The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce the release of a new educational resource, GeneEd. http://geneed.nlm.nih.gov

Developed in collaboration with the National Human Genome Institute (NHGRI) (http://www.genome.gov/) and with teachers and experts in genetics and genetic counseling, GeneEd is a useful resource of trusted information which helps students and teachers in grades 9 – 12 learn genetics. Read the rest of this entry »

By Nalini Mahajan
Director, Medical Library
Marionjoy Rehabilitation Hospital

Information Connections is a website for parents of children with developmental disabilities and chronic diseases with a special focus on Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Down Syndrome, and Traumatic Brain Injury. The informative website was developed and launched by the Marianjoy Medical Library with funding from the National Network of Library of Medicine, Greater Midwest Region (NN/LM GMR) and is sponsored by Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. It is accessible to anyone from anywhere and it is free.

Since its initial launch in April 2011, InformationConnections.org has helped thousands of families seeking help on these topics. Website usage and feedback in our first year has been exceptional.

We would love to promote our Web site to everyone who could benefit from this wonderful resource and would appreciate any help from you. Please spread the word around; like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, feel free to blog about us, and place a link to us on your website. Our goal is to have 500 friends by the end of 2012. Once we reach the magic number of 500 friends, 3 winners be selected randomly and each will receive a $25.00 gift certificate.

The National Library of Medicine recently released a mobile app that is intended to serve as the authoritative guide to NLM mobile resources. The app was created as an HTML 5 mobile Web site in support of the Library’s ongoing efforts to make our information broadly available. Learn more about this new resource via the NLM Technical Bulletin article or explore the app on your mobile device at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mobile-app/.

The Library welcomes your feedback about this new app via its Contact Us link.

If you are a Google Maps user or don’t know where to start with this free tool, Mashable Tech has posted Google Maps: 10 Handy Tricks You Should Know: http://mashable.com/2012/08/16/google-maps-tips/. Among these tips are: Save Your Home and Work Addresses, Sharing Maps, Use Google MapsGL, Find Out More With “What’s Here?”, and See Info Layers.

These tricks might be just what you need to get you on the map.

by Robin Sabo
Assistant Professor/Health Professions Librarian
Central Michigan University

As both a Registered Dietitian and a Health Professions Librarian, I know how valuable MedlinePlus can be to health professionals. Not only is MedlinePlus the best consumer-health website for dietitians to refer their clients, but MedlinePlus also contains exceptional resources for dietetic practice.

Exhibiting at the Michigan Dietetic Association 2012 Annual Conference, April 26-27 in East Lansing was a great opportunity to share the power of MedlinePlus with my dietitian colleagues. Three hundred and twenty dietitians from throughout the state attended the conference. They work in positions involving clinical practice, foodservice, community nutrition, education, public relations and media and in settings including acute care hospitals, long-term care, universities, government, corporations and non-profit organizations.

The dietitians were eager to learn about LactMed, Daily Med and the Dietary Supplements Label Database. Resources for Your Health brochures particularly African-American Health, the Consumer Health for Seniors card and MedlinePlus bookmarks and pens were especially popular. In future dietetic meetings, the anatomy video collection would be an excellent resource to highlight as well as content aimed at seniors since many dietitians work with that population. I felt energized after having the chance to spread the word about all that MedlinePlus offers dietitians.

By Fran E. Kovach MLIS AHIP
Reference & Education Librarian
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Springfield, IL

Mark LaRoque
California Indian Manpower Consortium Inc.
Workforce Development Coordinator
Chicago Based Operations
Chicago, IL
On June 1-3, 2012, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Library participated in the 7th Annual Taylorville Black Horse Pow Wow in Taylorville, Illinois, at the Christian County Fairgrounds. This is the fourth year that we participated at this event.  New this year was the National Library of Medicine release of the free iPad app, Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness which we shared on an iPad 3. The stories of traditions, healers, and the journey of the totem pole across the United States captivated and delighted the audience. Visitors to our booth left with enthusiasm to hear more of the traditional stories. For more information on this app, please see: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/native_voices_app.html 

Special guest this year, Mark LaRoque of CIMC California Indian Manpower Consortium, Inc. (CIMC), stopped by our booth. Mark is Native American and is the Workforce Development Coordinator for the CIMC training program based in Chicago whose mission is to create positive change for Native communities in Illinois. Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations are due to Joan Zivich as she was named to the Medical Library Association’s Hospital Libraries Section Scroll of Exemplary Service.

Members selected for this award are acknowledged to have made a difference in advancing the cause of hospital librarianship during the past year.  Activities that reflect exemplary service include leadership, publishing, service and/or management of special projects/events.

From the article in the Munster Community News:
“Zivich has been the medical librarian at Community Hospital in Munster since 1987. In December, 2011 she was appointed to the Project Advisory Committee for the National Library of Medicine  and American Academy of Pediatrics. The special advisory committee was formed to improve access of public health information and use of medicine during a national crisis to better meet the needs of children.”

Read more here:  http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/munster/hospital-librarian-added-to-honor-scroll-for-service-to-profession/article_5f1ef8c0-3cfe-534e-91e4-0f479b3e9370.html.

Congratulations, Joan!

Fran E. Kovach, MLIS, AHIP
Reference & Education Librarian
Medical Library
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Springfield, IL

The ILLINOIS RURAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE, “Building a Sustainable Future”, was held April 24-26, 2012, at the Keller Convention Center in Effingham, Illinois. In rural Illinois, many different mobile devices including iPhones, Androids, BlackBerries, and iPads are the new stethoscopes. Exhibitor immersion in the conference sessions led to discussions of the use of the National Library of Medicine mobile apps and mobile sites in rural communities.  TOXNET, Medline Plus Farm Health and Safety, and Wiser NIH all received high praises from the HazMat teams.

Through a NN/LM GMR exhibit award, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Library displayed the new NLM exhibit banner, provided NLM pamphlets, gave out the afghan of “The Curious Herbal” as a booth prize, and offered demonstrations on the iPad of the various NLM mobile sites and apps, including Wiser. After seeing the Wiser demo, a family physician immediately downloaded it onto his iPad. Exhibiting and participating in the annual Illinois Rural Health Association meeting continues to be a worthwhile and rewarding experience.

Healthy People 2020 provides tools for working in the community. MAP-IT, which stands for Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, Track, is a five-stage framework that can be used to plan and evaluate public health interventions to achieve Healthy People 2020 objectives. MAP-IT pages include Planning and Funding resources to help get you on your way. MAP-IT badges may also be inserted in a blog or web page as a link to these resources. Just copy the provided code and insert in your site: http://healthypeople.gov/2020/connect/webBadge.aspx

Healthy People is based on a simple but powerful model:

• Establish national health objectives.
• Provide data and tools to enable States, cities, communities, and individuals across the country to combine their efforts to achieve them.
• Create and implement a plan to reach Healthy People 2020 objectives.
• Track your community’s progress.

The IOM Roundtable on Health Literacy has made available a paper describing the ten attributes of a health literate organization, that is, “an organization that makes it easier for people to navigate, understand, and use information and services to take care of their health”: http://iom.edu/Global/Perspectives/2012/Attributes.aspx

The slide set is available for viewing and download: Attributes of a Health Literate Organization.ppt