by Stephen Kiyoi, Second Year NLM Associate Fellow
NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region
UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library

On January 18, 2012, the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library hosted Carly Strasser, Ph.D., for an enlightening talk on data management in scientific research. Carly’s work at DataONE and the California Digital Library (CDL), as well as her doctoral education in Biological Oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, give her a unique perspective on challenges of scientific data management. In addition to explaining her own work, Carly gave an excellent background on the cultural and technical issues in data archiving, sharing, and publication. The following is a detailed summary of Carly’s talk. Her presentation is also accessible on SlideShare. Read more »

E-Science Day, a day-long program organized by the University of California, Davis, and funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Southwest Region, was held on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at the Medical Education Building of the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. The event was conducted in a blended format—available both in-person and via web conference, featuring a keynote address and panel presentation; lightning rounds, and afternoon break-out sessions. The aim of the event planners was to educate regional librarians in the subject of e-science, why librarians should care about it, and how they can begin supporting it at their own libraries and institutions. Over 100 attendees participated in the event either virtually or in-person. Read more »

On December 16, 2011, in celebration of the end of NLM’s 175th anniversary, Clifford Lynch, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information, gave the presentation Biomedical Libraries in the Next Decades: Open, Diffuse, and Very Personal, at the National Library of Medicine. Overriding themes of his presentation included the implications surrounding the convergence of the increasingly data intensive nature of the biological sciences with traditional journal publications, and the possibilities for large scale computational scholarship. Another key topic was how developments in the broader economic, social, and regulatory climate will affect the evolution of medical knowledgebases. He emphasized the importance to the life sciences community of having an institution such as NLM, as a focal point for aggregating the staggering amount of information and data generated in the life sciences. There’s nothing analogous to NLM in other areas of scholarship. Read more »

by Naomi C. Broering, MLS, MA, AHIP
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, San Diego, CA

I highly recommend viewing this inspiring and provocative presentation about the future role of medical libraries. In addition to the summary submitted by Alan Carr, NN/LM PSR, I wish to note my personal observations. Read more »

A hearty “thank you” to all Network Members that responded to our membership renewal drive!  Very early in the new year, we will send out the new 2011-2016 membership certificates with an accompanying acknowledgement letter. Read more »

November is National Native American Heritage Month! Beginning as “American Indian Day” in 1915, National Native American Heritage Month recognizes the achievements of American Indians and Alaska Natives during the month of November. The Pacific Southwest Region is home to over 1.1 million American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), nearly 20% of the country’s AI/AN population. Unfortunately, AI/ANs have disproportionately high prevalence of diabetes, suicide, infant death, unintentional and motor vehicle injuries, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis than other Americans. These health disparities may be the result of inadequate education, disproportionate poverty, discrimination in the delivery of health services, and cultural differences, caused by economic adversity and poor social conditions. As health information professionals, we work not only with our patrons, but we work with our hospitals, our institutions, and our communities. This allows us a unique role in the fight against health disparities: we have the health resources and we have the ability to bring these parties together to make change. Read more »

The NN/LM National Library of Medicine Training Center (NTC), located at the University of Utah, offers in-person and online training related to NLM products. Read more »

In April 2011, The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health, invited people to show off their apps. NLM challenged people to create innovative software applications that use the Library’s vast collection of biomedical data, including downloadable data sets, application programming interfaces (APIs), or software tools – all of which are free and available for public use. The winners and honorable mentions of the Show Off Your Apps Challenge have been announced, including a winner from NN/LM PSR! Read more »

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is accepting applications for its Associate Fellowship program, a one-year training program for recent MLS graduates and librarians early in their career. The application deadline is February 3, 2012. Between 4 and 7 fellows will be selected for the program. Applications and additional information are available on the NLM web site. Read more »

The National Library of Medicine has funded awards for the 18th round of AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects. Since the beginning of this program in 1994, NLM has continued its HIV/AIDS-related outreach efforts to community-based organizations, patient advocacy groups, faith-based organizations, state and local departments of health, and libraries, including public libraries. Read more »