Annabelle!, Tables and Chairs

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Congratulations Annabelle!

Annabelle is a coauthor on a recently published systematic review.

“Intimate partner violence and HIV infection among women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.”  Ying Li, Caitlin M Marshall, Hilary C. Rees, Annabelle Nunez, Echezona Ezeanolue, John Ehiri  Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2014, 17:18845. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.7448/IAS.17.1.18845

Furniture (continued)

There is now power to all of the new study cubicles on the 4th floor.  Thanks to Javad for moving our newly reupholstered lounge chairs to face the windows on the 4th floor.

Our new tables and chairs are now scheduled to arrive at 6 AM on Tuesday.  Thanks again to Javad for getting here early to meet the delivery crew.  We plan to start by putting all of the new tables on the 4th floor against the walls.  Once we see them in that arrangement we will look to see if we should install some power poles to move some out onto the floor.

We are planning to put two of the new chairs in each group study room to start.  We may put three in some of the rooms.  We will also place them at the new “long” study tables on the 3rd floor.  We should have enough to also use them for the 3rd floor cubicles.  Once they are in place we will see how many are left and decide how best to place them.

We will pull all of the assorted chairs out of the group study rooms.  The black plastic chairs will be returned to the computer lab and to the “triplet” tables in Java City.  Many of the others are destined for Surplus Property or other locations around the building.

Thanks to the chair committee (Nicole, Javad, Mary and Stephen) our long-term goal is to impose some order on the placement of chairs in the building.  We recognize that the students will move chairs but we will make an effort to learn how they are using chairs, why they are moving them, and still try to keep the library looking nice.

Congrats, New Furniture, 4th floor, VETS!

Congratulations Nga and Kathy!

Nga and Kathy were acknowledged and received thanks for their help in the preparation of a recently published 28-page article in the prestigious journal Brain Research.  Stuart, DG, et al, “Pioneers in CNS inhibition: 1. Ivan M Sechenov, the first to clearly demonstrate inhibition arising in the brain”, Brain Research, 1548 (2014):20-48

Furniture, etc.

The new door between the open floor and the elevator lobby on the 4th floor is scheduled to be installed tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday if needed.  Access to the floor will be through the silent study room or the south or west staircases.  The push-button door openers will be installed on the 3rd and 4th floors next Monday.

Our new study cubicles for the 4th floor will be arriving at 6 AM next Wednesday.  Thanks to Javad for being here to unlock the doors for the delivery.  The cubicles will be assembled over the following several days.

Our new study tables for the 4th floor will arrive the following week.

Finally, our new chairs, primarily for the 3rd floor, are scheduled to arrive on Feb. 25th.  I will be calling for volunteers to help move the new chairs up to the 3rd floor and to bring the older chairs from the 3rd floor down to the first floor so that they can be sent to surplus.

Future of the 4th floor

We all hear rumors that the 4th floor is going to be turned into offices, etc.  It is possible that might happen sometime in the future.  Dr. Joe (Skip) Garcia, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Dr. Mike Waldrum, CEO of UAHN currently have office space near each other in the Drachman hall bridge.  The fourth floor has been discussed as a possible place for them to move.  However no decisions have been made about this I have been told that this is very low on Dr. Garcia’s priorities right now.  Note that Dr. Garcia’s office OK’d adding study furniture to the floor and that all of the furniture being put up on the 4th floor is modular and can easily be disassembled and moved.  Dr. Garcia’s office has asked us to track the use of the 4th floor.  Jeanette and Javad are organizing regular counts of the numbers of students using the library.  This is a sign that no decisions will be made without taking the needs of all groups into consideration.

VETS Center

Soon you will be able to see a wall mural being painted on the east wall (the one in front of you if you look through the door) of the VETS Center.  The mural, depicting aspects of military healthcare, is slated to be finished before the grand opening.  The grand opening is scheduled for Thursday, April 10 from 4-5 PM.  Many dignitaries are invited including representatives from local, state and federal government.

Kathy Z, VETS

In the news!

The most recent issue of the AZLA Newsletter features a spotlight on Kathy Zeblisky, Librarian at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and one of our Clinical Education Librarians.  Congratulations Kathy!  You can read the article at:  AZLA Newsletter

VETS Center Grand Opening

The Grand Opening of the VETS Center in the AHSL will be held from 4-5 PM on Thursday, April 10.  We will be expecting a variety of VIPs.  I’ll keep you posted as I learn more details.

ILL, Yamila and Progress

Interlibrary Loan

Joan and Kathy are continuing to meet with staff at the main library to plan the merger of our ILL department with theirs.  There are many details to work out but we believe that the end result will be better service for the campus.  We have started a search for a part-time, temporary employee to cover some of the work that Kathy does.  Kathy will be retiring in late March.  The new employee will overlap with Kathy to learn the job and will continue work until the merger is worked out.  Our goal is to complete the planning during the summer and to go live in the fall.

Outreach

As part of our contract with the Pacific Southwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Yamila traveled to Los Angeles last week to provide training (in Spanish) to promotoras (community health workers).  The topic was consumer health information.

Recording Studio

Work is progressing on the recording studio.  Today the painters are painting a delightful shade of gray on the walls.  This neutral color is needed for good lighting when filming video.

LCME and Construction

COM Accreditation

On Monday I was in one of the first groups to meet with the site visitors from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education – here to gather information for the accreditation of the College of Medicine.  They had many questions about the library ranging from asking about our role in the curriculum to concerns about noisy fraternity members.  I think I was able to respond to all of their questions to their satisfaction.  I even got a chance to describe our budget problems.  Early reports are that the college did well.

Recording Studio

Facilities Management is now scheduled to begin work on the recording studio next Tuesday, January 21.

Guests, Construction and Seating

Tourists coming!

The accreditation team for the College of Medicine will be working from the large classroom next Monday through Wednesday.  Please make them feel welcome if you see them.  They are scheduled to tour the library and other facilities, led by medical students, on Monday between 11:15 and noon.  Please be sure that your area (particularly public areas) is looking neat and clean.

Recording studio

Facilities Management is scheduled to begin work on the recording studio next Thursday, January 16.  They will be doing some basic renovations in preparation for the installation of the recording equipment.  This will be in the first “AV listening” room as you enter the Java City area.  Be prepared for some noise.

Chairs

Thanks to the Chair Committee, Nicole, Javad, Stephen and Mari and to the rent money from EPIC, we have ordered 150 new chairs.  We expect them to arrive in late February.  At that time we’ll ask for volunteers to do a mass “chair swap.”  The Chair Committee selected several models of chairs that we’ll want to remove from the floors so that they can go to surplus property.  As those chairs are removed we’ll want to replace them with the new chairs.  Stay tuned for details!

SRVPHS, VETS, DEPP, Break!

Dr. Garcia’s Town Hall

On Tuesday Dr. Joe, “Skip” Garcia, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, hosted a Town Hall meeting.  To summarize, Dr. Garcia is very optimistic, yet realistic, about the opportunities and challenges that face the AHSC.  The UofA is underperforming in research funding when compared to our peers.  However he plans to build on the foundation that we have created to increase research in the coming years.  He has already recruited “thought leaders” who will move us ahead.  He has created four advisory councils that will develop strategies to excel in four areas: population health and health outcomes, health disparities, precision health and neuroscience.  It’s clear that both President Hart and Dr. Garcia see research as the primary focus for the institution.  We will be working to be sure that the university libraries are a vital part of this effort.  Next year my personal goal and that of the ATeam members will be to develop a strategy for improving our support for research on the AHSC.  Everyone will have a chance to help to shape this strategy.

Welcome gift to the VETS Center

This week we delivered a printer to the VETS Center as a welcome gift from the library.  The wireless printer will allow all of the computers in the VETS Center to do color printing.  The printer also supports scanning and copying.

Thanks to DEPP!

DEPP stands for Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Planning and is one of our hard-working committees.  Over the past several years DEPP has completed an Emergency Response and Disaster Recovery Plan.  They have made it easy for us to get fire extinguisher training.  They have set up a plan to regularly review the contents of our first aid kits.  They have worked with the library staff at the Oregon Health and Sciences University to serve as each other’s backups in the event of loss of access to ILL or searching capabilities.  Thanks to DEPP (Brooke, Cindy, Javad and Kathy) we join a small number of health sciences libraries that have taken emergency preparedness seriously and that are ready for those situations that we hope will never occur.

Break time!

I hope that all of you enjoy the holiday break whatever your plans.  A special thanks to those who will be keeping the library open during the next two weeks.  I wish you all good things in 2014!