PSRML Associate Director Appointed
by Alison Bunting
Elaine Graham will rejoin the PSRML staff as Associate Director on February 1, 2000. Many Region 7 librarians will remember Elaine, since she received her M.L.S. degree from UCLA and began her professional career as a hospital librarian at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Panorama City (1976-81). In 1981 Elaine joined the PSRML staff as Head of the Consulting and Training Section, and served as PSRML Associate Director from 1985-1989. After leaving UCLA Elaine worked as an information specialist for Boeing Defense & Space Group (1989-92); for SilverPlatter Information Inc. in various capacities including medical editor, publishing director and product manager (1993-97); and most recently as a reference librarian at Longview Community College Library in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Elaine has been active in the Medical Library of Group of Southern California and Arizona, serving as President from 1985-86, and the Medical Library Association. She has published extensively and is a member of MLA's Academy of Health Information Professionals.
Please join us in welcoming Elaine back to Region 7!
DOCLINE Update
New release date: New DOCLINE is scheduled to be available in March 2000.
New SERHOLD release date: Due to some last minute Y2K issues and the advice of the NLM systems security personnel, the release date of the SERHOLD portion of new DOCLINE has been changed to the week of January 10-14, 2000.
DOCUSER beta version .02: In December, NLM released DOCUSER beta version .02. This latest release replaces DOCUSER beta version .01, and is available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/docline. Version .02 includes an active Update capability from the main menu in DOCUSER. All network libraries are encouraged to access their DOCUSER record and make necessary changes, such as modifying address information from an all CAPS display, to a more readable upper/lower case format.
Routing tables: Routing tables are the only part of the new DOCUSER version .02 that do not include active data. Libraries may go into the Routing Table screen and practice making changes, but until new DOCLINE comes up in March 2000, all routing will continue to be based on old DOCUSER routing tables. Just prior to the final production release of DOCLINE, routing tables will be refreshed from data in old DOCUSER. Libraries will then have a one or two week period to update routing tables in the new DOCUSER so that they are accurate for the first day of the new system. All libraries will be able to maintain their own routing tables at any time once the production version of new DOCLINE is released.
User feedback: Users are encouraged to try all of the new search and display options available in DOCUSER beta .02. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Please send them via email to newdocline@nlm.nih.gov.
Updated information: Please continue to check NLM's New DOCLINE website for current updates regarding the implementation schedule and for other important information: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/psd/cas/newdocline.html
Regional Interlibrary Loan Charge Going Up
The National Library of Medicine announced in October 1999 that a new national maximum for interlibrary loan (ILL) charge had been approved. Effective July 1, 2000, the fee for ILLs obtained from Region 7 Resource Libraries will be $11.00. The new price increase is the first in four years; in 1996 the price increased from $8.00 to $10.00. NLM's ILL charge remains at $10.00 for the present time.
This price change does not supersede any special ILL arrangements that exist between Resource Libraries and area Primary Access Libraries (PAL's) or other institutions.
After July 1, 2000, DOCLINE libraries will need to enter $11.00 in the MAX COST field. If an amount less than the $11.00 regional charge is entered in the field and the request routes to a Resource Library in the region, the request will be rejected for CST (cost) and retired from the system.
Quinquennial Hospital Library Survey
It is printed on bright pink paper, so it will be visible from any stack, but we hope you won't put it down. We hope that you will complete it and send it back to us right away because IT is the PSRML Hospital Evaluation Survey! This rare survey appears every five years and is only sent to hospital members of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/Pacific Southwest Region. The data collected from the Network's hospital members offer PSRML an opportunity to mark changes and trends in staffing, collections, services, and organization.
Since 1984, PSRML has been collecting information on the hospital libraries in the region and publishing its findings. Region 7 hospitals are the only ones in the nation that have been tracked in such a long-term study.
Access to information in hospitals has been changing:
- Between 1984 and 1989 the number of librarians with professional degrees decreased, but the next five years found the numbers going up again.
- Although physicians have remained the largest group using the hospital library, over the last ten years the percentage has been going down. The percentage of nurses, administrators, and especially health sciences students using the library has been increasing.
- In 1989, just over 20% of the respondents were offering consumer health resources or end user training for online searching. Five years later, the percentage approached 50%. We expect that this year's survey will show an even greater prevalence of consumer health collections and end-user training.
If you work in a hospital and the library did not receive a survey, please contact PSRML. The information on every hospital library is very important! Please complete the survey and return it to PSRML by January 14, 2000.
1999 Internet Connectivity Survey
by Claire Hamasu
When the National Library of Medicine selected the Internet as the primary delivery system for its resources, it was concerned that Network members without Internet connectivity would lose access to these important resources. This distribution method would be successful only if an overwhelming majority of Network members could participate.
In the spring of 1997 NLM conducted a survey of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine to determine the percentage and level of Internet connectivity among member libraries. That survey revealed 78% of these libraries had Internet access. Within the Pacific Southwest region, access was a little below the average, 74%. The National Library of Medicine predicted that connectivity would be high among academic medical libraries, and it was-96%. The success of the Internet as a delivery method would be assured if a very high percentage of hospital libraries also had Internet access. The survey showed that 73% of the nation's hospital libraries had access. Among hospital libraries in Region 7, 69% were connected.
The 1997 survey results indicated that increased effort was needed to assist hospital libraries to gain access to the Internet. All the Regional Medical Libraries were asked to develop programs to improve the numbers. At the Pacific Southwest Regional Medical Library, Judy Consales, former Information Technology Coordinator, managed the Internet Connectivity Support Program. Libraries who were identified through the survey as not having an Internet account were invited to participate in a program that would help overcome the barriers they had identified in the survey. This program offered: a workstation, subsidy for an Internet Service Provider, consultation on getting connected, and/or training for staff.
NLM decided to follow up with another survey in the spring of 1999, to determine whether connectivity had increased. The survey was sent to new network members, members who were not connected at the time of the 1997 survey, network members who had not responded to the 1997 survey, and a random group of members who had responded to the initial survey. A sampling of 200 of our 612 Network members were included in this nationwide survey. If this sample is indicative of all the libraries in the region, then connectivity has continued to increase among Pacific Southwest members, but not up to the national average. We fare 10% below the average among Network members and hospital Network members who are connected.
The speed of the connections has improved among Region 7 Network members. Close to half of the Network are connected through their local area network (LAN) as compared to 37% in the 1997 survey.
A small percentage (17%) but still significant number (106) libraries are not connected to the Internet. The barriers they have identified to obtaining Internet access is the lack of in-house technical expertise, the cost of computer hardware, and the cost of staff training and education. PSRML will continue the Internet Connectivity Support Program to increase the number of Network members who can access the Internet.
The 1999 survey gathered additional information on the number of workstations capable of accessing the Internet and identified the users of these Internet workstations. Over one third of the Network libraries in this region have at least one workstation with an Internet connection. A little less than half have more than one workstation connected. A majority of these workstations are used by library staff and hospital staff. Public access to the Internet is available at 27% of the libraries.
Medical Informatics at Woods Hole
by Jacqueline Doyle
Brown Health Sciences Library
Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center
Phoenix, AZ
Note:Each year the National Library of Medicine holds two sessions of Medical Informatics at Woods Hole Biological Laboratory, MA. Last year NLM added slots at Medical Informatics to encourage health sciences librarians to become leaders in this field. Jacqueline Doyle, Director of Learning Resources and CME for Banner Health Arizona, was one of two health sciences librarians from Region 7 to join twenty-eight other participants for the fall session.
The deadline to apply for the 2000 sessions is March 1, 2000. The Spring session will be held May 28 - June 3, 2000. The Fall session will be held October 1-7, 2000. More information and the application form are available at http://www.mbl.edu/Medical_Informatics/
Spending a week with colleagues (librarian types) and "could-be colleagues" (physicians and others), learning tons of information about medical informatics, listening to the sounds of a New England marina and feeling cool, fresh, damp ocean air -- what more could a hospital librarian want? Not much, in my opinion! (Oh, and the fall colors were exceptional!)
I wholeheartedly recommend to all health sciences librarians, but especially to my hospital-based colleagues that you apply for this program; you will find it a fascinating and provocative experience. It is a total immersion week! Dorm life enabled us to be centered in the same building and enjoy meals together. For six days, from 8:30 am until 9 pm or later, you, as a medical informatics fellow, think, breath, read and speak nothing else! We had a rich combination of lectures, demonstrations, group discussion, and hands-on learning, making the week pleasant and fun. I very much enjoyed being surrounded by health professionals who wanted to learn how to make medical information useful and accessible to all, including patients and consumers.
Our lecturers included Drs. Lindberg, Masys, Christopher and James Cimino, people we may have heard or met at MLA events; as well as people new to me--Robert Jenders (Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center), David Remsen (Woods Hole Biological Laboratory), Kathi Canese (NLM), Allen Hightower (The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention) among others! Kathy Norton, the Marine Biological Laboratory's librarian, is a treasure and someone we all should know better!
Colleagues as well as faculty were ready, willing, and able to provide and share knowledge, wisdom and suggestions, all of which were most appreciated. I returned to my hospital full of ideas and new ways to do old things. Exchanging email following the experience has been useful, too!
This is a week not to be missed, indeed a professional obligation we have to our organizations and peers.
Web Search Engines
by Nita Mailander
Dr. Robert C. Foreman Health Sciences Library
Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn
Scottsdale, Arizona
Editor's note: PSRML makes available awards of up to $1,000 to individuals in Primary Access Libraries in Region 7. These Professional Development Awards support development of skills and knowledge in using technology for health information access and delivery. Award application information is available at this URL: http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/psr/libproa.html.
Funded by a Professional Development Award from the Pacific Southwest Regional Medical Library, I attended the Internet Librarian 1999 Conference and course offerings in San Diego, California, in November. One of the themes of the conference was that the Internet is constantly changing and being updated. As a consequence, many Internet sites and search engines have changed names and addresses, and are continually evolving. It is important to be familiar with more than one search engine as they each have varying coverage of the Internet. One of the most valuable classes I attended at the conference was the "Extreme Searcher's Web Finding Tools," presented by Ran Hock of Online Strategies.1 This article presents a summary of what I learned at that class.
Simplified Boolean can be used in most search engines. Often more complicated Boolean, such as nesting and multiple strings are not successful. When using the simplified Boolean (+word, -word), the relevant ranking system for most search engines is applied. When using the actual Boolean terms AND, OR, and NOT, the relevant rankings are overridden. So it is important to understand which search engines recognize full Boolean statements.
Below is a listing of some well-established search engines and some of their capabilities as they were highlighted in the course.
AltaVista - http://www.altavista.com
Size: 191,213,426 Web pages indexed. 174,004,218 when adjusted for dead links.2
Boolean: Simple (+word, -word), Advanced Web Search offers full Boolean (AND, OR, AND NOT) and NEAR operator. To eliminate a term make sure to use "AND NOT."
Truncation: *, replacing 0-5 letters only. AltaVista is case sensitive, but searching in only lower-case will retrieve both upper and lower-case results.
Special Attributes: Translation option with SYSTRAN software. Extensive coverage of the Web.
Comment: I was eager to use the translation option to translate a French site into English (German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish are also available). Although you cannot translate an entire Web page all at once, I was able to piece the translation together in separate sections.
Excite - http://www.excite.com
Size: 71,195,996 Web pages indexed. 68,822,706 when adjusted for dead links.2
Boolean: Simple (+word, -word) and full Boolean available. Use "quotes" to search for phrases. Click on "more," next to the "Search" button, to access Advanced Web Search.
Truncation: None apparent.
Special Attributes: Nice news features and customizable content.
Fast Search - http://www.fastsearch.com
Size: 192,647,990 Web pages indexed. 157,971,352 when adjusted for dead links.
Boolean: Simple (+word, -word).
Truncation: None apparent.
Special Attributes: Extensive coverage of the Web.
Go Network (formerly Infoseek) - http://www.go.com
Size: 52,454,119 Web pages indexed. 50,355,954 when adjusted for dead links.2
Boolean: Simple (+word, -word)
Truncation: None apparent.
Special Attributes: Able to modify a retrieved set of records by date.
HotBot - http://www.hotbot.com
Size: 39,334,805 Web pages indexed. 38,810,341 when adjusted for dead links.2
Boolean: AND, OR, NOT, and nesting with parentheses ( ), use "quotes" to search phrases. Advanced Search option allows language, date, and media type limits.
Truncation: *
Special Attributes: Extensive and obvious advanced search options from the Advanced Version page.
Lycos - http://www.lycos.com
Size: 55,462,074 Web pages indexed. 53,243,591 when adjusted for dead links.2
Boolean: Simple (+word, -word) and full Boolean, plus many more proximity operators in Advanced Search: ADJ, NEAR, FAR, BEFORE. Use "quotes" to search phrases.
Truncation: None apparent.
Special Attributes: Modification to relevancy rankings is available.
Northern Light and Google
Two search engines I would like to focus on in more detail are Northern Light and Google. I had been unfamiliar with these search engines before attending the Internet Librarian Conference. Although Google and Northern Light differ in their approach and appearance, these two Internet sites provide us with valuable tools to conquer the Web.
Northern Light - http://www.northernlight.com
Size: 200,352,984 Web pages indexed. 196,345,924 when adjusted for dead links.3
Boolean: simple (+word, -word) and full Boolean: AND, OR, NOT, ( ). Use "quotes" to search phrases.
Truncation: * for right-handed truncation, % for single characters.
Special Attributes: Custom folders and proprietary content. Extensive coverage of the Web. Natural language searching available, for example, "why is the sky blue." Excellent help available on how to use their site.
Northern Light is a unique site developed by librarians that not only retrieves sites from the Internet, but also includes free abstracts from journals, books, newspapers, and news transcripts. For a nominal fee, payable with a credit card or established subscription, searchers can access the full text of abstracts retrieved. This is quite an exciting cross between a proprietary database and an Internet search engine. Northern Light offers custom search folders that organize similar information by topic, or by type of material. Boolean operators and nesting are recognized by this search engine. Truncation symbols can be used separately or together in the same term: (*) for right-hand truncation and (%) for single letter truncation. To search for phrases, quotation marks are necessary. In the Power Search option, you can download a full list of indexed titles, or browse subject areas. Limit options in the Power Search include the ability to restrict results to commercial, education, government, military, non-profit, or other types of Web sites. You are also able to specify a certain field to be searched, for example, words in title, words in URL, or publication name. The October 1999 PC Magazine named Northern Light the "best engine for searching the World Wide Web."4 The Northern Light search engine leads the pack in size and has fewer dead links. With the addition of proprietary materials, Northern Light offers Internet searchers a unique and effective tool.
Google - http://www.google.com
Size: 126,264,723 Web pages indexed. 124,581,193 when adjusted for dead links.2
Boolean: Automatic "AND" only.
Truncation: None.
Special Attributes: "Lucky" button. No advertisements or banners, simple-to-use format.
I began using Google quite recently after hearing much praise about this site from colleagues attending the Internet Librarian Conference. The simplicity of the Google site is one of its main attractions. There are no advertising banners, subject directories, or other distractions on the Google homepage. To initiate your search, there is a simple "Google Search" button and one titled "I'm feeling lucky". The "lucky" button brings up the first hit that Google retrieved and if you're lucky, it's the one you want! The ranking in Google is based on how many other popular pages refer to a specific page. Ran Hock terms this a "popularity" engine. Google will automatically "AND" your search terms together. Unfortunately there is no truncation or advanced search options available. Even with these search limitations, I have found Google to be most valuable as a place to do a quick search with good results and minimal extraneous information. PC Magazine awarded Google top honors for Technical Excellence in the Internet Infrastructure: Web Applications category, referring to Google's search engine as "simply a smart web application."5
REFERENCES
- Hock, Ran. (7 Oct. 1999). Web Finding Tools: Choosing and Using the Right One. Workshop presented at the Internet Librarian, San Diego, CA.
- Notess, Greg, R. "Search Engine Statistics: Database Total Size Estimates." http://www.notess.com/search/stats/sizeest.shtml (17 Dec. 1999)
- "Northern Light Intelligent Searching." http://www.northernlight.com/docs/intelligent_stats.html (17 Dec. 1999).
- "PC Magazine Names Northern Light 'Best Engine for Searching the World Wide Web.'" http://www.northernlight.com/docs/press_company_pr99_1006.html (17 Dec. 1999)
- "Google Wins PC Magazine's Technical Excellence Award for Innovation in Web Application Development." http://www.google.com/pressrel/pressrelease6.html (17 Dec. 1999).
University of Guam
A Word from the Pacific Basin
by Arlene Cohen
PSRML Network libraries using DOCLINE are encouraged to add the University of Guam RFK Library (LIBID 96913A) to their SERLINE routing tables. University of Guam is the newest Resource Library in the Pacific Southwest Region. SERHOLD records for the RFK Library (UGU) were thoroughly updated in June 1999, and almost 150 titles have been added since the holdings were initially entered several years ago. The University of Guam College of Nursing and Health Sciences was recently accredited; the RFK Library has gathered a fairly good collection of nursing, public health and social work journals. In the fall of 1997, a scanner was purchased and loaned to the RFK Library by the Region IX office of the U.S. Office of Pacific Health and Human Services. ARIEL is now routinely used for filling and receiving requests. The ARIEL address for UGU is: 168.123.25.249. Give us a try!
PSRML Will See You at the Joint!
"2000: The Future is Now"
San Diego, California
| Update and Brainstorming the Future | | 11-Noon | | Thursday, February 10, 1999 |
| Roundtable Sharing Discussion | | Noon-1:30 PM | | |
| Exhibit Hall | | 8-Noon | | Thursday, February 10, 1999 |
| | 1-5 PM | | |
| Exhibit Hall | | 8-Noon | | Friday, February 11, 1999 |
For more information, visit the Joint Meeting Web site at http://www.mlgsca.mlanet.org/mlg2000/
Disaster Recovery (Y2K and Otherwise)
Resources Available to California Librarians and Archivists
Editor's note: This article is an adaptation of a November 17, 1999, memo from Barbara Will, Network Coordinator, California State Library.
The California State Library's efforts over the last year to secure disaster recovery and preservation assistance through the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) was successful: Amigos Library Services has been authorized and funded to provide services to all California institutions over the next two years. Some of the services are Federally-funded, while others are fee-based. FREE to California institutions from Amigos is a toll-free telephone number (1-800-843-8482), available weekdays from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Central Time. Here, information on disaster recovery, as well as faxed details on relevant topics (risk management, collection salvage prioritization, disaster recovery supplies, bibliographies) and local referrals (vendors, conservators, library and archival professionals) can be obtained. In addition, disaster recovery plans from individual institutions will be reviewed by Amigos without charge. Also note that the following regional preservation groups in California are maintaining valuable Websites accessible to all:
- Conservation On Line - http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/
- Los Angeles Preservation Network - http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/LAPNet/home.htm
- San Diego/Imperial County Libraries Disaster Response Network - http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/sildrn
For a FEE, Amigos Library Services can also provide Preservation/Emergency Preparedness and Recovery workshops or consulting services, including disaster recovery plan development. The same toll-free telephone number may be used to contact them regarding these types of services. Further information on these services to California institutions is available from Amigos at 1-800-843-8482.
HLS/MLA Professional Development Grant
SPONSORED BY THE HOSPITAL LIBRARIES SECTION
Hospital and clinical librarians: Are you seeking funding at attend a meeting, further your professional education or conduct research? The HLS/MLA Professional Development Grant is intended to encourage participation in professional programs or to support reimbursement for expenses incurred in conducting scientific research; to aid librarians working in hospitals and other clinical care institutions in developing and acquiring the knowledge and skills delineated in Platform for Change (MLA's Education Policy Statement) and Using Scientific Evidence to Improve Information Practice (MLA's Research Policy Statement).
The deadline for the next grant award is February 1, 2000. The award will be made April 15, 2000.
For more information, please contact:
Medical Library Association
Professional Development Department
Six North Michigan Avenue, Suite 300
Chicago, Illinois 60602-4805
312/419-9094, Ext. 28
312/419-8950 - Fax
mlapd@mlahq.org
MEDCAT Purrs...
Editor's note: The following was submitted by the HSOCLCUG/MEDCAT Committee: Judith Dzierba (Chair), Karleen Darr (List Owner), Joseph Blackburn, Cindy Fedders, Mary Hawks, and Mary Holt.
The MEDCAT list exchanges ideas related to medical cataloging provided by or for libraries and information centers in the health sciences. It provides an opportunity for technical services professionals and support staff, as well as anyone interested in the bibliographic and authority control of medical and health science resources, to participate in discussions about the standards, procedures, and developments that dictate policy.
MEDCAT is sponsored by the Health Science OCLC Users Group (HSOCLCUG) and is operated by its membership. The list posts continuing education opportunities, job vacancies, and meetings sponsored by related organizations in the field. Although not its primary purpose, the list announces HSOCLCUG meetings and updates to the HSOCLCUG Home page: http://www.unc.edu/~btysingr/hsoclcug/
Contributed messages are not moderated by the listproc owner, and messages are not archived.
To subscribe, send your request to: listproc@ucdavis.edu
In the body of the message, type: subscribe medcat [Your name]
Publication Information
Pacific Southwest Regional Medical Library (PSRML), Headquarters for Region 7, NN/LM
- UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library/PSRML
- 12-077 CHS
- Box 951798
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798
- Phone: (310)825-1200 or (800)338-7657
- Fax: (310)825-5389
- URL: http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/psr
PSRML Staff
- Alison Bunting, MLS, Director, abunting@library.ucla.edu
- Claire Hamasu, MLS, Associate Director (Interim) and Health Information Services Coordinator, chamasu@library.ucla.edu
- Heidi Sandstrom, RN, MLIS, Consumer Health Information Services Coordinator, heidits@library.ucla.edu
- VACANT, Network Services Coordinator
- Clair Kuykendall, MLIS, Health Information Services Specialist, clair@library.ucla.edu
- Michael Miller, Computer Resource Specialist, mmiller@library.ucla.edu
- Karen Ricard, Administrative Assistant, kricard@library.ucla.edu
- Andrea Lynch, Network Assistant, andlynch@library.ucla.edu
Network members may subscribe to the Regional Listserv by clicking here. If you do not want to subscribe to the Regional Listserv, but would like to receive Latitudes click here.
Latitudes: Newsletter of the Pacific Southwest Region, National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) is published bi-monthly by PSRML.
Supported by NLM contract NO1-LM-6-3527. Please send items and contributed articles for Latitudes to Heidi Sandstrom, Editor.
NLM Technical Bulletin: Table of Contents
Table of Contents for the November-December issue:
- In This Issue:
- Year-End Processing [corrected 1999/12/02]
- MeSH Coming Attractions
- Fees and New Format for Leased NLM Databases in 2000
- Technical Notes:
- New Online Syndrome Resource: Multiple Congenital Anomaly/Mental Retardation
- New PubMed Limits Added
- PubMed MEDLINE Update Schedule Revised
- MeSH® in USMARC Format Available To Download
- American Hospital Association Ceases Printing and Distribution of Hospital and Health Administration Index
- In Every Issue:
- NLM Publications
- Internet Directory
Upcoming Events
January 2000
February 2000
icon you can click on it in order to print out the entire issue of the current Latitudes.
