Communications
May 2004
The School of Medicine Library
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Contents:
Articles:
Communications,
the Newsletter of the School of Medicine Library,
May 2004


Library Sponsors BioMed Central

The School of Medicine Library is sponsoring the first year of the University of South Carolina institutional membership in BioMed Central, the open-access online publishing house (http://www.biomedcentral.com). BioMed Central provides free, full-text access to all original research papers published in in any of its 80+ online journals. BioMed Central normally covers the costs of publishing by levying a processing charge of $500 for each article published. This institutional membership qualifies all USC researchers to receive a waiver on these article processing charges.

Publishing with BioMed Central has a number of advantages, including:

  • Free access: no subscription charges or registration barriers for access to original full-text research articles.
  • Authors retain copyright of their work.
  • Rapid peer review and publication.
  • High visibility: publishing with BioMed Central gives your paper access to a worldwide biomedical readership.
  • Articles are immediately indexed in PubMed and archived in PubMed Central.

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Library Hosts Medical History Club Meetings

Dr. Charles Bryan and guest speaker Peter McCandless.

The Library hosted USC Medical History Club meetings in October, March, and April. The October meeting featured Professor Peter McCandless, History Department, College of Charleston, as a speaker.

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The School of Medicine Library and the Division of Geriatrics at Palmetto Health/USC School of Medicine are proud to announce the availability of GeriatricWeb, an Internet digital library of links to peer-reviewed geriatrics resources to be used in the clinical care of the older patient and in the education of health care professionals. GeriatricWeb provides a portal or "one-stop-shop" for geriatrics resources categorized by topic. Funded by a grant from the National Library of Medicine and led by Dr. Ihab Hajjar, the GeriatricWeb initiative is a powerful partnership of medical librarians and clinicians. USC School of Medicine librarians are providing expertise in information architecture, web design, and Internet resource discovery. Identified resources are reviewed by an Editorial Review Board composed of over 50 clinicians around the country. The review process assesses the accuracy, credibility, design, and educational value of the resources using a validated instrument, the Geriatric Online Assessment Tool. If the review meets the acceptance criteria, the resource is included in GeriatricWeb.

GeriatricWeb is geared towards health care professionals and is a free service that is open to all users with access to the Internet. Check it out at http://geriatricweb.sc.edu and let us know what you think!

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Library Integrates Psychiatry Collection

On April 3rd, the School of Medicine Library hosted a reception to mark the completion of a project involving 5,000 volumes of books and journals in the topic of psychiatry. These items from the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute Library were donated to the Library by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. Library staff spent months transporting the collection to the School of Medicine, processing and cataloging the items, and integrating them into the current collection. The Library is pleased to have this valuable collection. As a commemorative, a portrait of Dr. William S. Hall was hung in the lobby of the Library.

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Library Committee 2003/2004

  • Janet Fisher, Chair, 2001-2004
    Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience
  • James Fadel, 2003-2006
    Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience
  • Robert Gifford, 2003-2006
    Surgery
  • Jay Hohenhaus, 2003-2004
    Nurse Anesthesia Graduate Student
  • Holly LaVoie, 2002-2005
    Cell and Developmental Biology & Anatomy
  • Tu Lin, 2002-2005
    Internal Medicine
  • Ellen Rhame, 2003-2004
    M-II Student
  • Emily Rogers, 2003-2004
    M-II Student
  • Karen Rosati, 2002-2005
    Library
  • Lynn Thomas, 2001-2004
    Medical Education and Curricular Affairs
  • Lindsie Cone, ex officio
    Director, Computer and Communication Resources
  • Ruth Riley, ex officio
    Director, Library Services

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Journal Cancellations

The Library is anticipating a 10% increase in journal prices for the 2005 subscription year and a flat or reduced budget in 2004-2005. This requires that the Library plan for canceling a number of its journal subscriptions, reducing the book budget, and reviewing database subscriptions. The Library expects that it will have to make journal cancellations totalling approximately $40,000 before the 2005 subscription year begins.

The Library has identified a list of potential candidates for journal cancellation using various factors -- including journal price, usage, impact factor, availablility via Thomas Cooper Library either in print or online, and access to other titles in the same subject area. Another important factor in making journal cancellation decisions is the input that the Library receives from School of Medicine faculty, students, and staff. We will be working with the Library Committee and department chairs to solicit feedback from our users on potential cancellations.

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Library Losing Online Access to Lippincott Journals

The majority of our journal subscriptions have now become available online. Unfortunately, some publishers are pushing up the price of our online access and we are unable to sustain the price increases necessary to keep electronic access. We plan on continuing to provide as much online access as possible to our patrons, based on the budget availability.

Please be aware that the following journals published by Lippincott will no longer be available online, but the print is available in the Library should you need an article.

Please direct comments and concerns to Karen Rosati, krosati@med.sc.edu.

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Library Hosts National Library of Medicine Associate Fellow

On December 22nd and 23rd the School of Medicine Library conducted a winter practicum for Julie Gaines, Associate Fellow at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, MD. Ms. Gaines applied for the fellowship program upon completing her studies at the USC College of Library and Information Science in 2003. She is one of eight people selected nationwide for the 2003-2004 program.

Ms. Gaines has a strong interest in the provision of health information to consumers and prior to her graduation she worked in the Community Health Information Library of Lexington Medical Center. However, she is also interested in the professional roles and the work environment of academic medical librarians. During her practicum she had an opportunity to interview each librarian at the School of Medicine Library, including Ruth Riley, Director of Library and Information Services. She was also given an extensive tour of the Josey Health Sciences Library at Palmetto-Richland conducted by Pat Stout, Library Director.

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AAHSL Leadership Scholarship Report

Last spring, I received a leadership scholarship from the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) to participate in the Association of Research Libraries' "Library Leadership for New Managers Program." I selected this program because it offered a variety of educational experiences, an in-person leadership institute, a web-based course, and a facilitated project. The major concepts discussed during the in-person leadership institute were career management, collaboration, and communication. I was surprised how many conditions are required to make money an effective reward and how rewards can be ineffective for motivating employees.

The last portion of the program was a facilitated project that required using the information gained from the New Managers Program at my institution. My facilitated project focused on improving the effectiveness of our Collection Development Committee. First, I distributed a pre-survey to the Collection Development Committee members which asked them to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the committee. Next, I created a survey about collection development committee activities, procedures, and goals to identify best practices for collection development at other academic libraries. I posted the survey on four collection development-related listservs. After I compiled the survey results, the Collection Development Committee met to discuss the findings & implement relevant methods. Finally, I distributed a post-survey to the committee to evaluate the project. This committee was fairly inactive over the past year, and this project reinvigorated the group.

Overall, the program was a great experience. Reports are available at http://www.aahsl.org/document/ACF9B45.doc.

Roz McConnaughy
Coordinator, Center for Disability Resources Library

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National Medical Librarians Month

To celebrate National Medical Librarians Month in October, the School of Medicine Library created a "Meet the Staff" display, complete with photographs of library staff and descriptions of each person's job duties. The display was mounted beneath a banner which read "Celebrate National Medical Librarians Month!" In addition, candy and library bookmarks were distributed to all library patrons.

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Faculty Publication Reviewed

Librarian Laura Kane's new book, Straight from the Stacks: A Firsthand Guide to Careers in Library and Information Science was highly reviewed in the December 2003 issue of American Libraries. The book, which highlights the various career opportunities in the field of library science, was published by the American Library Association in September 2003.

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SCLA Annual Conference a Success

In October the Library participated in several events during the South Carolina Library Association's annual conference in Columbia, SC. Ellen Reynolds presented the poster session A Dream Come True: The Charles S. Bryan History of Medicine Room, volunteered at the conference registration desk, and was voted secretary of the Health Sciences Round Table (HSRT). Victor Jenkinson, as outgoing chair of the HSRT, coordinated the workshop entitled Personal Digital Assistants: Your Mobile Future taught by Dale Prince of NN/LM. Victor also coordinated two conference programs: Consumer Health Information on the Internet (also presented by Dale Prince) and Hands On Health (a descriptive tour of the health website developed and presented by Nancy McKeehan of MUSC).

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Staff News

  • Roz McConnaughy has been appointed to the Medical Library Assocation David A. Kronick Traveling Fellowship Jury for next year. This grant, established in 2002, awards each year one $2,000 fellowship to cover the expenses involved in traveling to three or more medical libraries in the United States or Canada for the purpose of studying a specific aspect of health information management. As a member, Roz will have the privilege of helping select who receives this grant next year.
  • Ellen Reynolds was recognized by the Office of the Dean for her work on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fund raising campaign in the School of Medicine. She raised $366, more money than anyone else in the School. She received a copy of the book University of South Carolina: A Portrait.
  • Laural Howell, volunteer with the Richland County Sheriff's Department, last year spearheaded the 2004 Heroes Helping Heroes Calendar. The Calendar featured deputies from the department and raised money for Special Olympics South Carolina.
  • Members of the library staff stuffed 40 dozen plastic eggs for the First Lady's Easter Egg Hunt. The event is for children treated last year at Children's Hospital at Palmetto Health Richland.
  • Ruth Riley recorded a Carolina Minute on open access publishing that was heard on the SC Educational Radio Network during the month of January 2004.
  • The USC School of Medicine Library and the USC School of Library and Information Science hosted two teleconferences offered by the Medical Library Association. Reading Between the LInes: Focusing on Health Information Literacy was held September 10, 2003, and Roles and Essential Skills for the Expert Searcher was held on March 10, 2004.

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Staff Spotlight:
Allison Duncan
Allison Duncan joined the Library as Head of Circulation in November. She is a graduate of USC where she earned both a Master's Degree and a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Library and Information Science. During graduate school, Allison worked at the SOM Library as a graduate assistant. Upon graduation, she worked as a library specialist at the USC Music Library. She was excited about "coming home" when the Head of Circulation position opened up here at the SOM Library. Born and raised in Columbia, she is carrying on a "family tradition" of working at USC libraries. Allison's father was a librarian at Thomas Cooper Library for 36 years, and she hopes to continue that same dedication to the University and its libraries. In her free time Allison enjoys bicycling, hiking, camping, reading, and knitting.

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Library Departments
Administration (Director, Ruth Riley): 733-3350
Circulation (Head, Allison Duncan): 733-3344
Reference (Head, Sarah Gable): 733-3351
Cataloging and Acquisitions(Head, Laura Kane): 733-3352
Serials (Head, Karen Rosati): 733-3355
Systems (Head, Victor Jenkinson): 733-3321
Interlibrary Loan (Head, Sarah Gable): 733-3347
Center for Disability Resources Library (Head, Roz McConnaughy): 733-3310

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Library Hours and General Information

Hours:
Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Saturday - 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday - 1 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Telephone Number: (803) 733-3344

Fax Number: (803) 733-1509

Address:
School of Medicine Library
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208

Home Page: http://uscm.med.sc.edu/

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Newsletter Committee

For comments or suggestions regarding the newsletter, please call Victor Jenkinson at 733-3321 or email vjenkins@med.sc.edu.

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Return to the School of Medicine Library page


Report any problems to Lisa Antley-Hearn, witch@med.sc.edu

This page was last updated 12 October 2004.
This page copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina.
URL: http://uscm.med.sc.edu/com32.htm