Thursday, April 29, 2010

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Submitted by Daniel Dollar

I received from Grace Ajuwon the report on the first MLA Librarians Without Borders Grant awarded to E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library, College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Grace also included photographs and a DVD of a dedication ceremony held at the library on December 18, 2009 for the 2 computer workstations and 78 new reference and textbook editions purchased using the $5,000 provided by the grant.

The dedication ceremony is moving to watch, attended by more than seventy people, including the Provost of the College of Medicine along with students and lectures from the College and University College Hospital. I was first struck by the fact that most of the library’s existing book collections are 10 to 20 years old; these textbooks and reference works that my library picks up regularly on standing order are a major acquisition for Grace’s library. But moving past thoughts about how “poor” is Grace’s library was the support shown by administrators, faculty and students at the ceremony. It is support that comes from a library and its staff working to meet their users' information needs in furtherance of research, education and clinical practice. Support that shows the worth and wealth medical librarians bring to the health care profession—and an inspiration for us all.

Another source of inspiration for me is you, the members of the International Cooperation Section. Although we may be one of the smaller sections, what we might lack in numbers we make up for in passion and devotion. I have seen that passion and devotion in our discussions over the length of the Cunningham Fellowship, the fostering of partnership efforts, and the responsiveness to sudden events, such as the Haitian earthquake. (Remember, you can always make a donation to the MLA Medical Library Disaster Relief Fund.)

It becomes clearer every day just how interconnected our planet is, and I see the ICS well-positioned as we move pass our 20th Anniversary into a third decade of continuing to provide leadership to and launching pad for international cooperation efforts with medical librarians worldwide.

I wish to end this final message as Section Chair by thanking you all for your work, and especially to thank the ICS Officers who have given so generously of their time in service to the section. Circumstances conspired for me to have an extended two-year stay as Chair (same is true for Marcus Banks as Immediate Past Chair and Section Council Representative), still it has been an honor to serve you and do my small part in furthering our mission.

Daniel Dollar
Yale University
Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
Email:daniel.dollar@yale.edu

MLA/LWB Grant: New Health Science Textbooks and Computers commissioned for use at the E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library

Submitted by Grace A. Ajuwon

The first Medical Library Association (MLA) Librarians Without Border (LWB) Grant (2009) was awarded to E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The LWB grant award was meant for the purchase of health science books and computers for the E-learning laboratory.
On Friday December 18th 2009, seventy-eight (78) new health science textbooks including reference resources and two (2) branded computers were commissioned for use at the E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library (ELOML), College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, by Dr Benedict Adekunle Oladele, the University Librarian. The occasion was attended by 78 persons including the Provost College of Medicine, Professor Akinyinka Omigbodun and his deputy, Professor Aderonke Baiyeroju, lecturers and students of both the College of Medicine and the University College Hospital (UCH). The text books cover disciplines such as Anatomy, Anesthesia, Dentistry/Oral health, Hematology, Immunology, Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Nursing and Midwifery , Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Otorhinoringology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Physical Therapy (Physiotherapy), Public Health and Surgery.



The procurement of the books and computers were made possible through a $5000 grant from the Medical Library Association (MLA), USA, Librarians Without Borders (LWB), won by Mrs. Grace Ajuwon, the Reference and Information Services Librarian at ELOML. The title of Mrs. Ajuwon’s winning proposal was “Resource needs and capacity development for E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library, University of Ibadan, Nigeria”. The MLA Librarians Without Borders® Grant supports health science librarianship in Health Internetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) eligible countries, by funding training opportunities and/or the purchase of materials that further the use of biomedical resources for education, research or clinical practice. The grant was made possible by a donation from the FlySheet Med-Informatics Company of Taipei, Taiwan and administered by the International Cooperation Section of MLA.



Speaking at the occasion, both Dr Oladele and Professor Omigbodun commended the efforts of the grantee in writing a competitive proposal. Professor Omigbodun also observed that the books are the latest editions and would be of immense benefit to the students, Faculty and health care practitioners. The significance of the purchase of the books is that it will solve the problem of non-availability of current textbooks which has been a major challenge at ELOML for many years. It is hoped that the availability of the books in the Library will help to meet the information needs of students and Faculty in the College of Medicine and health care providers in UCH. A participatory method including direct solicitation from Deans of Faculties, Heads of Departments and students was used in the identification and selection of the books.



The two branded Dell computers will add to the number of computers donated to the Library’s E-Learning Laboratory by Alumni of the College of Medicine (Class of 1984 and 1987) and the Faculty of Clinical Sciences.

Grace A. Ajuwon
E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library
College of Medicine
University of Ibadan
Email: agajuwon@yahoo.com; gajuwon@comui.edu.ng

Librarians without Borders Open Forum: Health Library Outreach to Africa

This year at MLA ’10, Librarians Without Borders is hosting an open forum focused on the role of health sciences libraries in global health information. The goal of the forum is for librarians that are interested in health science library outreach to Africa to come together and hear about various initiatives and approaches that are taking place, which will in turn generate discussion and new ideas about outreach that will continue beyond the forum and MLA. There will be short presentations on the E-Library Training Initiative Project (Hinari) and an update on the LWB grant. The bulk of the forum will be dedicated to a panel of speakers from a variety of institutions who are involved in outreach to Africa and will discuss their initiatives and experiences. Presenting on the panel will be:

Julia Royall, Chief of International Programs, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD

Anne Seymour, Associate Director, Biomedical Library, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Presenting along with Anne Seymour will be Dineo Ketshogileng, a librarian from the University of Botswana who is currently interning at the University Pennsylvania Libraries.

Mellanye Lackey, Global Health Information Officer, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

After the panel there will be time for questions and discussion. This forum is intended to be more about interactive dialog and discussion than just presentations. We encourage your questions, ideas and participation!

The forum will take place on Sunday, May 23 from 1:30pm – 2:30pm in Lincoln West, Concourse Level.

Agenda Overview:
Brief presentations on LWB initiatives
-E-Library Training Initiative Project – HINARI (Lenny Rhine)
-LWB Grant update (Min-Lin Fang)
Panel presentations
Julia Royall – Chief of International Programs at the NLM
Anne Seymour – Upenn (NLM and Elsevier grant in Botswana)
- Dineo Ketshogileng, intern librarian from University of Botswana,
Melanye Lackey – UNC Chapel Hill (library global health information effort and vision)
Open time for questions and discussion

Medical Library Association International Cooperation Section Activities at MLA 2010 Conference

MLA’10 is near the corner. International Cooperation Section will be offering a variety of activities for our members. Following is a list of schedule of the program related.

*Librarians without Borders Open Forum, Sunday, May 23 from 1:30 to 2:30 pm in the Lincoln West room.

*International Visitors Reception, Sunday, May 23 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, 1919 East/West, Lobby Level

* The ICS Business Meeting, Sunday, May 23 from 7:30 – 9:00 AM in room 1919 East, Lobby Level at the Washington Hilton. (Breakfast will be provided).

*Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, Monday, May 24 from Noon to 1:30 pm, International Ballroom Center, Concourse Level (Lenny Rhine to receive the T. Mark Hodges International Service Award)

* Section Program: Diseases without Borders: Information for Global Epidemiology, Tuesday, May 25 from 2:00-3:30 in Cabinet, Concourse Level

*Section Shuffle, Tuesday, May 25 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm, Georgetown, Concourse Level
*HINARI Train the Trainers CE (Free for members), Wednesday, May 26 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm

*HINARI Train the Trainers CE (Free for members), Wednesday, May 26 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Traditional Chinese Medicine in Post-Quake Qinghai

Submitted by LaVerne Poussaint


Photo credit: Xinhua, re-produced with expressed permission of the Xinhua News Agency

Dispatched under the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People's Republic of China (a bureau under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health) and in conjunction with the Red Cross Society of China, medical teams were sent by the Public Security Border Troops of the Yunnan Province to provide emergency relief to residents of Qinghai Province who suffer from critical injuries resulting from the recent earthquake. Shown above is a Yunnan TCM medical staffer administering acupuncture to a patient from the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu County (ཡུལ་ཤུལ་་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ།, 玉树藏族自治州).

These medic troopers rendering care are from one of China's most bio-diversified regions, an environment which supports thousands of species of plants. From among Yunnan's ecological survivors are derived many of the components of TCM pharmaceutical formulae, including Yunnan Baiyao (aka Yunnan Paiyao, 云南白药, 雲南白藥), a haemostatic medicament whose composition is used to (among other things) normalize blood flow, stop hemorrhaging, enhance immune function, improve circulation, promote healing of internal bleeding sustained in injuries, and -in combination with astringent herbs-absorb excessive bleeding.

TCM staffers were deployed as an integrative, interim measure to treat patients in mobile medical units and field hospitals. Those whose critical conditions required more and prolonged intensive care were transported to 38 different medical facilities outside of the quake zone.

TCM as a medical science encompasses a system of practices including (but not limited to) Chinese medication, pharmacology, acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, dietary intervention, Qigong exercises, cupping, and Gua Sha.
TCM's healing approaches for pain, shock, acute DIC, and myocardial infarction; its diagnostic indices, and treatment modalities of acupuncture anaesthesia, acupuncture analgesia have been implemented in other emergency medical events. Particularly efficacious is Tieh Ta (跌打) – a wound and trauma orthopedic discipline for those afflicted with simple and compound bone fractures, sprains, dislocations, and bruises.

Dr. Waseed Saeed (University of Leeds Medical School, UK) has performed surgical relief during post-quake missions in Pakistan, China, Indonesia, and Haiti
http://www.waseemsaeed.com/charity/china-bbc.html. On his Sichuan mission with the same team of doctors and nurses who had served on the Pakistan rota, they encountered a young patient who had endured a guillotine amputation as a result of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. "Her stump had been treated with a traditional herbal remedy, and was showing no signs of infection." He was "astounded by her condition." The "brown material" wrapping that earthquake victim's limb was a TCM non-bacterial herbal compound remedy. Said he, "We have probably got a lot to learn from this type of medicine."

The World Health Organization is of the same mind, having established more than 15 Collaborating Centres (http://www.who.int/collaboratingcentres/networks/networksdetails/en/index2.html) of traditional medicine and pharmacology to aid in the examination of evidence-based, data-driven implementations of indigenous information. Added to that global knowledge-base should be traditional therapies observed being practiced in post-quake Haiti, Chile, and China. Conditions of the planet are impelling nations toward incorporation of TMS logistics framework.


LaVerne Poussaint
Former UNSO/UNDP worker and volunteer with several NGOs, including the ICRC
Email: laverne.poussaint@deepmed.net

A Trip to Santana Hospital Dominican Republic

Submitted by Carole Gall

Indiana University medical librarian, Carole Gall, made her sixth visit on February 4-12, 2010, to the Elias Santana Center, a hospital facility in Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic. The Santana eye center has an accredited ophthalmology residency program, and a medical library is needed to fulfill the accreditation criteria. More on Santana at http://www.mmint.org/Countries/CentralAmericaandtheCaribbean/DominicanRepublic/EliasSantanaCenter/tabid/89/Default.aspx .



The goals of the trip were to do literature search training on the newly redesigned PubMed, provide awareness of quality, free resources on the internet, and build relationships. New books were needed and the library had had few donation since Carole's last trip in 2005. Carole took a donation to the Santana hospital library of the 13-volume 2008-2009 Basic and Clinical Science Course (BCSC). She ported the books in her luggage. Taking the books through customs at Santo Domingo was no problem, unlike a decade ago.

The residents and attendees have access to two current journal subscriptions. One morning hour of class was turned over to Carole to present online access to resources available to the Dominican residents.

In 2008 the hospital acquired WI-FI, which Carole used in the mornings by the classroom where the residents come and go to help them with research and information needs. Half (12) of the residents were from the Dominican Republic and mostly on scholarship. The other half (11) were from India, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Georgia (the country, not the state) and Venezuela. English is the second or third language for some of them. To be admitted to the residency program, they must have English proficiency. They use the terms PDF, WI-FI, wireless, and texto completo. No "full text" comprenda. The tech staff were four men, and very good.

Carole Gall
Indiana University School of Medicine Libraries
Email: cfgall@iupui.edu

Reports on International Trips

Submitted by Lenny Rhine

Moldova Trip Report

Particulars of Workshops:

During early November 2009, three workshops were conducted in Moldova:

1) 3 1/2 day comprehensive HINARI workshop (09-12 November) conducted at the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University ‘Nicolae Testemitanu’ Scientific Medical Library, Chisinau, Moldova. All components of a comprehensive HINARI workshop were taught - Searching Skills, Health Resources on the Internet, HINARI and Partner Publishers’ Websites, PubMed (including the redesigned format), MY NCBI and strategies for marketing HINARI resources, repackaging information and conducting workshops. The workshop consisted of 50% lectures and 50% hands on activities.

The workshop was conducted with Irina Ibragimova and with the assistance of Silvia Cubrei (translator and fellow instructor) and Elena Barbos (translator). A total of 21 individuals attended the workshop. The participants were split between the library staff from the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University and librarians from several research institutes, medical college, and regional hospitals. Five individuals registered their institutions for HINARI.

This is the first workshop that was in three languages. Irina spoke in Russian, I spoke in English and this was translated into Romanian. This means that, for many of the discussions, I only received a brief summary. By paying attention to non-verbal clues, I often could tell how the discussion was going.

Initially, we did not know how this would work as this was Irina’s first HINARI workshop and Silvia’s first as a translator. After two modules, I realized that we had two other enthusiastic and knowledgeable trainers. We all had the same perspective about the importance of the hands-on activities and establishing an inclusive and positive environment.

Since the exercises had been translated into Romanian, the participants in the HINARI workshops were able to complete them in a timely and accurate fashion. With three instructors and assistance from some of the host University’s librarians, we were able to give a lot of attention to those participants that need more help. After each module, we reviewed the content with 4-6 questions and this also was quite useful.

Also, the computer training room was very nice with up-to-date hardware and the Internet access was as good as any other workshop I have conducted. The speed might have been enhanced by the fact that no students were at the University. They had been sent home for a week because of the H1N1 flu outbreak.


2) 3 hour ‘short course’ (12 November) conducted at the Free International University of Moldova. 35 individuals attended this workshop that covered the basics of HINARI. It was a mixture of faculty, students and library staff from that University. The course also was a blend of lectures and hands on activities.

This was conducted in a large computer laboratory. The Internet access was very adequate and the audiovisual equipment was excellent. While a short course can ‘feel’ rushed, we were able to give the participants the baseline skills for using HINARI.

At the end of this workshop, we viewed the Health Sciences Online website (http:://hso.info) as a source of information for instructors to use. What intrigued us was the option of using Google Translator to have the keyword search and resulting documents translated into another language. The faculty and students felt this was quite useful as they could translate material into either Romanian or Russian.

3) 1 day authorship skills workshop conducted at the Free International University of Moldova. 45 professional librarians from Chisinau and throughout the country attended this workshop. Most were from academic institutions although a few public library staff attended.

Material covered included How to Write a Scientific Paper, Intellectual Property – Copyright and Plagiarism, Web-Bibliography and Frequently Asked Questions. Besides the Q&A discussion, hands-on ‘group’ activities were writing structured abstracts and assigning keywords from full-text articles and, after reading an abstract of an article and the scope of four journals, deciding which journal to submit the article to. Several of the PowerPoint presentations had been translated into Romanian and the ‘hands on’ exercises were a combination of Romanian and Russian. This made the completion of the assignments much easier.

Despite the size of this group, the discussions were quite lively as a number of the participants had different opinions on how to write the structured abstracts and which journal the articles should be submitted to. For the questions and answers session, the responses also were lively but not as many strong opinions.

The workshop was conducted in a lecture room with excellent audiovisual equipment. Similarly to the longer workshop, the food at the breaks and lunch was quite nice.

Other comments:

Thanks to Zina Sochirca for her assistance, the Director of the Free International University of Moldova Library. She was the initial contact in this country and worked quite hard to make sure that all three workshops were successful.

The State Medical and Pharmaceutical University Library has an informatics group that is headed by Silvia Ciubrei (the translator/instructor). This is the first institution that I have encountered with such a group. It is devoted to teaching computer and information literacy to the students and faculty. As of this academic year, instruction has been incorporated into the academic coursework – including use of HINARI and other electronic resources.

Several of these individuals assisted with the hands-on activities (and also served as translators). For this group, the workshop was partially a review, somewhat an update on material (redesigned PubMed) and also an introduction to other tools for using the resources (LIMITS, MY NCBI). I know that what has been learned will be incorporated into their searching and teaching.

I cannot emphasize more the importance of having the exercises translated to the local language. This was done at the Mongolia and Moldova workshops and was invaluable. As previously mentioned, this enabled the participants to complete the assignments in a timely and accurate fashion.

Finally, two of the workshops were with only librarians and all female. Both of these things were firsts. Apparently, the only male librarian in the country is the Director of the National Library.

On a personal note, I spent the week eating food that my grandmother cooked – blintzes, cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, pickled tomatoes, potato knishes, cooked beets, pastries, and what I called ‘vegetarian chicken soup.’ I suspect it was the same soup everyone got except mine did not have chicken in it. In 1910, my wife’s paternal grandparents emigrated from a city that was 150 miles north of Chisinau.

Mongolia Trip Report

Particulars of Workshops:

From October 3rd to October 10th 2009, three distinct workshops were conducted in Mongolia:

4) 3 hour ‘short course’ (October 5th ) conducted during the WHO/Country Office retreat – emphasized searching strategies, evaluation of health information on the Internet, searching PubMed using the redesigned website and ‘free full text’ options, MY NCBI and strategies for managing change. An overview of WHO information resources also was conducted by Julius Dizon, Administrative Officer from the Library, WHO/Western Pacific Region.

The course primarily was lecture format and the content was modified after talking with the participants. Many of them were physicians who manage WHO programs in Mongolia. These individuals were quite appreciative of the practical skills that we discussed particularly searching in PubMed and MY NCBI.

5) 4 day comprehensive HINARI workshop (October 6th - 9th) conducted at the Dornogobi Medical College, Sainshand, Mongolia. All components of a comprehensive HINARI workshop were taught - Searching Skills, Health Resources on the Internet, HINARI and Partner Publishers’ Websites, PubMed (including the redesigned format), MY NCBI and strategies for marketing HINARI resources and conducting workshops.

The workshop was conducted with Julius Dizon and with the assistance of Gan-Erdene Gantumur, a.k.a. Gana, as translator. A total of 25 individuals attended the workshop including academic and library staff from the Dornogobi College of Medicine and physicians from several regional hospitals and a Medical College from adjoining provinces. At least six individuals registered their institutions for HINARI.

We also conducted a one hour overview of HINARI that 50+ faculty and students of the Dornogobi Medical College attended.

The most difficult task was the limited English language skills of the participants although there may be some who understood and read more than initially acknowledged. Without the assistance of Gana, the workshop would not have been as successful. His computer literacy and excellent knowledge of English were invaluable. Note – the Mongolian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet.

Three other factors helped significantly in making this a successful workshop. The Internet access probably was the best from all the workshops I have conducted in HINARI eligible institutions (the satellite dish was right outside the window of the computer lab) and the IT staff was very helpful.

The participants also had very good baseline computer skills. This perhaps is a function of the Internet access at this College although the participants from other institutions also seemed to be knowledgeable.

The other key factor was that several essential documents and all the exercises had been translated into Mongolian. This enabled the participants to complete the assignments efficiently and effectively.

Julius and I also visited the College’s Library that definitely needs automation. We are in the process of writing a report assessing the current situation and outlining the ways to go forward.

6) A 2 ½ hour 'short course' was conducted (October 10th) for 8 Ministry of Health physicians who are students in a WHO-sponsored Field Epidemiology program. The course covered the basics of searching strategies, evaluating health information on the Internet, HINARI and the redesigned PubMed site plus MY NCBI.

The timing of this course was excellent as this was at the beginning of their program and the information access skills will be of use throughout the year-long curriculum. All the participants have their own laptop and the training facility has an excellent Internet link.

Other comments:

There is a possibility of further training in Mongolia using funds from the WHO Country office. The training would be for the Field Epidemiology program and would focus on the ‘authorship skills’ material, a 4-day HINARI workshop at a Medical College in the north and a ‘short course’ for Ministry of Health staff.

The WHO retreat was held in the Terelj National Forest that is a striking mountain district, about an hour-drive from Ulaanbaatar. The Dornogobi Medical College is located at the outskirts of the Gobi Desert and is 10 hours by train (a 1970’s Russian-built train) from Ulaanbaatar. It is to the southeast of the capitol and somewhat warmer. Mongolia is a meat-centric country but, for the vegetarian, the staff at the Medical College made potato and carrot dumplings and mushroom soup. Being near the border of China, lots of fresh vegetables are imported. We did encounter snow flurries once but it was the day of our departure from Ulaanbaatar.


Jamaica Workshop Report

Particulars of Workshop:

From February 22nd to February25th 2010, the E-Library Training Initiative conducted a ‘National Health Information/HINARI’ workshop at the University of West Indies/Mona Hopwood Computer Laboratory. The workshop was a collaborative effort of HINARI, University of West Indies/Mona, Librarians Without Borders® and PAHO.

Over 40 individuals attended all or part of the four day workshop. This included 10 librarians, 5 Ministry of Health staff members and 25+ physicians, lecturers and researchers primarily from UWI. Besides UWI, participants came from clinical settings and research institutes in the Kingston area and a regional hospital located in Montego Bay. This is the largest number to attend a workshop that I have conducted. The average attendance per session ranged from 27 to 38 as some of the physicians, lecturers and researchers had to attend to other responsibilities.

The Hopwood Computer Laboratory had ample computers and seating for the large number of participants. Also, the Internet access/bandwidth was reliable and sufficiently robust to quickly download PDF files. All the breaks and lunches were served in an adjacent meeting room - in a well done manner. The planning and instructing at this workshop was a collaborative effort between Lenny Rhine and Swarna Bandera, the Director of the UWI Medical Library.

Uniqueness of this Workshop:

Jamaica is a Band 2 country and the publishers have sizeable limits on what material is available. The University of West Indies/Mona is the institution that subscribes to HINARI by paying the $1000 annual cost. Also, this University has access to approximately 550 e-journals via a Science Direct consortia agreement plus EBSCO HOST and other subscriptions. The University also has access to titles from HighWire Press - which defines Jamaica as a middle income country – and various open access sources. Due to this arrangement, the instructional material was tweaked - as the participants needed to understand how to access the whole range of available resources. Consequently, HINARI and PubMed were taught somewhat differently than would be done in a workshop at a Band 1 country.

Several new modules were developed for this workshop – Information Literacy and WHO Resources – plus the Evidence-based Practice module was taught for the first time. Also, Mrs. Bandera conducted an overview of Publishing Trends and how this has impacted on the UWI environment plus a discussion of Research Ethics that was added to the Authorship Skills material.

Observations:

The participants had excellent computer/searching skills and consequently their needs were on a higher level. Many of the nuances of PubMed (e.g. MY NCBI, Limits) and HINARI were stressed. At times, the participants commented on what they preferred and contributed to the discussion of the instructional material.

The ‘Authorship Skills’ material was of particular interest to the participants as many of them are in an institution that ‘encourages’ publishing. Several participants commented how they would use the material for their post-graduate students or share it with their colleagues. Ditto for the ‘Evidence-based Practice’ module.

The participants also were quite interested in the ‘Health Information on the Internet’ and ‘Evaluating Internet Information/Searching Strategies’ modules. They became aware of gateways and portals that link to ‘gray literature’ from numerous inter-governmental and non-governmental agencies. This material would be of use in their teaching and clinical activities.

One of the byproducts of the workshop was considerable networking by the participants. Several academic departments became aware of the UWI DSpace project (http://dspace.mona.uwi.edu/) and plan to participate. Also, the Ministry of Health staff learned about using Moodle (open source course management system) for continuing education. They have begun to communicate with staff from the Pacific Open Learning Health Network, an organization that has a Moodle server for this purpose.

The overall evaluations were very favorable (averaging 4.54 out of 5). This is quite positive with the number of participants and the range of their skills. Many found the hands-on activities, information gained and support material to be the strengths of the sessions. Several did note that some of the presentations and exercises were somewhat elementary for their skill level.

Lenny Rhine
E-Library Training Initiative Coordinator
E-mail: rhinel@ufl.edu

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Opens Global Office

Submitted by Jill Byerly Mayer

The Health Sciences Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is proud to announce the opening of a global office at the library. HSL Global will promote and develop the library’s capacity to serve as a global health information leader. The office will assure that the library’s collections and services evolve to meet expanding information needs created by the greater University’s commitment to global health education and growing involvement in health research around the globe. The office will seek partners to help explore creative ways to assure that health knowledge becomes more universally available. Mellanye Lackey, MSI, will be the founding director of the new office. Mellanye, a member of the International Cooperation Section of MLA, will speak about the library’s new office at the Librarians Without Borders panel discussion at MLA'10

Jill Byerly Mayer
Health Sciences Library
UNC Chapel Hill
Email: jbmayer@email.unc.edu

Patricia A Auflick New Position

Patricia has accepted a position as Library Director for the Casper College library in Casper, WY beginning July 1. Casper College is a community college with about 4,000 students. It also offers some four year programs in conjunction with the University of Wyoming. Casper is her home town so she is pleased to be going back to her roots.

Patricia A. Auflick
Arizona Health Sciences Library
Email: pauflick@ahsl.arizona.edu

Presentations of Mindy Robin-Paquette

Mindy Robinson-Paquette (ICS Membership Chair and Convener, Library Marketing SIG) presented a poster at the MLA Tri-Chapter Meeting “3 By the Sea” in Atlantic City, NJ October 2009. http://3bythesea.pbworks.com/FrontPage

Entitled “Successful Outreach: Collaboration through creative services, resulting in the development of a satellite library”, the poster and abstract was one of several that described new and ongoing outreach services in hospital, academic and this corporate library.

An article describing this portion of the tri-chapter meeting also appears in National Network, a publication of the Hospital Libraries Section/MLA (p.15) http://www.hls.mlanet.org/newsletter/NN34(2)E.pdf

Ongoing interest in the topic has led to being asked to write a full-length article for Medical Reference Services Quarterly , explaining the process of identifying the customer group, initiation of the outreach and how it evolved into a full-fledged satellite library in 1.5 years.

Mindy also served as panel moderator and presenter for "Best Practices: Internal Marketing and Outreach" at the Spring meeting of the Pharmacy & Health Technology Division/SLA in Philadelphia, PA on April 13, 2010. The presentations, including a High vs. Low ROI Activities (Return On Investment) will be posted on the Division's webpage at http://units.sla.org/division/dpht/meetings/spring2010/spring2010main.shtml. If you are unable to access the documents, please contact Mindy directly at mindy.robinson-paquette@sanofi-aventis.com .

Mindy Robinson-Paquette
sanofi-aventis US, Inc.
Email: Mindy.Robinson-Paquette@sanofi-aventis.com