Candidate
Congratulations to Jacque who has been selected as a candidate for the Medical Library Association (MLA) Nominating Committee. (“Our own” Jerry Perry is a candidate for MLA President!)
Pandemic planning
The H1N1 virus or swine flu has been in the news a lot lately. Last May the campus asked each unit to develop a plan for dealing with a possible outbreak. Our plan is focused on providing services that might be needed by medical professionals and also addresses how we would continue to function if many of the staff became ill. You can expect to be hearing more about campus planning and our plans if the outbreak becomes more widespread.
Budget non-news
We still have no definitive news on our budget for the year. However Dr. Crist has asked me to be prepared for a 5 to 7% cut. I have been planning for various contingencies since last spring and have plans in place for a 7% cut. We have slowed our spending until we know what the exact figures will be.
Meeting with Dean
On Wednesday Jeanette, Sandy and I met with Joan Shaver, PhD, RN, FAAN, the new Dean in the College of Nursing. We described AHSL services with an emphasis on the liaison program and outreach. The Dean described her plans that include more distance education and an emphasis on graduate education. We look forward to partnering with the CON in the future.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Congratulations to Tessie
Congratulations to Tessie, who had one of her photos published in the Arizona Daily Star last Saturday (in the A section near the back). The photo was taken at the Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin Texas. Here's link:
http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/gallery/view/43098
She also has photos in the Wildlife gallery.
Three cheers for Tessie!!
Jeanette
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Teaching and teaching!
WeSearch
Last week Pat and Annabelle again taught the We Search students and SIRLS Knowledge River mentors. The students, from Sunnyside High School, learned about finding reliable health information and created their own digital stories about a personal healthcare experience.
Prologue
On Wednesday AHSL librarians took over the “Prologue” - orientation for incoming College of Medicine students. Annabelle took on the classroom session – co-teaching with Dr. Sean Eliot about the principles and practice of Evidence-based medicine. Meanwhile the other half of the student group was in our lab, searching for the answers to their first clinical questions with help from Mari, Carol and Sandy. After an hour the groups switched places. Sandra Martin and I observed both sessions and it was great to see the new students so engaged in learning. They got a wonderful introduction to library resources and to our staff.
Last week Pat and Annabelle again taught the We Search students and SIRLS Knowledge River mentors. The students, from Sunnyside High School, learned about finding reliable health information and created their own digital stories about a personal healthcare experience.
Prologue
On Wednesday AHSL librarians took over the “Prologue” - orientation for incoming College of Medicine students. Annabelle took on the classroom session – co-teaching with Dr. Sean Eliot about the principles and practice of Evidence-based medicine. Meanwhile the other half of the student group was in our lab, searching for the answers to their first clinical questions with help from Mari, Carol and Sandy. After an hour the groups switched places. Sandra Martin and I observed both sessions and it was great to see the new students so engaged in learning. They got a wonderful introduction to library resources and to our staff.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Congratulations Mary R! Visitor
Congratulations Mary Riordan!
Late-breaking news. We just learned that Mary is the recipient of the Martha Ortiz Volunteer of the Year Award from the Arizona Rural Health Association. Mary served several terms as the secretary of the association. In addition she has represented the library at past meetings and exhibited both on AHSL and AZHIN. Congratulations Mary for a well-deserved award.
Visitor
Sandra Martin, Interim Director of the Shiffman Medical Library at Wayne State University in Detroit will be visiting the library next week (August 3-7). Many of you met Sandra, who is an NLM/AAHSL Fellow, when she visited us in February. Sandra will again be meeting with people around the library to ask questions and to learn about our operations. This will be her last visit before she graduates from the program in November.
Late-breaking news. We just learned that Mary is the recipient of the Martha Ortiz Volunteer of the Year Award from the Arizona Rural Health Association. Mary served several terms as the secretary of the association. In addition she has represented the library at past meetings and exhibited both on AHSL and AZHIN. Congratulations Mary for a well-deserved award.
Visitor
Sandra Martin, Interim Director of the Shiffman Medical Library at Wayne State University in Detroit will be visiting the library next week (August 3-7). Many of you met Sandra, who is an NLM/AAHSL Fellow, when she visited us in February. Sandra will again be meeting with people around the library to ask questions and to learn about our operations. This will be her last visit before she graduates from the program in November.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Meeting of reps of the 4 Corners Health Sciences Libraries
Gary and I were fortunate to attend a gathering of librarians from the 4 Corners region, a tradition begun by Rachael Anderson a number of years ago. This year we met at the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Library in Aurora. Our gracious host was our (formerly) own Jerry Perry! I took a ton of pictures and they are posted HERE.
Guiding principles behind the library’s design:
1. Natural light
2. Beautiful Colorado (brought inside)
3. Library faculty have windowed private offices; staff, substantial cubicles with direct and indirect natural light
Things that got my attention:
1. Evidence of the above 3 was present
2. Large faculty and staff offices and cubicles
3. Spaciousness all around
4. High, large windows and gorgeous views
5. 5 patios! (wipes everywhere)
6. Colors were very Colorado!
7. Lots of study rooms and other collaborative space (get #s)
8. Wonderful re-use of beautiful old furniture (Stickley and ?)
9. JP’s patio veggie starter garden
10. Permanent art and plenty of space for periodic displays of arts, see: http://hslibrary.ucdenver.edu/on-display/#PERMANENTexhibit --Humanescence by Rae Douglass
11. Lots of interesting public art on campus
12. Spacious and functional IT staff work and storage space
13. Plenty of space on campus and in the library for student hangout and collaboration
Since we in Phoenix continue to plan (and wish) for a version 2.0 of AHSL-P, this visit was especially useful to me!
We also discussed a number of agenda items, including budgets, CTSA activity, institutional repositories, use of space, engagement with social media tools, outreach, informatics and scholarly communication.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Reporting, Surveys, Email and Calendars
New Reporting Structure
As I mentioned in the April 23rd posting, as of July 1 the AHSL now reports to Dr. William Crist, Vice President for Health Affairs. I have met with Dr. Crist and expect to meet with him as needed to keep him informed about library issues. Mary Holcomb, Cindy Steber and I recently met with Jerry Miron, the Chief Financial Officer of the AHSC (who also reports to Dr. Crist) to explain the library’s financial situation and unique needs.
In addition, Biomedical Communications and the “software side” of Information Technology Services will now report to the Vice President. This means that Marcus will continue to report to Mike Griffith who will now report to Rick McNeely. As most of you know, Stef Walz has left the university. Other staff in Biomedical Communications will now support our website.
Surveys
As mentioned several weeks ago, we will be surveying our users once or twice a month for the next year. Surveys will be handed out during one or two two-hour windows each month. You’ll see a desk at the entrance during those time periods with library staff handing out questionnaires. There will be box near the exit for people to return their survey forms. Those who view electronic journals will be given an online version of the survey during those same time periods. We are also asking our liaison librarians in the Colleges of Pharmacy, Public Health and Nursing to distribute (or fill out for phone and email questions) surveys to their users.
Email and Calendars
This morning’s Wildcat reported that the decision has been made to move students to the Google calendar and Gmail. However, CIO Michelle Norin is still looking at the pros and cons of moving faculty and staff to the Google products. The paper reports that she is leaning toward Google. She is quoted as saying that UITS will provide an easy way to migrate email to any new system and that users will choose when to make the move. AHSL will follow the university decision on this. For more details see my post from June 16.
As I mentioned in the April 23rd posting, as of July 1 the AHSL now reports to Dr. William Crist, Vice President for Health Affairs. I have met with Dr. Crist and expect to meet with him as needed to keep him informed about library issues. Mary Holcomb, Cindy Steber and I recently met with Jerry Miron, the Chief Financial Officer of the AHSC (who also reports to Dr. Crist) to explain the library’s financial situation and unique needs.
In addition, Biomedical Communications and the “software side” of Information Technology Services will now report to the Vice President. This means that Marcus will continue to report to Mike Griffith who will now report to Rick McNeely. As most of you know, Stef Walz has left the university. Other staff in Biomedical Communications will now support our website.
Surveys
As mentioned several weeks ago, we will be surveying our users once or twice a month for the next year. Surveys will be handed out during one or two two-hour windows each month. You’ll see a desk at the entrance during those time periods with library staff handing out questionnaires. There will be box near the exit for people to return their survey forms. Those who view electronic journals will be given an online version of the survey during those same time periods. We are also asking our liaison librarians in the Colleges of Pharmacy, Public Health and Nursing to distribute (or fill out for phone and email questions) surveys to their users.
Email and Calendars
This morning’s Wildcat reported that the decision has been made to move students to the Google calendar and Gmail. However, CIO Michelle Norin is still looking at the pros and cons of moving faculty and staff to the Google products. The paper reports that she is leaning toward Google. She is quoted as saying that UITS will provide an easy way to migrate email to any new system and that users will choose when to make the move. AHSL will follow the university decision on this. For more details see my post from June 16.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Hannah Recognized
Congratulations to Hannah. Ernesto Molmenti, MD and two others, acknowledge her help in the front of a new book, “Intestinal and Multivisceral Transplantation.” Hannah is recognized for insuring the accuracy of the book. She worked on the glossary and other facts throughout the work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
