Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library Blog

On Tuesday of this week, PubMed at UCLA released a new interface.  If you still have not checked out PubMed’s new look and feel, the Biomedical Library would like to suggest a few Halloween related readings (linked to the new PubMed, of course) that you may enjoy:

Stewart RM, Durnian JM, Briggs MC. “Here’s egg in your eye”: a prospective study of blunt ocular trauma resulting from thrown eggs. Emerg Med J. 2006 Oct;23(10):756-8.

Sandvik H, Baerheim A. [Does garlic protect against vampires? An experimental study]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1994 Dec 10;114(30):3583-6.

Breitenbach RA. ‘Halloween diarrhea’. An unexpected trick of sorbitol-containing candy. Postgrad Med. 1992 Oct;92(5):63-6.

Happy Halloween!

<submitted by Rikke Ogawa>

The Louise M. Darling Committee in the Biomedical Library invites UCLA students, staff, and faculty to attend the Medical Library Association (MLA) fall educational webcast.

Cut the Cord: Connecting to our Mobile Users
Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Biomedical Library Classroom, 12-077X CHS

Program Goals:
The goal of this webcast is to familiarize information professionals with current and emerging mobile technologies, innovative initiatives using mobile devices, useful mobile software applications, and funding options for projects using mobile devices.

Program Objectives:

• describe mobile technology and its value for librarians and health care professionals
• demonstrate mobile technology devices and innovative applications
• explore programs that illustrate the potential of mobile technology for health professionals
• discuss funding opportunities to create and sustain mobile technology programs

Space is limited. RSVP to Amy Chatfield, librarian at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, by November 2, 2009.

<Submitted by Amy Chatfield>

Responding to the recommendation of public advisors, the National Center for Biotechnology and Information (NCBI) recently introduced a system for rapid archiving of articles designed for immediate publication called Rapid Research Notes, RRN.  RRN was prompted by the need for immediate access to research information in spring 2009 surrounding the H1N1 outbreak.  Thus, the first articles to be included are from the PLoS Currents: Influenza collection. More information about RRN and guidelines for submission are available on the About RRN page.

 <submitted by Rikke Ogawa>

Bruins searching for scholarly literature in the environmental sciences have a new source to use: CSA has added Environment Abstracts to its Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management database.

Environment Abstracts indexes articles, books, conference papers, government documents, and conference proceedings from 1975 to the present. Topics covered include:

• Air quality
• Bacteriology
• Ecology
• Energy resources
• Hazardous waste
• Industrial hygiene
• Pollution: land, air, water, noise, solid waste, radioactive
• Risk assessment
• Toxicology & toxic emissions
• Waste management
• Water resource issues

Environment Abstracts information has already been added to our Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management database. Try a search and see what new materials you can discover!

<submitted by Amy Chatfield>

The Rural Assistance Center (RAC) is a comprehensive information portal created by the Department of Health and Human Services which provides access to a full range of available programs, funding, and research about rural communities. The site is available at http://www.raconline.org.

RAC users are a diverse group of community-based organizations, researchers, local government officials, state government offices, and national organizations dedicated to improving the access quality and financial viability of rural and human service delivery systems. RAC offers a variety of services to help inform decisions affecting rural health and human services. All services are provided free of charge. This article covers the details about some of these services. (more…)

The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on the U.S. Commitment to Global Health released its final report on May 20th which concludes that the U.S. government and U.S.-based foundations, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and commercial entities have an opportunity to improve global health and provides specific recommendations for how these groups should proceed. To follow-up on this release, the Kaiser Family Foundation will hold a live, interactive webcast tomorrow, Thursday, May 21 at 9 a.m. PT from its Washington, DC studio, to discuss what the report results will likely mean for the U.S. government’s response to global health. For more information on this webcast and for a link to the IOM report, go to http://globalhealth.kff.org/Multimedia/2009/May/21/gh052109video.aspx.

<submitted by Andrea Lynch>

The Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library announces trial access to the Global Health database on the ISI Web of Knowledge (WoK) search platform. Created and maintained by Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI) Publishing, the Global Health database includes journal articles, books, book chapters, reports, and conference proceedings covering international public health issues and research dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Use the WoK trial access to search materials on this platform. We currently subscribe to the Global Health database using the CAB Direct platform.

This trial will end on March 31, 2009. Please send your comments about the Global Health database trial on ISI Web of Knowledge by April 1, 2009, to Andrea Lynch, a public health liaison librarian, or Janet Carter, Collection Coordinator.

Beginning in February 2009, California Digital Library Collections, eScholarship, and the University of California Scholarly Communications Officers are piloting a ground-breaking open access publishing arrangement with Springer.

During this pilot project, articles by UCLA affiliated authors accepted for publication in a Springer journal will be published using Springer Open Choice with full and immediate access. This means that UC authors will pay no additional publication fees in order for their articles to be immediately accessible full-text to the public. Under this agreement, articles will be published under a license in which authors retain the right to distribute and re-use their articles freely.

In addition to access via the Springer platform, final published articles will also be deposited in the California Digital Library’s eScholarship Repository.

Authors must take some action to ensure that their article is published as an Open Choice article. After a manuscript has been submitted, reviewed, and accepted for publication into a Springer journal, the corresponding author is notified and asked to complete a Web-based acceptance form. This form provides an option to identify author’s institutions. Select “University of California, Los Angeles” from the drop-down list of institutions (see first thumbnail image below).

At the end of the acceptance process, review the notification that your article will be published via Springer Open Choice (see second thumbnail image above).

Articles with multiple authors are eligible for this publishing arrangement as long as one author is a UCLA faculty member. If you publish with faculty from other institutions, and they serve as the corresponding author, let them know about this new Open Access pilot and the steps they must take to ensure that your article is published with full open access rights.

If you have questions about the UC/Springer Open Choice pilot program, or need help exercising this option while accepting your article, contact Janet Carter, Collection Coordinator, UCLA Biomedical Library.

UCLA Library reference service is now available twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

The Library is partnering with other UC campuses and librarians around the world to provide this newly enhanced service.  Because it is staffed by external as well as UCLA  librarians, your question may be referred for follow up to the UCLA Library, in which case a UCLA Library staff member will contact you within twenty-four hours.

Online reference can be accessed from all library Web pages through the “Questions? Ask Us!” graphic on the right-hand side of the banner.

To add a link to this service to a course Web site or department homepage, copy and paste this HTML code: <http://www2.library.ucla.edu/questions/qwidget_code.html>. This will produce a live chat box (Qwidget).

If you have questions about the new expanded hours of online reference or any other Library services, please contact us.

A new funding opportunity for our undergraduate researchers is available through the UCLA Library. The inspiration for the UCLA Library Prize for Undergraduate Research came from Ruth Simon, lover of books and libraries. This new prize has been established:

• to encourage undergraduate students to reflect on the research process in the pursuit of excellence in their academic course work;
• to recognize the significance of information literacy as it relates to academic learning; and
• to reward undergraduate students who incorporate the collections of the UCLA Library into their research.

All applications are due by 4 p.m. on Monday, April 6, 2009. Two awards will be given: first place receives an award of $750, and honorable mention receives an award of $300.

For complete details, such as eligibility and the application process, visit the Library Prize for Undergraduate Research web page.  If you have questions, please contact Alison Armstrong, director of Undergraduate Initiatives.