Congratulations!, Building changes?

Congratulations Sandy!

The College of Nursing has approved a joint appointment for Sandy as an Adjunct Instructor.  This is in recognition of all of the support she provides to nursing students through classes and one on one assistance.

Possible small renovation projects

Two projects are being discussed but have not been decided upon.

Veterans’ Center in the library

The Board of Regents and the AHSC are both interested in providing better service for Veterans who are continuing their education at UA.  The Veterans Education and Transition Services program has student veterans’ center in the student union on main campus.  They would like to be able to offer counseling, assistance and a place for vets on the AHSC to meet.  We are exploring creating, using “office landscaping” type walls (like those in the EPIC training classrooms on the 4th floor) to create a small area in Java City.  The new “room” would be just past the 3 group study rooms across from the ITS Help Desk.  This is still in the early planning stages and would be funded by the VETS program.

Recording studio

Last December I mentioned that we are looking at creating a small recording studio in the library.  This project is starting to move forward supported by one-time temporary funds.  Last summer during the meetings of the Library of the Future Task Force we heard that faculty members are being asked to create more and more online content, either for distance education students or for their on-campus classes.  Most often this is audio in the form of podcasts or tutorials with voice over screen shots or Powerpoint presentations.  After meetings with technical and educational staff from all of the AHSC colleges and BioCommunications, we are exploring the possibility of creating a small recording studio in the library for the use of AHSC faculty and students.  The most likely location would be the first of the three rooms across from the IT Help Desk in Java City.  We have a price on the equipment but still need to work out many details such as how the room will be reserved, how much support BioComm and the library staff will be expected to provide, how faculty and students will be trained to use the room, etc.

Authors!

Library authors had two articles published in the July issue of JMLA: The Journal of the Medical Library Association.  Nicole’s article describes our iPad lending program.  Gary and Jacque provided a section on the Phoenix library in an article describing four new approaches to library space.

Both articles are available at PubMed Central.

Feeling the HEAT

The HEAT Building

Yesterday Gary met with Angie Souza, Assistant Dean for Planning and Facilities, to discuss the planning process and timeline for the Health Education and Advanced Technology Building.

Negotiations are underway with an architectural consulting firm for a contract to begin on September first.  Dr. Garcia, the new Vice President for Health Sciences, will be starting work on September first and it will be his decision whether or not to push forward with the building.  The AHSL’s planning will continue on two fronts – brainstorming “big picture” ideas and listing specific needs such as how many offices and other types of space are needed.  If the building is going to move forward the architects will meet with us to discuss our needs.  If the building is cancelled the entire AHSC will likely begin looking closely at space.  In that case our brainstorming and specific needs will still be useful as we will be looking at the future allocation of space in the building.

Water and VIPs

H2O

We now have a new water fountain, with water bottle filler, on the first floor.  Come and have a drink on us!

New VPHS

On Thursday Gary was one of a group to meet with Dr. Joe “Skip” Garcia, the new Vice President for Health Sciences.  Gary had about three minutes to talk about the library.  He mentioned the liaison/embedded librarian program, the Outreach program and the HEAT building.  He also talked about his new reporting relationship to the Dean of Libraries and explained that this would provide opportunities to collaborate on projects of interest to the entire campus.

Senator

On Wednesday Gary visited Phoenix with members of the Arizona Telemedicine Program.  He met State Senator Gail Griffin from Hereford (near Sierra Vista) and offered her the services of the library.

Diana returns!

Diana Almadar-Douglas, who worked in our Interlibrary Loan Department while she was in library school, will be returning to us for one year.  Diana has spent the last year as an NLM Associate Fellow, working at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, MD.  She is taking advantage of their 2nd year internship program to work at AHSL.  She will start with us on September 2nd.

From the NLM website:

Diana Almader-Douglas

University of Arizona, Tucson, 2011

Diana Almader-Douglas received her MA in Information Resources and Library Science from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 2011. Ms. Almader-Douglas was awarded a Knowledge River Scholarship, which focuses on educating information professionals on issues pertaining to Latino and Native American populations. While completing her degree, she was employed as a Graduate Assistant at the Arizona Health Sciences Library, where she provided document delivery and reference services. During her program, she also worked as a student affiliate at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System’s medical library, where she provided reference services and assisted with collection development projects. Ms. Almader-Douglas earned a Master of Arts degree in Counseling from Webster University in 1998. As a licensed professional counselor, she assisted state-funded behavioral health recipients throughout her career. Ms. Almader-Douglas’ undergraduate degree is from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, where she majored in psychology.

Outreach article

Jeanette and Yamila have had an article published in Latitudes, the newsletter of the Pacific Southwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.  Their article is titled Arizona Outreach Highlights 2012-2013 and describes some of the great outreach activities sponsored by the Regional Medical Library and carried out by AHSL staff.  You can read the article online here: http://nnlm.gov/psr/newsletter/2013/05/31/arizona-outreach-highlights-for-2012-2013/

New Building, 4th Floor

HEAT Building

This building is now on a “fast track” with the university.  An architect will be chosen today.  Planning will continue until groundbreaking in 2015 and occupancy in 2017.  There is a very high probability that the library will be moving into this building.

EPIC Training

Large groups of UAHN employees will be using the new training rooms on the 4th floor Monday-Saturday from June 3-August 31st, 7AM-10PM.  In addition they will be using this space also for their command center/help desk during the month of September 24/7.  You can expect to see folks coming and going throughout the day and evening.  During times when the library is closed a UAHN security guard will be on duty to let authorized trainers and trainees in and out of the building.