OHSU Library What’s New

The OHSU Library will be closed on Friday, July 4, 2008 in observance of Independence Day.

Regular Library hours will resume on Saturday, July 5, 2008.. For more information, please see:

http://www.ohsu.edu/library/hours.shtml.

The Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium of academic institutions in Oregon and Washington of which OHSU is a part, is partnering with OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) to develop and implement a new system, WorldCat Navigator, which will replace the current Summit union catalog. The Orbis Cascade Alliance expects the new system to be available by the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.

The new system will bring a new look to the library catalog. Users will be able to locate materials from OHSU libraries, Alliance libraries and beyond – all with one search! Look for future updates as development progresses. Please visit Orbis Cascade Alliance for the press release on this development.

What Is Oregon Health Go Local?

Oregon Health Go Local is a project coordinated by the Oregon Health & Science University Library. Its aim is to create an online directory of health service providers throughout the state of Oregon. Users will be able to browse by health topics, health providers, or location to find the services they need. By connecting Oregonians to accessible, accurate and reliable health services information, we aim to create a healthier Oregon.

As part of MedlinePlus Go Local, the Oregon Health Go Local database will be integrated with the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus database. From MedlinePlus users will be able to find health service providers in Oregon based on specific health topics.

A Note from the Project Director
Shortly after I arrived in my position as Project Director for Oregon Health Go Local my colleague received the following reference question:

“I have a close friend with Burkit’s Lymphoma and she is undergoing her second round of chemotherapy to eliminate tumors and to prepare her for upcoming Stem Cell Transplant this summer. Can you please provide me with information on Stem Cell Transplants?… And where are some support groups that I may contact for information for family education and patient needs as they go through transplant? Thank you so much for your help as I am hopeful that you can help me help her family with information.”

This question is indeed timely, and one that, when Oregon Health Go Local goes live, will be more easily answered by librarians and health practitioners throughout the state. Using a combination of resources such as MedlinePlus and Oregon Health Go Local, one could easily assist this patron. Using MedlinePlus one can search for authoritative health information that is geared towards the public. Using Oregon Health Go Local would find health services and providers specificly related to lymphoma and stem cell transplants in Oregon. This example makes clear that in our position as librarians, health practicitoners, and even as general citizens, we can better help our friends, co-workers, neighbors, and other community members by using MedlinePlus and Oregon Health Go Local.

If you have similar stories, please send them our way. We can use these to promote Oregon Health Go Local as we continue to build the database and promote the project within our communities.

-Emily Ford, Oregon Health Go Local Project Director

April Highlights:
Oregon Health Go Local Project Director, Emily Ford, began her work at OHSU.

Oregon Health Go Local participated in the Oregon Library Association/Washington Library Association Joint Conference Showcase for Innovative Grant Funded programs and exhibited the project in conjunction with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine booth.

May Highlights:
A batch of test data was imported into the Oregon Health Go Local database.

Successful partnerships were created with 211info http://www.211info.org and the the Cascade AIDS Project’s Oregon AIDS Hotline
http://www.oregonaidshotline.com A huge THANK YOU to Laura Kuperstein of 211info and Tom Richardson of the Cascade AIDS Project for helping to ensure that Oregon Health Go Local will be a success.

During the Medical Library Association Conference in Chicago, Todd Hannon (Principal Investigator), Emily Ford (Project Director), and Gail Kouame (National Network of Libraries of Medicine Pacific Northwest Region Consumer Health Coordinator) were able to participate in a meeting of all the Go Local projects in the US.

Oregon Health Go Local Public Awareness Survey Results are Here!
The survey we conducted to measure the public awareness of Oregon Health Go Local amongst Oregon Librarians has been closed and data collected. 209 librarians throughout the state responded to the survey. Highlights are listed below:

51% of respondents never heard of Oregon Health Go Local or MedlinePlus Go Local.

30% of respondents had heard of both Oregon Health Go Local and MedlinePlus Go Local.

12% of respondents had heard of MedlinePlus Go Local but not Oregon Health Go Local.

7% had heard of Oregon Health Go Local but not MedlinePlus Go Local.

Oregon Health Go Local Timeline
Oregon Health Go Local is in the beginning stages of collecting and inputting data into the Go Local system. Building and maintaining this database is an iterative process. However, our hope is that we will launch the live database in late October. Although the database will not be considered complete at this time, this is our goal for having high priority data input and reviewd. (High priority data includes information regarding hosptials, health departments, immunization programs, emergency medical services and many more!)

Oregon Health Go Local Needs Your Help
Do you know of a great resource? Have a good contact? Are you willing to volunteer your time? If so, please e-mail Emily Ford fordem@ohsu.edu

Links of Interest

Iowa Go Local is the newest “live” database of the Go Local projects. http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/local/iowa/homepage.cfm?areaid=37

211info, one of Oregon Health Go Local’s partners provides information and refferal services http://www.211info.org/

Oregon AIDS Hotline http://www.oregonaidshotline.com/

Oregon Office of Rural Health http://www.ohsu.edu/oregonruralhealth/

Oregon Health Go Local is supported in whole or part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal Funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services under contract NO1-LM-1-3516 with the University of Washington’s Regional Medical Library.

The OHSU Library will be closed on Monday, May  26, 2008 in observance of Memorial Day.

Regular Library hours will resume on Tuesday, May 27, 2008.  For more information, please see:

http://www.ohsu.edu/library/hours.shtml.

A new exhibit by artist Raymond Alexander, The Art of Recycling, featuring work created using Abaca fiber from recycled office manila file folders, has opened in the BICC Gallery (first floor of the BICC building - #22 on this map).

This exhibit, curated by the Marquam Hill Art Committee, will run from April 10-May 29, 2008 and is part of the OHSU Green Team calendar of events for April and May.

Building hours for the BICC building, which are slightly different than the OHSU Library hours, are:

Monday—Thursday 7:30a to 8:00p
Friday 7:30a to 5:00p
Saturday 9:00a to 5:00p
Sunday 1:00p to 8:00p

For questions or comments about this exhibit, please contact the Marquam Hill Art Committee at 503-494-4240.

The History of Medicine Room will not have open hours this Thursday, March 27th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have questions about using the History of Medicine Room, please contact Sara Piasecki, History of Medicine Librarian, at 503-418-2287.

At the end of March, with a lack of fanfare that has been a hallmark of his quiet leadership style, OHSU University Librarian Jim Morgan will retire.

When Morgan arrived at OHSU in 1976—as only the third library director since 1919—one of his first tasks was to automate functions throughout the library. In many ways, that project never ended. The rapid acceleration of technology that began in the 1980s and exploded with the internet in the 1990s ultimately led to a fundamental transformation of libraries. At the same time, OHSU was undergoing dramatic growth and transformation as an institution.

“One of the unique qualities of Jim is his ability to understand large systemic changes and simultaneously grasp how to respond to them at a human level,” said Provost Lesley Hallick. “His support for staff, mentorship of emerging leaders, and encouragement of faculty has helped both the library personnel and its users successfully adapt to a world of information that is dramatically different than when he arrived at OHSU.”

During Morgan’s tenure, the library moved from print-based collections and in-person services to an “always available” electronic service model. The full scope of changes involved in that transformation is extensive, and you can learn more about them at the library’s history website.

A signature moment for the library under Morgan was its transition into the Biomedical Information Communication Center in 1991. In 15 days, 60,000 volumes were moved from the Old Library to stacks in the BICC. The new building quickly became a vital campus resource as well as an information hub for users all across Oregon.

“Throughout his more than thirty years of service, Jim has been an outstanding, compassionate leader,” said Hallick. “He has successfully guided the library through a period of extraordinary external and internal changes, managing change with resilience and difficult times with grace. His steady and reassuring presence will be greatly missed.”

Please join us in wishing Jim a fond farewell on Thursday, March 20, 2008 in the BICC Gallery from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Special thanks to all our library users who came in and paid overdue fines on February 14. A total of $45.50 was donated to OHSU’s Food Drive. An additional $39.05 was donated by users, dropping their quarters, dimes and nickels into the Food Drive can at the Circulation Desk. This brings the total to $84.55, which will enable the Oregon Food Bank to distribute over 421 pounds of food to those in need throughout the state.

CatalogConnect, now available in the OHSU Library catalog, will give you access to tables of contents, summaries, book jackets, and reviews of books in the health sciences. This information, available for most health sciences books published after 1992, comes from Doody Enterprises, who also produce the MedInfoNow database. CatalogConnect provides more detailed information about a book, making it easier for you to determine whether a book in our collection will meet your needs. An example of CatalogConnect can be seen in the screenshots below.

For more information on CatalogConnect, go to http://www.doodyenterprises.com/Catalog+Connect.htm. If you have questions about this new feature, please contact Janet Crum, crumj@ohsu.edu, 4-0691.