Over Pitt’s winter break, Falk Library will have modified hours:
The Ask a Librarian service will be monitored over the break. Continue reading
Get into the holiday spirit by joining us for a holiday concert performed by the PalPITTations, an a capella vocal group of health sciences students from the University of Pittsburgh. The PalPITTations will perform on Friday, December 12, at noon, on the upper floor of Falk Library. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome for this free concert.
The holiday season is a good time to look back at the year that’s passed and ahead to the new one. We take a breather from our daily routines to celebrate with friends, family, and co-workers and forget about the gloomy dark winter.
We at HSLS also pause to look back at our achievements and forward to plans for the new year. Our FY 2014 annual report has been posted to our Web site, and we’ve compiled our annual statistics for various reporting requirements. Below are some FY14 highlights:
HSLS is coming to a screen near you! Our own YouTube channel, Pitt Health Sciences Library System, features recordings of special lectures and classes. If you missed that interesting workshop on scientific image manipulation, or you want to share Gail Kern Paster’s compelling talk on Elizabethan medical beliefs, just search it in YouTube. To stay in the loop, subscribe to Pitt Health Sciences Library System with your Google Account, or like us on Facebook.
HSLS YouTube is a featured channel of the University of Pittsburgh’s own official presence on YouTube. Pitt’s video series include Spotlight on Research, Alumni Looking Back, and In a PITT(sburgh) Minute.
~ Julia Dahm
A new feature of PLOS Computational Biology is a series of articles titled, “Ten Simple Rules.” Written by PLOS Computational Biology Editor-in-Chief Philip E. Bourne, and occasionally with collaborators, the “Ten Simple Rules” aim to provide a quick, concise guide of interest to researchers as they move through their careers. Topics focusing on beginning a research career include: “Ten Simple Rules for Graduate Students,” “Ten Simple Rules for Selecting a Postdoctoral Position,” and “Ten Simple Rules for Choosing between Industry and Academia.” Topics of interest as a researcher builds their career include: “Ten Simple Rules for Writing Research Papers,” “Ten Simple Rules for Getting Grants,” and “Ten Simple Rules for Getting Published.”
New articles will be added as they are published, so check back regularly to see what’s new.
~Nancy Tannery
After three decades as Director of the National Library of Medicine, Donald Lindberg, MD, has announced his retirement at the end of March 2015. According to NIH Director Francis Collins, Dr. Lindberg “created programs that changed fundamentally the way biomedical information is collected, shared, and analyzed.” Read about Dr. Lindberg’s many substantial accomplishments in the “NIH Director’s Statement on Dr. Lindberg’s Retirement.”
~Jill Foust
Stereoscopy is a technique that creates the illusion of a 3D image. It is based on a simple principle: when viewing two nearly identical images side by side through prismatic lenses, the eyes blend the two views into one, which is then perceived in three dimensions. Stereoscopic images became widely popular with photography from about 1850 to 1920. These images were a form of entertainment, and even today this technique is used to enhance the teaching power of photography. Falk Library owns several newer anatomy and pathology atlases with stereoscopic illustrations that include their own viewers: Hirsch’s Neuroanatomy (1999) with 3D glasses; Schuknecht’s Stereoscopic Atlas of Mastoidotympanoplastic Surgery (1966) with a folded compact stereo viewer; Bassett’s A Stereoscopic Atlas of Human Anatomy (1965); and Gass’s Stereoscopic Atlas of Macular Diseases (1987, 1997) with a standard reel view-master.
The early stereoscopes and viewers are collectibles. Before the invention of photography, the first stereoscope for viewing drawings was introduced in 1833 by Charles Wheatstone. Later, Oliver Wendell Holmes designed the first handheld viewer which was produced and improved by Joseph Bates.
Over the years many other inventors perfected stereoscopes. Hawley C. White was one of them. His company was the largest producer of stereoscopes in the world. He won a prestigious prize at the 1900 International Exhibition in Paris. Many of his 20th century viewers can be identified by the emblem referencing this event. The stereoscope in our collection has his Award Medal depicted in the center of the hood along with the H.C. White name. One of the three card holders has a clasp designed by Truman W. Ingersoll in 1904, thus making the stereoscope traceable to ca.1905. The other two card holders were added later and do not belong to the original viewer. This stereoscope works well with these stereoscopic atlases owned by Falk Library: Cunningham’s Stereoscopic Studies of Anatomy for the Internist (1900); Enderlen and Gasser’s Stereoskopbilder zur Lehre von den Hernien (1906), as described in the February 2012 HSLS Update article, “Treasures from the Rare Book Room: Photography and Medical Books, Part 3”; Kelly’s Dr. J. A. Bodine’s Operation for Inguinal Hernia (1909); Cunningham’s Stereoscopic Studies of Anatomy (ca. 1909); and Jones’s Equilibrium and Vertigo (1918).
These materials can be viewed in the Rare Book Room by appointment.
~ Gosia Fort
The HSLS Staff News section includes recent HSLS presentations, publications, staff changes, staff promotions, degrees earned, etc.
Presentations
Lydia Collins, consumer health coordinator, NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region, presented “More Than a Bandage: Health Information Resources for K-12 Professionals,” at the Delaware School Nurse Association Fall Conference in Dewey Beach, DE, on November 15, 2014; “Online Resources to Support Mental Health: Information for Clinicians and Patients,” at the Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging Coalition in State College, PA, on November 17, 2014; and “Combatting Information Fatigue: Health Information Resources for Veterans,” at the Pennsylvania Veterans Forum in Grantville, PA, on November 19, 2014.
Barb Folb, public health informationist, taught “Systematic Reviews: Skills to Develop Literature Searches, Manage Results, and Evaluate Findings,” at the APHA 142nd Annual Meeting & Expo, in New Orleans, LA, on November 15, 2014. Co-instructors were Helena VonVille1 and Joseph Nicholson2.
Carrie Iwema, molecular biology information specialist, presented “The Perils & Promises of Genomic Medicine,” at the annual meeting of the MLA Upstate New York and Ontario Chapters in Saratoga Springs, NY, on October 24, 2014.
Michele Klein-Fedyshin, reference librarian, presented a poster titled “Information-Seeking Patterns and Skills of Hospice and Palliative Nurses: Implications for Librarians Seeking New Frontiers,” at the 2014 MAC/MLA Annual Meeting in Alexandria, VA, on October 20, 2014.
HSLS offers classes on database searching, software applications such as Prezi, 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 on the upper floor of the library in Classroom 2. All classes are open to faculty, staff, and students of the schools of the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, who will need a valid Pitt ID or e-mail account. They are also open to UPMC residents and fellows, who will need to show their UPMC IDs.
No registration is required, except where noted. 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.
FlashClass
FlashClass is a “deal of the week” Groupon-like offer of timely and useful learning. Each week’s offer proposes one or two topics, and you’re invited to sign up to attend a one-hour class the following week. If at least three people sign up, we’ll hold the class. (We’ll notify you either way.)
HSLS CLASSES
EndNote Basics (Falk Library Classroom 2)
| Monday, December 8 | 2-4 p.m. |
PowerPoint for Conference Posters (Falk Library Classroom 2)
| Tuesday, December 9 | 10 a.m.-noon |
Painless PubMed* (Falk Library Classroom 1)
| Thursday, December 4 | Noon-1 p.m. |
| Monday, December 8 | 1-2 p.m. |
| Tuesday, December 16 | 11 a.m.-noon |
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS RESOURCES
Primer Design & Restriction Analysis* (Falk Library Classroom 2)
| Wednesday, December 3 | 1-3 p.m. |
Introduction to CLC Main Workbench* (Falk Library Classroom 2)
| Wednesday, December 10 | 1-3 p.m. |
CUSTOMIZED CLASSES
Customized classes can be developed for your department, course, or other group.