December 2016 Issue

This issue marks the 20^th anniversary of the Update.  In late 1996, we cautiously embarked on publishing a printed newsletter that would appear quarterly.  We wondered if we would have enough news to share every quarter that could fill four pages of print.  Our goal was to provide our Pitt and UPMC health sciences community with useful information about library resources and services to support your daily teaching, publishing, research and clinical responsibilities (with just a little bit of bragging to showcase the achievements of our talented library staff).  A secondary goal was to record the history of the library as it happened.

Our very first Fall 1996 issue included articles about our new home page on the “World Wide Web”, growth of Falk Library’s “Microcomputer and Media Center,” Continue reading →

Please join us as we celebrate the season with the annual PalPITTations Concert on Wednesday, December 14, at 12:30 p.m., on the upper floor of Falk Library. The PalPITTations are the a capella vocal group of health sciences students from the University of Pittsburgh. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome for this free concert.

Sound recordings, documentaries, films, and lectures tell the story of biomedicine, disease, and public health. This capture of the historical record enables us to reflect on the progress made in health care and appreciate the advancements yet to come. Below is a selection of online history of medicine films and sounds.

Digital Collections, a part of the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Historical Audiovisuals (HAV) Program, contain 200+ films and sound clips, and includes:

• The Public Health Film Goes to War (World War II-era health films)
• Tropical Disease Motion Pictures (films on tropical diseases worldwide with  accompanying subject guide)
• Medical Movies on the Web (selected films with expert commentary)
• Additional movies on their YouTube site

NLM’s History of Medicine’s newsletter, Circulating Now, includes articles about films and videos that offer overviews and commentaries about items in HAV’s digital collection.

The Medical Heritage Library, a collaboration of leading medical libraries, provides open access to historical resources. The collection includes tens of thousands of rare medical books, pamphlets, journals, and films from the past six centuries. Online films and sound clips can be located using the Medical Heritage Library Search feature or through the Internet Archive.

The Wellcome Library’s Film and Sound website makes available 600 digitized online films and sound recordings from their Moving Image and Sound Collection. Sound highlights include Florence Nightingale speaking at the end of the 19th century, and Sir Alexander Fleming discussing the discovery of penicillin in 1945. Films include the first test tube baby and Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike. There is a YouTube channel with playlists and a SoundCloud site.

PBS’s American Experience online documentaries include The Forgotten Plague: Tuberculosis in America; Influenza 1918; and The Poisoner’s Handbook, which claims that “…the average American medicine cabinet was a poisoner’s treasure chest.”

HSLS’ History of Medicine collections include recordings of past C.F. Reynolds Medical History Society Lectures. The C.F. Reynolds Medical History Society is one of the largest regional history of medicine societies in the United States and sponsors at least five lectures every year.

~Charles B. Wessel

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is embarking on a new strategic planning initiative and invites input from its stakeholder community. As the world’s largest biomedical library and the producer of PubMed, Clinical Trials.gov, PubMed Central, GenBank, MedlinePlus, and hundreds of other databases and initiatives, NLM is an indispensable resource for researchers and clinicians at Pitt and throughout the world.

The planning process is organized around four main themes:

1. The role of NLM in advancing data science, open science, and biomedical informatics.
2. The role of NLM in advancing biomedical discovery and translational science.
3. The role of NLM in supporting the public’s health: clinical systems, public health systems and services, and personal health.
4. The role of NLM in building collections to support discovery and health in the 21st century.

Within these planning themes, you are invited to comment on the following areas:

1. Identify what you consider an audacious goal in your area of interest—a challenge that may be daunting but would represent a huge leap forward were it to be achieved.  Include input on the barriers to and benefits of achieving the goal.
2. The most important thing NLM does in this area, from your perspective.
3. Research areas that are most critical for NLM to conduct or support.
4. Healthcare systems and public health arenas in which NLM participation is most critical.
5. New data types or data collections anticipated over the next 10 years.
6. Other comments, suggestions, or considerations, keeping in mind that the aim is to build the NLM of the future.

This is an important opportunity to help shape the next future directions of NLM. For instructions on how to submit a response, go to the website. Responses are due by January 9, 2017.

As you head out for the holidays, grab a Leisure Reading book from HSLS’s collection of newly-published fiction and nonfiction. The Leisure Reading Collection is located at the rear of the main floor of Falk Library in the comfortable seating area.

Continue reading →

Over Pitt’s winter break, Falk Library will have modified hours:

• Saturday, December 17: 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Sunday, December 18: 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Monday, December 19: 7 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 20: 7 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 21: 7 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Thursday, December 22: 7 a.m.–4 p.m.
• Friday, December 23, through Monday, January 2: CLOSED
• Tuesday, January 3: 7 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Wednesday, January 4: Resume regular hours

The Ask a Librarian e-mail service will be monitored over the break. Continue reading →

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

Publications

Author names in bold are HSLS-affiliated

Carrie Iwema, Information Specialist in Molecular Biology, John LaDue, Head of Knowledge Integration, Angie Zack, Web and Application Programmer, and Ansuman Chattopadhyay, Head of Molecular Biology Information Service, published “Discovery Tool for Life Sciences Research Article Preprints” in JMLA, 104(4): 354-62, October, 2016.

D. Kavalieratos, J. Corbelli, D. Zhang, J.N. Dionne-Odom, Z.P. Hoydich, J.Z. Hanmer, D. Ikejiani, M. Klein-Fedyshin, Research and Clinical Instruction Librarian, et al., published “Association Between Palliative Care and Patient and Caregiver Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” in JAMA, 316(20): 2104-2114, 2016.

Presentations

Presenter name in bold is HSLS-affiliated

Michele Klein Fedyshin, Research and Clinical Instruction Librarian, presented “Research Done Right” at the 25th Annual International Transplant Nurses Society Symposium, in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 14, 2016.

HSLS offers classes on database searching, software applications such as Prezi, bibliographic management, and molecular biology and genetics. 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. Continue reading →