New InterLibrary Loan form

There is a new version of the form for InterLibrary Loan requests available online.  This new form can be filled out on the computer and either printed or emailed (it will attach an xml document with the information to an email which will be sent to the library email address). Students and staff will need to include the citation information in the email or as another attachment when emailing, but you can begin using this now.

You can click on “Interlibrary Loan Request Form” to see the new form.  Or just see it here.

Happy holidays everyone!

Searching Tips

The Medical Library Association published a helpful table with links to places where you will be able to find the best directory information on government health care services.

While keyword searching is helpful, using these services will help you get more accurate results.  They are web services sponsored by the government that will provide current and accurate information.  The chart that the Medical Library Association published includes a description of the directory, where they get the information for it, how frequently it updates, and what kind of information it contains.

This information is useful for anyone who needs to find current information about where to find government health care services.  Local information may also be available from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.  Emergency information for our state is always available at the state emergency web portal.

Exhibit at the Library Commons

The Literature of Prescription: 
Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "The Yellow Wall-Paper"

In the late nineteenth century, at a time when women were
challenging traditional ideas about gender that excluded them
from political and intellectual life, medical and scientific experts
drew on notions of female weakness to justify inequality between
the sexes. Artist and writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who was
discouraged from pursuing a career to preserve her health,
rejected these ideas in a terrifying short story titled “The Yellow
Wall-Paper.” The famous tale served as an indictment of the
medical profession and the social conventions restricting
women’s professional and creative opportunities.

Exhibit on Display Now
Library Commons, Upstairs

October 31st - December 11th

For more information, visit the NLM's site:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/theliteratureofprescription/index.html
Wikipedia page for "The Yellow Wallpaper" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Wallpaper

This exhibition is brought to you by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

National Novel Writing Month

November is National Novel Writing Month, the month long challenge to write your very own 50,000 word novel.
The library here has multiple useful resources for the dedicated novel writer.  Beyond mere unabridged dictionaries, we have style guides for grammar and both general and subject specific encyclopedias for that all important background information.  Both can be found in the reference room of the main library building.  To see what's available before making the trek over in weather like we're having today, you can peruse the library catalog in advance.

More resources are available online through NetLibrary.  If you haven't done so already, you can contact the library to set up an account to be able to access NetLibrary resources from home.  The resourceful novelist will find these sources extremely handy when trying to make their spaceships sound scientifically viable or their illiterate peasants period correct.

Most student researchers will already know how very useful it is to search in EBSCO to find current research for academic papers, but what you might not have realized is that we have a whole other resource for searching newspaper articles from across the globe.  If you're looking to base your court drama or tale of ciminal activity on real events, searching LexisNexis will help find the stories you can rip straight from the headlines.

Don't forget, while you're doing all this research for your novel, that you should still be avoiding plagiarism.  A novelist may not be citing works they use as inspiration, but they're not paraphrasing a source and calling it a novel.  Be aware of where your words end and theirs begin.  It's also a good habit to be in for the rest of your writing.  Try to keep a record of what resources you use and thank their authors when you're finished.

Good luck to anyone making the attempt.  I hope you'll all share your novel writing success stories in December. :)

OLOL Open House - Saturday, October 30

The College Open House day will be hosted this coming Saturday, October 30th, at the Library Commons.  For more general information about the event click here.

For an itinerary click here.

If you're a little lost and don't know where the Commons is, here's a map.

View Larger Map

List of helpful public health links

The Health Sherpa blog collected this helpful list of public health websites.

Government Public Health

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The CDC is the government’s go-to site for all topics related to public health.
2. Department of Health and Human Services: A wide range of public health services exists under the HHS roof.
3. Flu.gov: HHS is the managing sponsor for this site, which concentrates solely on various flu pandemics and information.
4. Food and Drug Administration: The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of food, drugs and products.
5. Healthy People: Healthy People 2010 challenges individuals, communities and professionals to take specific steps to ensure that good health, as well as long life, are enjoyed by all.
6. National Institutes of Health: NIH is an agency of the HHS and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research.
7. National Library of Medicine: The NLM is an umbrella educational organization that contains databases and resources that range from PubMed to MedlinePlus and more.
8. National Network of Libraries of Medicine: NN/LM advances the progress of medicine and improving the public health through access to health information.

Public Health Associations and Organizations  

9. American Public Health Association: APHA is the oldest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world.  
10. American Public Human Services Association: APHSA, founded in 1930, is a nonprofit, bipartisan organization of state and local human service agencies and individuals.
11. American Social Health Associations: ASHA is America’s authority for sexually transmitted infection information.
12. Association of Schools of Public Health: ASPH promotes the efforts of schools of public health to improve the health of every person through education, research, and policy.
13. Association of State and Territorial Health Officials: ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies and their employees of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia.
14. Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach: CPHEO promotes lifelong learning and provides educational programs, online courses, and managing training outreach.
15. National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems: NAPHSIS is a national association of state vital records and public health statistics offices.
16. National Association of County & City Health Officials: NACCHO is the national organization representing local health departments.
17. National Association of Local Boards of Health: NALBOH is dedicated to strengthening and empowering boards of health through education and training.
18. National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems: NAPH represents America’s safety net hospitals and health systems.
19. National Environmental Health Association: NEHA’s mission, is “to advance the environmental health and protection professional for the purpose of providing a healthful environment for all.”
20. National Public Health Information Coalition: NPHIC is an independent organization of professionals sought after to improve America’s health through public health communications.
21. Public Health Foundation: PHF is dedicated to achieving healthy communities through research, training, and technical assistance.
22. Public Health Institute: PHI is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world.
23. Public Health Institutes of the World: IANPHI is a global initiative that aims to develop stronger and more coordinated public health systems through the development and support of national public health institutes, or NPHIs.
24. The Task Force for Global Health: This group encompasses a network of programs focused on both international and domestic health and human development.

Public Health Policy and Law

25. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy: CIDRAP conducts epidemiologic research and the rapid translation of scientific information into real-world practical applications and solutions.
26. Centers for Law and the Public’s Health: This is a collaborative at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities.
27. Kaiser Family Foundation: This organization serves as a non-partisan source of facts, information, and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the public.
28. National Association of Public Health Policy: NAPHP, founded in 1979, aims to improve the health of the people of the United States by helping to develop health policy and supporting measures to strengthen the public health services.
29. National Health Policy Forum: This group’s mission is to cultivate a learning community among key senior staff in Congress, its support agencies and the executive branch of the federal government.
30. Public Health Law & Policy: An independent non-profit (as of July 2010), PHLP partners with government staff, advocates, and other community leaders to provide practical solutions to a wide range of public health problems.
31. Public Health Law Association: PHLA promotes healthy people and healthy communities through dialogue, partnerships, education, and research in public health law and policy.
32. Public Health Law Center: Formerly the Tobacco Law Center, this center is working collaboratively to bolster the growing field of public health law.
33. Public Health Law Research: This is a national initiative to promote effective regulatory, legal and policy solutions to improve public health.
34. Public Health Policy: This Web site offers key sources of information on public health policy in Canada and in the international sphere.

Public Health Web Sites and Libraries

35. Indiana Public Health Digital Library: The stated purpose of this project is to locate, digitize, organize and make publicly available Indiana public health publications and documents (both historical and current).
36. Medical Library Association: MLA is a nonprofit, educational organization with more than 4,000 health sciences information professional members and partners worldwide.
37. Partners: This is an educational collaboration among U.S. government agencies, public health organizations and health sciences libraries.
38. Public Health Digital Library: Seattle & King County’s gateway to online public health resources, open to the public.
39. Society for Public Health Education: SOPHE is an independent, international professional association made up of a diverse membership of health education professionals and students.
40. Tennessee Health Public Health Digital Library: This library was created by the Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
41. What is Public Health? This Web site helps readers gain a better understanding of the various roles public health professionals play each day to ensure a healthy American public.

Journals

42. American Journal of Public Health: This journal was voted one of the 100 most influential journals in biology and medicine over the last century.
43. BMC Public Health: This is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in the epidemiology of disease and the understanding of all aspects of public health.
44. Directory of Open Access Journals: This link leads to the Public Health category, where you can gain access to a variety of journals that are free and open to the public.
45. Global Public Health: This journal is a peer-reviewed journal that energetically engages with key public health issues that have come to the fore in the global environment.
46. International Journal of Public Health: This journal publishes original quantitative and qualitative scientific work on public health.
47. Journal of Public Health: The Journal of Public Health invites submission of papers on any aspect of public health research and practice.
48. Journal of Public Health Policy: This journal is committed to providing an accessible source of scholarly articles on the epidemiologic and social foundations of public health policy, rigorously edited and progressive.
49. Public Health: Public Health is an international, multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that reports on all aspects of the science, philosophy, and practice of public health.
50. Zoonoses and Public Health: This journal brings together veterinary and human health researchers and policy-makers.

From: "50 Excellent Public Health Web Sites Worth Bookmarking"

State Library lists computer classes at parish libraries

The State Library has created a list of computer courses being taught in parish libraries state-wide.  These basic courses are very helpful if you need to brush up on computer skills before you get too far into the new semester.  The classes are free, so if you need the help you should definitely take advantage of this great resource.

Free classes currently available in East Baton Rouge Parish are Computer Fundamentals, Excel 2007 level 1, Excel 2007 level 2, PowerPoint 2007 level 1, Word 2007 level 1, Word 2007 level 2.  Brought to you free of charge by the State Library.  The full list of all classes available parish-by-parish is on the web at http://lajacc.state.lib.la.us/training/available.php.

Insurance finding tool and oil spill video conference for health care professionals

A couple of small pieces of news from the internet today.

The US Department of Health and Human Services now provides a web tool for finding health insurance.  Check out this nifty new widget they created:

If you'd like the code for this widget and others, you can find it here.

Also newsworthy, there will be a statewide video conference for nurses, physicians, partners and stakeholders titled "Gulf Oil Spill 2010: Public Health Aspects" on Monday, August 30th starting at 1:30pm.  More information is available from this .pdf.  The speaker will be LuAnn White, the director of the Tulane Center for Applied Environmental Health (CAEPH), Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

With thanks to the Poynter Legislative Research Library for forwarding the links.

Films @ the Library

The College Library Films @ the Library! Presents the film, Four Rooms.

This Films @ the Library showing will take place this Thursday, August 26 at 7:15. The main College Library is located at 5329 Didesse Drive.

Twice a month, the Library will showcase films that are edgy, artsy, educational, indy, animation, anime, or just good stories. Popcorn and soft drinks will be available.

See you at the movie!

Green Libraries across the Atlantic

The British Library

The British Library received the 2010 London Green 500 Platinum award for reducing carbon emissions significantly.  The Platinum award is given right after the Gold award, which the library received in 2009.

This award was given as a result of the library's program of energy efficient lighting upgrades.  Highlights of this project include:

• Kings Library Tower LED lighting project, reducing CO2 emissions by 50%
• St Pancras public areas LED feature lighting project including the installation of 459 metres of LED linear lighting resulting in a reduction of power consumption from 50 W to 4.8 W per metre
• External St Pancras LED lighting projects including the installation of LEDs across external areas of the Library such as the Piazza and Poet’s Circle
• ‘Half Hourly; electricity and gas meter project’ to measure amount and times of usage at the Library’s site in Boston Spa, Yorkshire

As the national library of the United Kingdom, the British Library is home to a collection of over 150 million items collected over 250 years of history.
From the blog of Peter Scott.

Films @ The Library

The College Library Films @ the Library! Presents the Ang Lee film Eat Drink Man Woman.

This Films @ the Library showing will take place this Thursday, August 12 at 7:15. The main College Library is located at 5329 Didesse Drive.

Twice a month, the Library will showcase films that are edgy, artsy, educational, indy, animation, anime, or just good stories. Popcorn and soft drinks will be available.

See you at the movie!

Updates to LOUIS Funding Webpage

As has been recently mentioned here on the Library Blog, our electronic resources are in grave peril.  The Board of Regents has cut LOUIS funding by $2.7 million.  After discussing the negative effects of the cuts $500,000 was granted to carry the consortium for 2 months.  The LALINC Executive Committee met on July 19 to make decisions on how to proceed.

As it turns out, LALINC members voted almost unanimously to pay the difference in funding so that most services can be continued.  However, some of the electronic resources will not be kept.  The list follows.

WebFeat / 360 Search - expires Sept. 30, 2010 SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost(r)) - expires August 31, 2010 OED Online - Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press) - expires August 31, 2010 CQ Global Researcher - expires December 31, 2010 WorldBook Online -- expires August 31, 2010 International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA) (EBSCOhost(r)) - expires August 31, 2010

 In other news, the LOUIS web page has been updated to become more user friendly.  The help of students has been very influential in these discussions, so please make note of the contact information provided on that page and repeated here to let your elected officials know that you use and need to use LOUIS electronic resources.

LOUIS on Facebook, Save LOUIS Facebook page, LA House of Representatives, LA Senate, Board of Regents, and Governor Bobby Jindal.

Libraries in the media!

It's always exciting to see libraries mentioned in the news for good reasons.  It's almost more exciting to find viral media and popular trends that celebrate libraries.  I'm sure that by now almost everyone has heard about the Old Spice guy phenomenon, so let's see what he has to say about libraries.



The library over at BYU enjoyed this ad campaign so much that they decided to do their own take on it.  The students there made this video in the format of the original Old Spice commercial.  While Our Lady of the Lake has no sandwich shop, you'll find that the rest is mostly relevant.  Please don't ride the book carts.



Thanks for reading!  I hope you all had fun this time.  :)

The College Library announces a new program series: Films @ the Library!

The Films @ the Library series begins this Thursday, July 29 at 7:15 with the showing of Big Fish. Twice a month, the Library will showcase films that are edgy, artsy, educational, indy, animation, anime, or just good stories. Popcorn and soft drinks will be available.

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to suggest films and perhaps faculty or student organizations would like to sponsor a film and hold a discussion session after the showing.

LOUIS Funding

!URGENT!

The Louisiana Board of Regents has reduced funding for electronic resources available through the LOUIS library network. These resources will be available for 2 months, then may no longer be available. E- Resources received through our LOUIS membership make up a large percentage of our total e-resource collection. Many of our most used research tools will be effected (list below).

We encourage you to contact the Board of Regents today to communicate to them why LOUIS funding is important for our campus.

For more information, check out the LOUIS website.
Board of Regents Site


LOUIS FUNDED RESOURCES:

•Academic Search™ Complete (EBSCOhost®)

•Alt HealthWatch™ (EBSCOhost®)

•AGRICOLA (EBSCOhost®)

•Art Abstracts (EBSCOhost)

•Biography Resource Center (Thomson Gale™)

•Book Collection: Nonfiction™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Business Source® Complete (EBSCOhost®)

•CINAHL® Plus with Full Text (EBSCOhost®)

•Computer Science Index™ (CSI) (EBSCOhost®)

•Computer Source™ (EBSCOhost®)

•CQ Researcher

•ERIC® (EBSCOhost®)

•Fuente Academica™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (EBSCOhost®)

•GeoRef (EBSCOhost®)

•GreenFILE™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Health Source®: Nursing/Academic Edition (EBSCOhost®)

•History Reference Center® (EBSCOhost®)

•Hospitality & Tourism Index™ (HTI) (EBSCOhost®)

•Information Science & Technology Abstracts™ (ISTA) (EBSCOhost®)

•International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA) (EBSCOhost®)

•Internet & Personal Computing Abstracts™ (IPCA) (EBSCOhost®)

•LearningExpress (LearningExpress, LLC)

•Legal Collection™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Lexi-PALS Drug Guide

•Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts™ with Full Text (LISTA) (EBSCOhost®)

•Literary Reference Center (EBSCOhost®)

•Literature Resource Center (Thomson Gale™)

•MAS Ultra™ - School Edition (EBSCOhost®)

•MathSciNet (American Mathematical Society)

•MedicLatina™ (EBSCOhost®)

•MEDLINE® (EBSCOhost®)

•Mental Measurements Yearbook™ (MMY) (EBSCOhost®)

•Military & Government Collection (EBSCOhost®)

•MLA Directory of Periodicals (EBSCOhost®)

•MLA International Bibliography (EBSCOhost®)

•Newspaper Source™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Primary Search® (EBSCOhost®)

•Professional Development Collection™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection™ (EBSCOhost®)

•PsycINFO® (EBSCOhost®)

•Regional Business News™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Religion & Philosophy Collection™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Sanborn® Maps of Louisiana (ProQuest)

•Science & Technology Collection™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Scribner Writers Series (Thomson Gale™)

•SocINDEX™ with Full Text (EBSCOhost®)

•SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost®)

•Teacher Reference Center (EBSCOhost®)

•The Serials Directory™ (EBSCOhost®)

•Twayne Author Series (Thomson Gale™)

•World Book Advanced (World Book)

•World History Collection™ (EBSCOhost®)

•WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch)

Not quite just for fun

Video games are getting a stamp of approval from the American Heart Association.  USA Today reports that Nintendo and AHA are working together to promote active play video games such as Wii Fit and Wii Sports Resort.  These games allow active play indoors and are suggested as a part of a healthy physical activity program.

AHA has put up a joint web site with Nintendo that explains in greater detail what this partnership will mean.  It gives helpful information about how to build a program of physical activity to live a healthy lifestyle.

Here in the library we just got in a shiny new book that fits the theme of physical activity.  Anatomy of Exercize includes detailed information about how different muscles move during specific activites.  The illustrations are in color and are highly detailed.  It can be found on the shelf with the call number: GV 461 M36 2008.

Good news for visual learners!

If you really need to see information to understand it the National Library of Medicine is sending out help just for you.  This may be exactly the help you need to get through those summer courses.

MedlinePlus now includes a collection of animated anatomy videos as part of the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. These 78 new videos show the anatomy of body parts and organ systems and how diseases and conditions affect them. To see a complete list of the videos, please visit the new English and Spanish anatomy videos pages. You can also find links to the videos in encyclopedia articles and MedlinePlus health topic pages.

Forwarded from NLM.

NEW National Library of Medicine page on Crude Oil Spills and Human Health

Forwarded from NLM:

A new page of links to information on "Crude Oil Spills and Human Health" is now available at http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/oilspills.html.

The page has links to information on how the United States responds to oil spills, state agencies in the Gulf region that respond to spills, occupational hazards for professionals and volunteers assisting with clean-up, seafood safety and more. The links under "Featured Sites" focus on the latest updates about the recent spill and subsequent controlled burning of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill followed the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit oil platform 50 miles southeast of the Mississippi Delta on April 20, 2010.

Please send your comments and suggestions about additional health information content to tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov. This information is compiled by the Disaster Information Management Research Center, Specialized Information Services, US National Library of Medicine.

With thanks to the LSU Library and Information Science Listserv.

Updated hours for finals week

EXTENDED HOURS FOR FINALS

The College Library, main building, will be extending its hours to serve our students during finals.

Monday, May 3rd – Thursday, May 6th & Monday, May 10th

7:30 AM – 1:00 AM

Friday & weekend hours will remain the same.

Library Commons hours will remain the same.

From the news

Recession drives more Americans to libraries in search of employment resources; but funding lags demand

CHICAGO – When jobs go away, Americans turn to their libraries to find information about future employment or educational opportunities. This library usage trend and others are detailed in the 2010 State of America’s Libraries report, released today by the American Library Association. The report shows that Americans have turned to their libraries in larger numbers in recent years.

 

Since the recession took hold in December 2007, the local library, a traditional source of free access to books, magazines, CDs, and DVDs, has become a lifeline, offering technology training and workshops on topics that ranged from résumé-writing to job-interview skills.

The report shows the value of libraries in helping Americans combat the recession. It includes data from a January 2010 Harris Interactive poll that provides compelling evidence that a decade-long trend of increasing library use is continuing—and even accelerating during economic hard times. This national survey indicates that some 219 million Americans feel the public library improves the quality of life in their community. More than 223 million Americans feel that because it provides free access to materials and resources, the public library plays an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed.

 

And with more businesses and government agencies requiring applicants to apply on line, job-seeking resources are among the most critical and most in demand among the technology resources available in U.S. public libraries. Two-thirds of public libraries help patrons complete online job applications; provide access to job databases and other online resources (88 percent) and civil service exam materials (75 percent); and offer software or other resources (69 percent) to help patrons create résumés and other employment materials.

 

However, the report also shows that increased library use did not lead to an increase in funding for libraries. Research by the ALA and the Center for Library and Information Innovation at the University of Maryland suggests a “perfect storm” of growing community demand for library services and shrinking resources to meet that demand. While library use soars, a majority of states are reporting cuts in funding to public libraries and to the state library agencies that support them.

 

Other key trends detailed in the 2010 State of America’s Libraries Report:

 

• Internet use continues to expand at public libraries, which have seen double-digit growth since 2007 in the on-line services they make available to their patrons. More than 71 percent of public libraries provide their community’s only free public access to computers and the Internet, according to an article in the November 2009 issue of American Libraries. Wireless access also continues to grow and is now offered at more than 80 percent of public libraries.
• Ninety-six percent of Americans feel that school libraries are an essential part of the education experience because they provide resources to students and teachers and because they give every child the opportunity to read and learn. School librarians play a crucial role in “keeping the digital doors open to help young people think about learning beyond the classroom,” according to one authority on online social networking sites. However, funding for school libraries also lags. 
• America’s academic libraries are experiencing increased use, both physical and virtual. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports academic libraries have more than 20.3 million visits per week (1.5 million more than two years earlier), answered more than 1.1 million reference questions, and made more than 498,000 presentations to groups. Almost 95 percent of students use their academic library’s website at least once a week, according to one study of students and technology, and nine out of 10 college students surveyed in another study said they turned to libraries “for online scholarly research databases . . . for conducting course-related research, valuing the resources for credible content, in-depth information, and the ability to meet instructors’ expectations.”
• America’s libraries continue their efforts to support minorities and other underserved or disadvantaged populations. The ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship Program, for example, awarded 48 scholarships in 2009 to members of underrepresented groups to help them pursue master’s degrees; and the library community remained committed to sustained efforts on behalf of people with visual and other disabilities and adult English-language learners.
• The library community continues to defend a core value embodied in the First Amendment and the corollary right to receive and consider ideas, information, and images. Librarians nationwide encountered new challenges as a range of individuals and groups sought to have books or other materials removed from public access, and as the federal government debated extending the life of intrusive legislation such as the USA PATRIOT Act.
• Library construction fared better in 2009 than many expected during the recession, especially given the unreliability of funding for programming, materials, and hours. The answer may be that money earmarked years ago was seeing construction through to conclusion. Many of the new libraries and renovations show a timely concern for the environment.

 

The full text of The State of America’s Libraries, 2010, is available at this link.

Source: ALA Press Release, American Library Association, April 12, 2010

Who Wants to be a Librarian

Created by Bossier Parish Community College.

ProQuest Updates

Through our access to LOUIS here at the library we are getting an update this July to the ProQuest platform.  We already have access to Nursing and Allied Health as well as ProQuest Dissertations A&I, and the update to the general platform will help to make these databases cross-searchable.

ProQuest Central earned the 2010 CODiE Award for Best Online General Reference Service, and as always, you can access information from the ProQuest databases we have access to from our library web page.

National Library Week

This week is National Library Week and to celebrate our library is hosting a number of exciting events.

At 9:00am on Monday (today!) there will be coffee and doughnuts at the library to start off the celebration.
On Wednesday at 11:30am there will be pizza and snow cones at the library - with the fist 100 snow cones being free.
On Friday at 11:00am there will be a prize drawing for Community Coffee gift cards - winners will be notified by email.

The American Library Association explains what National Library Week is and what it's all about:

 National Library Week will be observed April 11-17, 2010 with the theme, "Communities thrive @ your library®."


First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries - school, public, academic and special - participate.

Many school libraries also celebrate the month of April as School Library Month sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians, a division of ALA, with the same theme as National Library Week. National Library Workers Day, celebrated the Tuesday of National Library Week (April 14, 2009), is a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.

The Public Information Office of the American Library Association coordinates the promotion, placing articles in national media. Librarians, Friends and trustees of libraries join in sponsoring local promotions. Posters and other promotional materials are available through the ALA Graphics Catalog.

The ALA Public Awareness Committee assists in planning National Library Week and related activities. The committees hold open meetings at the ALA Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting. Suggestions are welcome.

History

In the mid-1950s, research showed that Americans were spending less on books and more on radios, televisions and musical instruments. Concerned that Americans were reading less, the ALA and the American Book Publishers formed a nonprofit citizens organization called the National Book Committee in 1954. The committee's goals were ambitious. They ranged from "encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time" to "improving incomes and health" and "developing strong and happy family life."

In 1957, the committee developed a plan for National Library Week based on the idea that once people were motivated to read, they would support and use libraries. With the cooperation of ALA and with help from the Advertising Council, the first National Library Week was observed in 1958 with the theme "Wake Up and Read!"

National Library Week was observed again in 1959, and the ALA Council voted to continue the annual celebration. When the National Book Committee disbanded in 1974, ALA assumed full sponsorship.

New Ways to Connect with the National Library of Medicine

New Ways to Connect with the National Library of Medicine


by Emily Hurst

Social networking opportunities are attracting new users to sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Now you can stay connected with the National Library of Medicine through both Facebook and Twitter. Become a Fan of the National Library of Medicine on Facebook and follow informative tweets on Twitter by using the links below.



National Library of Medicine Facebook Fan Page

nlm_newsroom Twitter feed

Additional information about all social networking options from the National Library of Medicine can be found in the following page:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/socialmedia/index.html

Web links

There's a nifty custom search from Google that searches authoritative and trusted consumer health information and patient education resources recommended by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and/or by the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of the Medical Library Association.

While you're here, watch this interesting video about the future of publishing.

Pronunciation guides!

MedlinePlus adds audio pronunciations to dictionary!
Have you ever read a medical word and wondered how to pronounce it? Do your customers ask you for help pronouncing medical words? MedlinePlus can help!

The MedlinePlus medical dictionary now includes audio pronunciations. Learn how to say words like ptosis, Sjogren's and fibrillation. Search the medical dictionary on MedlinePlus. Then click on the red speaker icon next to your word to hear the pronunciation.

If you have any questions or comments about this new feature, please send them to the MedlinePlus team via the contact form on MedlinePlus.

A friendly reminder

While we're more than happy to allow food in both buildings, please don't forget to help keep our space clean and pest-free.  The cockroaches at the University of North Carolina remind us why this is so important in this little video.



With thanks to the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library for sharing the link.

New statistics available

From the National Network of Libraries of Medicine:

A new set of reports which ranks the overall health of every county in all 50 states is now available on www.countyhealthrankings.org. County Health Rankings ranks each county within the state on how healthy people are and how long they live. Counties are also ranked on key factors that affect health such as: smoking, obesity, binge drinking, access to primary care providers, rates of high school graduation, rates of violent crime, air pollution levels, liquor store density, unemployment rates and number of children living in poverty.

The 50-state report, released by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, helps public health and community leaders, policy-makers, consumers and others to see how healthy their county is, compare it with others within their state and find ways to improve the health of their community.

Other studies have ranked states on health factors, but this is the first time researchers have examined the multiple factors that affect health in each county in all 50 states.

For more information, visit http://www.rwjf.org/publichealth/product.jsp?id=55508 .

The statistics for our parish and the surrounding parish are found on the page for our state here. You'll notice that East Baton Rouge is ranked 19th in the state.  Our neighbors in West Baton Rouge are 54th, Pointe Coupee is 22nd, West Feliciana is 14th, East Feliciana is 45th, St. Helena is 58th, Livingston is 18th, Ascension is 6th, and Iberville is 53rd.

Now Send Questions to the Library from your Smartphone using Meebo!

It's here! Meebo Mobile, with apps for iPhone & Android and a mobile interface.  Now you can send questions to the Library from your smartphone.  Meebo can also be used as an alternative to text messaging, essentially providing you with FREE UNLIMITED TEXTING to anyone with a Meebo account!!!

• Smartphone users can use meebo through the mobile interface through their phone's browser at http://www.meebo.com/.
• For iPhone and Android users, download the Meebo app.  The app is currently free.
• You can also add all your other IM accounts to Meebo and use them through its web interfaces and apps.

Don't Forget to Add the College Library!:

After you have created a free account with one of the apps or at http://www.meebo.com/, simply add the library to your "buddies."  Our ID is: ololcollegelibrary.  We will confirm you ASAP and then you can begin sending your questions.  You won't miss our responses because your complete chat history will be saved, unlike when using the guest chat widgets from our website.

If you need any help setting this up, just stop by the library for assistance.

Meebo for iPhone

Meebo for Android:

*Please note that the College Library's Meebo response time varies, as our staff is often away from the computer, assisting patrons in the library.  When we're online, we will answer all questions as soon as possible.  If you would like to send a comment or question about Meebo, please email the Library staff at:  library@ololcollege.edu
Thank you

New & Improved MedlinePlus E-mail Update Service

The National Library of Medicine is pleased to announce that MedlinePlus now offers a new e-mail subscription service to make it easier for you to stay up to date on the health topics that matter most to you. With this new service, you can subscribe to any or all of the over 800 health topics on MedlinePlus, over 770 topics on MedlinePlus en espanol, and a variety of other health-related e-mail lists in English and Spanish.

To subscribe to health topics that are of interest to you, visit the MedlinePlus subscription options pages for MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en espanol. Whenever MedlinePlus adds new information on a topic page to which you are subscribed, you will receive an e-mail alert to notify you of the new materials. You can also sign up by visiting a MedlinePlus topic page and entering your e-mail address in the box beneath the summary.

With this new service, you now have the ability to customize your e-mails based upon your particular interests. If you are already subscribed to one or more of the MedlinePlus announcement lists, you will receive an e-mail with more information on how you will be transferred over into the new service.

If you have any questions or comments about this new service, please contact MedlinePlus. Please visit MedlinePlus for more information on e-mail updates.

Just Announced: NLM “Bookshelf” Web Site Adds National Academies Reports

More than 70 reports by the National Academies are available online at the National Library of Medicine’s Bookshelf. The Academies collection will continue to grow, both as new reports are published and as NLM processes older reports dating back to 1995.
The reports include workshop summaries, as well as formal reports, that were funded by NIH and produced by the four organizations that comprise the National Academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.

The reports are produced under a contract between NIH and the National Academies that allows National Institutes of Health to issue task orders to fund Academy activities to support the NIH mission. The contract enables NIH and the Academies to address pressing policy concerns, emerging health issues, and scientific opportunities, and to post resulting reports on the Bookshelf.

In order to provide the reports quickly, NLM initially makes the reports available in PDF format. As soon as possible, NLM makes available a final online HTML version of each report, with active links for references, glossary words, and other resources.
Source: NLM press release 2/2/2010

National Catholic Colleges Week

February 21st through 27th is National Catholic Colleges Week this year.  To celebrate this week, we here in the library are hosting cake and punch Wednesday the 17th from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.  Everyone is invited and the treats are sure to be delicious.

Also here in the library we have a display of notable Catholic books in the lobby of the main library.  Titles include Sacrament of Unity, Introduction to Christology, and Resurrecting Jesus.  The display can be found directly underneath the TV to the right of the main doors.

 More information about National Catholic Colleges Week and how other churches and schools are participating in the event can be found at the event website.

 

February’s E-Book of the month is also a Catholic pick.  Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith by Jerome P. Baggett is an act of listening that allows ordinary Catholics to speak for themselves about how they understand their faith and how they draw upon it to find purpose in their lives.  For this book Baggett conducted 300 intensive interviews with members of six parishes to explore all aspects of the question: are American Catholics really so nonchalant about how they integrate the ancient devotional practices of Catholicism with the everyday struggles of the modern world?

Our NetLibrary* E-Book collection is available at through the Library homepage by selecting “Electronic Book Collection.”

* To access the NetLibrary book collection:

1. If you are on campus you do not have to log in. Go to the College Library homepage and click on "Electronic Books." From here you can search our eBook collection (through NetLibrary).

2. To access from off-campus, you will need to create a free account. This account must be created from on campus. To create the account:
• Click on "Electronic Books" from the College Library homepage.
• Click on "Create a Free Account" in the upper right hand corner.
• Once you have done this, you can access from off campus.

3. If you have any questions, call the library and ask for help!
• Phone: 225-768-1730
• Email: library@ololcollege.edu

Just a little news.

For those just getting started in the wonderful world of citation the LSU library has a whole page of helpful style guides to get you started.  APA, MLA, and even Turabian have useful links to resources that will help you cite with the appropriate style.

The Hendrix College Bailey Library also keeps a page of handy resources, including the quick and dirty how to with examples for APA, Chicago, and MLA pages.

Our wiki page also has a few more handy links for your researching needs.  Just scroll through the list to find what you need.  There are print books physically in the library if you still need help.

In other news, LSU's Middleton Library is having an exhibit called Harry Potter's World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine.  If you're interested this exhibit will run through January 24 to March 6 in the lobby at Middleton Library at LSU Baton Rouge.  Original books dated as early as 1536 will be on display in the lecture hall and the panels on display are viewable on the web thanks to the National Library of Medicine.

Fun with Google

Since last time we spoke all bout how exciting Microsoft's still new Bing search engine is, this time we'll talk about a brand new feature on old familiar Google - the service which hosts this blog.

Google Flu is a new feature which tracks the number of flu-related search queries to estimate levels of flu activity.  The information is available as an easy to read graph over time and can be manipulated to view national, state, or even some specific cities data.  Baton Rouge and New Orleans are both included in the available cities.

Other interesting data that Google has available for viewing with their dynamic graphs include such things as unemployment rate and population through their Public Data service.  They can be organized by state and parish/county.  Selecting multiple states or parishes from the check boxes on the left side of the screen will show both as seperate lines on the graph so that they can be compared.  There's more helpful information about this feature in their help files where there is also more information for more specific search strategies.

As always, you can search for scholarly information including peer-reviewed articles, legal decisions and patents with Google Scholar.  As a starting place for research when you can't log in to our databases at the library it is a better choice than just using a genenral search engine.

 I hope you've enjoyed our impartiality in seach options this post in the college library blog.  If you have time to come by and visit us in person, don't forget to visit MJ, our new library turtle.  If you can't make it to the library in person, feel free to contact us by phone, email, or by using our Ask a Librarian Meebo service which is available on many of our library website pages including this one.  Just type in the box and if we're not available right at that moment feel free to leave a message including a way to contact you and we'll get your question answered as soon as we can.

We welcome new students and will be happy to explain our library policies and get you started using our databases and online catalog to find the information you'll need to do well in class this semester.