The word “archive” brings to mind images of ancient buildings and fragile books stored in dark rooms. Humidity and temperature controlled rooms in modern facilities now house many of the old works. Print materials require this type of environment, but access to archival collections is often limited. In this day and age of “born digital,” with easy access anywhere, anytime, anyplace, what is the new model for preserving our work?

Librarians have always been concerned with preservation and understand the importance of being able to access the intellectual work of the past. A challenge of today is the enormous amount of information being produced and the concern that it could be lost if the format in which it resides is replaced with the next latest and greatest technical advance. Remember the eight track tape?

The HS/HSL is meeting the challenge with the development of the UMB Digital Archive. The goal of the Archive is to collect, preserve, and distribute via the web the academic works of UMB. We are inviting you to be partners in this new endeavor by providing content.

The UMB Digital Archive will contain grey literature (materials that cannot be found easily through conventional systems of publication) such as research reports, annual reports, newsletters, white papers, poster or meeting presentations, etc. In addition to text files, we are also interested in preserving historical images, oral histories, and promotional materials of the University.

The Library will ensure that content remains exactly the same over time and has a permanent URL.

If you have questions or content to contribute to the UMB Digital Archive, please email us.

The year is 2030. A social worker wants to review the final report of a research project completed in 2003 at UMB. Where can she find it? The answer: The UMB Digital Archive. Moving forward to the year 2107 and the 300th anniversary of UMB, an event planner wants to see publications used for the 200th anniversary. Where can he find them? The answer: The UMB Digital Archive.

The UMB Digital Archive, a service of the Health Sciences and Human Services Library, collects, preserves, and distributes the academic works of the University of Maryland, Baltimore. It is a place to digitally record our historical record.

Please join us as we celebrate the official launch of the Archive. A reception and demonstration will be held on May 4th from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the HS/HSL’s Gladhill Board Room.

The Health Sciences and Human Services Library is pleased to announce the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health funded project, Empowering Student Community Advocates to Reduce Health Disparities (Grant #1G08LM011079-01).

By building on the University of Maryland’s relationship with the Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy (VTTMAA), a magnet high school in Baltimore City, HS/HSL will teach future health professionals the skills to advocate for better health at the personal, family, and community levels.

The HS/HSL has a long and successful history of collaborating with community members across the state of Maryland to improve health by providing quality health information. We are now expanding our role in improving health with an innovative program designed to help students develop lifelong skills in health advocacy.

The three primary aims of the project are (1) to empower high school students as community health advocates, (2) to promote improved health and reduce health disparities in Baltimore neighborhoods, and (3) to develop a replicable student health advocacy program.

To sustain the impact of this project, HS/HSL program staff will design a model curriculum that can be used by community-academic partnerships nationwide. The project is designed to engage multiple contributors with a diversity of experiences and perspectives to build upon the education the students already receive at VTTMAA.

Dr. Starletta Jackson, Principal of VTTMAA, has given her full support to the project, stating, “We look forward to developing a partnership with the HS/HSL that will benefit the educational goals of our students and provide the students with an opportunity to discover and highlight new areas of awareness as they learn skills that will enable them to become informed health care advocates.”

The presentation studio rolled out a month ago, and already it’s a hit, with faculty, staff and students from around the University using the newly designed space and state-of-the-art technology. Ashley Willis, a graduate student in the School of Social Work, recently used the studio to create a video of an interview for her policy class, “It was an easy process, and the staff are so helpful. They were awesome to work with. I plan to use the studio again.” The studio is available by reservation only seven days a week.

The HS/HSL is pleased to announce that we are now able to offer late night study in the Library during final exams.

You may be asked to show your UMB One Card badge while inside the Library. Only UMB faculty, staff, and students will be allowed to remain after 10:00 p.m. We hope this will promote a better study environment during finals. Any patron without a UMB One Card will be asked to leave at 10:00 p.m., including visitors, corporate and borrowing members, UMMC, UPI and University Specialty Hospital staff, VA residents, USMAI faculty, staff and students, and JHMI faculty and students.

The Library’s Circulation Desk will remain open until midnight. After this time, we will not be able to provide services such as book checkouts or help with photocopying and printing. The hallway leading to the Southern Management Corporation Campus Center will close at 10:00 p.m. Shuttles will be available every half hour beginning at midnight to take you safely to your destination.

Extended Study Hours
Monday, May 2, 2011 – Wednesday, May 18, 2011

*Saturday extended hours represent a pilot during finals

On April 14, family and friends of Tracy Ijams gathered at the Library to dedicate Study Room 514 in her memory. Tracy, who worked at the School of Medicine as the MedScope Manager, Office of Medical Education (OME), passed away on August 9, 2009. Dr. David Mallott, Associate Dean for Medical Education, spoke first, followed by M.J. Tooey, Executive Director of the HS/HSL, who said, “Many of us worked closely with Tracy over the years on many projects in the School of Medicine. Most people didn’t know that Tracy was a librarian. We are touched that the OME and her family have honored her memory by dedicating this study room in her name.”

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health has unveiled a new online resource specifically designed for easy access to evidence-based information on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

The CAM web resource includes reliable information on the safety and efficacy of natural products, dietary supplements, herbs, and probiotics, as well as mind-body practices such as meditation, chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage.

This resource was developed based on information from a series of NCCAM-sponsored focus groups. The result is a one-stop site with objective information including relevant clinical practice guidelines, safety and effectiveness information, links to systematic reviews, summaries of research studies, scientific literature searches, continuing education opportunities, and patient handouts.

Are you graduating this spring? Would you like to keep the citations you saved in your current RefWorks account? You can create a RefWorks Alumni account then transfer all your citations from your current UMB RefWorks account. With the RefWorks alumni account, you will receive any new updates and features that become available in RefWorks, you will have up to 200 MB of space for file attachments, you can share your references with others via RefShare, and you will be able to obtain online training and technical support from RefWorks.

To learn more about the RefWorks Alumni Account and how you can create an account, visit our RefWorks guide. Please contact the Reference Department to obtain the Alumni Group Code.

Over 40 faculty members came together on April 13 for lunch and a stimulating discussion of the challenges of research evaluation. The keynote speaker, Yvette Seger, Ph.D., from Thomson Reuters Scholarly Communication Group, gave an excellent overview. This was followed by a panel of UMB faculty: Curt Civin, MD, School of Medicine; Barbara Smith, RN, Ph.D, School of Nursing; and Donna Harrington, Ph.D., School of Social Work, who responded to the ideas presented and discussed the specific challenges faced by each of their disciplines.

Following the symposium Debra Berlanstein, MLS, Head of Reference & Research Services, led a library workshop entitled “What’s the Impact?” that covered locating and understanding journal impact factors, Eigenfactors, and the H-index for calculating investigator impact. Everyone agreed that this was a very relevant topic, and the HS/HSL is committed to continuing this series. A video of the event is available on our website.