NLM’s Health Hotlines is available as an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is also compatible with the iPad. Health Hotlines is a compilation of organizations with toll-free telephone numbers to assist the public in locating health-related information, and it is searchable by key word or may be browsed by subject category. It is derived from DIRLINE, NLM’s Directory of Information Resources Online, which contains descriptions of almost 9,000 health and biomedical organizations and resources. Some of the subject areas included in Health Hotlines are AIDS, cancer, diseases and disorders, maternal and child health, aging, substance abuse, disabilities and mental health. Health Hotlines is also available on the NLM Gallery of Mobile Apps and Sites.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) is developing an inventory database of Best Practice, Promising Practice, Local Effort, Resources, and Policies occurring among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities, schools, work sites, health centers/clinics, and hospitals. The database is available through the IHS Online Search, Consultation, and Reporting (OSCAR) System. The purpose of the inventory is to assist the AI/AN communities with getting the information and health services they need and highlighting the great work being done in the field. Users have the option of searching the database or submitting content electronically.

On the upper right of our web page is the “Add This” social bookmarking widget. It allows you to share our NewsBits and Latitudes articles on popular social networking sites — or any other web sites — such as Facebook and Twitter. Just click on the button and choose from a list of popular services.

Alison Aldrich, Technology Outreach Coordinator at the NN/LM Pacific Northwest Region, published a terrific article last week in PNR’s “Dragonfly” newsletter called “QR Codes: They’re Everywhere.” Head on over to Dragonfly to read the article and try out this fascinating technology: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/dragonfly/2010/06/08/qr-codes/.

Check out all of the ways that you can communicate with NLM using social networking services like Facebook and Twitter on NLM’s “Follow, Fan and Connect with NLM” page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/socialmedia/index.html.

The page includes Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, and e-mail lists.

Google released Google Wave, a new real-time collaboration and communication tool, to 100,000 beta testers yesterday. If you’re not one of the early testers but are curious about what Google Wave can do, check out this detailed description in the LifeHacker blog:

http://lifehacker.com/5370738/google-wave-first-look

The Ribbit Wave gadget for conducting conference calls sounds particularly interesting!