEWS, the official announcement list of the NN/LM PNR.

There was no issue of the Dragonfly this quarter. The Spring/Summer issue was closed in September with five articles.

7. Regional Advisory Committee

8. Monitor Region's Programs
The initiative to evaluate NN/LM outreach programs -- focusing on consumer health (via public libraries) and public health -- involved PNR staff in several ways this quarter. Ms. Barnes served on: the Task Force on NN/LM Public Libraries Outreach Evaluation. Mr. Rambo chaired the other task force under this initiative: the NN/LM Public Health Outreach Evaluation task force. The goal of these task forces was to facilitate cross-regional evaluation of NN/LM funded outreach to the respective audiences. by recommending ways to evaluate selected results (outcomes) from this outreach, and by identifying strategies to improve and refine the efforts of the NN/LM community in reaching these outcomes. The task forces held several teleconferences during the quarter and made progress toward developing a logic models to be presented to the NN/LM directors and associate directors at their next meeting.

9. User Feedback

10. Training Facility
The Training Facility was used by NTCC for classes in Seattle October 28 and 29. Thirty four students participated in these Keeping Up with PubMed classes.

11. NLM User/Nonuser Needs Assessment

12. NLM Grants
Three of the four IADL grant applications submitted from the region in May were funded by NLM. Linda Milgrom discussed plans with the PI of each project. The grant writer who worked on the application that was not funded contacted the RML, indicating that she planned to resubmit for the next cycle (February 2003). L. Milgrom offered to review the original application and revisions. She also moderated a roundtable discussion of NLM and RML funding opportunities at the PNC/MLA meeting in Vancouver. Librarians who had previously received NLM or RML funding were invited to participate, and lessons learned were shared by all.

Participants agreed that actually getting started is the most difficult aspect of outreach. Identifying key advocates within collaborating agencies, setting goals, and maintaining momentum were mentioned as essential to successful projects. All librarians who had completed projects said they were interested in continuing outreach, but most cited "regular" work responsibilities (lack of time) as an obstacle.

13. Follow-up with NLM-funded Projects

B. OUTREACH PROGRAM
Reports from RML-funded outreach projects at Oregon Health & Science University, Southwest Oregon AHEC, and Cross Cultural Resource Center are attached. The RML continues to monitor these projects and to offer assistance if needed.

Responses to questions generated by regional reviewers and NNO staff were received from three applicants for Outreach Project Awards. As soon as NNO staff have given their approval, formal announcement of the awards will be made.

Eight proposals were received in response to NLM's Access to Electronic Health Information RFP.

1. Outreach to Health Professionals
Sep. 3: Linda Milgrom, Outreach Coordinator, taught a PubMed and NLM Gateway workshop for staff and affiliates of the HIV/AIDS section of Public Health -- Seattle & King County.

Aug. 5: Ms. Milgrom presented a talk, "Tips and Tricks:Hints for Searching PubMed and Arctic Health" at the Association of American Indian Physicians annual conference in Anchorage.

Aug. 5: Michael Boer, Technology Coordinator, presented the "PDA Users Circle", at the AAIP meeting in Anchorage.

Sep. 12: Mr. Rambo co-taught a hands-on session on searching the web for public health information for participants in the Northwest Summer Institute for Public Health Practice, on the UW Seattle campus.

Sep. 17: Mr. Rambo co-taught a session at the Montana Public Health Association annual conference in Helena, MT. His team teachers were Suzy Holt of the Montana State Library and Richard Wojtowicz of Montana State University in Bozeman. The class included presentation and hands-on computer lab exercises and focused on local services, state and national resources for public health workers.

Oct. 3: Mr. Rambo attended and participated in the semi-annual steering committee meeting for the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce at NLM.

Oct. 7-9: Mr. Rambo attended and exhibited at the annual meeting of the Washington Joint Conference on Health in Wenatchee, WA.

Date	Location	Sponsor	Activity	Focus	No. of Attendees	Staff
08/05/02	Anchorage, AK	Association of American Indian Physicians	Train	HP	70	Milgrom
08/05/02	Anchorage, AK	Association of American Indian Physicians	Train	TA	32	Milgrom
09/03/02	Seattle, WA	Public Health - Seattle -- King County	Train	HP	6	Milgrom
09/09/02	Roseburg, OR	AHEC of Southwest Oregon	Train	Cons	52	Brendan Ashby
09/09/02	Oak Harbor, WA	Sno-Isle Regional Library	Train	Cons	9	Milgrom
09/13/02	Pablo, MT	Salish Kootenai College	Train	HP	28	Laurel Egan
09/17/02	Port Orford, OR	AHEC of Southwest Oregon	Train	Cons	20	Brendan Ashby
09/17/02	Gold Beach, OR	AHEC of Southwest Oregon	Train	Cons	8	Brendan Ashby
09/17/02	Helena, MT	Montana Public Health Assc	Train	HP	12	Rambo
10/02/02	Medford, OR	AHEC of Southwest Oregon	Train	Cons	7	Brendan Ashby
10/02/02	Medford, OR	AHEC of Southwest Oregon	Train	Cons	11	Brendan Ashby
10/14/02	Roseburg, OR	AHEC of Southwest Oregon	Train	Cons	51	Brendan Ashby
10/16/02	Gold Beach, OR	AHEC of Southwest Oregon	Train	Cons	7	Brendan Ashby
10/20/02	Vancouver, BC	Pacific NW Chapter, MLA	Train	HP	42	Milgrom
				TOTAL	355

Focus (targeted program area): HP=health professional, Cons=consumer, TA=technology awareness, LI=library improvement, Conn=connections

2. Consumer Health Information Services
Sep. 9: Ms. Milgrom taught a hands-on workshop "Only the Best Health Information: Medlineplus and PubMed" for staff of the Sno-Isle Regional (Public) Library, in Oak Harbor, WA.

Continuing her involvement with the ad hoc committee on foreign language patient education materials, Ms. Milgrom facilitated a meeting of Elizabeth Comstock of the Health Education Materials Center, Public Health -- Seattle & King County, and Don Martin of the Health Education Resource Exchange, Washington State Department of Health (http://www.doh.wa.gov/here). Elizabeth and Don subsequently submitted a joint response to the Access to Electronic Health Information RFP.

The Easy to Read Health and Medical Sites page was completed. Next, content for a Consumer Health Information page was recommended to the Indian Health Service so that an appropriate section within the HIS Web site structure would be available for the Easy-to-Read page. These pages went into production and were announced to the NN/LM consumer health coordinators and on MEDLIB-L in mid-October.

3. Training to Support Electronic Access to Health Information
A $500 mini-award was made to Laurel Egan, librarian at St. James Hospital (Butte, MT) to support two training sessions at the Salish-Kootenai Tribal College. Ms. Egan taught a PubMed/Medlineplus class for nursing students and a more advanced session for faculty.

Vicki Croft, Washington State University (Pullman, WA) will exhibit at the 4th Annual Inland Northwest Cancer Conference in Spokane, WA. Her participation will also be funded by a $500 mini-award.

4. Exhibits and Presentations at Meetings
The RML and regional colleagues exhibited at the following national and regional meetings. Exhibit reports are included in the appendix.

NATIONAL exhibits:
August 2-6: Association of American Indian Physicians, Anchorage, AK
September 22-25: Oto Expo (Amer Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation), San Diego, CA
October 6-8: American College of Emergency. Physicians, Seattle, WA

REGIONAL exhibits:
September 16-18: Cultivating Collaborations/Health and Safety in Western Agriculture, Coeur d'Alene, ID
October 7-9: Washington Joint Conference on Health (WA State Public Health Assn), Wenatchee, WA
October 20-22: PNC/MLA, Vancouver, BC
October 3-5: Oregon Rural Health Conf, Bend, OR

Maryanne Blake was invited to assist Dr. Ron Kuppersmith and Dr. Michael Stewart at their class "Searching the Medical Literature" at the AAO-HNSF in San Diego, CA. Dr. Kuppersmith sent the following email to M. Blake:

"Thanks Maryanne! We really appreciate you being there to help us out, you added a lot to our course. Best,Ron"

Date	Location	Sponsor	Activity	Focus	No. of Attendees	Staff
08/01/02	Anchorage, AK	Association of American Indian Physicians	Exhibit	HP	92	Boer, Fuller, Milgrom, Sahali
09/22/02	San Diego, CA	American Academy of Otolaryngology	Exhibit	HP	205	Blake, Boer
10/04/02	Bend, OR	Oregon Rural Health Conference	Exhibit	HP	35	Helen Guerrero-Randall
10/06/02	Seattle, WA	American College of Emergency Physicians	Exhibit	HP	181	Barnes, Blake, Boer, Milgrom
10/07/02	Wenatchee, WA	Washington State Public Health Association	Exhibit	HP	82	Rambo
10/16/02	Coeur d'Alene, ID	Cultivating Collaborations: Health and Safety in Western Agriculture	Exhibit	HP	17	Sarah McCord
10/20/02	Vancouver, BC	PNC/MLA	Exhibit	HP	40	Milgrom
				TOTAL	652

Focus (targeted program area): HP=health professional, Cons=consumer, TA=technology awareness, LI=library improvement, Conn=connections

5. Technology Awareness and Integration
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6. Library Improvement

7. Connections
M. Blake and Joan La France went to the Umatilla Reservation in Pendleton, OR to talk with Tribal Connections 3 participants and interview them. M. Blake did a needs survey with the health professionals at their weekly staff meeting.

C. ENHANCEMENTS
Aug. 23: TC3 strategic planning session with Joan LaFrance.

A template for a Memorandum of Understanding to be used with the three Tribal Connections Phase 3 tribes was finalized, along with a detailed formal description of the project for distribution to interested parties and posting on the Web.

D. NN/LM WEB SERVICE
In August, the NN/LM web services were moved from florence.hslib.washington.edu to a set of four new Linux-based servers. The public website is now transmitted from a pair identical systems. A fail-over service has been implemented so that if the primary serer goes offline, the secondary can take over within a few seconds. The development site is now housed on a third system. These three servers are located at the UW Health Sciences Library in a room designed specifically to provide a safe and isolated environment for servers. A fourth system, located at the University of Illinois at Chicago, now houses the staff intranet/extranet server.

Mr. Boer is participating in the National Outreach Mapping Center Technical Advisory Committee. In addition to weekly conference calls, his role includes work to assure that authentications can be passed between the NN/LM staff server and the NOMC Outreach Report Form system.

NN/LM Web Service: Visits per Month
Year	August	September	October
2002	76470	82941	94457
2001	83831	76066	88834

NN/LM Web Service: /members/reports/Transmitted
Year	August	September	October
2002	5427	6417	7884
2001	6247	5509	6570

E. ADMINISTRATION, STAFF AND OTHER

A screening committee was formed to select candidates to interview for the open Consumer Health Coordinator position. M. Blake and L. Milgrom served on the committee. Three candidates were interviewed in October.

Oct. 17: Mr. Rambo, as a member of the MLA Board of Directors, attended the Northern California/Nevada Medical Library Group's 1-day business meeting and program in Oakland, CA, to lead a discussion on the draft MLA strategic plan.

Staff attended and participated in the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the MLA annual conference in Vancouver, BC, Oct 20-22. The RML exhibit featured the EFTS with Ralph Arcari.