MLA President Mark Funk opened MLA?óÔé¼Ôäó08: ?óÔé¼?ôConnections: Bridging the Gaps?óÔé¼?Ø with an engaging and informed address focusing on his presidential platform of integrating Web 2.0 technology into MLA, and using it to bridge the gaps of our membership to allow more opportunities for participation.
?óÔé¼?ôWe have a collective experience of over 50,000 years?óÔé¼?Ø he said, ?óÔé¼?ôHow do we keep this collective knowledge for future members of the MLA??óÔé¼?Ø Mark offered several ideas he?óÔé¼Ôäód like to see: adding user reviews to the CE clearinghouse (brilliant!), moving away from books to web-centered literature for library hot topics (huh?), and stockpiling our 50,000 years of collective experience in wikis (cool). He asked that future leadership carry on his initiatives.
For pictures from the address (along with shots from the rainy yet awesome bike tour of Chicago) click here.
& for all the MLA blogs in one place, checkout this link: http://snipr.com/mla08blogs
Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking the continuing education course The PhD Experience: Graduate School in the Basic Biomedical Sciences. As the library liaison to LSUHSC’s School of Graduate Studies, I was eager to learn more about what exactly goes on in those sometimes secret laboratories nestled away in the nooks of our urban campus.
Michele Tennant, Susan Kendall & Kevin Messner did a superior job at presenting an overview of graduate programs in the Basic Sciences. From departments to dissertations to dictostelium discoideum (that’s slime mold to us laypersons), the instructors gave a well-rounded overview of professional culture within the research community, as well as sound advice and techniques that librarians can use to reach these sometimes distant faculty, staff and students.
The course was about eight hours long, but don’t let that sway your choice if you have the opportunity to take this class. Anyone involved in library liaison activities with Basic Sciences, especially those who do not have a science background, will find this useful. What follows is a list of notes & resources I jotted down throughout the day.
- ‘omics: suffix indicating biology on a large scale (ie: genomics, proteomics, etc)
- “gene knockout”: when you knockout a particular gene to see what happens
- Barlow, Robert B., John E. Dowling, and Gerald Weissmann, eds. (1993). The Biological Century: Friday Evening Talks at the Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole: The Marine Biological Laboratory. (ISBN 0-674-07403-3): book recommended by Tennant – collection of science essays giving good overview of the development of biological science in the Twentieth Century.
- e-science trends – Kendall had attended a conference on this recently and had some interesting words on the development of the research process from a linear to circular structure with the advent of the web, which led to….
- Talking about a recent discussion in Science magazine about wikifying GenBank. (??!!) I’m all for 2.0 and all, but this does not sounds like such a good idea
- More info on trends in escience/translational medicine: Check out the session “Translational Medicine and the Library’s Role” on Tuesday afternoon (2-3:30) for more info.
- This book was recommended by Susan Kendall for information on how laboratory research works.
- Finally, Kevin Messner’s del.icio.us account offers all kinds of bioinformatics and biology links, in addition to other non-science related bookmarks
I hope you found this useful. Coming soon, the search for my missing mentee, the opening address, and more!
Greetings from Chicago MLA readers! I’ll be back soon with updates from the conference.
If you’re going to MLA in Chicago and need some free wifi, here’s a list a free places near the conference hotel.
And for those of us back home, JiWire is a great resource to search for over 200,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in 135 countries.
Thanks to Meredith Solomon for the tip!
The Isché Library will be closed this Saturday, May 17th due to necessary A/C repairs to the building. The Library will re-open on Sunday, May 18th at 1:30 p.m.
Finally!
Dynamed, the point-of-care reference designed to provide the best available evidence to support clinical decision-making, is now available for iPhone and BlackBerry. Interested LSUHSC users with these mobile devices should contact MKNAPP@LSUHSC.EDU for a Dynamed serial number & detailed directions.
Here’s the press release from EbscoHost:
We are pleased to announce that accessing DynaMed is more convenient than ever, now that we have expanded the list of PDAs supported by DynaMed, to include:
Palms
Pocket PC
Windows Smartphone
BlackBerry
iPhone
For details on the compatible PDAs, such as models and technical specifications, please review this information:
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/technical.php.
Yay!
Need a little training on the new Ovid SP interface? Head on over to the OvidSP Resource Center and check out their brand new tutorials – all under two minutes and presented on targeted topics, so it’s fast and easy to get a little more training on the new layout.
Tutorial Topics
# Select a Database
# Search Page Overview
# Basic Search Overview
# Advanced Search Overview
# Search Fields Overview
# Find Citation Overview
# Search Tools Overview
Link to Ovid Tutorials: http://resourcecenter.ovidsp.com/onlineTraining.html
Scroll to the bottom for the tutorials. Requires Flash.
DON’T FORGET! The LSUHSC LIbrarians are always happy to give face-to-face training on Ovid SP. Contact a Reference Librarian for details.
At this time next week, I’ll be writing to you from Chicago, where the 2008 Medical LIbrary Association’s annual meeting is taking place. Several members of the library are attending, including: Kathy Kerdolff, Hanna Kwasik, Wilba Swearingen, and me, Maureen “Molly” Knapp, your ever faithful Reference Librarian and blogger.
What exactly do librarians do at these conferences? All kinds of things, from presenting papers and poster sessions, to continuing education, to networking with vendors and other colleagues across the country that we may only see once a year. Trust me, since I’m an official MLA conference blogger this year, you’ll be sure to get the inside scoop on what we get up to. Stay tuned!
The School of Dentistry received a “Bouquet” in this week’s Gambit Weekly for distributing sealants to prevent tooth decay to 60 elementary school students. The article is not online yet, but you can read about it in the print copy here in the library. Way to geaux, Tigers!
Reference Librarian, Molly Knapp has been selected as one of the official MLA bloggers for the 2008 Annual Meeting in Chicago. What this means for this blog is that starting next week, posts will appear with the subject line of MLA2008 and that the official meeting website will be linking to our little part of the blogosphere.
MLA is the Medical Library Association; this organization is the primary National professional group for medical/health sciences librarians. Molly was one of only 15 librarians to receive this invitation.
MedlinePlus.gov debuted a multilingual feature, providing access to high quality health information in languages other than English and Spanish today (Wednesday, May 7th).
“The new collection contains over 2,500 links to information in more than 40 languages and covers nearly 250 Health Topics. Continuous growth is expected.”
MedlinePlus.gov is a consumer-oriented, free website from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
The renovation project for the new Library Commons will start this Summer. The plans for the area are now on view in the Isché Library. Come check them out.
Mosby’s Nursing Consult updated over 8,000 patient handouts over the weekend. These handouts are written at between a 6th & 8th grade reading level and LSUHSC “Authorized Users have permission to print copies of patient education handouts for personal, non-commercial use in educating patients.”
Examination time is here again and the Isché Library will be open until midnight every night of the week through May 15th. Come get your study on this weekend.
Natural Standard provides evidence-based information on herbs & supplements, health & wellness, allergies & immunology, interactions, and conditions. Now LSUHSC members can access this database on their mobile device!
To get your free download & serial number, send an email Maureen “Molly” Knapp at the LSUHSC Library. Please use your LSUHSC account if you can, so we can verify your eligibility.
If you want more information on Natural Standard read this review from the Journal of the Medical Library Association.
Screen shots of Natural Standard:
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