Informatics/Digital Librarian Joins Dana

Benjamin Sandoval joins the Dana Medical Library this month as the new temporary Informatics/Digital Librarian. Ben has a Masters degree in Library and Information Science at UCLA and BA in history with a secondary education focus. His most recent library position was at the UCLA Biomedical Library. He comes to Vermont from Arizona, where he’s lived all but two years of his life.

When asked how he approaches his work and his hopes for this work experience, Ben replied,

I always ask myself ‘what if’ questions and let the brainstorming begin. I also like to take an ‘evidence-based’ approach to the solutions I formulate. [I hope] to create something out of nothing.

At Dana Ben is currently working on the Virtual Microscope Project jointly with COMET, CATSearch which is a joint project with the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, and a Dana internal project on designing a system to collect statistics.

NIH Open Access Policy Update

The NIH Public Access Policy will continue to be in effect in 2009 and “thereafter,” according to a provision in the recently approved federal appropriations bill.

“The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require in the current fiscal year and thereafter [emphasis added] that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central an electronic version their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.”

The NIH Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access requires eligible NIH-funded researchers to deposit electronic copies of their peer-reviewed manuscripts into PubMed Central. Full texts of the articles are then made publicly available online in PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication in a journal. Nature reports in its online News section that the “Open-access policy flourishes at NIH,” (April 7, 2009.) [http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/458690a]

The Dana Medical Library presentation NIH Public Access: Submissions, copyright, and compliance is available for UVM and FAHC audiences. If you would like to schedule this presentation for your own department, lab, or other group please contact Donna.Omalley@uvm.edu. Information from the presentation is also available on the Dana Medical Library web site: NIH Public Access Policy [http://danaguides.uvm.edu/NIHPublicAccess].

New Technologies in the Library

Enhanced Catalog Feature

You may have noticed that the catalog has more images and more information than before. That’s because information from Google Book Search has been loaded into UVM Libraries’ online catalog, Voyager.

More Information About This Book

Many of the books in the catalog now have an image of the cover of the book, and a link to More Information About This Book. Click on that link and you will be brought to that particular book’s entry within Google Book Search. Once there, you may see some of these features:

• images of the cover,
• the table of contents,
• reviews,
• publisher descriptions
• and even a chance to preview the book.

In a survey of UVM Libraries catalog users, 92% agreed or strongly agreed that the link to Google Books provided useful information.

Text It!

A common scenario: you need a book from the library so you scribble the call number on a gum wrapper you find in your pocket. You are now on the 3rd floor of Bailey-Howe or standing at the front of the Dana Medical Library only to discover that your book bag has now eaten that gum wrapper.

Next time, TEXT IT! UVM Libraries catalog now has a texting option within each record that will send your cell phone an abbreviated title and location information. Charges from your cell phone carrier may apply.

New Printing Options For Laptops

We’re pleased to announce that Windows laptop users can now print directly to Libraries’ printers.

Install the printers for your library of choice (Bailey/Howe, Dana Medical Library, or Cook Chemistry/Physics Library) and you’ll be good to go.

Laptop printing solutions for Macintosh and Vista users are currently under development.

Laptop Stickers by Roo Reynolds used in accordance with the Creative Commons license.

Dana Wants to Hear from YOU!

The Dana Medical Library cares about what you think. We want your voice to be at the heart of our planning and assessment efforts as we evaluate library services, including such things as electronic journal access, library employees’ ability to solve problems, the new library web page, and the quality of the physical facilities.

On Monday, April 6^th, Dana will launch an electronic survey, LibQUAL+ ™, to evaluate the library, and to benchmark our collection, services and facilities with other libraries.

LibQual is a nationally-normed survey developed by the Texas A&M University Libraries in partnership with the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The survey gauges library users’ opinions of the resources and services provided by the library. The survey includes three general areas: Affect of Service, or how patrons felt their needs were met by staff; Information Control, or how easily patrons are able to find what they are looking for; and Library as Place, or how well the location works for study and research.

The Dana Medical Library participated in the LibQUAL+ ™ survey in April 2005. At that time, the Library’s highest ratings were in the area of Affect of Service. The area of Information Control presented a different picture. Three out of 9 questions reflected inadequate performance. For example, in answer to the question of whether journal collections were sufficient for one’s work, respondents, particularly faculty and graduate students, rated the collection as inadequate. The physical Library was also identified as below standard. Since that time, the Dana Medical Library has made several changes. Most obviously, the Library moved to a new facility. Another important change has been the significant increase in the number of electronic journals available. How important are these changes? What additional changes should be considered? What should not be changed? We want to know!

Please consider participating in this survey at http://library.uvm.edu/surveys/. Sample responses indicate it takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Your investment of time now will be greatly appreciated, and will help to shape the future of the Dana Medical Library.

Community Medical School Is Back for Its 10th Year

The Community Medical School lecture series began in 1998 and was designed to provide people in the community with an opportunity to share in the medical learning experience. Offered each semester, Community Medical School consists of seven weekly lectures on such diverse subjects as heart failure, DNA, food allergies, asthma, melanoma, stem cell transplants, coronary artery bypass surgery and incontinence. Each lecture is videotaped for distribution to libraries and to public access cable television stations around the state.

Past lectures on DVD can be found in the Dana Medical Library’s consumer health collection. Dana-created supplemental reading lists for past lectures are also available.

For more information about Community Medical School, call (802) 847-2886.

VT Medical Libraries: Partner for Health at Blueprint Conference

“What are your unmet health information needs?” librarian exhibitors asked at the Vermont Blueprint for Health Conference, on March 9 at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center. Public health professionals among others wanted to know how they could obtain full-text journal articles if they are not affiliated with UVM. The Dana Medical Library exhibit, presented in cooperation with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine-New England Region, provided answers that highlighted the Library’s Health Research Affiliates Program, and the services of eight hospital libraries throughout Vermont. Free resources such as Medlineplus.gov and the Vermont Go Local health services referral database were also featured. Marianne Burke, MLS, UVM Dana Library, and Claire LaForce, MLS, UVM and Rutland Regional Medical Center, were the exhibitors.

For more information about VT Blueprint for Health, go to: http://healthvermont.gov/blueprint.aspx.