The Deadline for the MLA Benchmarking Survey Has Been Extended!

MLA Benchmarking Survey Deadline Extended

The Benchmarking Network Editorial Board (BNEB) and benchmarking chapter liaisons thank the 180+ librarians who have already started their MLA benchmarking survey and the 90+ who have completed it.

In acknowledgement of the end-of-the-year crunch experienced by many of our members, the BNEB is extending the survey deadline through January 31, 2008.

Make it your New Year's resolution to gather and enter your data after January
1, 2008!

Links to the benchmarking area are to the right of this page.

SC/MLA Photographs

http://scmla.library.musc.edu/photos/index.php

Librarians' Journal Club Article

Thanks, Emily Lawson, for passing this along to Mike Shadix.

Our next Journal Club article is:

Med Libr Assoc. 2006 October; 94(4): 402-409, e201-e204.

Copyright © 2006, Medical Library Association

"Evaluation of a liaison librarian program: client and liaison perspectives"

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17082831

MEN

Health Science Center Library to Host Upcoming Webcast on Scholarly Publishing

The Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University is a hosting sitefor the MLA Webcast, "Scholarly Publishing and Open Access: StraightTalk."

Date: Tuesday, November 20, 2007Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM Eastern Standard TimeLocation: Health Sciences Center Library Classroom, Level B

To register to attend, please send an email by November 16th, to Mia S.White, email address: mia.s.white@emory.edu.

For directions and parking information, please go to the HSCL's website(www.healthlibrary.emory.edu) and click on Directions on the left.

For the agenda, goals, and objectives for this webcast, go to:http://www.mlanet.org/education/distance_ed/scholarlypub/

Hope to see you at the webcast!

Thank you, Mia, for sharing this with us.

NN/LM Health Literacy Toolkit Available

Mandy Bayer-Meloy was kind enough to share this with me the other day:

The NN/LM has an online health literacy toolkit available at the following URL:

http://nnlm.gov/sea/outreach/healthlitkit/index.html

To help those who are working to end health illiteracy. The kits will also be available at the upcoming Southern Chapter/MLA meeting in November in Charlteston, SC.

Also from Mandy, check out:

http://www.fda.gov/womens/getthefacts/Spanish/default.htm


Thanks for sharing this helpful tool, Mandy.

MEN

CDC Launches Redesigned Spanish Web Site “CDC en Español”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Spanish–language Web site, CDC en Español, has been re–launched with a new look and new features that will make it more usable and functional.

The updated Web site is another step in CDC′s efforts to provide accurate, up–to–date information in Spanish on health issues of special interest to Hispanic communities, including information on a wide range of health promotion and disease prevention topics like asthma, cancer, HIV/AIDS, immunizations, children′s health, diabetes and occupational hazards.

“The redesigned CDC en Español represents a vital source of health promotion and information for Spanish speakers,” said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, Director of CDC. “CDC′s ongoing commitment to public health worldwide is expressed through our efforts to provide translation of vital information into Spanish to better serve all of our audiences for information. About half of the 16 million Hispanics online in the United States have expressed preference for Spanish–language Web sites and we are pleased to offer this improved tool.”

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/2007/r071019.htm

www.cdc.gov/spanish

Urgent action needed to support NIH bill

URGENT CALL TO ACTION: Tell your Senator to OPPOSE amendments that strike or change the NIH public access provision in the FY08 Labor/HHS appropriations bill:

The Senate is currently considering the FY08 Labor-HHS Bill, which includes a provision (already approved by the House of Representatives and the full Senate Appropriations Committee), that directs the NIH to change its Public Access Policy so that participation is required (rather than requested) for researchers, and ensures free, timely public access to articles resulting from NIH-funded research.

On Friday, Senator Inhofe (R-OK), filed two amendments (#3416 and #3417), which call for the language to either be stricken from the bill, or modified in a way that would gravely limit the policy’s effectiveness...

More at link below:

http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2007/10/urgent-action-need-to-support-nih-bill.html

Comment: The ATA is not exaggerating. This is urgent. If you're a US citizen, please contact your Senators and spread the word. Note the short deadline. Your Senators must hear from you before the end of business on Monday, October 22: two days from now.

Training at Morehouse School of Medicine

Mike. S. sent this out:

The Morehouse School of Medicine LibraryAndThe National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of HealthInvite you to attend…

Course Title: The National Library of Medicine: Empowering Minority Communities with Health Information

Date: October 23, 2007

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Location: Morehouse School of Medicine Library720 Westview Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30310Medical Education Building – Electronic Laboratory

Description: Learn how to search for consumer health information using the many resources available from the National Library of Medicine including; Medlineplus, AIDSinfo, Clinical Trials, Household Products, and ToxTown

Instructors: Rose Foster and Wilma Templin-Branner will guide you through the course and answer your questions.
Contact: To register and for information regarding parking arrangements, please contact: Darlene P. Kelly, (404) 752-1533 or dparker-kelly@msm.edu

This training course is sponsored by the National Library of Medicine’s Specialized Information Services Division for the UNCFSP/NLM-HBCU ACCESS Project 2007 grant recipients.

Thanks for providing us with this opportunity!

Medical Librarians Plan to Storm Charleston!

The Southern Chapter/Medical Library Association is gearing up for its annual 2007 conference in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. This year's theme is Designing Our Future, and will discuss what the future holds for librarians and their libraries. The conference is being held from November the 12th to the 16th, and a fun-and-educational time is sure to be had by all.

http://scmla.library.musc.edu/

Smithsonian Polio Exhibition Opens at Warm Springs

"Guests view a portion of the Smithsonian polio exhibition at Warm Springs."

The history of polio from ancient times to the present is the subject of an extensive exhibition now open at Roosevelt Institute in Warm Springs, Georgia. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History created the exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine.

Roosevelt Institute, a comprehensive medical and vocational rehabilitation center founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1927, wanted to bring the exhibition to Warm Springs because of its historic connection to the disease. More than 15,000 people from around the world received polio rehabilitation treatment at Warm Springs from the late 1920s to the mid 1960s.

The exhibition is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday thru Saturday. For more information, please contact tour coordinator Linda Creekbaum at 706-655-5010.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/news/pressrelease.cfm?key=29&newskey=584

Thanks for keeping us updated, Mike.

MEN

October is National Medical Librarians' Month!

The NMLM created the observance to help raise awareness of the important role of the health information professional. This link gives examples of promotional materials, flyers, and displays for medical libraries, and other links to help librarians promote themselves and their libraries.

http://www.mlanet.org/resources/nml-month/

Highlights from Meeting at Warm Springs on 9/20/2007

Dear Colleagues,

The following announcements for special programs were made during the Consortium meeting on Thursday.Catherine Williams announced that Morehouse School of Medicine Library will hold a special program for high school students and college undergradutes on October 3 entitled: "Walking Through the Door: A Morehouse School of Medicine Library Afternoon Symposium on Careers in Academic Surgery."

Designed to attract young people into a career in academic surgery, the program begins at 4 p.m. and will include a panel of Morehouse surgeons and a presentation of a trauma scenario. The program will also include a tour of "Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons," a traveling exhibit from the NLM that opened at the Morehouse School of Medicine in August. The exhibit will remain at Morehouse until Oct. 26. For more information, you can contact Williams at 404-752-1756.

Geetha Sridaran announced that the NLM will be sponsoring two more sessions of its "Biomedical Informatics" class at the Marine Biological Library in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. NLM pays all of the costs of this week-long program for those who are accepted. For more information about the class, you can visit the class web page at http://www.mbl.edu/education/courses/special_topics/med.html.



Thank you for hosting the meeting at your campus, Mike! Mike was also kind enough to give us a tour of the campus after the meeting.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new weblog for the Atlanta Health Science Libraries' Consortium. The AHSLC was founded in 1974, is a cooperative organization with membership of 29 health science libraries. It was formed to foster professional growth, education, and communication among area health science librarians and to promote the value of libraries, encourage their development, and to facilitate resource sharing.

AHSLC institutional members include 16 hospital library and 4 government health agencies, 8 academic institutions, and 1 pharmaceutical company.

Bimonthly meetings consist of educational programs, networking breaks, and business meetings.