Libology Blog

This is one of those resources which you hope will not have to be used, but when it helps someone find the information they need, it can be invaluable:

The Unidentified Decedent Reporting System (Warning:  site is definitely not for the squeamish) is the National Association of Medical Examiners online tool for posting information about unidentified bodies across the U.S.  It is a distinctly depressing web site, with hints of sadness and loss in dozens of lives, and the realization that for many of these people there are families and friends without answers.

Along with the Doe Network, this site can help to bring closure to tragedy.

from ResourceShelf

WebWISER is an online access point for WISER, which stands for Wireless Information Sytem for Emergency Responders.  This database of information on hazardous materials is maintained by the National Library of Medicine, and can be used to both find information on known materials, as well as to assist in identifying unknown materials.

WISER is designed to provide Emergency Responders, such as Police, Fire, and Medical personnel, quick information about a wide range of chemicals and their dangers.  Mobile phones, pdas, computers, and the internet can all be used to access the database.

Not only is WISER in its various flavors a great site for reference questions, it should be a part of any organization’s disaster plan, and people should be prepared so they can access it whenever the need arises.  A tutorial is also available.

found via ResourceShelf

This online Flu Clinic Locator, provided by the American Lung Association, is an excellent way to find out where and when flu shots will be available in your area.  A great health resource for your ready-reference information or even your library web site.

My wish list for the locator would include being able to sort the results by date or distance, because when you get more than 20 results, you have to wade through them page by page.  In addition, it would be excellent to display all the results of your search on a Google map… and since they already link their individual results to Google maps, this would be fairly easy to add on.  

found via ResourceShelf

There is a bill being voted upon by the U.S. Senate on October 15th which will potentially open up a great deal of research being done with National Institute of Health (NIH) funding.  The bill will mandate that the public (as well as other researchers) have access to research funded through grants by the NIH.  Similar language has already passed a House vote in a budget bill, and so if this is approved in the Senate it is likely to become law.

The ALA has an easy to use site to allow people to send e-mails to their senators (just enter your zip code), and Digital Scholarship has some well-phrased suggestions for the text.  I did my own summary, after reading through the above pages.  Use if you like, but think about how you could state it in your own words, as well:

Dear Senator xxxxx:

As a library staff member, a blogger, and a U.S. citizen, I feel strongly that government sponsored research should be as open and available for everyone’s benefit as possible. This will lead to greater understanding of health issues, and will assist in focusing research more effectively in the future, which will save time, money, and lives. Open Access is the most effective way to do this with the NIH research.

For further information, the resources and talking points at http://www.digital-scholarship.org/other/nihtext.htm contain a great deal of merit. Also, Peter Suber’s website has excellent information: http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm

Thank you for your consideration on this important topic.
 
Sincerely,
Rick Mason
xxx-xxx-xxxx
Library Support Staff blog
http://blog.librarysupportstaff.org/

Oncology by OncologyStat is an experiement by Elsevier to see if they can provide access to scholarly journals for free using an ad-based revenue formula.  In addition, they offer many resources for medical staff, patients, and families.

The press release stresses that their target audience is “US oncologists, hematologists, oncology nurses, and all other healthcare professionals involved in the treatment, care and diagnosis of patients with cancer”, but when you go through the registration process it is clear that students, Librarians, and even the general public are able to avail themselves of this service.

If your library serves those who need current scholarly information for oncology, you have another good resource to add to your collection!

found on Open Access News

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about the publishing company Reed Elsevier and their involvement in the world arms trade. Editors and writers from several of their journals, including The Lancet, were arguing that it was unethical to publish medical journals, then assist those selling arms and munitions worldwide.

The arguments seem to have won over, as Reed Elsevier announced yesterday that they will phase out their involvement by the end of this year. The Lancet’s response is here.

Kudos to all involved with the effort, including the editors, authors, press, and bloggers who presented their case, and those at Elsevier who examined the situation and made the right ethical choice.

from Open Access News

Open Medicine is a new journal from Canada which is striving to be an online, open access alternative to the likes of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). 

There have been many new open access journals in the past couple of years (see the Directory of Open Access Journals for an idea of what is available), but this is one we should keep an eye on, because JAMA and NEJM are such high profile publications.

from Open Access News  

Reed Elsevier, the European publishing corporation behind over 15,000 journals, is being challenged by one of them, The Lancet, in regards to its commercial involvement in the arms trade.

This connects to libraries in several ways: subscriptions to many print journals, as well as online access, are purchased by libraries, meaning we help to support the company’s activities; until recently, Elsevier was the owner of Endeavor (Pdf), the creator of the Voyager ILS; and in a broader sense, a company involved in both the trade of arms and the publishing of medical journals faces certain contradictions, which eventually raises questions about the quality of information that we provide from their journals.

It is important that we understand the details of this issue, and that we can understand the ways in which this can affect people and institutions. Individually we may not be able to do much, but our collective understanding, attitude, and action will make more of a difference in the world than we may realize.

Sources:

• Open Access News
• Lancet correspondence on the arms trade issue (Pdf)
• Guardian (UK) newspaper article
• Forbes magazine (AP) article

PubReMiner is an interesting tool that lets you see the metadata behind your PubMed search, and lets you narrow your search with quite a bit more understanding of the ways in which you can do so.

This was included as part of a list on Journalology

The open coursework offered by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been translated into Chinese and made available for study in China.

The effort was headed by Lucifer Chu (perhaps best known for translating The Lord of the Rings into Chinese) using a program called Opensource Opencourseware Prototype System (OOPS).  This signals an internationalization of open access, with many potential benefits for teaching and learning.

An excellent article about the work done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including how they worked with their libraries on the project, can be found here.

from Open Access News

The National Library of Medicine has a unique feature on their online file conversion site, DocMorph:  one of their options is to convert a file to synthesized speech.

Think about the option of providing your online materials in an audio format, without having to take the time to read and record them.  Meeting minutes, bulletins, newsletters could all be available as audio files.  Not a bad idea!

from ResourceShelf

The National Library of Medicine is providing the package insert information for over 500 medications via their DailyMed service.

It is a good resource, and unlike the PDR, you don’t have to pay or register. I have a strong preference for the USP DI as a drug reference, anyways….

from ResourceShelf