HAPPY 35TH BIRTHDAY, MEDLINE! and others

2006 is a big year for the US National Library of Medicine and its medical information services. MEDLINE, NLM's flagship database debuted October 27, 1971.
PubMed was first released in January 1996 as an experimental database.
2006 also marks the 170th anniversary of NLM, since its 1836 founding as the Library of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army.
October 1, 2006 was the 50th anniversary of the passage of the National Library of Medicine Act, which moved the Armed Forces Medical Library to the Public Health Service and rechristened it the National Library of Medicine.

Here are some comparisons betwwen MEDLINE 1971 and MEDLINE 2006:
In 1971,MEDLINE featured 239 indexed journals. By 2006, that number has grown to 4,928.
In 1971, MEDLINE served 25 users. In 2006, MEDLINE/PubMed will average 77 million unique visits in 2006 and about 800 million searches.
In 1971, MEDLINE was available via dial-up telecommunications. In 2006, the site is available to anyone on earth via the World Wide Web.

URL for more detail: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/medline_35th_birthday.html

LIST OF LIBRARY-RELATED CONFERENCES…AND MORE

Marian Dworaczek [University of Saskatchewan Library, Saskatoon, Canada] is constructing a list of library-related conferences. This worldwide list is very comprehensive and includes links to more information on most of the conferences. There is no search function, but you can use your browser’s find function to search it easily. She also has compiled some impressive bibliographies: Electronic Sources of Information (both a bibliography and subject index to the literature), and two on technical services in academic libraries, including outsourcing.

URLs:
Library-Related Conferences: http://library2.usask.ca/~dworacze/CONF.HTM
Electronic Sources of Information:
Bibliography: http://library2.usask.ca/~dworacze/BIBLIO.HTM
Subject Index: http://library2.usask.ca/~dworacze/SUBJIN_A.HTM
Technical Services in Academic Libraries:
Outsourcing: http://library2.usask.ca/~dworacze/OUTSOURCING.HTM
Literature Review: http://library2.usask.ca/~dworacze/TS.HTM

GREAT NEW MEDICAL SEARCH ENGINE, AND ANOTHER ONE TOO

HEALIA is a super new consumer health search engine. It was developed with a grant from the USA National Cancer Institute. It’s only in beta now, but works wonderfully. I did a couple of my favorite searches and got very good, relevant, results.

Results are presented, along with lists of suggested similar, more general, and more specific searches. You can also filter by any one or more of the following: professional; male or female; kids, teens or seniors; African, Asian, Hispanic, or Native heritage; basic or advanced; HONcode, URAC accredited, or privacy policy rated sites; easy to scan, fast loading, for text browsers, or interactive tools. Very impressive.

I also tried another recommended site, Mamma. It is a “smart” metasearch engine, created as a master’s thesis in 1996, and now run by Mamma Media Solutions. It searches most of the major medical sites and the deep web (though it doesn’t exactly how it does it). I performed my two test searches and got fewer good results. The list was preceded by “identified” sponsored links, but I found some questionable links in the rest of the results, too. There are some suggested alternative search topics, but the filters are only found under Power Search. They include choosing directories, indexes, pay-per-click, and adult content reduction. On the whole, a less powerful and desirable site.

URLs:
HEALIA: http://www.healia.com
Mamma: http://www.mamma.com

SLA PROVIDES ACCESS TO RSS FEEDS

The Special Libraries Association announced this week that members can now receive news via an RSS feed on the SLA website. The service is provided by NewsGator and includes feeds on library subjects (education, copyright, careers, competitive intelligence, and technology) and on subjects of interest to our customers. The latter are arranged to correspond to the Divisions in SLA. Note: Solo Librarianship is covered only by the Solos Helping Solos blog, under SLA, but I’ve sent some additional suggestions to Carolyn Sosnowski, who seems to be in charge at SLA HQ.

URL: http://www.sla.org, click on RSS Feed

WHAT DOES A DISTANCE MLIS REALLY COST?

Mary Thompson [Ocean County Library, Island Heights, New Jersey, USA] created a spreadsheet with the cost of distance MLIS programs. She included the in-state and out-of-state tuition and the number of credits required, but did not calculate the total cost. So, I did it. Here are the results:

Cheapest in-state: San Jose State University, $6,300, runner up: Emporia State University, $6,636
Cheapest out-of-state: University of Alabama, $7,640, runner up: San Jose State University, $9,030
Most expensive in-state: Drexel University, $35,100, runner up: Syracuse University, $29,016
Most expensive out-of-state: University of Pittsburgh: $37,980, runner up: Florida State University, $37,206

As you can see, where you go makes quite a bit of difference in cost. However, you should not choose a school based only on cost. Consider the quality of the school and the courses offered—
do they have the courses that will prepare you for the type of librarianship in which you are interested?

If you would like the entire spreadsheet, email me at jsiess@ibi-opl.com and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

URL for Thornton's spreadsheet: http://www.becomealibrarian.org/DistanceEdComparison.htm

WIKIS YOU CAN USE

LISWiki: http://liswiki.org/wiki/Main_Page--Subcategories; information management, issues, librarians, libraries, publications, services, and technology; lists of library-related wikis

Wikinews: http://en.Wikinews.org/--from the Wikimedia Foundation

Wikitravel: http://Wikitravel.org/en/

wikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com--How to do almost anything

WikiLaw: http://www.Wikilaw.org—focus on US law

JurisPedia: http://en.jurispedia.org/index.php/Main_Page—an open legal wiki from the University of Montpellier (France), Can Tho University (Vietnam), Groningen University (The Netherlands), Université du Québec Á Montreal (Canada), and Saarland University (Germany).

Wex: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/--This law wiki from Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute uses only authors deemed qualified

LawLibWik: http://www.edithis.info/lawlibrary/--law library wiki from Illinois Institute of Technology

HealthLib-Wiki: http://hlWiki.slais.ubc.ca—knowledge-base for health librarians with an international perspective but also emphasizing issues affecting practice in Canada

BE NICE OR ELSE!

Be Nice (or Else!) is a free newsletter that is a great resource on providing customer-focused services and products.

Quote of the day from it: ”Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends. Walt Disney

URL: http://www.beniceorelse.com/newsletter

I AM A LIBRARIAN -- IMAGES

Every wondered what the library blogger looks like? Check out the I am a Librarian blog and the photo gallery. The site is the creation of Cynthia Wilson of PALINET. She is working on a book also to be called I am a Librarian. Sounds like a neat project!

URL: http://www.iamalibrarian.com/gallery2.html

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING RECENTLY

While I was out of town, my to-read pile grew. I’ve just finished reading all of it. Here are some of the most interesting reads.

Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians, Myths and Truths About Library Services, developed by the Colorado Council of Medical Librarians Advocacy Committee and the Medical Library Association, http://www.mlanet.org/resources/vital/index.html—great ideas for justifying your existence to your boss, even if you don’t work in a hospital.

What is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software, by Tim O’Reilly, http://www.oreillynet.com/go/web2—O’Reilly coined the term “Web 2.0” and explains it well here.

These next two were papers presented at the 2006 annual conference of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa:

The Nimble Information Adventurer, by Robert McEntyre, http://www.lianza.org.nz/library/files/store_014/NimbleInformation
Adventurer_RMcEntyre.pdf—a look into the information future in Australia and New Zealand.

Next generation libraries need next generation librarians: library training, library education, and continuing professional development, by Alison Fields and Amanda Cossham, http://www.lianza.org.nz/library/files/store_013/NextGenerationLibraries_AFields.pdf
not only what librarians want, but what they need to learn.

Show Your Librarian Some Love, by Todd Gilman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2006/10/2006100301c/careers.html—why faculty don’t appreciate
us and how to improve things.

What’s the Secret? by John R. Di Julius III, http://www.enewsbuilder.net/chartenews/e_article000561514.cfm?x=b11,0,w
what prevents most companies (and libraries) from delivering excellent customer service.

Visions 2020.2: Student Views on Transforming Education and Training Through Advanced Technologies, from the US Departments of Commerce and Education and NetDay, http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/site/documents/visions_20202.pdf—includes the important section, “How Students Want to Learn Using Technology.” Remember, we have to adapt to them, not vice versa.

The Library as Place: The changing nature and appeal of library buildings and spaces, UI (University of Illinois) Current LIS Clips, September 2006, http://clips.lis.uiuc.edu/2006_09.htm—annotated bibliography on this important topic.

Ensuring the Net Generation is Net Savvy, by George Lorenzo and Charles Dziuban, Educause Learning Initiative Paper 2, September 2006, https://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3006.pdf—another article on how we need to work with the next generation of students/customers.

Wiking in your library: a practical overview, by Eugene Barsky, a presentation to the Vancouver Association of Law Libraries, October 2006, http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/barsky-wiki-vall.pdf
just what it says, a practical view of the wiki and the library.

NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER

There is a new OPL/solo group in Australia: ALIA OPALs ACT (Australian Library and Information Association One Person Australian Librarians Australian Capital Territory). More information at http://alia.org.au/groups/opalsact. Welcome!

At their recent annual general meeting, the Australian Law Librarians’ Group voted to change their name to the Australian Law Librarians’ Association. The change was to reinforce their status as a “professional membership association.” See their website at http://www.allg.asn.au/

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS FOR SLA 2007 ANNOUNCED

Former US VP Al Gore will open the Special Libraries Association 2007 Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. There will also be an all-conference program with Clifford Lynch (Coalition for Networked Information), Tom Hogan, Sr. (Information Today, Inc.—one of my publishers), Eugenie Prime (formerly at Hewlett Packard’s library), and Stephen Abram (VP, Innovation, SirsiDynix and President-elect of SLA)—that should be good! On a lighter note, Dilbert’s creator, Scott Adams, will be the closing keynoter. An interesting mix—I can’t wait—see you there.

DON’T UNDERSTAND WIKIS? LEARN MORE HERE

Why Wiki? is an online video course from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee “to introduce you to the benefits and disadvantages” of wikis. There are four parts: Introduction (28 minutes), Caveats (20 minutes), Comparisons (12 minutes), and Other Wikis (20 minutes). All require high-speed Internet, and Flash (available at the site).

URL: http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/courses/wiki/

ANOTHER LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY BLOG

Library Technology NOW! describes itself as “library technology news and product reviews written by library people for library people.” There is a social networking site, user reviews, and more. All from the Texas Library Association and the North Texas Regional Library System.

URL: http://www.librarytechnologynow.org/

WATCH OUT--STARBUCKS NOW HAS A BOOK CLUB!

The ubiquitous coffee chain, Starbucks, now has a nationwide reading group. The first book discussed is Mitch Albom’s For One More Day, with 25 Starbucks participating. They’re selling the book, too.

If Starbucks can do it, you can too. Read the article by OCLC’s Alice Sneary on how to respond to this.

URLs:
Starbucks’s Book Break: http://starbucks.gather.com/
Sneary: http://scanblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/starbucks-book-break.html

RSS FEEDS FOR FINDING LIBRARY JOBS

Also from Rachel Singer Gordon is a list of library-related job sites with RSS feeds.

URL: http://www.lisjobs.com/jobfeeds.htm

MEDICAL REFERENCE FOR NON-MEDICAL LIBRARIANS

The wonderful David Rothman has put a list of references for librarian not in medical libraries (and medical librarians too) up on his blog. They are super. Thanks, David.

URL: http://davidrothman.net/2006/10/04/medical-reference-for-non-medical-librarians/

LJ’S COMPUTER BOOK REVIEWS NOW ONLINE ONLY

The bad news: Rachel Singer Gordon’s Computer Media book review column and the pre-pub alert column in Library Journal will no longer be published in the magazine. They will be found online only.

The good news: You can now read these reviews even if you are not a subscriber to LJ. Let’s hear it for the Web!

URL: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6377111.html

ORGANIZE YOUR ACADEMIC PAPERS

CiteULike is a free citation organizer designed for academics. It automatically extracts the citation details so you don’t have to re-enter them. You can also share your set of citations with others and see who else is reading the same articles. The home page shows recent articles posted to the site and lists most active tags.

There is also a list of electronic tables of contents and links to the articles (if you have the right to see them). (Emerald and Elsevier journals are represented.) Another neat feature is the list articles posted by groups on subjects as diverse as bone and soft tissue engineering, biocultural anthropology, and academic librarians. Seems worth a try.

URL: http://www.citeulike.org

NEW SEARCH ENGINE—ACCOONA

I just ran across this new European search engine. Accoona uses artificial intelligence technology of produce “better” searches. You can search in German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, and Portuguese and choose searching on the web, for business information, or for news. My experience with it had mixed results, but try it for yourself.

URL: http://eu.accoona.com/en/

INSTITUTE FOR HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT

“The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a non-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world. IHI was founded in 1991 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.” The website has articles about healthcare improvement, links to resources, and free podcasts. You can also sign up for a free monthly e-newsletter.

URL: http://www.ihi.org/