originally submitted to NNLM PNR  nnlm@u.washington.edu

In December, twenty-five libraries in four states and one province combined their resources to obtain access to a collection of high-quality full-text e-journals. This group subscription - to 140 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins e-journals from Ovid - brings such titles as American Journal of Nursing, Anesthesiology, Annals of Surgery, Circulation, Cancer Nursing, Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Journal of Trauma to the desktops of physicians, hospital employees, and students in health-related programs. Participating libraries are from hospitals and academic institutions, both small and large, in Alaska, Oregon, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia. These libraries' users will share three simultaneous accesses to each of the 140 online titles for the upcoming year.

The collaboration is under the auspices of the Washington Medical Librarians Association (WMLA), which began discussions about consortial purchasing in summer, 2001. Libraries from all over the Pacific Northwest were invited in November to participate in this Lippincott Williams & Wilkins e-journal subscription so that sufficient funding could be raised to cover its cost of $90,000. The base price for each library depended on the size of its user population, with some libraries contributing
additional funding at the last minute so that the deal could go forward for everyone.

Congratulations to all libraries that have joined together to provide access to this large, rich group of medical and nursing e-journals - and special thanks to those whose extra efforts made the difference at the end! This group purchase will bring experience in e-journal management to some libraries that are new to the provision of online full-text content. It will allow all participating libraries to strengthen their services again, through the provision of online full-text content. And it will prove a valuable learning experience to our region, as we monitor the collection's use throughout the year to investigate issues such as whether we have purchased sufficient access for all group members, whether group membership comprising differing sizes and types of libraries can be successful, and whether the investment will bring ample returns to all participants.

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and Ovid are both part of Wolters Klewer, a multinational information services company that spans the fields of law, business, health, science, and education. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins is a major publisher of print and electronic biomedical publications, and Ovid is an information-retrieval vendor that provides access to bibliographic databases, full-text publications, and decision-support tools. Working with these organizations is just the first step in the Washington Medical Librarians Association's exploration of consortial purchasing, an exploration led by Pamela Murray of Northwest Hospital (and WMLA's Continuing Education Committee chair) with the assistance of Susan Barnes of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine's Pacific Northwest Region (and WMLA's Secretary) and the invaluable help of Patty Ayala, Database Licensing Consultant at the Washington State Library. During the upcoming year, other vendors and products will be investigated and compared to facilitate libraries' budgeting, planning, and decision making regarding e-content.

If you have questions or want to be informed about further developments contact Susan Barnes at sjbarnes@u.washington.edu

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Dragonfly is the newsletter of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region. Produced by NN/LM PNR, under NLM

submitted by Dolores Judkins

This is taken from Bruce Maxwell's listserv, which, by the way is very interesting. I almost always find some interesting stuff on it. Information on signing up for the listserv is at the end.

HealthESites
November 14, 2001
Vol. 2, No. 38
ISSN 1530-3608
________________________________________________________________

Bruce Maxwell, Editor - bmax@silverhammerpub.com
Silver Hammer Publishing - http://silverhammerpub.com

THE DOCTOR IS IN...CYBERSPACE

This article is an excerpt from "Dr. Ian Smith's Guide to Medical Websites," written by the "Today" medical correspondent. It purports to list the best health Web sites. One can easily argue with some of the choices (and exclusions), but what's scary is an incredibly stupid statement Smith makes in the article. In a description of the National Library of Medicine's Web site, he writes: "Physical medical libraries, beware - this site could one day put you out of business!" There have been a lot of idiotic things written about online health information, but Smith's
statement ranks right near the top.

Source: MSNBC - Nov. 8, 2001 http://www.msnbc.com/news/654114.asp?cpl=l

To subscribe to HealthESites, send a blank e-mail to join-healthesites@lists.silverhammerpub.com or visit the Web site.

HealthESites Web page - http://silverhammerpub.com/health.html

"Thinking the Unthinkable ~ Biochemical Terrorism and Disasters: Information Resources for Medical Librarians"

About 80 medical librarians gathered at NJHA Dec. 5 for an educational program co-sponsored by the New Jersey Hospital Association and the Middle
Atlantic Region, National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), titled "Thinking the Unthinkable: Biochemical Terrorism and Disasters: Information
Resources for Medical Librarians."

Guest speakers included James Pruden, MD, FACEP, chairman of the emergency medicine department at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center; Paterson, N.J., Onnalee Henneberry, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention library; Stacey Arnesen from the National Library of Medicine's Specialized
Information Services; and Barbara Schultz from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Chemical Defense.

The speakers covered topics such as the clinical view of biological terrorism and historical perspectives, core bioterrorism information resources and an overview of NLM's resources on bioterrorism, chemical and biological weapons, including TOXNET databases.

In addition, Barbara Schultz, with Astrox Corporation under contract with the U.S. Army, gave an overview of chemical warfare agents and a description of the Department of Defense resources available to the public. NJHA's Michelle Volesko rounded out the day with a checklist for disaster information preparedness for medical librarians.

PowerPoint slides and handouts from the continuing education program, with live Web links, useful for both medical librarians and healthcare professionals, can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.njha.com/njresponse/biopresent.asp

You are welcome to link or promote this information as appropriate; however, please do not feel obligated to do so! For more information contact: Michelle Volesko, Director of Library and Corporate Information Services, New Jersey Hospital Association, 609-275-4230, mvolesko@njha.com

originally submitted 8-31-01 to EDUCAUSE EDUPAGE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU

Speakers at the Intel Developer Forum disclosed collaborative ventures between company researchers and universities to create computer networks that focus on health care and public safety, as well as endeavors into outer space. The medical applications of such networks include at-home health care monitoring. A four-node Martian network is also being planned, as well as a network that can help locate lost people, according to Intel director of research David Tennenhouse. He said that these networks will be deployed through wireless networking, software agents, and embedded machines, and that Intel has pledged $4 billion for research and development efforts in 2001. The Internet will act as a portable database containing data collected by sensors, Tennenhouse explained. (InfoWorld.com, 27 August 2001)

 

 

originally submitted 8-31-01 to EDUCAUSE EDUPAGE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU

 

 

COLLEGE STUDENTS ADMIT THEY ARE CAUGHT UP IN WEB

 

One in 10 college students claims to have a dependence on the Internet, according to a survey report authored by Richard J. DioGuardi of St. John's University. Fifteen percent of the 134 freshmen and sophomores polled exhibit classic manifestations of addiction, DioGuardi said; these include social isolation, encroachment on daily life, an urgent need for the Internet, and withdrawal symptoms. In addition, these students would probably use the Internet as a social outlet and consider it essential to their well-being. These findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco. (Reuters, 27 August 2001)

 

 

 

originally submitted 8-31-01 to EDUCAUSE EDUPAGE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU

 

ONLINE COURSE LETS THE ISOLATED UPDATE THEIR MEDICAL SKILLS

 

Medical workers in remote areas of Central America can get training through distance education. Chicago's Center for International Rehabilitation is testing an eight-month online course that trains workers who make prosthetics. The courses were developed by Northwest University's Prosthetic Orthotic Center and educational software developer Web CT. Students study an online field manual, and mentors provide support through chat rooms and bulletin boards. The online manual can be changed as technology, data, and student queries change. In addition, students receive a CD-ROM with video and audio components. Similarly, Satellife provides medical information to African health care workers. (New York Times, 30 August 2001)

originally submitted 12-4-01 to EDUCAUSE EDUPAGE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU

IBM, in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania, is developing a computing grid designed to aid and streamline the diagnosis of breast cancer. The University of Pennsylvania Grid would connect hospitals through secure Internet portals that enable doctors to upload, download, and analyze digitized mammograms. "This grid will help ensure that all of a patient's vital data are provided to authorized physicians very quickly, efficiently, and securely," said Dr. Robert Hollebeek, director of the university's National Scalable Cluster Lab. Physicians would be able to call up patient records faster, decreasing their reliance on expensive film x-rays that are often widely distributed among medical facilities. The grid, a big distributed computer that uses the Internet to manage computing resources, currently connects collegiate hospitals in Toronto, Chicago, and North Carolina.
(InternetNews.com, 28 November 2001)

originally submitted 12-10-01 to EDUCAUSE EDUPAGE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU

 

DOCTOR ON THE NET

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council has announced that it will support a feasibility study for an International Virtual Medical School. The project would use e-learning to provide training software for medical students, access to seminars, and sharing of expertise from around the world. So far, eight British, eight North American, and four Australian medical schools have become involved in the undertaking; China has also indicated that it would like to participate. The project could revolutionize medical training, said Prof. Ronald Harden of Dundee University. Rather than foster rivalry, the organization would support cooperation among schools, he said. In addition, traditional universities should get involved in such an area before commercial training groups do, Harden explained. He envisions "a repository or bank of reusable learning objects." Harden believes that copyright issues would be avoided by labeling videos, lectures, and so on.
(Guardian (London), 4 December 2001)