davidrothman.net

(Be sure to check out the List of Medical Wikis)

This Rosacea Wiki has been added to the List of Medical Wikis.

April 19th, 2007 | Category: "Social Software", Consumer Health Info, For Medical Libraryfolk, Technology, Wikis | Comments Off

Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP)
Trina Fyfe
J Med Libr Assoc. 2007 April; 95(2): 215–216. doi: 10.3163/1536-5050.95.2.215.
| Full Text | PDF–225K |

Healia
Donna Timm
J Med Libr Assoc. 2007 April; 95(2): 219–221. doi: 10.3163/1536-5050.95.2.219.
| Full Text | PDF–226K |

MedStory
Patricia F. Anderson
J Med Libr Assoc. 2007 April; 95(2): 221–224. doi: 10.3163/1536-5050.95.2.221.
| Full Text | PDF–226K |

Related Posts

• Evaluation of Healia
• Searching for Consumer Health Information
• Medstory: Not even close
• Microsoft to Acquire Medstory

April 19th, 2007 | Category: Consumer Health Info, For Medical Libraryfolk, Search, Technology | Comments (1)

For every thing Google does that I admire and adore, they also do something that bugs me. I talk about the former all the time, so here’s the latest example of the latter.

Over on KidneyNotes.com, medical blogger Joshua Schwimmer (MD, FACP, FASN) writes:

Unexpectedly, I was quoted on page 3 of this year’s Google Annual Report. That was nice of them.

(The original interview about searching the medical literature was posted on Dean Guistini’s Google Scholar Blog.)

At first glance, that seems cool, right? Look at page three of the annual report for yourself.

See the quote? Good.

See the citation for the quote? No? That’s because Google took the quote from a librarian’s blog and failed to cite it.

Is it just me, or is this shameful and surprisingly dumb?

April 19th, 2007 | Category: Blogging, For Medical Libraryfolk, Medical Librarianship Blogs, Search, Technology | Comments (1)

Dean Giustini’s slides from his presentation last week at the 2007 Emerging Trends in Scholarly Publishing seminar, National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

Be sure to keep an eye on the Open Medicine blog Dean is going to be writing.

April 18th, 2007 | Category: "Social Software", Blogging, For Medical Libraryfolk, Podcasting, Presentations, RSS/Feeds, Technology, Wikis | Comments Off

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was visiting NYC and asked for suggestions of libraries to visit. Kaura Gale, an awfully nice medical librarian at the Seymour J. Phillips Health Sciences Library of Beth Israel Medical Center, said Memorial Sloan-Kettering libraries were really worth seeing and that their director was very friendly.

I emailed Director of Library Services JoAnne Sparks, and heard back from her very quickly that she’d be out of town, but that she’d ask Vlad Makarov to expect me. She mentioned that Vlad was MSK’s programmer and an S.U. Alum.

Due to an unexpectedly smooth trip (NO problems with the flight or airports- it was really weird), I had lots of time to kill and wandered over to MSK much earlier than expected and chatted with Karenann Jurecki for a while. Vlad came by and we went out to lunch, and I was a very happy person to be chatting about library school, medical libraries and Web geekery with two medical librarians.

To say that Vlad is very smart would be an understatement of terrible proportions. Check out his CV: THREE masters degrees and an MD. When I grow up, I sort of want to be Vlad (though I’ll never earn an MD).

Vlad Makarov

Vlad and Karenann showed me MSK’s CyberLibrary Cafe. With a coffee shop, cafe tables, desktops (PCs and Macs!)

Coffee shop with cafe tables

Wider view with carrels and Librarian’s desk

Librarian Julie Fernandes at the CyberLibrary Desk

Carrels have Macs!

Cabinet full of Laptops…including Macs! Cabinets keep notebook charged and run Deep Freeze overnight. Users check out laptop by trading their Employee ID for it.

The library serves a pretty wide variety of patrons and the staff (12 degreed librarians, no paraprofessionals) manages what looked to me like a great number of ILL requests in an incredibly efficient manner using custom tools Vlad built. For detail on some of these tools, see this PDF of Vlad’s presentation slides on the topic.

The best thing about my visit to MSK, though, was how incredibly warm, helpful, accommodating and generous everyone there was.

Many, many thanks to JoAnne, Karenann, Vlad and Julie for the above-and-beyond kindness. It was a real treat for me- and I’m very grateful.

Next planned visit to a medical library:
Melissa Rethlefsen (Education Technology Librarian at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine) says she’ll show me around the Mayo Clinic’s libraries when I visit Minnesota in July! How cool is it that these medical librarians all seem to be so welcoming and generous with their time? Very, very cool.

April 18th, 2007 | Category: For Medical Libraryfolk, Professional Development, Technology | Comments (2)

Regular readers know that I usually try to avoid posting on topics already covered by other MedLib bloggers and Michelle (at The Krafty Librarian) already posted about this, but it’s worth repeating.

Making medical fact-finding easy
Don’t trust the Internet? These local experts will help
11:07 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 17, 2007
By BRIDGET BARRY THIAS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

…”Librarians can save consumers time because they have a wealth of information resources available to them that are not available to the general public,” says Jean Shipman, president of the national Medical Library Association in Chicago.

She says medical librarians are similar to personal shoppers, offering expertise in the best information to use, based on knowing their clients’ desires, tastes and needs….

Read the rest here.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the article’s author has an MLS.

April 18th, 2007 | Category: Consumer Health Info, For Medical Libraryfolk, Library promotion, Perception of Libraries/Librarians | Comments Off

Update: Wow!ter is absolutely right- his variation is better.

Query: +(CIL2007 “CIL 2007″ “computers in libraries”)
Feed for this query

______________________________________

From the InfoToday Blog:

* LibWorm search: +(CIL2007 “computers in libraries”)
Feed for this search…

That’s really great that the organizers of CIL2007 like the idea, but I’m a little surprised that there was no link to the post they borrowed it from:

Even weirder, Connie Crosby blogged about Steven Cohen’s presentation on RSS today:

LIBWORM is cool – David Bigwood and developer created this site – searching only library feeds. He conducts a live search for CIL2007. Then you can throw the search into your Google Reader.

Picture me blinking, confused. “David Bigwood“? I figured that maybe this was a transcription error, as Steven definitely knows my name and knows who created LibWorm. He was the first person (outside of Frankie) with whom I discussed LibWorm. Regardless, sort of odd. Anyway- I’m glad Connie thinks LibWorm is cool and glad that Steven thought LibWorm was worth including in his presentation.

I really hope that in Steven’s talk, Frankie’s name was used. Really, “…and developer…” is nowhere near adequate. I’ll propose text for Steven’s next presentation on RSS including LibWorm:

“LibWorm, created by rockin’ UK code-maven Frankie Dolan and MedLib geek David Rothman, is way cool…”

Wish I could’ve seen Steven’s talk. I’ll bet it was really good.

*sigh*

Maybe I’ll be able to attend CIL2008.

April 17th, 2007 | Category: LibWorm, RSS/Feeds, Technology | Comments (5)

(Be sure to check out the List of Medical Wikis)

When I suggested that Ask Dr. Wiiki needed a detailed editorial policy, I didn’t expect them to embrace the idea so quickly- but they did.

Some changes and suggestions that we will implement.
1. Creation of an editorial policy as per the suggestion of David Rothman
2. Create a list of all contributing editors with their pertinent credentials
3. Creation of a New Logo
4. Protection of Pages on the Wiki that contain any medication dosages so these pages can not be altered.
5. Addition of a clinical pharmacist to the editorial board.
6. Addition of a AskDrWiki page on Wikipedia.
7. Addition of a General Surgery, ENT, Vascular Surgery, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, and Basic Science Editors

There’s a lot of work to be done, but I really am impressed that the editors of Ask Dr. Wiki are taking these suggestions and running with them. At this rate, Ask Dr. Wiki may soon be the medical Wiki that sets the bar for all others.

Other posts on Medical Wikis

• List of Medical Wikis
• Radiation Oncology Wiki
• WikiProfessional and WikiProteins (A BioMedical datamining Wiki mashup?)
• Same excuses
• Cleveland Plain Dealer on Medical Wikis
• Radiopaedia (Radiology Wiki)
• More Discussion on Medical Wikis
• Medscape interview w/ Bertalan Meskó (Medical Wikis)
• MLA-HLS Wiki
• Applause for AskDrWiki
• Nature Medicine on Wikis (edited)
• First PubDrug Monographs Available
• Lots More Medical Wikis
• Medical Wikis

April 17th, 2007 | Category: "Social Software", For Medical Libraryfolk, Technology, Wikis | Comments (2)

Update: Wow!ter is absolutely right- his variation is better.

Query: +(CIL2007 “CIL 2007″ “computers in libraries”)
Feed for this query

______________________________________

Its great that so many bibliobloggers are posting about Computers in Libraries 2007, but it can be a lot to keep up with. An easy way to keep up with all the posts is to use LibWorm searches and feeds.

If you just want to catch all posts about CIL2007:

LibWorm search: +(CIL2007 “computers in libraries”)
Feed for this search

But what if you only want to see mentions of gaming at CIL2007?

LibWorm Search: +(CIL2007 “computers in libraries”) +gaming
Feed for this search
(Be sure to check out the videos)

You get the idea. Have fun!

April 17th, 2007 | Category: "Library 2.0", Blogging, How to, LibWorm, RSS/Feeds, Technology | Comments Off

Via User Education Resources for Librarians:

Evidence-based medicine resource, from the Institute of Medicine, has a chapter on training health professionals: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11903&page=211. Title of resource – The Learning Healthcare System: Workshop Summary – Roundtable on Evidence-Based Medicine.

April 16th, 2007 | Category: EBM, For Medical Libraryfolk, Medical Librarianship Blogs, Teaching/Training | Comments Off

Resources from Judy Burnham, used to teach her class for the 2007 Medical Association of Alabama Meeting:

• Web Page
• PowerPoint
• Cyber Cafe

These are definitely worth flipping through if you have even a casual interest in the application of Web technologies to medicine. I like to consider myself well-informed on the topic, but a handful of the resources Judy notes are new to me.

Many thanks, Judy!

[Via MEDLIB-L]

April 16th, 2007 | Category: "Social Software", Blogging, For Medical Libraryfolk, Mashups, Presentations, RSS/Feeds, Search, Teaching/Training, Technology, Web Applications, Wikis | Comments (2)

Tomas Dvorak, M.D. thoughtfully dropped me a note to let me know my list of Medical Wikis was missing mention of the Radiation Oncology Wiki where he is an author.

April 15th, 2007 | Category: "Social Software", For Medical Libraryfolk, Technology, Wikis | Comments Off

Via BBC News

Health Link director Elizabeth Manero said: “Patients told us they needed someone outside the NHS to help them make sense of information about hospitals and help them choose the right one for their treatment.

“It seemed to us that librarians, as information professionals in every community, were ideally placed for this role.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, it seems that a number of parties have concern about the pilot program. See the full article for details.

April 15th, 2007 | Category: Consumer Health Info, For Medical Libraryfolk | Comments (6)

Embedded video above

Awww…I wanted to hear the rest of the song.

I <3 a cappella.

April 13th, 2007 | Category: Fun, Video | Comments (1)

Robin Siegel of Howell, the librarian at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township (Freehold, NJ) is profiled by the Asbury Park Press.

Not a ground-shaking item, but it sure is nice to see a reasonably good description of what a Hospital Librarian does.

Excerpt:

“I’m here to answer questions,” Siegel said, “for anybody in the hospital,” meaning for doctors, nurses and other staff members, along with patients and their families.

…

Information requests from the last few months included those for recipes for pureed food (requested by the hospital’s food services department), suicide statistics (a nurse giving a presentation), chemotherapy protocols (a pharmacist), breast cancer in men (a doctor) and whether chicken soup has a positive role in health care (a nurse).

Regarding chicken soup — yes, there are studies backing that up, Siegel said.

When she is researching for a doctor, for example, the doctor can spend time actually doctoring. Then, Siegel turns over the research to the doctor.

“I don’t come up with a recommendation; I (simply) give them the literature,” Siegel said.

As Robb Mackes wrote on MEDLIB-L, “Robin (and her patrons) did an excellent job in proving the value and the worth of a hospital library.”

April 13th, 2007 | Category: For Medical Libraryfolk, Library promotion, Perception of Libraries/Librarians | Comments Off

In the new issue of the MLA News, President-Elect Mark Funk presents a list of Presidential priorities, including:

Upgrade the association’s use of technology so that we are regarded as a technology leader. Make MLA more of a virtual association. Create new avenues for communication.

…

Establish RSS feeds from headquarters, sections, the Governmental Relations Committee, task forces, and other units, so that members can more easily become aware of new developments. Allow members to customize which feeds they want to receive.

…

Establish wikis for sections, councils, committees, task forces, and other units in order to increase collaboration and participation. Allow units to enact their own rules for access and editing.

…

Study the effectiveness of the Academy of Health Information Professionals. Is it successfully fulfilling the needs of the membership? How can it be improved?

…

Promote the new roles and activities of the information specialists in context (ISICs) in nonlibrary venues. Increase the awareness of health care administrators, clinicians, educators, and researchers about this new role for health sciences librarians.

Wow. Color this medical library geek impressed. I wish Mark Funk every possible success in pursuing these priorities and hope very much that MLA members will support them whole-heartedly.

Again: Wow.

Tangent: It wasn’t a surprise to me that Mark was in favor of using new technologies in medical libraries because I had read this post on MEDLIB-L.

Thanks for the heads-up, Ratcatcher!

April 12th, 2007 | Category: "Social Software", For Medical Libraryfolk, RSS/Feeds, Technology, Wikis | Comments (1)

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. might refer to himself now as an “undifferentiated wisp of nothingness.” The world is poorer for his ceasing to be someone in particular.

If you only ever read Cat’s Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five for school, consider reading (or re-reading) one of my favorites: Deadeye Dick or God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

I can’t name an author whose work I love more.

God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut. Thank you.

Here’s a documentary on Vonnegut in eight segments, each about 8-minutes long. If you’re not a big reader but want to know why people make a big deal over Vonnegut, the film adaptation of Mother Night is very good.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Part VIII

April 12th, 2007 | Category: Technology, Video | Comments (1)

Randy tagged me with the “Why I Blog” meme and I have completely failed to respond.

It’s a question I’ve been working on answering for a while. I hope to have an answer by the time of this blog’s one-year anniversary.

April 11th, 2007 | Category: Blogging, Technology | Comments (1)

“Ratcatcher” is a degreed medical librarian at a very well-respected medical institution which, unfortunately, requires her to blog under a pseudonym. Then again, perhaps the anonymity will give Ratcatcher greater license to say exactly what she’s thinking- and I’m interested in what she thinks. She’s smart, she’s tech-savvy, and I’ve been subscribed to her del.icio.us bookmarks for almost a year while benefiting from the comments she has left at davidrothman.net.

I admit that I considered “OMG Tuna is Kewl” an odd name for a blog until I read the comic from whence it comes:

Click for full-size comic
(For more like this, see Wondermark)

Now, of course, I think it is an awesome, hilarious and perfect name.

If you’re looking for another MedLib Blogger to read, drop by OMG Tuna is Kewl and check out Ratcatcher’s first few posts.

Two questions for Ratcatcher:

1. Where’s your MedLib Blog Badge?

2. Why have you not added your blog to the Masterlist of MedLib Blogs?

April 11th, 2007 | Category: Blogging, For Medical Libraryfolk, Medical Librarianship Blogs, Technology | Comments (3)