by Paul B. Drake
User Services & Document Delivery Librarian
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Library, University of Guam
Mangilao, Guam

College students are at a time in life when habits are developed, and decisions are made that affect the direction and quality of their lives. Knowledge of accurate and reliable sources of health information is vital. (more…)

Four outstanding projects were funded in response to the 2013/14 Request for Proposals: Express Outreach/Training/Technology Awards. These projects will be funded for approximately $9,000 each, for a period of 12 months, beginning May 1, 2013. 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 students, faith-based organizations, and ethnically and culturally diverse populations in the region. (more…)

by Judith Kammerer, MLIS, MA, AHIP
Medical Librarian/Manager
UCSF Fresno and Community Regional Medical Center
Fresno, CA

The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has organized an annual summit on translational bioinformatics (TBI) since 2008. I was fortunate to attend the 2013 Summit, which took place in San Francisco, CA, on March 18-20, 2013. This was made possible by an NN/LM PSR Professional Development Award, that supports hospital librarians in attending continuing education workshops and conferences. (more…)

On Wednesday, March 27, 2013, a meeting of the NN/LM PSR Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) was convened at the UCLA Faculty Center. The committee had not met as a large group for several years, so the membership was completely reconstituted and revitalized! Fifteen committee members, representing the constituencies served by the RML, attended the meeting, along with RML staff. Composition of the committee includes health professionals, hospital librarians, academic librarians, school and public librarians, community college librarians, community health librarians, and community-based organization representatives. A complete list of RAC members, along with minutes and presentation slides of the 3/27/13 meeting, are available on the NN/LM PSR web site. (more…)

The Medical Library Association’s educational webcast, “Partnering to Prevent Diagnostic Error: Librarians on the Inside Track,” held on March 13, 2013, was a success!

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Southwest Region (NN/LM PSR), sponsored nine (9) regional sites for the broadcast of MLA’s Educational Webcast. There were a total of 97 people who viewed the webcast. (more…)

by Sunny Sritongsook, MLIS, AHIP
Medical Librarian
Scripps Mercy Hospital
San Diego, CA

Health care reform has repurposed health care in the US, and hospital leaders have been strategizing ways to continually improve processes for increased quality of care, while reducing medical errors and redundancy in the system. On the whole, it’s not an easy task to undertake, but utilizing knowledge management (KM) fits squarely with the design for immediate change in a complex environment. (more…)

by Frances Chu, MLIS, RN/NP
Associate Director of Reference & Outreach, Pumerantz Library
Western University of Health Sciences
Pomona, CA

On March 1, 2013, I attended the workshop Diagnostic Error: A Multidisciplinary Exploration, at Long Beach Memorial/Miller Children’s Hospital, with instructors Mark Graber, MD, Barb Jones, and Lorri Zipperer. The workshop focused on how clinicians make diagnostic errors and how librarians can be involved in a multidisciplinary team to address the issue of diagnostic error. Of interest to me, as a librarian and previously a clinician, were the studies about how clinicians think and make decisions, and how that can lead to diagnostic errors. (more…)

Introduction
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has a long, respected history of providing resources for health professionals, scientists, and researchers, but it may come as a surprise that it also offers quality, unique materials for K-12 science educators. NLM’s Specialized Information Services (SIS) division is working diligently towards creating resources that are fully vetted and tied to national education standards. A recent webinar presented to NN/LM staff by Andrew Plumer of SIS highlighted numerous resources that include lesson plans for middle and high school students. These freely available educator resources help students make the connection between scientific concepts and community health, environmental quality, natural and human-caused hazards, and other issues. While these resources are geared towards educators, school and public librarians will also benefit from knowing the breadth and depth of what is available. (more…)

PSR was invited to participate at the California School Nurses Organization Conference in early February in San Diego. Kay Deeney taught an extensive workshop focusing on MedlinePlus and other NLM resources. She covered the NLM Drug Portal, the Pillbox, DailyMed and Genetics Home Reference. Topics on evaluating health websites and writing easy to read materials were also covered. The school nurses who attended appreciated learning about these resources. (more…)

by Connie Schardt
Associate Director for Research & Education
Medical Center Library
Duke University

Evidence-Based Practice is all about information management for providing quality patient care. Understanding the principles and concepts behind Evidence-Based Practice can help us enhance the services and resources we provide to our health care workers. There are lots of ways to do this within the constraints of budgets and staffing. (more…)