2009 Issue

Mark your calendar to attend the Spring Plenary program of the University Senate on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, from 12:15 to 3:15 pm.  The program, titled Scholarly Publishing Today and Tomorrow: What you need to Know, will take place in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union, and a complimentary buffet lunch will be available.  Pre-registration is not required.

The keynote speaker will be David Shulenburger, Vice President for Academic Affairs of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC). Concurrent breakout sessions after the keynote address will focus on the future of scholarly journals, authors’ rights, the role of institutional repositories, and the future of the university press publishing.

The motto of CAPA, a creative and performing arts magnet school located in downtown Pittsburgh, is “Believe . . . Work to Achieve . . . and Succeed!”  Erin Sestric of Mt. Washington did just that.  For a freshman CAPA class project, Erin initiated, advertised, and successfully completed a fundraiser event to purchase new books for the Moulis Children’s Library at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

The Moulis Children’s Library, a “white-coat-free zone”, provides recreational reading and viewing materials for children of all ages admitted into the hospital.

Erin arranged with Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Robinson Township to hold a daylong event, during which 20 percent of purchases made by customers mentioning the event would be donated to Erin’s cause. Scheduled throughout the day were activities to promote participation in the fundraiser.  These included:

•    A reading corner, where volunteers read to children
•    A gift wrap table, staffed by Erin and other volunteers
•    A “think fun table,” with crayons, coloring pages, face-painting, and puzzles
•    Visits from “Literacy Dogs,” dogs with their handlers that encourage children to learn to read
•    A scavenger hunt

The main entertainment was provided by students from Rosalene Kenneth Professional Dance Studio, to which Erin belongs.  Thirty students ranging from ages 4-18 volunteered their time and talents to help Erin raise funds for the Moulis Children’s Library.

Thus far, Erin has raised over $750 in addition to book donations.  Using the money and a discount card provided by Barnes and Noble, Erin is purchasing books from the Library’s wish list, compiled by Andrea Ketchum, reference librarian.  Andrea states that “Erin has already delivered a tableful of some of the latest, hottest titles for children and we are delighted to add them to our collection”.  Kudos to Erin for a job well done!

~ Andrea Ketchum and Melissa Ratajeski

By now, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) should be familiar with the agency’s requirement that all papers arising from NIH-funded research be deposited in the National Library of Medicine’s online public archive, PubMed Central.  Although the mandate was signed into law on December 26, 2007, it was not until April 7, 2008 that researchers were actually required to submit final peer-reviewed manuscripts to PubMed Central on acceptance for publication. Given that there is a lag between acceptance and publication, and that public access to these articles may be delayed for up to twelve months after publication, we have yet to see the anticipated explosive growth of PubMed Central, though submissions have risen substantially.

Since May 2005, NIH has tracked the number of articles submitted to PubMed Central through its Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS). During most of 2005 and 2006, there were rarely more than 500 articles submitted each month.  In 2007, the average number of articles submitted monthly doubled to about 1,000.  By April 2008, there were about 2,500 articles submitted each month, with submissions spiking to 4,000 in July 2008 and 3,500 in August 2008 and October 2008.  But since NIH estimates that 80,000 articles reporting on NIH-funded research are published annually, it is apparent that many authors are not yet in compliance with the mandate.

NIH clearly states that compliance with the policy is now a “Term and Condition of Award” for all grants and cooperative agreements. If a researcher fails to comply, “NIH may take proactive action to protect the Federal government’s interests, including placing special conditions on awards or precluding the grantee from obtaining future awards for a specified period, or may take action designed to prevent future non-compliance, such as closer monitoring”.

Libraries, scientific and professional societies, universities, and the NIH have launched educational campaigns, Web sites, and information toolkits about how to comply with the policy.  But not all researchers and authors fully understand their responsibility, and there is a considerable amount of confusion and misinformation.  Publishers continue to review their author agreements and policies on how articles can be submitted. An August 2008 Association of Research (ARL) Libraries report titled “PubMed Central Deposit and Author Rights”, found that publication agreements vary substantially in the terms of deposit, the length of the embargo period, and the rights that are retained by the author.

Detractors continue harsh criticism of the NIH Public Access Policy. In September 2008, John Conyers, a representative from Michigan, introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that aimed to overturn the NIH open access mandate and to block other government entities from adopting comparable guidelines. The hearing on the bill was adjourned without a resolution, but it is anticipated that the bill will be proposed again during 2009. Numerous library associations, legal scholars, Nobel Prize laureates in science, and others expressed strong opposition to Conyers’ bill, entitled the “Fair Copyright in Research Works Act” (H.R. 6845).

Nevertheless,  the months ahead should bring rapid growth in the number of publicly available research articles as authors find their way through the maze of submission challenges and as the one-year embargo period expires for the articles that were accepted for publication in April 2008.

Note: The above content is adapted from an article written by the author for the MLA News, February, 2009.

~ Barbara A. Epstein

Due to budget restraints, the Health Sciences Library System has canceled some less popular databases. For more information on how these decisions are made, read the article Evaluating Usage and Cost of Electronic Resources in this Update issue.

Beginning in January 2009, two OVID databases are no longer accessible, AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts. In addition, the databases ImagesMD and PsycEXTRA are canceled. After February 15, 2009 anatomy@tv will no longer be available as well.

~ Leslie Czechowski

In this challenging economic climate, how does the HSLS staff decide which electronic journals, books, and databases to keep in the online collection? Since over 80 percent of the HSLS acquisitions budget is for electronic materials, careful analysis is essential.

One very helpful tool is usage statistics that are provided by the companies from whom we purchase materials. Some are automatically harvested for us on a monthly basis by a Web-based software program that collects usage statistics in a common format (COUNTER) using a standard protocol (SUSHI). These statistics are particularly useful because we can compare usage of journals from different publishers.

We receive a variety of reports each month. One report lists the most highly used journals. Not surprising, the top ten HSLS journals used at Pitt and UPMC in the first eight months of this year are:

1.    New England Journal of Medicine
2.    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
3.    Nature
4.    Journal of Immunology
5.    Tetrahedron Letters
6.    Cancer Research
7.    Circulation
8.    Journal of Neuroscience
9.    Journal of Clinical Oncology
10.  The Lancet

We purchase numerous journal packages from individual publishers. Common understanding has been that libraries save money by buying journals in a package rather than selecting titles individually. But is that cost effective? We can analyze our usage statistics to answer that question.  For example, we receive a 16 percent discount from one publisher to purchase all 76 titles in their package, even though usage stats show that only 67 of these titles are well-used at Pitt-UPMC.  But what if we subscribed individually to those 67 well-used titles?  After analysis, we learn that we would pay about the same for the well-used journals (67 titles) as we pay for the entire package (76 titles). So for HSLS, this package gives us access to more journals for a comparable cost.

Another use of statistics is to evaluate a large journal package before renewal. When we did a quick analysis of one publisher package of 500+ journals, we learned that our users indeed requested numerous full-text articles from these titles. Specifically,

• ¼ journals had more than 100 annual requests
• ½ journals had between 50-100 annual requests
• ¼ journals had less than 50 annual requests

These statistics convinced us that Pitt-UPMC users found these journals very useful in their work, so we renewed the package.

For some products it’s most helpful to examine usage over time. For example, for one very popular diagnostic tool, we have usage stats from May 2006 to the present. There has been a gradual increase from 8,000 hits per week to 11,000 hits per week over this time period, indicating that this product is valued by our users.

Though usage statistics are helpful in analyzing our collection, we also pay careful attention to balancing the mix of subject areas to reflect the research and interests of our user population.

~ Leslie Czechowski

Have a laptop computer? Have you ever left it unattended? If so, you may want to reconsider laptop security options as thefts can happen anywhere. The precautions below can help keep both your computer and its data safe.

Keep the laptop with you at all times.
Have you ever left your laptop sitting on a library table while you took a quick break?  Unfortunately, we love our laptops for the same reasons they appeal to thieves – their portability and computing power. Leaving your machine unattended for just a few minutes could have devastating consequences.

Using a work laptop? Follow your department or unit laptop security policy
IT laptop security policies are designed to protect the user, the hardware, and the data.  As the user, you are an integral part of this equation. Granted, some IT policy restrictions can be annoying; but playing online games or watching YouTube is not worth the risk of a data breach.

Invest in a laptop security cable
This prevention tool will prevent crimes of opportunity.  The cables and locks (often sold as a set) are readily available from most computer stores.

Software based security
This type of software allows your laptop to be tracked, located, and possibly recovered if stolen. The University of Pittsburgh’s CSSD offers Lojack at no cost to students and Computrace to faculty and staff.  For those not affiliated with the University, Lojack is also available via paid subscription. See the Lojack Web site for more information.

~ Fran Yarger

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working together to provide important information about the recall of certain peanut butter and peanut-containing products that are associated with the recent Salmonella Typhimurium outbreaks.

The Social Media Tools for Consumers and Partners Web site makes it easy to obtain automatically updated information on the outbreak and the product recall.  The site provides resources for both consumers and partners, many available in both English and Spanish, including:

– Online product recall database
– RSS Feeds
– Podcasts
– Online videos

Call 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for up-to-date information about the recalls and hundreds of other health and safety topics.

The following journals are among the new online titles added to HSLS collections in 2009.

Advances in Anesthesia
Advances in Chronic Kidney diseases
Advances in Surgery
Aesthetic Surgery Journal
American Journal of Health Education
Biomolecular NMR Assignments*
British Journal of Infection Control*
Cell Host & Microbe
Cell Stem Cell
Channels
Chronic Illness*
Cognitive Neurodynamics*
Computer Applications in the Biosciences: CABIOS*
Diabetes & Metabolism
European Journal of Pain
Gait & Posture
Innate Immunity*
International Journal of Obesity
Journal for Nurse Practitioners
Journal of Cystic Fibrosis
Journal of Neurosurgery
Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
Molecular Oncology
Neuromuscular Disorders
Oncology Reviews*
Placenta
Reproductive Sciences*
Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy: RSAP
ScienceNow*
Seminars in Nuclear Medicine
Seminars in Pediatric Neurology
Seminars in Pediatric Surgery
Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery: Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Annual
Sustainability*

*Access as part of a collection/package

~ HSLS Technical Services staff

HSLS offers classes on database searching, software applications such as Adobe Photoshop, bibliographic management, molecular biology and genetics, and library orientations.  For more information visit the online course descriptions.

Classes are held on the first floor of Falk Library (200 Scaife Hall) in classroom 1 and conference room B, and on the second floor in the Computer and Media Center classroom 2.  All classes are open to faculty, staff and students of the schools of the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC.

Some classes are also held at the Conference Room at UPMC Shadyside Libraries for UPMC Shadyside physicians, staff, and students.

No registration is required for any of these classes.  Seating for classes is first-come, first-served, until the class is full.  Classes marked with an asterisk (*) qualify for American Medical Association Category 2 continuing education credit.  Class schedules are subject to change.  Please consult the online class calendar for the most current information.

HSLS ORIENTATION

Introduction to HSLS Resources and Services at Falk Library
Offered upon request to groups or individuals. Call 412-648-8796.

Introduction to HSLS Resources and Services at UPMC Shadyside Libraries
Offered upon request to groups or individuals.  Call 412-623-2415.

SEARCHING DATABASES

PubMed Basics*
Tuesday, March 17                 10-11:30 a.m.   (Falk Library Classroom 1)
Thursday, April 2        10-11:30 a.m.   (Falk Library Classroom 1)
Tuesday, April 14        9-10:30 a.m.     (Falk Library Classroom 1)
Tuesday, March 17        Noon-1:30 p.m. (Conference Room at UPMC Shadyside Libraries)
Wednesday, April 22        11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. (Conference Room at UPMC Shadyside Libraries)

Searching EBSCOHost CINAHL*
Tuesday, April 7        9-10:30 a.m.     (Falk Library Classroom 1)
Tuesday, March 10        12:30-2 p.m.    (Conference Room at UPMC Shadyside Libraries)

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS RESOURCES

Metacore* (Falk Library Conference Room B)
Wednesday, March 4                         1-3 pm.

Sequence Similarity Searching* (Falk Library Conference Room B)
Wednesday, March 18         1-3 p.m.

DNA Analysis Tools* (Falk Library Conference Room B)
Wednesday, March 25          1-3 p.m.

Protein Analysis Tools* (Falk Library Conference Room B)
Wednesday, April 1            1-3 p.m.

Peptide Mass Fingerprinting for Protein* (Falk Library Conference Room B)
Wednesday, April 8            1-3 p.m.

Microarray Data Analysis* (Falk Library Conference Room B)
Wednesday, April 22            1-3 p.m.

Gene Regulation Resources* (Falk Library Conference Room B)
Wednesday, April 29            1-3 p.m.

Vector NTI Advance* (Conference Room at UPMC Shadyside Libraries)
Wednesday, April 15            1-3 p.m.

SOFTWARE TRAINING

EndNote Basics (Falk Library Classroom 2)
(Note: This class is usually full.  Please arrive 15 minutes in advance to ensure seating.)
Thursday, March 19            1:30-3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 21            10 a.m.-noon

Adobe Photoshop for Beginners (Falk Library Classroom 2)
Thursday, March 12            10 a.m.-noon
Thursday, April 16            10 a.m.-noon

PowerPoint for Beginners
Thursday, March 19         10 a.m.-noon   (Falk Library Classroom 2)
Wednesday, April 1        11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Conference Room at UPMC Shadyside Libraries)

PowerPoint for Beginners and Advanced PowerPoint (Falk Library Classroom 2)
Thursday, April 23        10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The WOW Factor: PowerPoint for Posters (Falk Library Classroom 2)
Tuesday, March 3               10-11:30 a.m.

LUNCH WITH A LIBRARIAN

These informal, brown-bag lunches are held in Falk Library Conference Room B. Bring your own lunch. Drinks and dessert are provided. For more information visit the online descriptions.

EndNote vs. RefWorks: Which should I use?
Monday, March 2            Noon-1 p.m.

Advanced Google: Tips and Strategies for Getting More From Google
Thursday, March 26            Noon-1 p.m.

NIH Public Access Mandate – One Year Later
Monday, April 6        Noon-1 p.m.

PubMed: Something Old, Something New
Thursday, April 23        Noon-1 p.m.

Thursday @ Three Library Information Series

These informal sessions are held in the Conference Room at UPMC Shadyside Libraries.

Tell Me What to Eat: Nutrition Information for People with Diabetes
Thursday, March 12            3-4 p.m.

Who Cited Whom? Using Cited References to Identify Research LiteratureThursday, April 30        3-4 p.m.

CUSTOMIZED CLASSES

Customized classes can be developed for a course, your department, or a group of library users.

LEARNING @ YOUR PACE

These online tutorials provide information on getting started at HSLS, focusing on the Web site and popular resources.

The HSLS Staff News section includes recent HSLS presentations, publications, staff changes, staff promotions, degrees earned, etc.

News

Carrie Iwema, information specialist in Molecular Biology, is the new bioinformatics blog writer for Bitesize Bio, an online magazine and community for molecular and cell biology researchers. Her most current article is Free Online Bioinformatics Tools.

Farewell to John Siegel, reference librarian and liaison to the School of Dental Medicine who accepted a position as the Reference Librarian/Instruction Coordinator for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Publications

Leslie Czechowski, assistant director for Collections and Technical Services, “Edging toward Perfection: Analysis of a new Approval Plan in a Health Sciences Library”, Library Collections, Acquisitions and Technical Services, 32: 107-11, 2008.

Barbara Epstein, director, “Open Access: Implications for Evidence-Based Practice”  Journal of Emergency Nursing, 34(6):561-563, December 2008

John Erlen, history of medicine librarian, published “Dissertations on Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco and Addiction: A Five-Year Retrospective, 2003-08” in Social History of Alcohol and Drugs: an Interdisciplinary Journal, 23(fall): 58-73, 2008 with co-author Dan Malleck.

Carrie Iwema, information specialist in Molecular Biology, “Faculty of 1000 Medicine [review]”, Journal of the Medical Library Association, 96(4): 391-2, 2008.