The National Library of Medicine® Training Center (NTC) has announced some changes to the way they teach the PubMed class. See the Technical Bulletin article for more details.

The University of Utah was awarded the NTC contract. The NTC will tour the country teaching PubMed for Trainers. The one-day PubMed class is replaced with a hybrid PubMed for Trainers class. This hands-on course consists of lectures, individual exercises, group work and discussions in four sessions, with independent work before or after each session. The course will consist of three 1½ hour online sessions and a six-hour in-person session. NLM or NTC trainers will deliver the lectures and facilitate discussions.

The objectives of the class are for current and future PubMed trainers to discover and develop:

1. functional knowledge of the MEDLINE® database,
2. understanding of the structure and use of the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH®) vocabulary in MEDLINE/PubMed,
3. expertise in the use of features and functions of the PubMed system, and
4. techniques and best practices in MEDLINE/PubMed instruction with fellow trainers.

The class is intended specifically for those who train, or will train others to use PubMed. This class could be for you if you teach PubMed to large groups, small groups, or one-on-one training. We look forward to lively discussions on PubMed instruction and adult education best practices.

NTC will continue to teach the TOXNET® and Beyond class but not the ½ day NLM Gateway & ClinicalTrials.gov class.

Web-based PubMed training is also available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/disted/pubmed.html.  NTC will be developing more distance training opportunities.

The NTC website and blog is at http://nnlm.gov/ntc/

by Yamila El-Khayat, MALS
Outreach Services Librarian, Arizona Health Sciences Library
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

On September 7-8, 2011, I attended the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Conference, which is dedicated to identifying the needs and providing a better understanding of the refugee community, and how we can come together to help enrich the lives of refugees. The event was held at the Westin La Paloma in Tucson, Arizona. There were approximately 400 participants, from many different sectors and companies, but all united in the cause to help the refugee population adapt to their foreign country and culture. (more…)

MLGSCA presents “Information Treasure Hunt: Supporting Evidence-Based Practice @ Your Institution” on Friday, March 2, 2012, from 8 AM -5 PM at the UCLA Charles Young Research Library Conference Center.

This event brings Connie Schardt (former MLA president and librarian at Duke University), MLGSCA member Robert Johnson (Clinical Services Librarian, University of Southern California), and Cheryl Bartel (former MLGSCA president, current School Nurse at Lake Elsinore Unified School District) to UCLA for a day of interactive instruction on topics critical for EBP success including study designs, critical appraisal, and practical methods for supporting EBP at your institution. Attendees will receive 8 CE credits.

This event will be in lieu of a Joint Meeting as the MLA Annual Meeting is in Seattle, WA in May where we hope MLGSCA will be highly represented!

Further information on the symposium, including a full schedule, cost, call for posters, and travel arrangements will be posted on the blog, MLGSCA Link, and sent out on the MLGSCA listserv.

This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, under Contract No. HHS-N-276-2011-00009-C with the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library.

September is National Preparedness Month. Emergency preparedness is one of those topics that is easily pushed to the back-burner, but in light of recent natural disasters around the country, National Preparedness Month reminds us how important emergency preparedness is. In 2011 natural disasters have become almost commonplace: Most recently, the east coast was shaken up by Hurricane Irene and an unusual 5.8 earthquake. In late spring, tornadoes raged in the Midwest. Earlier this year, a massive 9.0 earthquake rocked Japan and its resulting tsunami was felt as far as California. And this September marks the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Luckily, the Pacific Southwest Region has been able to avoid many of these disasters, but we are especially vulnerable to earthquakes, flash floods, hurricanes, monsoons, thunderstorms, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires. The theme for this year’s National Preparedness Month is “A Time to Remember. A Time to Prepare.” This September, let us remember all of these events and prepare ourselves, both personally and professionally, for any future disasters or emergencies. (more…)

As a Regional Medical Library, it is our responsibility each year to communicate our objectives and activities to our members. We have developed the following three overarching objectives for the year: (more…)

We are delighted to welcome Stephen Kiyoi to the RML office where he will complete the second year of the NLM Associate Fellowship. This is the first time the RML has hosted a second year NLM Fellow. Our goal is to prepare the NLM Associate Fellow for leadership in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and for future leadership roles in health informatics. Stephen will officially begin on September 6, 2011.

Stephen received his MLIS from UCLA’s Department of Information Studies, with a focus on Medical Informatics, in 2010. While pursuing his degree, he worked as a Public Service Assistant at UCLA’s Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library and as a student assistant to Christine Borgman, Presidential Chair of the Information Studies department. He also interned at the Norris Medical Library at the University of Southern California. Stephen is a recipient of the Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona’s student scholarship of 2010. Stephen received his Bachelor’s degree from the California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in English Literature.

His projects at NLM included the creation of a mobile version of DailyMed, NLM’s drug label website, the creation of a report to convey the value of NLM services and resources to a legislative audience, and research into the health information needs of the social work community.

Please join with us to welcome Stephen!

Plans for all 2010/2011 NLM Associate Fellows may be found at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/associates_plans.html.

By Yamila El-Khayat, Outreach Services Librarian, Arizona Health Sciences Library

I recently came back from attending the Arizona State Library Summit, “Adult Services for the 21st Century Summit: Living Longer, Living Better” which gives public librarians a space to learn about community resources and also attend sessions by various speakers. The event took place in the heart of Phoenix, our state’s capital city. The conference drew approximately 71 participants from all around Arizona. This two-day event had a theme centered on health information. (more…)

Outreach funding is a key component of the RML program, greatly extending our efforts to reach target populations. Outreach projects completed during the 2006-2011 contract were very impressive in quality and diversity. The following summaries are highlights from recently completed outreach projects. In addition, several in-depth narratives, written by the funding awardees, follow this article. (more…)

by Ford Kuramoto, DSW, LCSW
Director, National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse
Los Angeles, CA

The National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse (NAPAFASA) received funding for a Major Outreach Award Subcontract from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Pacific Southwest Region. The project involved outreach to California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands Jurisdiction. NAPAFASA is a national, private, non-profit coalition of youth, parents, community leaders, service providers and other professionals dedicated to the prevention, treatment and recovery of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI). Through its working relationships with community-based service agencies in California, Hawaii, and Guam, NAPAFASA developed a plan to reach and train as many groups and organizations as possible to promote the use of the National Library of Medicine and its many resources. (more…)

by Darlene Parker-Kelly, MSLS
Director, Library and Learning Resource Center
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
Los Angeles, CA

It was not long ago that I accepted the position of Director of Library/Learning Resource Center at Charles R. Drew University (CDU), located in south Los Angeles, and I knew immediately that our Library needed to become involved in outreach initiatives. My efforts began with a call to Judy Consales, the Director of the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library at UCLA, and she indicated that I needed to contact the Regional Medical Library (RML), and so the quest began. The first outreach initiative involved a collaboration between CDU Health Sciences Library and the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library at UCLA, which led to partnerships with a number of community organizations. Cathy Brown, Outreach Coordinator from the UCLA Biomedical Library, and I were the primary outreach organizers. Our project goal was to participate in four health or community fairs, but we became ambitious and by the end of the project we had successfully participated in 10 health fairs! We attended three chamber of commerce events, three faith-based organization events, three women’s conferences, and one school readiness event. (more…)