Every year I look forward to the publication of the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Report, which makes predictions regarding trends at the intersection of education and technology. This year was no different, but I have to say that upon my initial read of the 2015 report, I was somewhat disappointed. I didn’t see anything new or exciting to think about. Upon a second reading, I became a little more engaged. Many of the foci in this year’s report are themes that have been explored for many years. My interpretation now is that we’ve got to get going on these things!

I have always read the report with an eye towards what it means for the HS/HSL. This year I pulled out the following areas. My comments follow each area.

Advancing Cultures of Change and Innovation. As we have worked on our new HS/HSL strategic plan, we have learned a lot about what our users value. We are honing in on our unique contributions to collaborations, research, and advancing the economic success of our community. We have to do more to catalyze these areas through effective information use and knowledge creation.

Cross-institutional Collaboration. For over two decades, through the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions library consortium, we have worked to collaborate on the cross-institutional acquisition and sharing of resources. We are taking that further through the inclusion of other higher education institutions in Maryland for projects such as shared information repositories.

Open Educational Resources. The library community has been advocating for public and open access for a decade. Open Educational Resources (OERs) are another logical step. These resources are created by and for educators, and their use is free with proper attribution. There are several initiatives at the USM level, and the HS/HSL has been exploring a partnership with the School of Pharmacy to produce an open pharmacy textbook.

Redesigning Learning Spaces. We have a wonderful physical environment, and we continue to look for ways to enhance it. Our strategic planning exercise has reinforced the desire for collaborative spaces in all shapes and sizes. We have redesigned our largest teaching lab to include new state-of-the-art technologies.

Digital Literacy. For over 30 years, library trainers have championed concepts of information and digital literacy. Our instruction continues to evolve to meet the needs of our students and faculty in a digital age with a focus on new learning tools and technologies and the pedagogy that sits on top of them and truly makes them effective.

Makerspaces. Later this spring we will be introducing 3D printers in the HS/HSL. They will provide UMB faculty, staff, and students with access to tools to create and learn. Our big question is, "What is the next thing we could add to truly develop a ‘makerspace’ for UMB?" Are there other tools, training, or courses we should be investigating?

While I feel the 2015 Horizon Report reflected many themes from earlier reports, the fact that these themes are still on the "horizon" means we need to seize opportunities to make them happen. Let’s get to work!

As the HS/HSL’s 200th celebration draws to a close, we are launching a new symposium series, "What’s Next…?" In this series, we hope to invite innovative thinkers to discuss the exciting developments shaping the future of health, health care, and the human condition.

On April 15, join us at 11:30 a.m. in the Elm Ballroom at the Southern Management Corporation Campus (SMC) Center as we launch the series with a luncheon featuring Dr. Ellen Jorgensen, a noted expert on bio-hacking and citizen science. Her TED Talk from 2012 was invigorating, exciting, and thought provoking. While there is no charge for the luncheon, registration is required so that we can plan accordingly. Reserve your space by emailing events@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

See you on April 15. Make sure you get your taxes in so you can join us!

UMB Experts is a searchable database of expertise across disciplines at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Use UMB Experts to identify collaborators and their work by searching profiles of the University’s research faculty. Build collaborative teams and productive research relationships searching by name, department, or concept. Using Expert Community, search for colleagues at other institutions. UMB researchers with profiles within the system will soon be able to access their profiles for editing by using their UMID and password. Notification will be sent as soon as this option becomes available.

Using the Visualization feature, create diagrams of institutional or co-author networks.

If you have questions about UMB Experts, please contact Na Lin, Project Manager.

The Health Sciences and Human Services Library and the Office of Research and Development are collaborating to offer UMB Experts.

Join members of the HS/HSL Strategic Planning Team at noon on Friday, March 27 in the Gladhill Board Room on the 5th floor of the HS/HSL for a Brown Bag Town Hall Meeting focused on the Library’s new strategic plan and future directions.

We really need to hear from you, so bring your lunch and come with your best ideas, concerns, and hopes for the Library’s future. Dessert and beverages will be provided. See you at noon on March 27.

As part of the Library’s strategic planning listening tour, we hosted an open town hall for all UMB students. In the town hall, we received valuable feedback, both suggestions for change and confirmation that students are pleased with library staff and resources. We heard ideas about adjusting library hours on weekend and weekday mornings, allowing for badge entrance to the Library, providing additional bioinformatics training, and offering coding or programing classes. We are already in the process of adding additional LCD monitors in upper floor study rooms and will have HDMI cables available to check out. As the Library considers student’s suggestions, and those gathered in the Library Genie survey, we will keep you posted.

Five hundred years ago, Andreas Vesalius was born in Brussels, Belgium. He came to be known as the Father of Anatomy, and his seven volumes entitled De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (Latin for “On the fabric of the human body in seven books”) are legendary for their attention to anatomical detail. These volumes are illustrated with woodcuts that not only detail dissection but also illustrate the anatomical theater of the 16th century at the University of Padua. Over the centuries, these woodcuts have evolved with the artists producing them.

On February 27, the HS/HSL was delighted to unveil a wonderful interpretation of Vesalius by noted Baltimore Realist artist, Joseph Sheppard. The 5 foot by 4 foot painting, donated by Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr., depicts Vesalius in the anatomical theater at Padua, performing a dissection before a large audience. The painting’s ceremonial unveiling featured remarks by HS/HSL Executive Director, M.J. Tooey, UMB President Dr. Jay Perman, Mr. Rosenberg, and Mr. Sheppard. Mr. Sheppard’s remarks were a mini master class in Renaissance Art and his interpretation of symbolism within the painting. The large painting, with its riot of color, can be seen on the fifth floor of the Library as you exit the elevator. As one of the guests remarked, "It looks as though that wall space was always waiting for that painting."

In early April, the renovation of Classroom LL05 will be complete. Once it’s up and running, the University community will have access to a room with 26 new class computers and a fully redesigned height-adjustable presenter’s station with a touch screen panel.

The classroom will also feature a high-definition widescreen, flanked by two smaller LCD panels for displaying complementary images. An 80" LCD confidence monitor will be available for the presenter, along with two cameras with pan tilt and zoom capabilities. This technology will facilitate videoconferencing in the room.

The library staff is looking forward to teaching in this state-of-the-art classroom. If you are interested in booking this or other HS/HSL rooms, please go to the Library’s Reserve a Room page.

Visiting scholars from the Information Center at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SUTCM) spent three days at the HS/HSL sharing ideas, focusing on best practices in health sciences librarianship, and exploring information service philosophies. HS/HSL faculty librarians offered the scholars new strategies for actively supporting researchers. A highlight of the visit was a presentation by the visiting scholars of SUTCM’s web-based database of information on traditional Chinese medicine dating back thousands of years. We look forward to a continuing dialog with our colleagues from Shanghai.

Mary Ann Williams, MSLS, Research, Education & Outreach Librarian, serves as the School of Dentistry librarian and is an invited participant in Colgate’s Bright Smiles, Bright Futures advisory committee.

Bright Smiles, Bright Futures (BSBF) is a comprehensive oral health education program designed to teach children good oral health habits at an early age. BSBF began serving Baltimore City & Baltimore County this March. This program targets underserved children through an in-school curriculum, mobile dental vans, and community awareness activities geared to teach young children and their families the benefits of good oral health. The advisory committee will assist with the planning of the BSBF Baltimore program, act as a network to other professionals and community organizations, and advise Colgate to program elements that best fit the needs of the Baltimore community.

In order to get a better handle on resource usage – who and why – a survey will appear when users log in to resources during the month of April. The survey will pop up randomly three times every day at different times throughout the month and will ask:

1. whether the user is faculty, staff or student
2. with what school or unit the user is affiliated
3. the purpose for the use (research, assignments)

M.J. Tooey, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Executive Director of the Health Sciences and Human Services Library, explained, "We are hoping this survey will not be too intrusive, but it is critical during these times of budget and resources cuts to get a good picture of who is using HS/HSL resources."

What is a Hackathon?

At the Library’s student town hall meeting last month, a student suggested hosting a hackathon event at the Library. ‘Hackathon’ is a term that has become more popular recently, but to many it is still somewhat obscure. ‘Hacking’ refers to programming activity that builds a useful software application for a practical purpose. ‘Hackathon’ signifies a hacking marathon. ‘Hackfest’ and ‘codefest’ are the synonyms of ‘hackathon.’ The hackathon guide "GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) Hack-in-a-box" from the Digital Public Library of America states that a hackathon is a short, concentrated event between half a day to two days long in which small teams of participants with diverse skill sets design and build something, often by programming. Hackathons focus on collaboration and practice more than perfection. Often, people use hackathons to build quick prototype applications that they can develop into a mature applications later on. Hackathons are organized by many different groups, ranging from hackers, local meetups, hackerspaces, software companies such as Yahoo! or Facebook, to colleges and universities. Libraries often sponsor hackathons by providing a space or organizing a hackathon with a library-related theme.

Hackathon in Libraries

Over the last few years, many libraries have hosted hackathons. The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University in the U.K. hosted a one-day hackfest celebrating the release of 25,000 texts from the Early English Books Online project into the public domain in March, 2015. This hackfest encouraged the participation of students, researchers from all disciplines, and members of the public with an interest in the intersection between technology, history, and literature who are interested in working together to develop a project using the texts and the data generated from them. In February 2015, York University Libraries in Canada hosted the Stacie Library Dungeon Hackfest with the theme of "hacking for a better world." The New York Public Library Labs partnered with Readium Foundation and held two one-day hackathons named "Open Book Hack Day" in 2014 and 2015. At the "Open Book Hack Day" hackathons, participants explored ways of liberating public domain documents onto the open web; making it easier to get open-access e-books; and improving open e-book access/distribution for libraries, startups, and publishers alike.

Hackathon in Health Sciences

Hackathons are also used in the health sciences. From January 5 to 7, the National Center for Biotechnology Information hosted a genomics hackathon focused on advanced bioinformatics analysis of next-generation sequencing data. This event targeted students, post-docs, and investigators already engaged in the use of pipelines for genomic analyses from next-generation sequencing data. Four different working groups built pipelines to analyze large datasets within a cloud infrastructure. Japan’s National Bioscience Database Center and Database Center for Life Science have been organizing an annual BioHackathon since 2008, mainly focusing on standardization and interoperability of bioinformatics data and web services for improving integration, preservation, and utilization of databases in life sciences. The D.C. Public Library organized two Accessibility Hackathons to bring together young adults with disabilities and companies that develop accessibility solutions. The Accessibility Hackathons provided opportunities for collaboration and mentorship in the development new adaptive technology solutions.

The greatest benefit of a hackathon is the dedicated time and space outside of daily work, study, and projects where like-minded people can meet to share ideas, hone programming skills, and prototype ideas into working applications. Hackathons also offer participants the chance to tackle a problem of their own choosing, rather than one that has been assigned. The HS/HSL is open to the possibility of partnering with a campus or local group to host a hackathon. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in collaborating.

Paula Raimondo, MLS, AHIP, has been appointed Chair of the Medical Library Association’s (MLA) Educational Policy Task Force.

Kimberly F. Yang, JD, MLS, is Co-Chair of the Library and Information Science (LIS) Section Strategic Planning Task Force for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). She has also been appointed to the Honors and Awards Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association.

C. Andrew Youngkin, MLS, AHIP, FMLS, will serve as the Chair-Designate for MLA’s Credentialing Committee. His appointment will begin June 1, 2015.

Presentations & Publications

PJ Grier, MPA, MLS, co-authored the article "On the Trail of an EHR," in Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 15;1, 99-108, DOI: 10.1080/15323269.2015.982039.

Bohyun Kim, MA, MSLIS, authored a book Understanding Gamification, published by American Library Association TechSource (2015). The book has also been released as the February/March Issue of Library Technology Report. The full-text is available to HS/HSL patrons. On February 18, 2015, she also gave a webinar, “Beyond the SEA Webinar: Get Started with Coding,” for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Southeastern/Atlantic Region.

Kimberly F. Yang, contributed the chapter "From nonprofits to libraries: Information-gathering, communication, and relationship-building skills that transcend fields," in Skills to Make a Librarian: Transferable Skills Inside and Outside the Library.