In our continuous effort to support your research needs, HSLS is offering four new classes this spring covering: (1) introduction to mapping, (2) Python through Jupyter, (3) beginning command line for bioinformatics, and (4) options for bioinformatics analysis. Class descriptions and registration links are listed below.
Mapping is a great way to visualize and analyze information—and to tell stories. In this introductory workshop, you’ll learn the principles of mapmaking, understand how computers are used to plot addresses on a map, conduct basic spatial analysis, and update records in a database based on location. Along with a deeper appreciation for computers, this class will provide you with a solid foundation of mapping concepts and processes, and get you prepared to take your first computer-based mapping class. No computers will be used in this class. Continue reading →
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Did you know that in 2015 climatologist Brian Brettschneider ranked Pittsburgh in the top five dreariest cities in the United States? By February, the shorter days, bad weather, and lack of windows in the library may cause a decrease in feelings of well-being. Depressive disorder with seasonal pattern (winter-type), formerly known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), can cause symptoms such as loss of energy, increased appetite, and feelings of sadness. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you may need to talk to your doctor or consult with the mental health resources available at Pitt. However, if your symptoms are mild you may consider using one of the eight light therapy boxes HSLS has available to borrow.
Light therapy is prescribed as a treatment for SAD with or without other interventions. There is limited evidence in support of bright light therapy to prevent winter depression. At the Technology Help Desk on the upper floor of Falk Library, Philips and Sphere light box models are available for circulation for up to 1.5 hours a day. The light boxes are small and the intensity (lux), wavelength, and duration of exposure (1 hour max) can be adjusted before use. Get comfortable and make sure that you can see the light in your peripheral vision. Experiment with different positions to minimize discomfort or eye strain. Feel free to multi-task and continue working and you may find yourself just a bit happier once your session is complete!
~ Rose Turner
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For a limited time in February, Falk Library invites you to visit a new exhibit, Walk On By. Courtesy of Northside Common Ministries, Walk On By features artwork by Pittsburgh artists looking at homelessness in our region. This exhibit has traveled to four local libraries and was featured at the Future Tenant Art Gallery downtown in 2017. The art pieces, including photography, painting, cartoons, video, and pottery, are displayed in the library’s upper floor study lounge. Donations of hand warmers, towels, and toiletries can be dropped off at the exhibit to benefit Northside Common Ministries. Continue reading →
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The HSLS website contains links to numerous databases, e-journals, and e-books of interest to mental health researchers and clinicians who need to know about major psychiatry and psychology information resources.
CogNet: e-books, e-journals, and proceedings related to the cognitive sciences from the MIT Press (for Pitt users only)
Google Scholar: multi-disciplinary database of scholarly literature that includes articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites
PsycBOOKS: collection of current and classic peer-reviewed, full-text scholarly book chapters in the field of mental health (for Pitt users only)
PsycINFO: abstracts and citations of peer-reviewed research in the psychological sciences (for Pitt users only)
PsychiatryOnline: features the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) and The American Journal of Psychiatry, as well as journals, textbooks, American Psychiatric Association Guidelines, self-assessment tools, clinical and research news, medication information handouts for patients, and previous editions of the DSM
PubMed: contains citations and abstracts for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books (also available as a mobile app)
Social Sciences Citation Index: identifies articles from social science-related scholarly journals. Searchable by topic or by citation, allowing you to identify articles that cite a particular article or author.
UpToDate: current, authoritative topic reviews; includes references to the literature (also available as a mobile app)
For drug information:
Micromedex: comprehensive drug information from sources such as the PDR and Martindale’s. Includes product identification tools, dosing tools, drug interaction tools, etc. (also available as a mobile app)
Natural Medicines: the most authoritative resource available on dietary supplements, natural medicines, and complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies (also available as a mobile app)
For mental health instruments:
HaPI(Health and Psychosocial Instruments): provides information on measurement instruments (i.e. questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, coding schemes, rating scales, etc.) in the fields of health and psychosocial science (for Pitt users only)
Mental Measurements Yearbook: full-text information about and reviews of English-language standardized tests covering educational skills, personality, vocational aptitude, psychology, and related areas (for Pitt users only)
Substance Use Screening & Assessment Instruments Database: intended to help clinicians and researchers find instruments used for screening and assessment of substance use and substance use disorders
Popular psychiatry e-journals include:
World Psychiatry
JAMA Psychiatry
American Journal of Psychiatry
Molecular Psychiatry
Lancet Psychiatry
Biological Psychiatry
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
Schizophrenia Bulletin
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
Popular psychology e-journals include:
Annual Review of Psychology
Psychological Bulletin
Psychological Inquiry
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Psychological Science in the Public Interest
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
Personality and Social Psychology Review
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
Clinical Psychology Review
*The psychiatry and psychology e-journals listed above have the highest Journal Impact Factors as shown in the 2016 edition of the Journal Citation Reports database.
To view a list of HSLS e-journals by subject, such as psychiatry, psychology, psychopharmacology, and psychophysiology, direct your browser to HSLS E-journals A-Z and then click on “Show Select Subject.”
Popular psychiatry and psychology e-books include:
American Psychiatric Association Publishing Textbook of Psychopharmacology
Adult Psychopathology and Diagnosis
American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry
Clinical Manual of Emergency Psychiatry
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5
DSM-5 Clinical Cases
DSM-5 Guidebook
DSM-5 Handbook of Differential Diagnosis
Dulcan’s Textbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Gabbard’s Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders
Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry
Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry
Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Behavioral Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of General Hospital Psychiatry
Pitt’s remote access service for e-resources requires a valid Pitt username and password, plus a second method of verification through an app or phone line. Information on designating your second method of authentication can be found on the Multifactor Authentication at Pitt Web page. If you need help logging in, please contact the Pitt Help Desk at 412-624-HELP (4357).
UPMC MyApps is UPMC’s remote access tool that provides access to most HSLS online resources.
For more information about mental health resources, e-mail Jill Foust at jef2@pitt.edu or call 412-648-8923.
~ Jill Foust
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Journals added to the HSLS online collection for 2018 include:
Advances in Nutrition
BJPsych Advances
Canadian Journal of Addiction
Journal of Physical Therapy Education
JoVE Behavior (trial access for 2018)
Military Medicine
OncoImmunology (forthcoming later in 2018)
Paediatrics & Child Health (Oxford University Press)
Translational Behavioral Medicine
HSLS continually adds new open-access journals, so visit our E-journals A-Z list and click on “Show Select Subject” to view titles in your area of interest. Continue reading →
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As I concentrate on my long, complex character-driven PubMed search strategy, my large muscle movements cease while my eyes focus. Do I need an extra parenthesis to nest that query properly? Being sedentary at work is a natural consequence of the knowledge enterprise.
An initiative to stimulate workers to move more during the workday could be motion as medicine. Possible substantiation comes from a recent study that found a computer prompt that required subjects to stand and engage in brief activity, increased calorie expenditure, and reduced sitting time during the workday. Continue reading →
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The HSLS Staff News section includes recent HSLS presentations, publications, staff changes, staff promotions, degrees earned, etc.
News
Helenmary Sheridan has joined HSLS as a Data Services Librarian. She recently worked as the Repository Services Coordinator at the University of Illinois, where she led the library’s institutional repository initiatives and provided outreach and curation support for the Research Data Service.
John Erlen, History of Medicine Librarian, published “Dissertations in the History of Pharmacy” in Pharmacy in History, 2017, 59(3): 119-120; and was a major contributor to ISIS Current Bibliography of the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences 2017. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2018.
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allows systematic reviewers to plan carefully and thereby anticipate potential problems;
allows reviewers to explicitly document what is planned before they start their review, enabling others to compare the protocol and the completed review (that is, to identify selective reporting), to replicate review methods if desired, and to judge the validity of planned methods;
prevents arbitrary decision making about study selection and extraction of data; and
may reduce duplication of efforts and enhance collaboration.
As explained in HSLS’s Working with the HSLS Systematic Review Program, comprehensive literature searches require many hours of a librarian’s time. A written protocol with a well-defined research question will now be required before HSLS librarians begin to work on any review. Our experience at HSLS suggests that a well-written protocol can reduce the time required to complete literature searches and increase the likelihood that a review will be successfully completed. Once we receive a protocol, it may be reviewed internally to ensure completeness and clarity of search concepts.
For assistance writing your protocol, please see:
PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols)
“Recommended Standards for Initiating a Systematic Review,” Sections 2.1 – 2.8, Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews, Institute of Medicine
Writing a Protocol [slidecast] Cochrane Training, The Cochrane Collaboration
“Rationale for Protocols,” Chapter 2.1, The Cochrane Handbook, Version 5.1
“Guide to the Contents of a Cochrane Protocol and Review,” Chapter 4, The Cochrane Handbook, Version 5.1
Visitors to hsls.pitt.edu in the new year will notice a new look. If you miss the familiarity of the old website, you’ll find that the information you are looking for is still convenient, but now in a sleeker design that is adaptable on mobile devices.
Here are 7 key areas of the new hsls.pitt.edu home page:
Ask a Librarian—contact us with your question, request, or concern
Remote Access—connect to library resources while outside of Pitt’s network
Search—toggle between Pitt resource search, E-book full text search, and bioPreprint search
News & Announcements—now with a quick list of upcoming classes and events
Services—new expanded list on the front page
Resources—PubMed, UpToDate, and more easy-to-access resources
Featured—link to the HSLS Update, special collections, NNLM MAR, and more
Love the new look? See something that doesn’t look right? We are taking your feedback to ensure that hsls.pitt.edu is responsive to your information needs.
~Julia Dahm
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You are already intrigued, thinking “rules…for what???” There are MANY lists of 10 rules, thanks to a long-running series of articles from PLOS Computational Biology entitled,“10 Simple Rules.” Here are ten reasons to check it out.
To date, there are eighty-four “Ten Simple Rules” articles by multiple authors. According to the editors, the series “provide a quick, concentrated guide for mastering some of the professional challenges research scientists face in their careers.”
PubMed Central (PMC) was established in 2000 as the National Library of Medicine’s full-text, journal article repository. Since 2005, PMC has also been the designated repository for papers submitted in accordance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Today, PMC serves as the full-text repository for papers across a variety of scientific disciplines that fall under a number of funding agencies’ public access policies.
These public access policies seek to make the published full-text papers, resulting from publicly- and privately-funded research, available for the public to find and read. As a repository, PMC ensures the permanent preservation of these research findings and makes the results of this research more readily accessible to the public, healthcare providers, educators, and the scientific community.
Recently PMC updated its policy statement on supplementary data to more clearly articulate the requirement that any supplementary data (images, tables, video, or other documents/files) that are associated with an article must be deposited in PMC with an article.
This applies to all files made available in the article record, even if the files are also available in a public repository. An exception may be made for data files that require custom software to read and use, or are very large (over 2 GB).
In cases where data cannot be reasonably included with an article, either in a figure, table, or supplementary file, NLM encourages journals and authors to make the data available in a public repository and include the relevant data citation(s) in the paper.
The NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system, developed to facilitate the submission of peer-reviewed manuscripts for inclusion in PMC, can accept submissions of datasets (2 GB or smaller) in support of any manuscript files deposited in compliance with a participating funder’s public access policy. Because these datasets will be publicly accessible, those related to human subjects research should not include any personally identifiable information and deposit should be consistent with informed consent. For more information on depositing supplementary data and dataset files via NIHMS, see the related NIHMS FAQ.
HSLS is one of eight health sciences libraries across the country coordinating regional and national activities to serve the health information needs of health professionals and the public. With funding from the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), HSLS serves as a Regional Medical Library and leads the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Middle Atlantic Region (NNLM MAR), covering Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The goal of the NNLM is to advance the progress of medicine and improve public health by providing U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improving individuals access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health.
NLM recently announced a partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Research Program (All of Us), part of the Precision Medicine Initiative. The mission of the All of Us Research Program is to accelerate health research and medical breakthroughs, enabling individualized prevention, treatment, and care for all of us. The program aims to build one of the largest, most diverse datasets of its kind for health research, with one million or more volunteers nationwide who will sign up to share their information over time.
Through the NLM and All of Us partnership, NNLM’s Regional Medical Libraries and National Offices will focus on improving consumer access to high quality health information in communities throughout the U.S., specifically, by working with public libraries.
This partnership is a three-year pilot program to support All of Us. Activities in the pilot are designed to:
help public libraries in supporting the health information needs of their users;
equip public libraries with information about the All of Us Research Program to share with their local communities;
assess the potential impact of libraries on participant enrollment and retention;
highlight public libraries as a technology resource that participants can use to engage with the program, particularly those in underserved communities affected by the digital divide;
establish an online platform for education and training about All of Us and precision medicine, with resources for members of the public, health professionals, librarians and researchers; and
help identify best practices in messaging and outreach that lead to increased public interest and engagement in the program.
HSLS is also home to the NNLM Web Services Office which develops and maintains web services and infrastructures for NNLM public and internal needs. Under the NNLM partnership with the NIH All of Us Research Program, the Web Services Office will develop and support the learning management platform which will house All of Us courses and training materials.
HSLS received just over $2 million in supplemental funding to participate in this pilot and cooperatively design, implement, and evaluate innovative approaches to meet its objectives. Nearly $900,000 will be awarded to public libraries in our region to develop effective and innovative, replicable approaches to meet the health information needs of their communities, including raising awareness of the All of Us Program.
Veronica Leigh Milliner
On January 2, Veronica Leigh Milliner, MLIS, joined HSLS as the NNLM MAR All of Us Community Engagement Coordinator. Veronica will work within our region and in collaboration with other regional and national All of Us Program partners and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine to develop, pilot, model, and evaluate All of Us community engagement activities with public libraries. Veronica previously worked as an Outreach Librarian at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where she extended library services into community-based settings, such as senior centers, the free clinic, and low-income housing. Prior to her work with the Carnegie Library, she worked as an Information Services Trainer at a public library system in Saint Lucia, as a shipboard librarian on a cruise line and as a Peace Corps Community HIV/AIDS Outreach Worker in South Africa. Additionally, Veronica is the Radical Libraries, Archives, and Museums Track Coordinator for the Allied Media Project/Allied Media Conference, which aims to explore various ways that libraries and information institutions can be social justice leaders and spaces for critical engagement.
~Renae Barger
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Saint Damien of Moloka’i, born Jozef De Veuster in Belgium in 1840, was a Roman Catholic priest who devoted his life to missionary work among the lepers in Hawaii. Jozef chose a religious life over the family farm. As soon as he was old enough, he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and took the name Damien. In 1864, he traveled to Hawaii where he was ordained a priest and worked there for nine years. Moved by the fate of lepers deported by the government to Moloka’i Island, he volunteered to take charge of the settlement in Kalaupapa in 1873. The colony had no medical care or medicines. The lack of provisions, supplies, fresh water, and hygiene made living conditions harsh, but Father Damien stayed with his flock for 16 years, until his death in 1889. He was a voice to the authorities in Honolulu, organizing, building housing, helping, and caring for the sick. He was their spiritual leader, friend, and physician. According to his wishes, he was buried in Hawaii, but in 1936 his body was moved to his home country.
A commemorative medal—shown here—was struck on this occasion the same year. It is part of the HSLS Medical and Scientific Medals Collection. It was designed by Belgian medalist and sculptor, Alfonse Mauquoy. The medal shows Father Damien, “Apostle of the Lepers,” on one side and the Hawaiian landscape of Kaluapapa Peninsula on the other. The Biblical quote, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends,” chosen as part of the design is quite appropriate since Father Damien contracted the disease while caring for the lepers. Because of this, he was accused of immorality which inspired Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson to visit the colony and write his passionate defense of the priest. Damien was exonerated and his lifetime of service to the sick was rewarded when he was canonized in 2009.
Both the medal and the reprint of Stevenson’s letter are currently on display in the Falk Library lobby. For more information, contact HSLS Collections & Digital Library Services.
Did you know that in 2015 climatologist Brian Brettschneider 
For a limited time in February, Falk Library invites you to visit a new exhibit, Walk On By. Courtesy of Northside Common Ministries, Walk On By features artwork by Pittsburgh artists looking at homelessness in our region. This exhibit has traveled to four local libraries and was featured at the Future Tenant Art Gallery downtown in 2017. The art pieces, including photography, painting, cartoons, 
The 
