It seems as though the Annual Meeting was ages ago, and I just read that New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont are being inundated by snow. Well, we’ll get it soon, too.
From what you told me in the evaluations, you thought that this year’s meeting was quite good. I compiled a list of the suggestions for future meetings and sent it to Terri Niland who is already planning our 2009 meeting with her very capable team. I have also had the opportunity to visit two consortia: NECHI and SEMCO. I want to hear from YOU about what you would like the board to do, how you would like to see MAHSLIN proceed into the future, and anything else association-related that hits you. I have not forgotten WMHIC; my emails bounced back. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your concerns, questions, suggestions, etc.
We have some new people on the board. Jessi Finnie at Children’s is our new Webmaster and Sally Gore at UMass and Cara Helfner at Faulkner are our new co-editors of the newsletter. I am very grateful to such a good team to work with.
Until next time…get those shovels and snow blowers out.
Submitted by Christine Fleuriel
Baruj Benacerraf Library
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Donna Beales, MLIS, Medical Librarian, Lowell General Hospital, presented her paper "Helminths in the Treatment of Hereditary Angioedema: A Theoretical Model in Support of a Novel Therapeutic Option" at the 2008 International Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics and Chemoinformatics in Orlando, FL in July. Beales has a background in experimental design and was inspired by a Grand Round medical education activity she attended where Dr. Joel Weinstock of Tufts University presented some of his work. She became intrigued by a theory called the "hygiene hypothesis," which posits that the reason why autoimmune conditions like Crohn's disease, allergies, asthma and many others are becoming more common is because developed countries like the U.S. have over-sterilized the environment.
Beales had, through previous research, become familiar with a rare life-threatening condition called Hereditary Angioedema (HAE), a blood disorder that causes patients to swell uncontrollably, often in the throat. HAE resembles allergies but is an unrelated condition. It's caused by a problem with the way blood coagulates, and it kills by asphyxiating sufferers. "While listening to Dr. Weinstock, a light bulb went off in my head. He said that allergies, asthma and Cohn's are unheard of in countries where people are naturally infected with parasites. So is HAE. Also, HAE is often associated with autoimmune diseases. Could there be a connection between the two observations?"
After conducting many exhaustive searches of the medical literature, Beales determined that two different species of worms that are already being used in human experiments have been shown to have the effect of shutting down several of the chemicals in the blood that cause the life-threatening swelling in HAE. Hers is the first scientific work to make this connection.
"Parasites seem to act like a computer software patch," says Beales. "The worms have their own DNA, and it basically overrides ours. So perhaps many genetic "defects" are really only problems when there's no parasite to "correct" them."
Beales admits that hers is only a theory. "It's a long way from proposing something on paper to trying it out in humans." She hoped her presentation at the conference would bring interest from those who might help her further her work.
Beales’ work was supported through grants from Lowell General Hospital and the Hereditary Angioedema Association, which is headquartered in New Bedford, MA.
Submitted by Donna Beales
Lowell General Hospital
Weaving Our Past into Our Future
Lowell, Massachusetts
October 19-21, 2008
Close to 200 health sciences and medical librarians, friends and colleagues, gathered recently to take part in the annual meeting of the North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries, Inc. (NAHSL). The event also marked the celebration of NAHSL's 50th Anniversary!
The meeting kicked off with several CE opportunities. These included an expert searching class taught by Ann McKibbon of McMaster University; a course on assessment and program evaluation led by Cindy Olney, an evaluation specialist for the NN/LM Outreach Evaluation Resource Center; an all-day, crash course on clinical skills for medical librarians with Jennifer Lyon and Rachel Walden of Vanderbilt University's Eskind Biomedical Library; an introduction to free, online organizational tools led by Barbara Andrews; and a look at Web 2.0 search tools taught by Jessamyn West. Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator for the NNLM/NER, wrapped up the conference on Tuesday afternoon with a course on workplace wellness. Many attendees took advantage of these classes and came away with new skills, ideas, and enthusiasm.
Keeping with the meeting's theme, three excellent plenary speakers offered thought-provoking, history-filled talks that inspired attendees to both reflect on where we've been as a profession, and look forward to the many exciting opportunties the future holds. Beatrix Hoffman, PhD, Associate Professor of History at Northern Illinois University, presented "From Sickness to "Sicko": A Century of Battles Over Universal Health Coverage in the United States". Betsy Humphreys, Deputy Director of the National Library of Medicine, offered a detailed view of the past 50 years in medical librarianship in her talk, "Prologue to the Future: 50 Years of Medical Librarianship". Carolyn Clancy, MD, Director for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), wrapped up the formal meeting with her Tuesday morning session, "Driving Change through Research: Future Trends in Health Care Quality and Access".
Additionally, three well-attended breakout sessions covering a range of topics were held on Monday afternoon. Anne Larsen of Hunter College (NY) Libraries and Jennifer Nadelson of Brigham & Women's Hospital presented on "Green" Libraries. Scott Lapinski of Countway Medical Library, Harvard University and Sally Gore of Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School led a session entitled "Supporting Your Institutional Authors: The NIH Mandate and Institutional Repositories". Finally, Janet Cowen, Maine Medical Center, and Shirley Gronholm, Hartford Hospital, presented work on "Effectively Utilizing MLA Benchmarking Data".
Social activities included a reception at Boott Cotton Mills Museum, a live theatrical production on the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, MD, the always exciting Scholarship Raffle, and a fun-filled 50th Anniversary party complete with champagne toast and 1950s dancing.
Submitted by Sally Gore (with thanks to Judy Nordberg)
Lamar Soutter Library
UMass Medical School
November 12, 2008 - Survival Tips & Stories: Expanding the Library’s Services in Times of Disaster
Katrina and Ike have given vivid examples of the damage nature can do to libraries. In Massachusetts, the 2007 Mothers Day floods created havoc. Add bioterrorism to the possible threats of fire and flood. Bioterrorism is ever present in our collective imagination. The webcast will cover risk assessments, key steps in disaster preparedness, keeping libraries going during a disaster, and getting help.
The MAHSLIN Education Committee will host the webcast at Children’s Hospital in Boston from 1:30 to 5pm. We include a wraparound panel discussion with Javier Crespo, Associate Director of NNLM-NER, and Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, Preservation Specialist with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. If your questions have not been answered by the webcast, Javier and Gregor will address them.
By attending the program at Children’s, you will earn 3.5 CE credits, but if you attend only the webcast you will earn 2 CE credits. Register for the Children’s Hospital program at http://library.umassmed.edu/mahslin/resources/registrationform.pdf
If you can’t make it to Boston…
The webcast will also be shown at UMass Medical School without the wraparound panel discussion. Please contact Penny Glassman (penny.glassman@umassmed.edu) for more information or go to http://nnlm.gov/ner/training/mlawebcast_reg.html to register online.
Submitted by:
Florence Mercer
Director, Library Services
CME Coordinator
Anna Jaques Hospital
January 15, 2009 - PubMed Expert Searching Class (followed by a LinkOut Update)
Led by Lauri Kolakoski Fennell, Outreach and Education Coordinator, NNLM/NER, this class is designed as an advanced class for experienced MEDLINE searchers. It highlights more developed PubMed techniques that can be used to conduct comprehensive searches. Attendees are encouraged to contribute past and present difficult searches to Lauri ahead of time to discuss during the class. Approved for MLA CE contact hours: 2.0
A LinkOut Update with Mark Goldstein, Network Coordinator, NNLM/NER, will follow the PubMed class.
Both of these events are sponsored by MAHSLIN and will take place on January 15, 2009, from 1-4 pm at Children’s Hospital, Boston, Gamble Room. Registration information will be available soon.
Submitted by:
Deborah T. Almquist
Director, Health Sciences Library Services
NorthShore Medical Center
Salem Hospital
Don't Forget! The MAHSLIN CE Committee is ALWAYS looking for suggestions for classes that might benefit you in your work. Also visit the Education Page on our website for information about current classes available.
Did you know that one of the benefits of your Mahslin membership is a reduced rate on Nelinet’s classes? To see the list of classes offered by Nelinet go to http://www.nelinet.net/eaccount/EventIndex.aspx. If you decided to register for a class, use the following user ID & password during the registration process:
Submitted by:
Denise Corless
Youngdahl Library
Caritas Norwood Hospital
The MAHSLIN Board would like to know what types of resources our members need but have not been able to provide due to increased costs and reduced budgets. MAHSLIN members are into their 3rd year of a very successful group purchase of STAT!Ref. The Board would like to expand our resource sharing program by providing group savings to other information resources and library management products.
In order to find out what products would best benefit our members, a MAHSLIN Resource Sharing survey is being extended to late fall. Please take a few minutes to answer the MAHSLIN Resource survey at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Cjqcb7t0WO253Ks2VoCetw_3d_3d
The survey will be available until 11/14/2008.And thanks to the 28 libraries who have already responded!
Submitted by:
Jeannie Vander Pyl
Medical Library Director
Cape Cod Hospital
Friday, April 24, 2009
Massachusetts Medical Society, Waltham, MA
Detailed information still to come.
Submitted by:
Teri Niland
Lawrence Memorial Hospital
Cherie Haitz, Director of Library Services at Mount Auburn Hospital, was named "Employee of the Month" for the Hospital in May 2008. She was honored during a Department of Medicine Grand Rounds seminar in the auditorium, much to her surprise. "When I was asked to attend, I thought it would be to help out with the audiovisual equipment," she laughs. "When it was announced that there was an 'Employee of the Month' in the audience and then my name was called, I was amazed! I couldn't believe it was all happening." There was an eruption of applause, after which Cherie thanked the medical staff.
Dr. Charles Hatem, MD, is the Director of Medical Education and one of the people who nominated her for the award. "In an era where the need for information, both current and historical, is a priority, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the valued contributions of Cherie Haitz. Her knowledge of library science and genuine willingness to help represent a hospital resource that contributes significantly to education at all levels, and by extension, to the care of our patients."
Cherie is happy to share her knowledge with all that need it. She says it's just part of her job, which by the way, she loves.
Excerpted from the Mount Auburn Hospital newsletter, July 3, 2008.
Elizabeth Killoran, Director, Medical Library, MLS, AHIP, Milford Regional Medical Center, is the recipient of the Medical Library Association Hospital Libraries Section 2008 Professional Recognition Award for Technological Innovation for "The Virtual Medical Library" on the Milford Regional Medical Center Intranet.
"...for her creation of the Virtual Medical Library on her institution's intranet for everyone with intranet access, both in-hospital and remotely. This virtual library includes a wide scope of medical subject coverage, is quality filtered, and is logically organized. She has brought the medical library to the user 24/7, whether at the point-of-care, in a satellite clinic, in the office, at home, or traveling abroad." (MLA News. September, 2008)
Elizabeth was also the recipient of the Medical Library Association Hospital Libraries Section 2007 Scroll of Exemplary Service Award. She is a Member of MAHSLIN, and has served on the MAHSLIN Executive Board as Nominating Committee Chair, and is currently serving on the NAHSL Government Relations Committee, and the Hospital Libraries Section Bylaws Committee.
James L. Craig, Biological Sciences Librarian, Integrated Sciences and Engineering Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst, had four book reviews published in the September, v. 11, No. 3, issue of E-STREAMS (http://www.e-streams.com/): no. 4671, Nickel and its Surprising Impact in Nature; no. 4684, Calcium in Human Health; no. 4685, Sport and Exercise Biomechanics, and no. 4687, Familial responses to Alcohol Problems.
Martha Stone, Treadwell Library, Massachusetts General Hospital, wrote six essays published in the Encyclopedia of pestilence, pandemics, and plagues. Greenwood Press, 2008. Topics included William Crawford Gorgas,
Waldemar Mordechai Haffkine,
John Franklin Enders,
Shibasaburo Kitasato,
Antony Van Leeuwenhoek, and the
Microscope. (Worldcat Link)
Brandy King announces the arrival of her first child. Cameron James was born on August 17th. Brandy will return to her work at the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston in mid-November. Congratulations to the family!
Big cheers to Len Levin, Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School, on receiving the 2008 NAHSL Achievement Award.
You may (or may not) have noticed a few editorial changes to this latest edition of the MAHSLIN Network News. This is my first go 'round with the newsletter and I'm looking forward to putting it together quarterly over the next couple of years or so. Beginning with the next issue, Cara Helfner will join me as co-editor. If you have any thoughts, comments, suggestions, contributions, or anything else you'd like to offer to make it more what you desire, please let us know. We're happy to listen and willing to accomodate as much as is reasonably possible! Thank you for the opportunity. ~ Sally
Sally Gore, Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School (sally.gore@umassmed.edu)