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

During the month of April, 2012, the RML offered a newly developed training series targeting community college librarians. The series, entitled Navigating the Health Information Maze, was offered in a set of four, one-hour webcasts every Tuesday during the month. Twenty-nine librarians from 24 different institutions took advantage of the opportunity to gain expertise in National Library of Medicine resources; including PubMed, MedlinePlus, the NLM Gallery of Mobile Apps and Sites, and Health Information for Special Populations. Additional information about the series and archived training sessions are available from the preceding series website. Outreach to community colleges is a major NN/LM initiative for the coming year. (more…)

Our new contract year began Tuesday, May 1, 2012, and the biggest change involved RML leadership roles. Alan Carr is now the Acting Associate Director for the NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region. He is an excellent candidate for this role, having worked with both RML Network Programs and Outreach Programs, including NN/LM membership, instruction for health professionals and public health workers, exhibits, and management of outreach funding. Former Associate Director Julie Kwan is neither gone nor forgotten! She has assumed the position of Associate Director of the UCLA Biomedical Library and the Science and Engineering Library. This role includes operational responsibility for the Biomedical Library, and she will serve as UCLA’s representative to the PSR Resource Library Directors group. The reason for this change was budgetary, and will allow the RML to continue a robust program for the region, with substantial training, funding, and outreach programs. (more…)

A half-day NN/LM Earthquake Summit was held Friday, April 6, 2012, at the University of California, San Francisco, Library and Center for Knowledge Management. Roughly twenty-five people attended the event, which was organized by Dan Wilson, Coordinator for the NN/LM National Emergency Preparedness & Response Initiative. Attendees represented both the Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest regions of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM). The excellent roster of featured speakers included Keith Knudsen, representing the United States Geological Survey (USGS); Monica Gowan, PhD Candidate, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; Siobhan Champ-Blackwell, representing the National Library of Medicine; Randy Brawley and Angela Nak, representing the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and Roberto Lombardi, representing San Francisco Public Library. A detailed meeting report with numerous photos from the event is available from the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit. (more…)

Six excellent applications were received in response to the 2012/13 Request for Proposals: Express Outreach/Training/Technology Awards; five of which were funded for a period of 12 months, beginning May 1, 2012. Funding amounts are all approximately $12,000. The projects strive to improve access to health information for health professionals and health consumers and to promote the awareness and use of products and services available from the NLM and the NN/LM. Target groups include K-12 instructors and students, health sciences librarians partnering with researchers, public libraries desiring emergency preparedness mini-conferences, community college health services and students, and clinical faculty involved with a Patient-Centered Family Health Clinic model of care. (more…)

By Vicki Burchfield
Department of Information Studies student
UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

During the winter quarter, 2012, UCLA Department of Information Studies student Vicki Burchfield completed an internship with the Regional Medical Library. Through her previous work as a Public Service Assistant at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, Ms. Burchfield had experience with answering reference questions and researching subject guides. Upon completion of her internship, Ms. Burchfield wrote the following summary reflecting upon her experience and the lessons learned during the process of researching and creating an online subject guide for the Clinical Social Work Department at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. (more…)

by Kathleen Carlson, MLS, AHIP
Arizona Health Sciences Library, Phoenix Campus
University of Arizona, College of Medicine

On April 3, 2012, more than 600 of the best and brightest young scientific minds were present at the 2012 Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (AzSEF) in downtown Phoenix. The University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Arizona Health Sciences Library (AHSL) was represented by Yamila El-Khayat, Outreach Librarian, Tucson Campus; and Kathleen Carlson, Education Librarian, Phoenix Campus. The librarians demonstrated National Library of Medicine resources, including PubMed and MedlinePlus, using iPads. (more…)

By Monica Garcia, MA, MLIS
Health and Life Sciences Librarian
UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, Los Angeles

Linda Rosenstock, MD, MPH; Dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, moderated the one-hour panel presentation, Voices: Perspectives on Women in Medicine, on April 4, 2012, at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. The discussion focused on the advancement of women in the medical profession, and the ways women have influenced and enhanced the practice of medicine, in the hopes of inspiring a new generation of medical pioneers. Dr. Rosenstock was joined by Margaret Stuber, MD, Jane and Marc Nathanson Professor of Psychiatry; Cambria Garell, MD, Pediatrics Resident, and Molly Diaz, MD/MPH PRIME student. The UCLA PRIME Program is a five-year program to develop leaders in medicine who address policy, care, and research issues in healthcare for underserved populations. The program leads to the M.D. degree, and a master’s degree in an area that complements the mission of the program. (more…)

by Sherrill Olsen and Louisa Verma
Health Sciences Library, Huntington Hospital
Pasadena, CA

Last August, the Health Sciences Library at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA received an outreach funding award to develop a web site for health issues related to teens. The result is Healthy Teens Pasadena (HTP), a multimedia web site that brings Pasadena-area and Internet resources for teen health issues together in one place for teens, parents, and adolescent educators. (more…)

This one-day symposium was held on March 2, 2012, at the newly renovated UCLA Library Conference Center, at the Charles E. Young Research Library. Funded by NN/LM PSR to enhance the role of librarians in supporting evidence-based medicine education and practice for health care practitioners, the symposium was organized by the Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona (MLGSCA), in cooperation with the Northern California and Nevada Medical Library Group (NCNMLG) and the Hawaii Pacific Chapter, Medical Library Association (HPCMLA). The symposium planning committee was chaired by Lisa Marks, Library Services Supervisor, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Burbank. Roughly sixty enthusiastic attendees came to hear featured speaker Connie Schardt’s presentation highlighting the key types of clinical study designs, along with their strengths and weaknesses. She also thoroughly explained the terminology used to describe the results of clinical trials, as well as the criteria for judging the validity of therapy studies and systematic reviews. Ms. Schardt, who holds the position of Associate Director for Public Services at the Medical Center Library at Duke University, is a nationally recognized expert in the field. Other invited speakers included Cheryl Bartel, former UCLA librarian and current nurse for the Lake Elsinore School District, and Robert Johnson, clinical services librarian at the USC Norris Medical Library. (more…)

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

Love of Reading Week, occurring February 13-17, 2012, was a national celebration promoting an appreciation of literature among students and adults through author readings, special presentations, and other literary activities. During this time, students had the opportunity to interact with different professionals in various fields, to hear about the importance of reading in career development, and to share reading a book that will leave a lasting memory. This has truly become a wonderful experience for grade school children in helping to explore new career fields and inspiring them to continue their education. (more…)