Wednesday, July 15, 2009
12:00 Noon - 1:00 pm (EST)

Join us for a presentation and a question/answer session from Stacey Arnesen, Head, Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC). DIMRC is embedded within NLM’s Specialized Information Services (SIS) division and is tasked with the collection, organization and dissemination of health information resources and informatics research related to disasters of natural, accidental, or deliberate origin.

For more information and how to connect, please see http://nnlm.gov/sea/services/webconf/index.html.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, SE/A Region will be closed on Friday, July 3, 2009 to observe the 4th of July holiday.  We will reopen at 8:30 am on Monday, July 6, 2009.

The National Library of Medicine will also be closed on the 3rd of July.

Hathy Simpson, MPH
PHPartners.org Content Developer
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
New England Region (NN/LM NER)
University of Massachusetts Medical School
hathy.simpson@umassmed.edu
http://PHPartners.org (Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce)

The Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce website, http://PHPartners.org, has been revised to make public health information easier to find and to highlight public health news and resources.

PHPartners is a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations, and health science libraries which provides timely, convenient access to selected resources on the Internet.

Revisions to PHPartners.org include:

• Access to public health topic pages from the left frame of every page:

Boterrorism
Environmental Health
HIV/AIDS
Nutrition
Workforce Development

• Access to main topics from the left frame of every page:

Health Promotion and Health Education
Literature and Guidelines
Health Data Tools and Statistics
Grants and Funding
Education and Training
Legislation and Policy
Conferences and Meetings
Finding People
Discussion and E-mail Lists
Jobs and Careers

• Public Health News in center of the home page.
• In the Spotlight section to highlight links of particular interest to the public health workforce. Selected spotlight links will rotate on a weekly basis.
• Featured Resources on the right frame of the home page.
• What’s New on PHPartners.org on the home page allows users to keep up-to-date with news and new resources posted on PHPartners.org by subscribing to the PHPartners email list or RSS news feed.

The PHPartners team wants to hear feedback on the look and usability of PHPartners.org. Please submit your feedback and comments to Lisa Sedlar, sedlarl@mail.nlm.nih.gov, and Hathy Simpson, hathy.simpson@umassmed.edu. Users can also submit feedback using the Contact Us link on the About Partners page.

Joey Nicholson
Chair, Client Relations Committee
PH/HA Section, MLA

Do you work with public health professionals? Are you interested in public health? Are you interested in attending the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting?

This year’s APHA meeting will take place in Philadelphia, PA from November 7-11, 2009. Its theme will be Water and Public Health.

The Grace and Harold Sewell Memorial Fund, Inc. is offering stipends to librarians and other information professionals to help cover the costs of their attending and/or participating in this meeting. Successful applicants from the greater Philadelphia area will receive a stipend of at least $650. Successful applicants from outside greater Philadelphia will receive at least $1,000. This amount covers most of the APHA Membership at $195 and Early Bird (pre-August 28, 2009) Member Registration at $395. Though significant, these amounts will NOT cover all costs, so stipend recipients will need to find additional monies to cover remaining costs.

Completed applications are due July 24, 2009–just over a month from today. To apply, read and complete the application form attached or download the Word application form at http://phha.mlanet.org/ . Add all required application materials to the completed form and send as a SINGLE email attachment to Joey Nicholson at jnicholson@nyam.org .

For more information, contact Joey Nicholson at jnicholson@nyam.org. Or click here for more information.

Please forward this message to others who may be interested.

Hope you’ll join us at this colorful and fascinating meeting!

The NN/LM SE/A is introducing a new funding opportunity for community day activities. Community Day is part of the nationwide effort encouraging Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, schools and communities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security through its “Ready America” (http://www.ready.gov) campaign highlights the importance of emergency preparedness and promotes individual involvement through events and activities across the country.

The objectives of the SE/A Community Day award are to:

1. Encourage, strengthen and/or expand library partnerships with first responders and community emergency management personnel.
2. Provide access to emergency management information tools and resources for families or other target populations.
3. Integrate and involve libraries in emergency preparedness, response and recovery planning.
4. Promote and publicize the role libraries, faith or community organizations or American Indian Tribes can play in emergency preparedness.
5. Strengthen and expand medical library partnerships with public libraries, faith or community groups or American Indian Tribes.

The SE/A award targets partnerships with or applications from public libraries, American Indian Tribes or faith organizations. For more information about the award see: http://nnlm.gov/sea/funding/expresscommunityday.html. Applications are due by August 30, 2009 for events after October 1, 2009.

For questions, please contact the SE/A office.

HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is seeking comments on the preliminary definition of “Meaningful Use” of electronic health records as presented to the HIT Policy Committee on June 16. Comments on the draft description of “Meaningful Use” are due by Friday, June 26, 5 p.m., EDT, and should be no more than 2,000 words in length. Select to access instructions for submitting comments.

DOCLINE 4.0 is scheduled for release on Tuesday, June 23, 2009. For details, see the Release Notes which can be viewed at:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/docline/docline_rel_info_v4_0.html

Check out the upcoming changes by logging into the DOCLINE 4.0 Preview Site. Login details were posted to DOCLINE-L. If you missed the message, contact your RML.

Important: You can login to only one DOCLINE at a time. Do not login to both production DOCLINE and the Preview site at the same time.

On May 27, 2009, the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce (“Partners”) released a description of a Funding Opportunity in FY 2009 to promote quality improvement in public health. Since the release of this notice, we have received many requests for information and clarification. These questions have underscored the need for formal clarification of the solicitation and the related application process. In order to be consistent in our responses and fair to all potential applicants, we have decided to retract the current notice and to formally reissue it as soon as possible as a formal solicitation in http://www.FedBizOpps.gov.

As a consequence of our decision, the due date for proposals in response to this solicitation has been postponed and is NOT Friday, June 19.

In early July, the National Library of Medicine, on behalf of the Partners, expects to post a Statement of Work and a Request for Proposals on www.FedBizOpps.gov that will specifically describe the submission instructions and criteria for selection. The new due date for submission of proposals will be no earlier than mid-July.

As soon as the solicitation becomes available, it will be posted via the NN/LM Regional listservs and announced on the Partners website (http://www.PHPartners.org).

We regret any inconvenience this delay might have caused you or your organizations.

Questions may be emailed to Lisa Lang, at nichsr@nlm.nih.gov.

http://www.jointcommission.org/Standards/FieldReviews/field_ecccpc

The Joint Commission is proposing requirements for the Hospital Accreditation Program to advance effective communication, cultural competence, and patient-centered care. Your feedback regarding the value of the proposed requirements and the ability of hospitals to implement them is important. Comments on the Proposed Requirements to Advance Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient-Centered Care for the Hospital Accreditation Program will be gathered for 6 weeks beginning on June 8, 2009. At the earliest, any implementation of the proposed requirements would occur in January 2011.

To review and comment on the proposed requirements, please click on the link provided, or copy and paste the link into the address bar of your browser: http://www.JointCommission.org/Standards/FieldReviews/field_ecccpc

On the final page of the survey, question 11 asks: “Are there any final comments you would like to provide to The Joint Commission regarding the proposed requirements to advance effective communication, cultural competence, and patient-centered care?” You may want to strongly encourage that there at least be a “librarian” category for respondents and follow that with your ideas and experience.

by Isaac Tufvesson, American Library Association
Office for Literacy and Outreach Services

The National Library of Medicine and the American Library Association want to show you how to find the information that will help you achieve good health. The site introduces the resources of the National Library of Medicine and provides information that helps communities of color in rural settings make good health decisions.

Why do I need this information?

The site specifically addresses the diseases and illnesses that disproportionately impact people of color by educating and making medical information more accessible.

How do I use the Good Health Information website?

Visitors will find quick links to health topics, as well as a tutorial to help them get started.

How do I find “Good Health Information?”

Simply visit Good Health Information at www.ala.org/goodhealth to learn more!

Look for Good Health Information at the Diversity and Outreach Fair at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago!