Communications May 2002 |
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the Newsletter of the School of Medicine Library, Through a special arrangement with Thomas Cooper Library, the School of Medicine Library will soon be implementing the ILLiad system. ILLiad organizes all aspects of Interlibrary Loan -- borrowing and lending, the Docline and OCLC systems, Ariel, copyright clearance, and billing -- into one web-based system. For ILL users at the School of Medicine, ILLiad provides many benefits. There will be no more paper forms to fill out; after filling out a brief registration page on the web, you'll choose a username and password, then simply log into the system and send your requests through a simple web form. You will be able to check the status of your requests at any time, so you'll know without contacting or visiting the ILL office whether your item is waiting to be filled or is on its way. You will receive an email message informing you that your request has arrived, and, if you choose electronic delivery, you can access your article right from your office and view it and print it at your convenience. For the Library, ILLiad means simplification of the process and no paper files to maintain. Requests sent by patrons are received and processed rapidly, since all informaiton is automatically transferred into our ILL systems, Docline and OCLC. Reports from those systems are checked by ILLiad, so continuously updated information on requests is available. Customized statistical reports and bills are also generated by the system. We plan to test ILLiad over the course of the summer, and have it ready to go in time for the Fall 2002 semester.
Lisa Antley-Hearn, Reference Technician Return to the Table of Contents LibQUAL+ Survey CompletedPlease know that your input is always important to us, and if you have suggestions for improved library service or materials, you can use our Online Suggestion Box under Forms on the Library's web page, or our SCarlit catalog suggestion form. As mentioned in our last newsletter, the LibQUAL+ 2002 survey has been a nationwide endeavor, including 170 major research libraries, as well as a cohort of 40 academic health science libraries. This survey will allow us to measure our patrons' service expectations and needs. Return to the Table of Contents The Library provides an individual consultation service to School of Medicine faculty. Librarians are available to meet with an individual faculty member in his or her ofice, in the Library, or at any location on the VA or Palmetto Health campuses to work one-on-one on solving an information problem, provide training in using e-journals or databases, or assist with complex searches. To consult with a School of Medicine librarian, contact us via email at asklib@med.sc.edu, call us at 733-3361, or visit us at the Reference Desk at the Library. Return to the Table of Contents Due to a 5% decrease in the Library's budget in 2001/2002, the Library cancelled the following print indexes which are available online: Current Contents -- Clinical Medicine, Psychological Abstracts, and Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health. In addition, the microfilm versions of several journals were cancelled and the book budget was decreased. The budget outlook indicates that the Library may be subject to yet another budget cut in 2002/2003. In the face of 8% inflation for journal subscriptions and 4% inflation for books, even a flat budget in 2002/2003 will be problematic for the Library. Given the possibility of a further reduced budget next fiscal year, the Library is currently reviewing options for scaling back its collections and services. Potential actions being considered include the following:
Although it may seem obvious to cancel the print version of electronic journals to realize a cost savings, one must bear in mind that this savings is often fairly small. For example, Archives of Dermatology costs $400 for the print/online combination. The online version costs $305, a savings of $95. The journal Endocrine costs $875 for the print/online combination. The online only version costs $790, a cost savings of only $85. As you can see, the Library will only be able to realize minimal savings by converting print/online subscriptions to online only. As the Library moves forward with the investigation of these options, I will be requesting assistance from the Library Committee and department chairs as appropriate.
Ruth Riley, Director of Library Services Return to the Table of Contents In January, Tina Mason, Preservation Field Services Officer from the Southeastern Library Network, conducted an assessment of the Library's 500-volume collection of rare medical books. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, this assessment gave the Library a clear idea of the condition of the collection, along with advice on how to best care for the books. The consultant found the collection to be in "moderate to good condition." Most of the materials are very soiled, and there is evidence of pest and mold activity. Water damage is also apparent, but it is not clear whether the damage occured before or after the books were donated to the Library. Storage conditions have improved drastically since library renovation, and chances of further water damage are minimal. Some specific recommendations found in the consultant's report were: (1) clean the collection thoroughly, (2) monitor the relative humidity and temperature of the storage room to make sure readings fall within the ideal ranges, and (3) prioritize the collection (based on condition and monetary or historical value) to determine which books to treat and preserve first. The Library has applied for a second NEH grant that would allow for the purchase of cleaning supplies, environmental monitoring equipment, and specialized preservation training. Return to the Table of Contents
Everyone wants to use e-journals, but finding what you need may be a several step
process. As a SOM Library patron, you have access to the full text of potentially over
2,000 journals, which includes USC Thomas Cooper Library e-journals, as well as
access through the Infotrac database provided to all SC Libraries. The following
suggested strategy might help with your search. Use the SOM Library's Homepage for
easy access to all of the resources listed below: http://uscm.med.sc.edu/.
If you want to know if a specific journal is available to you
online:
If you are searching databases, and want to find e-journals:
If you have bookmarked the standard PubMed URL and wish to see our new online
links, please edit the URL:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?holding=usclib
If you are asked a username and password for a title when using PubMed, go back to
our E-Journal webpage to see if we have
access, and call Circulation at 733-3344 to give you the most recent username and
password information for a title. Return to the Table of Contents
The Library has now added Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI) to its list of
databases searchable through Ovid. HAPI provides ready access to information on
measurement instruments (i.e., questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, index
measures, coding schemes/manuals, rating scales, projective techniques,
vignettes/scenarios, tests) in the health fields, psychosocial sciences, organizational
behavior, and library and information science. HAPI assists researchers,
practitioners, educators, administrators, and evaluators, including students, to
identify measures needed for research studies, grant proposals, client/patient
assessment, class papers/projects, theses/dissertations, and program evaluation. By
creating an organized resource of previously unavailable measurement information,
HAPI: (a) provides a means of locating a variety of instruments; (b) helps to reduce
inefficience and cost, and (c) eliminates duplication and "reinvention of the wheel."
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OK, so when we boxed up the print journals for our 2001 second floor renovation, we didn't know that it would encourage this much electronic journal use. All journal print use appears to have declined, and electronic usage is soaring, according to our use statistics pulled from our E-Journal Web Page and from the reshelving of print journals. Actually, this is a trend in all libraries, with patrons foregoing print journals for what they can find online. We do want to remind you that our print journals are still on the second floor, and if you can't find the journals you need without leaving your computer, you may need to take a trek to the journal print stacks. Be sure to check our SCarlit catalog to see what we do have in print, so you are not requesting titles readily available here in the Library. Return to the Table of Contents As part of its role as the Bioinformatics Core of the South Carolina Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (SC BRIN), the School of Medicine Library hosted a workshop to help South Carolina researchers learn to use GenBank and other related databases available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). On March 12-13, instructors from NCBI provided training to more than 61 scientists and graduate students from across the state. The workshop consisted of a three-hour lecture on Tuesday morning followed by two hours of interactive hands-on training presented to small groups on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. The training covered use of the Entrez text search service, the NCBI structures database, similarity searching NCBI BLAST, and Genomic Resources at NCBI. Participants were also asked to complete a questionnaire to assist in further planning for the Bioinformatics Core. Return to the Table of Contents New on the Library's Webpage: PDA Resources As the second year students finish their classroom work and begin to prepare for their clinical rotations, a new challenge awaits: PDAs. To help you get ready for using your PDA, the Library has created a webpage of helpful links. Located at http://uscm.med.sc.edu/LIBRARY/PDA.HTM, the page includes links to general introductory information about PDAs, PDA manufacturers, medical software available, comparisons, electronic journals, tutorials, and a plethora of other helpful links. We've also included a page created by Bryan Lundquist, Class of 2003, which lists links to the websites he's found most useful (http://uscm.med.sc.edu/LIBRARY/pdalund.htm) in his clinical rotations. You can reach the PDA Resources pages either at the above URL or from the Library's homepage (http://uscm.med.sc.edu/) and clicking on "PDA Resources" in the "Biomedical Websites" section. Return to the Table of Contents The Library has added seven new e-textbooks to its E-Textbook Page. These titles are also available via PubMed's Bookshelf.
Return to the Table of Contents Please remember: when using any of the Library's premier electronic resources or electronic journals (i.e. Ovid, STAT!Ref, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, et al), it is extremely important that you formally logoff (using the logoff option appropriate to the resource) when your session is complete. Many of our electronic resources have limited user licenses; if you do not properly logoff, you may prevent another user from getting to the resource they need. Return to the Table of Contents The Library is proud to have welcomed some of the brightest young minds from around South Carolina in for a presentation entitled "Computers in Medicine." Various high school science classes from around the state came for half-day tours of the School of Medicine between January and April. The students toured much of the campus and learned about the rigors and rewards of medical school. Return to the Table of Contents
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SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER 9 -- Breakfast for alumni, faculty, students, and residents, 7:00 a.m., AFP in Hilton Head. Return to the Table of Contents Spring has been a productive time for the Center for Disability Resources (CDR) Library. CDR Librarian Roz McConnaughy exhibited at the following conferences this spring to promote the library: the South Carolina Council for Exceptional Children State Convention, the South Carolina Association of School Librarians Annual Conference, the South Carolina Assistive Technology Expo, and the South Carolina Medical Association Annual Meeting. These conference exhibits, along with the distribution of the CDR library pamphlet, have increased usage statistics dramatically. Reference questions tripled from December to January and have remained consistent. The number of items being checked out per month doubled from December to January and has been increasing every month since. Videotapes comprise a large portion of the CDR Library, and they check out for three weeks at a time. Now you can view the videos in the library, too. The Library has two media carts, each equipped with a television and VCR. Media carts can be requested at the Circulation Desk for viewing videos in the Library. Return to the Table of Contents On February 6th, the Library, in conjunction with Computer and Communications Resources, sponsored a teleconference presented by the Medical Library Association entitled "Sync or Swim: Surviving the Flood of PDAs in Healthcare." The event was hosted by the Palmetto Health Richland Library at the Hospital's main auditorium. Over thirty medical librarians, medical students, residents, and physicians attended the two-hour program that explored current trends of PDA use in medical practice, education, and information delivery. The Library has a videotape copy of the teleconference on reserve at the Circulation Desk. It can be viewed in the Library or is available for short-term loan. For copies of the teleconference bibliography, please contact Erica Peake at 733-3344 or epeake@med.sc.edu. Return to the Table of Contents Staff News
Return to the Table of Contents Library Departments
Return to the Table of Contents Library Hours and General InformationHours:Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to midnight Saturday - 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday - 1 p.m. to midnight Telephone Number: (803) 733-3344 Fax Number: (803) 733-1509
Address: Home Page: http://uscm.med.sc.edu/LIBRARY/LIBRARY.SHTML Return to the Table of Contents Newsletter Committee
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This page was last updated 13 June 2002.
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2002, The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina.
URL: http://uscm.med.sc.edu/LIBRARY/com27.htm