On August 3-4, I attended the Mississippi State University Library eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit (LEETS) held at the Mitchell Memorial Library at MSU in Starkville, MS. The conference, divided into two days with eResources topics and discussion on the first day, followed by emerging technologies topics and presentations on the second day.

The first day’s presentations examined topics from demand-driven acquisition to developing an institutional repository to ensuring access to subscribed e-content. The day began with a keynote address by Tim Collins, president/CEO of EBSCO Publishing, who provided a unique look at upcoming eResources products and price structuring. He discussed that pricing will be more closely targeted to efficiently respond to libraries’ use of electronic resources

Another highlight from the first day of the conference was a presentation given by Regina Reynolds, Director of U.S. ISSN Center, and Head, ISSN Publisher Liaison Section, Library of Congress, as she shared the work of the PIE-J (Presentation & Identification of E-Journals) working group. She talked about efforts being aimed at more efficiently and more effectively indexing and labeling e-journal content, thereby making it both more discoverable and easier to use.

The second day provided equally timely and relevant presentations. Emerging technologies topics included: librarian’s roles in social media, cloud computing, making digital video accessible, augmented reality, app development, and of course a review of apps for librarians. Because I always appreciate a thorough, yet manageable, review of various emerging technologies and products, a few of my favorite presentations were presented as such

First, Rachel Renick, Public Services Librarian at Millsaps College, gave an outstanding review of a handful of free, easy-to-use mobile app development tools. She recommended the following tools in her presentation,: Conduit, Appsbar, Appcelerator, & Tiggzi. If you’ve been thinking about creating your own mobile app, give these tools a look

Nicole Hennig, Head of the User Experience Group at MIT Libraries presented ‘Apps4Librarians’, session modeled after applications she and her staff recommend to faculty and students seeking to enhance productivity, and stay more organized. The presentation and discussion were aimed at effective use of mobile technologies and how their placement within the education setting is appropriate and valuable. More than 50 suggested apps were discussed—among them ones for note-taking, presenting, cloud computing, and library research. The presentation concluded with tips on how to keep up with the latest apps.

More information about the 2012 MSU LEETS conference, including recorded presentations can be found at: http://blogs.library.msstate.edu/msuleets/?page_id=1223

For more information, please contact Andrew Youngkin, Emerging Technologies/Evaluation Coordinator @ ayoungki@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

The University of Virginia’s School of Medicine/Claude Moore Health Sciences Library seeks a collaborative, forward-thinking professional for the position of Clinical Librarian.

This non-tenure-track faculty appointment is in an academic research-oriented environment with expectations for research, publication, and participation in professional associations.  The Clinical Librarian provides research and evidence-based practice information resources to clinical departments and programs in response to priorities set by Health System and library leadership.

We believe this position offers a broad range of responsibilities for an experienced librarian who is ready to assume a challenging role in a dynamic library setting.  The posting outlining the responsibilities, qualifications, and application process for this position is online at http://jobs.virginia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=68242

To better serve the information needs associated with public health, the CDC has developed a free, comprehensive, digital repository for all CDC literature and research known as CDC Stacks. Since public health information needs are so varied, digital collections were brought in from across the CDC and can now be searched and discovered via one user interface. The goals of transparency and accountability fueled the push for this repository, as the public has paid for the creation of these publications and should therefore be able to access them for free. Lt. Robert Swain, who received his MLIS degree from the University of Alabama, was the driving force behind this project. As the website notes, “CDC Stacks provides access to current CDC research and literature such as the Open Access Collection. In addition, CDC Stacks offers a historical perspective that was previously not available, such as the first 30 volumes of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.” The public can “search the full text of all documents, browse journals by public health subjects, and explore curated collections of documents on relevant topics” Explore it for yourself at http://stacks.cdc.gov. To hear the NN/LM SE/A’s Beyond the SEA webinar recording of Lt Robert Swain discussing CDC Stacks, go here: https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p83775314/

For more information, please contact Sheila Snow-Croft @ ssnowcro@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

Date:  September 19th, 2012

Time:  Noon to 1:00 pm (EDT)

Presenter: Becky Mehling, MLS

Rebecca Mehling, MLS is the Medical Librarian at University Hospital East (UHE), part of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.  Ms. Mehling’s professional experience spans more than 25 years, most as the sole medical librarian in several hospital libraries.  She has been the sole medical librarian at UHE, where she is responsible for all library operations, since 2002. Before coming to UHE she served as a Consumer Health Librarian and Library Consultant, assisting several hospital libraries with the planning and design of their consumer health libraries, collection development, and training volunteer staff.  Prior to this she was the sole medical librarian at St. Ann’s Hospital in Westerville, Ohio, which is now part of the Columbus (OH) based Mt. Carmel Health System.

Presentation: The Electronic Health Record and My IHIS (Integrated Healthcare Information System) Adventure as a Physician Super User

Implementing a hospital based electronic health record system (EHR-S) is fraught with many challenges.  This presentation will focus on a solo medical librarian’s role as a physician super user at one hospital, during the implementation phase (Go Live) of its EHR-S. IHIS is the hospital’s branded version of EPIC. The presentation will also cover the training she received to prepare her for her physician super user role during the initial month long Go Live EHR-S implementation.

What do you need to join these conferences?

• A computer (with Flash installed)
• A telephone

How do I connect?

 Go to this URL: http://webmeeting.nih.gov/beyondthesea

• Enter as a Guest
• Sign in with your first and last name

Follow the instructions in the meeting room to have Adobe Connect call your phone or call 1-800-605-5167 and enter the participant code 816440 when prompted.

The NNLM-SE/A Regional Advisory Committee for Technology has recently developed a needs assessment to assist the RML in identifying appropriate and relevant technology training & instruction for the Southeastern/Atlantic Region. We invite librarians and staff from all resource libraries, medical libraries, and health science information centers within the region to participate in the assessment.

The survey can be accessed at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WTW5KHX, and the deadline to submit responses will be October 5, 2012.

Questions regarding the survey can be directed to: Andrew Youngkin, NNLM-SE/A Emerging Technologies/Evaluation Coordinator at ayoungki@hshsl.umaryland.edu or Kimberley Barker, Manager for Technology Education & Computing at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library at the University of Virginia and current chair of the NNLM-SE/A Technology Regional Advisory Committee at: KimberleyBarker@virginia.edu.

Thank you in advance for your willingness to participate and provide the NNLM-SE/A staff with valuable feedback.

In addition to our blog series on library advocacy, NN/LM SE/A is celebrating National Medical Librarians Month (NMLM) by giving away 100 of MLA’s “Medical Librarians: Your Ultimate Search Engine” posters. These great posters (sold on the MLA site for $15) are suitable for framing and will be shipped in a tube to avoid creases. We will honor orders at one per library until all are gone. Please submit your request, using our online request form at: http://www.nnlm.gov/sea/feedback/poster/

October is National Medical Librarian Month, and NN/LM SE/A wants to celebrate your success. Last year’s “Share Your Success” event was terrific, featuring a series of awe-inspiring stories about library advocacy. Geetha Sridaran and Kaye Robertson won the drawing for two $1000 travel scholarships for the 2012 MLA meeting in Seattle.

We are repeating the program this year, but with a difference: for 2012, we are looking for two kinds of stories to share on SEA Currents:

a)      Have you proven your worth to an administrator or told someone how important libraries are, changing his or her behavior?

b)      Have you explored new or non-traditional roles, expanding the realm of what a librarian does?

To enter the contest, tell us about your experience. Or share someone else’s story. Medical libraries around the region face ever-larger challenges, and we all need to work together by sharing our successful strategies to ensure a future for our profession and our institutions. Articles will be published on the NN/LM SE/A SEA Currents blog throughout the month of October.

Authors and subjects of articles will be entered into a competition for a$1000 travel scholarship to MLA 2013 in Boston, MA. One scholarship will be awarded and will cover travel: flight, hotel, and per diems up to $1000.

We will accept entries until October 15, 2012. The winner will be announced on October 31, 2012. Please submit articles to David Midyette at dmidyette@hshsl.umaryland.edu

Good luck!

Sandy Oelschlegel, MLIS, AHIP
Director, Preston Medical Library
Associate Professor
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN

How long have you been a librarian?
I have worked in a library since 1988, but got my MLIS degree in 1995 from University of Rhode Island.

How long have you been at your current library/in your current position?
I moved to Tennessee in 2003 and started as Director at Preston Medical Library in June of that year.

What made you decide to become a librarian?
I have always loved libraries and constantly sought information – even as a kid – I checked books out of Oxford Public Library (MA) on topics ranging from taxidermy, to hypnotism, to “the Black Stallion,” and many other topics. But the thing that brought me to work in the library at Tufts (now Cummings) Veterinary School in 1988 was the intersection of the library environment and the veterinary medical content. Although I am now a medical librarian, my background and undergraduate degree are in animal science. I loved (and still love) the aspect of medical librarians having an impact on patient care, whether the patients are animal or human.  

What do you consider your biggest work related challenge?
Because a big part of my job is as an administrator, I find the biggest challenge to be balancing the budget constraints against the increasing cost of and demand for the resources our users need. The trend is simply not sustainable.

What do you consider to be the most fulfilling part of your job?
We are fortunate at Preston Medical Library to be on the same campus as the UT School of Information Science, and we are able to mentor budding library students as employees and practicum students. I love to see them progress and work on research projects with them that culminate in SC/MLA presentations and published papers. Sharing my knowledge and experience with them is very gratifying. Some have gone on to be medical librarians!

What do you see as the biggest concerns in health sciences librarianship?
This field, in particular, is challenged by the need to continuously show the value of the services we provide with our human capitol. For example, publishers will increasingly be targeting health care systems, hospitals, and electronic medical records companies with resources that integrate information into the EMR, independent of libraries and librarians. Medical schools are expanding to include regional medical center locations for clinical years of medical school that do not provide for physical libraries, but instead offer only access to resources. So, the biggest challenge for our profession is to establish the value of our knowledge and skills as well as to keep identifying new roles for ourselves within our institutions.

How did you first come to know NN/LM SE/A?
I was familiar with the concept of NN/LM from New England. I volunteered to exhibit at the American Veterinary Medical Association in Boston and helped to teach people GratefulMed (yes, that was a long time ago!), and I participated in a 5 state outreach program funded by NN/LM NER. Knowing I wanted to move to Tennessee, I asked Tony Yancey of NN/LM SE/A if I could come volunteer at the AVMA meeting at Opryland in 2001. That was my first contact NN/LM SE/A . Thus, it was natural for me to contact NN/LM SE/A for funding for exhibit and outreach awards when I moved to Tennessee.

Has the NN/LM SE/A been of help to you?
The NN/LM SE/A has been a wonderful asset to Preston Medical Library and to Tennessee. We have received numerous exhibit awards and technology fair support. Additionally, we led a statewide assessment of health information across the state of Tennessee and, working with other leaders in Tennessee Health Sciences Library Association (THeSLA), we have hosted many education programs from the trainers, as well as statewide disaster planning. NN/LM plays an important role in health sciences librarianship in our region.

Will you share a success story about your library?
Our entire team is committed to our mission and has been working hard at “showing our value.” This means becoming an essential partner with the Graduate School, hospital administrators, nursing, and the community by being proactive, and adding services and events that make us relevant to more people.

Some examples include volunteering to serve as committee members for the shared governance nursing councils, hosting week long technology events (with NN/LM SE/A Funding), developing an active liaison program, naming a talented poet to be our Poet in Residence and holding monthly “Literary Rounds,” and bringing in a service dog regularly to help reduce the stress of our patrons. This list is so long – and it is a lot of work, but this has paid off with increased door count and, importantly, perception of our value to many more people.

What advice would you give others who are interested in being a health sciences librarian?

Stay curious, show your value, and remember your work will make a difference in the care patients receive.

If you have an inspiring story of your own, or would like more information, please contact Sheila Snow-Croft @ ssnowcro@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

“I think much can be gained by each generation if seniors are held in the high esteem that they deserve.”

Gloria Sanders
Service Coordinator, St. Luke’s Housing Authority
Nashville, TN

What is your position?
My position is Service Coordinator for (2) senior housing complexes. My position is immensely gratifying in that I get to help seniors solve problems and enhance the quality of life by preventing unnecessary hospitalizations and nursing home placements.

Is there something in your own personal story that led you to do the work you do?
I always enjoyed my grandmother and her friends, and I have always liked the company of my elders. I never get tired of hearing about the history they have witnessed and experienced. I think much can be gained by each generation if seniors are held in the high esteem that they deserve.

What do you love most about your outreach work?
I love being around my residents, listening to their stories, and finding resources that will improve the quality of their lives. My motto is “make it happen.” When I see a potential resource for my residents, I investigate and talk to the “powers that be.”  Then, I figure out what can be done to “make this happen” in my community.

What is the biggest challenge in what you do?
The biggest challenge I face on a daily basis is helping seniors overcome obstacles based on resistance to learning new things.

What has been the most fulfilling part of your work in terms of health outreach to your community’s underserved populations?
It is always fulfilling to me to empower a senior with information, and to witness them share that information with another senior.

What do you see as the biggest health concerns in the communities you serve?

The biggest health concerns in my community are lack of health education. My seniors need to learn the warning signs of various life-threatening events. Too often they endure unnecessary pain and other adverse symptoms because they do not seek routine medical care in a timely manner.

How did you first come to know NN/LM SE/A?
While browsing the Internet for health-related informational resources, I found NN/LM SE/A and contacted Nancy Patterson. She has been a great source of information and inspiration.

In what ways has NN/LM SE/A been of help to you?
NN/LM SE/A has been a great asset to me and the residents I serve because the health information available is very necessary. Nancy came to speak to my residents and provided timely information that made my residents feel special. The attendance was high because the residents need and want health information. They felt valued because Nancy flew from Maryland to Tennessee to deliver information to them.

Can you share a success story about the impact of health outreach in your community?
Health outreach in my community begins with one person sharing information with another. This form of communication has been largely word of mouth, but I would like to spread this information in a more formal setting. A success story is the award that my property is to receive from NN/LM SE/A to establish a formal learning environment complete with computers to teach seniors various health topics. This information will empower the seniors to become confident about recognizing symptoms that require immediate medical attention. This knowledge will also lessen the need for emergent care and ambulance transportation. My residents will learn how to ask pertinent questions during medical visits.

What advice would you give others who are interested in doing health outreach work in their communities?
Know your target audience and be patient. Sometimes a fear of failure will immobilize people, so be VERY encouraging. Because I work with seniors, it was very helpful for me to understand their mindset. This includes the reluctance to try new things. Some may be considered computer phobic, or “set in their ways.”  I have had seniors tell me that their best days were behind them. I try to encourage and motivate my residents to try new experiences and go to places they have never visited. Once you have overcome the initial obstacles and gained the trust of your seniors, it gets easier for them to try new things.

If you would like to share your story or suggest another person for our “Inspiring People” feature, please email Nancy Patterson:  npatters@hshsl.umaryland.edu

The National Library of Medicine invites applications for the position of Journal Publisher Liaison. This new position will serve as a liaison to journal publishers and the principal point of contact for publishers and editors on matters of review, selection and indexing for MEDLINE, the premier biomedical database in the world.

Position responsibilities include interpreting and communicating NLM policies to high-level publishers’ representatives, organizations, and information centers in the U.S. and worldwide; providing technical consultation and support as needed to facilitate the provision of biomedical information through NLM’s indexing and other services; coordinating meetings of the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC), NLM’s Scientific Review Committees, responsible for selecting journals for MEDLINE; serving as technical expert on journal publishing trends and scholarly communication issues to the Scientific Review Administrator for LSTRC.

Other duties include representing the library and outside national and international publishing and scholarly communication groups; serving as a senior member of the LO management team in areas relating to the acquisition, organization, access, and preservation of the biomedical literature; advising and consulting with senior staff at NLM on MEDLINE/PubMed content and development; and staying informed about national and international trends, legislation and pending changes in intellectual property rights, research and publishing. Prepares written correspondence, reports, and news announcements to explain and publicize NLM’s policies related to the biomedical literature in MEDLINE/PubMed.

This position is located in the Office of the Associate Director, Division of Library Operations (LO), National Library of Medicine (NLM, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). LO:  (1) selects, acquires, catalogs, and preserves biomedical publications; (2) indexes and provides access to the material; (3) furnishes reference and document delivery services; (4) prepares and publishes indexes, catalogs, and other publications for the use of the biomedical community; (5) administers national on-line biomedical information retrieval services; and (6) coordinates the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

Complete vacancy announcement information and application instructions will be posted soon on the NLM vacancy announcement website<http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/jobs/jobs.html> at, or can be searched on USAJobs.gov<http://www.usajobs.gov/>.

NIH IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER