BIOMEDICAL LIBRARY CLASSES - SPRING QUARTER 1997
The following classes, scheduled for April through June 1997, are open to University faculty, staff, and students and SOUTHmed members for searching MEDLINE, CINAHL, the Core Biomedical Collection and the PDR Textstack. Friday classes focus on using CINAHL for nursing information, but may change to MEDLINE according to demand.
OVID MEDLINE, CINAHL, CORE BIOMEDICAL COLLECTION and PDR TEXTSTACK:
| Biomedical Library Campus Site |
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| Biomedical Library Medical Center Site (UMC) |
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INTERNET Resources
This class is designed to give a basic knowledge of using the Internet
in medical research. Classes may be geared to using e-mail or the World
Wide Web as tools at the request of students. E-mail classes demonstrate
the use of Pine mailer commands, netiquette, and discussion groups. World
Wide Web classes include surfing and searching using a networked browser.
This session will cover using various search engines such as Yahoo, Webcrawler,
Lycos and InfoSeek to find medical resources on the Internet.
| Medical Center Site | Monday 3:00pm-4:30pm (2nd week- Internet; 3rd week - e-mail;
4th week - other Internet tools) |
| Campus Site | Monday 3:00pm-4:30pm |
GRATEFUL MED
Grateful Med is the National Library of Medicine searching software
for accessing the MEDLARS databases (such as MEDLINE) in either an IBM
compatible or Macintosh environment. The class will cover setting up the
software, phone number, user id and password, as well as how to search
MEDLARS databases by using Grateful Med. Classes in using Grateful Med
are available from the Biomedical Library if requested by an individual
or group.
Please call 460-7044 to reserve a place in a class at the Campus Site, or 471-7855 to reserve a place in a class at the UMC Site. Send email to medlib@jaguar1.usouthal.edu.
SYSTEMS UPDATE
Resurrecting the Novell servers at the Campus Site and the UMC Site was the first priority when the new Assistant Director for Systems came onboard. The Systems Department was then able to successfully install the Windows version of the PDR/Merck/Stedman's at both Sites, although there seems to be some minor bugs in the application. Ariel, part of the computerized document delivery system in Interlibrary Loan, was the next application to be installed, although wiring problems have prevented that from working in the Medical Center Site. Also, all the laser printers have been networked at the Campus and Medical Center Sites.
Currently, Systems is working on establishing mail lists for the College of Medicine classes, developing a program to collect data on usage of our servers, and standardizing computer setups. Since the new OVID interface will be a Java client, we are beginning to test various 32-bit operating systems to see which is most suitable for accessing the new OVID. Lines have been installed in the auditoriums on the first and second floors in MSB for Network/Internet connectivity. In the future anyone conducting a class which needs live connectivity will be able to do so. Keep in mind that Learning Resources has a computer and projector that can be utilized for such presentations.
PASSWORDS AVAILABLE FOR COLLEGES OF NURSING
AND ALLIED HEALTH
Commencing with the Fall 1997 Semester, students in the professional programs in Nursing and Allied Health will be able to get unlimited-use OVID (MEDLINE, CINAHL, FULL TEXT, etc.). Following registration both colleges will send the BML a list of participating students who will then be issued accounts. These accounts are NON-TRANSFERRABLE and must NOT be SHARED. The University Ethics Code applies. Stop by the BML campus or UMC sites to pick up an application. Applications will not be processed until we receive the list of participating students. All these students will have paid a fee at the time of registration for this service.
NEWS FROM LEARNING RESOURCES
Learning Resources is initiating its HTML editing service. Learning Resources personnel can now edit documents for your Homepage. Bring a disk with the document in question and the HTML tags will be added according to instructions. The hourly rate for this service is $40.00. Please call 460-6317 to arrange for an appointment.
BOOK SALE
The Biomedical Library will be holding a book sale at the end of the Summer. Anyone wishing to donate books (novels, paperbacks, textbooks, manuals, etc.) may do so at any time by dropping them off at the BML. All donations will be acknowledged with a letter of thanks from Biomedical Library Administration. It is requested that donated books be in good condition (no torn pages, ripped covers, etc.).
COPY CARDS
The old plastic copy cards can no longer be used at the Campus Site and will not be usable at the Medical Center Site after April 1. Stop by the Circulation Desk at either site of the Biomedical Library to convert old plastic cards to the new Vendamat cards. Copy cards are available to USA affiliated patrons only. Please call 460-7043 if you have any questions.
BIOMEDICAL LIBRARY FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS
Effective December 15, 1996, Sally Murray has been promoted to Internet Resources and Education Librarian, a faculty position. Sally is responsible for the Biomedical Library's homepage. Harmon Seaver recently joined the Biomedical Library faculty as Assistant Director for Systems. In this newly created position he provides leadership in the System Department. Kirby Wilson has joined the staff of Learning Resources as a PC Application Specialist.
NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK
The Biomedical Library will observe National Library Week April 13-19. Special displays will be available and special drawings will be held. Plan to stop by the library during that week.
BIOMEDICAL LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Below are the members of the Biomedical Library Advisory Committee for 1996-1997:
The Biomedical Library offers e-mail accounts to College of Medicine students. There is a copy of the list of students' names and their e-mail addresses available at each Site of the Biomedical Library for College of Medicine faculty, staff and students. A computer file with a 'class list' for use with the pine addressbook will soon be available. The file will be available on the College of Medicine Lab computers.
HOMEPAGE ADDITIONS
DXplain is a decision support system which uses a set of clinical findings (signs, symptoms, laboratory data) to produce a ranked list of diagnoses which might explain (or be associated with) the clinical manifestations. DXplain provides justification for why each of these diseases might be considered, suggests what further clinical information would be useful to collect for each disease, and lists what clinical manifestations, if any, would be unusual or atypical for each of the specific diseases. DXplain does not offer definitive medical consultation and should not be used as a substitute for physician diagnostic decision making. DXplain, developed at Massachusetts General Hospital, is available for a trial period until May 15 at http://southmed.usouthal.edu/library/wwwindex.htm, (update - the library no longer subscribes to DXplain) and is also bookmarked in the COM lab computers. The license agreement limits access to only College of Medicine students, faculty and staff. After testing, a decision will be made on purchase. Please send your comments on this program to medlib@jaguar1.usouthal.edu or call 414-8210.
Also offered are "The Beat" and the College of Medicine "Electives" booklet (soon to be updated) in electronic format at http://southmed.usouthal.edu/com/index.html.
Remember to review MD Consult, which offers the MD Consult Book Review Service, a comprehensive database of timely, authoritative peer reviews of health sciences books. Reviews are available through this service within six weeks of the time a book is published. MD Consult Book Review Bulletin, an electronic newsletter customized to each individual subscriber's information needs, is also available. The Biomedical Library has obtained a trial subscription for one year to this service. Registration is required to get full access to the information. Using WWW, go to the URL, http://southmed.usouthal.edu/library/libindex.htm (update - changed to http://southmed.usouthal.edu/library/mdconsult.htm) on the Biomedical Library's homepage. A new listing has been added for "Electronic Journals/Services We Subscribe To!", with a link to Doody's MD Consult. Once on Doody's page, register by clicking the 'guest' button.
The Biomedical Library has recently updated the Electronic Journals page to include a searchable "Merck Manual." While there, check out the Merck Homepage and take the Medical IQ Quiz - you might win a T-shirt (or learn something new)! This site has won awards from USA Today and it is a "Cool Medical Site of the Week" winner as well - check it out from the homepage at http://southmed.usouthal.edu/library/epub.htm. If you have any favorite electronic publications that are not included on the Biomedical Library's homepage, please let the library know by e-mailing medlib@jaguar1.usouthal.edu.
SOUTHmed UPDATE
Congratulations and welcome to the following new SOUTHmed members:
An article in the June 1994 issue of Academic Medicine, titled "Effect of Literature Searching on Length of Stay and Patient Care" (69(6):489-495), indicated that timely, librarian-mediated MEDLINE searches resulted in reduced costs, charges and lengths of stay. The study showed a 65-70% reduction for the test cases in either the length of stay or the hospital expenses. Librarian-mediated MEDLINE searches are just one of the benefits of SOUTHmed membership. Other benefits include document delivery (not available at all to non-members),classes on searching MEDLINE or the Internet, and photocopy services available at reduced rates. Additionally, full access to the resources, electronic and print, of both sites of the Biomedical Library are available with membership, including the full MEDLINE and CINAHL databases (for additional fee), the USA Biomedical Library Homepage with links to a wide range of Internet resources, as well as full-text resources. SOUTHmed members also have access to the full range of services offered by the College of Medicine's Learning Resources Department. These services include photography, slide production, videography, etc.
During the last quarter, a presentation on accessing medical information was made at the meeting of the Mobile Area Physical Therapy Association.
For further information on joining SOUTHmed or if interested in arranging for a meeting presentation, contact Judy Burnham, 471-7855.
BIOFEEDBACK, New Series, Issue #35, Spring 1997
The Biomedical Library Biofeedback, a publication of the University
of South Alabama Biomedical Library, is published at irregular intervals.
Editor: Judy Burnham. Contributors to this issue were Roberta Barclay,
Judy Burnham, Jie Li, Sally Murray, Mike Perry, Pat Rodgers, Harmon Seaver
and Tom Williams. Comments should be addressed to Judy
Burnham, Biomedical Library, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL
36688-0002
To make comments, suggestions, or get more information, send email to medlib@jaguar1.usouthal.edu or call (334)-414-8210.
University of South Alabama Biomedical Library
Revised: April 4, 1997 (update Dec. 21, 2000)