No, I didn’t write that. That is a quote from Adam Bly, who gave the keynote address at the Society for Scholarly Publishing Annual Meeting in Baltimore a few weeks back. Bly is the editor-in-chief and founder of Seed Magazine and the CEO/Chairman of the Seed Media Group. According to Wikipedia, "Each issue [of Seed Magazine] looks at big ideas in science, important issues at the intersection of science and society, and the people driving global science culture." His talk, "Rearchitecting Science: A New Vision and Framework for STM in the 21st Century," made some key points that are important for UMB, libraries, scientists, social scientists, and those involved in scholarly communication. Some things from Bly’s talk that I particularly liked are highlighted below.

1. Science is not a closed system; it is interconnected.
2. Peer review still matters. Regardless of the format. Regardless of the platform. However, the methodology for peer review will change and become more organic and spontaneous.
3. Those "born digital" have come of age. New scientists are fluent in the use of technology and expect their work environment will support this fluency.
4. 34% of scientists responding to a recent survey use blogs to share information as an "open notebook" to the world.
5. Science is now global in nature and scientific communities are taking shape, thanks to technology, in developing countries. We need to continue to connect the developed to the developing world.
6. The importance of a Science Commons and the "research web" as discussed by John Willbanks (who spoke at UMB as part of the Ownership and Access in Scholarly Publishing symposium supported by the HS/HSL a few years back)
7. The need to extract knowledge from information creates a critical expert role for librarians. I liked this because he said it to a primarily non-librarian audience.
8. There is a continuing need to bring scientists together with each other and with resources. To this end, Seed has created ScienceBlogs and ResearchBlogging, which are online communities where scientists can share ideas and comment.

Your summer reading assignment? Connect to some of the links above. Join the blogs. Read Seed.

My assignment? Join the blogs (there is section for information professionals) and subscribe to Seed for the HS/HSL Kinnard Leisure Reading Collection. Look for it this fall.

Enjoy your summer!

It is the end of an era. Eleven years ago when the HS/HSL opened its doors, the idea of a café associated with a library was a new one. With the couches and Jetson-style furniture, the HS/HSL Tower Café was one of the first library cafes in the country. Having the café led the way for the HS/HSL to relax our food-phobic policies and eventually allow food throughout the building. And now, thousands of lattes later, the Tower Café will close its doors on June 30. With the new campus center opening next door in August, the café will move there, just a connecting hallway away. The vacated area will be spiffed up – cleaned and renovated to become a study lounge with wireless access and vending machines.

A lot of people will miss the café, not only for what it represented but for its congenial, collaborative atmosphere. And darn, they made good mochas!

Beginning July 1st, the library will have access to the following NEW databases:

• SocINDEX with Full Text
• Social Work Abstract
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts
• Family Studies Abstracts
• LGBT Life with Full Text
• Race Relations Abstracts
• Abstracts in Social Gerontology
• Urban Studies Abstract
• Violence & Abuse Abstracts

EBSCO provides details about these databases.

Access to Sociological Abstracts and Social Service Abstracts will be discontinued as of July 1st, 2009

Please look for more information in the next issue of Connective Issues

If you have questions, please contact Anna Tatro.

BMJ Group and McMaster University’s Health Information Research Unit are collaborating on a new service called Evidence Updates. The goal of Evidence Updates is to provide "access to current best evidence from research, tailored to your own health care interests, to support evidence-based clinical decisions." The service consists of both a searchable database with citations from over 170 premier clinical journals and an email alerting system with links to evidence-based resources. All citations are critically reviewed and pre-rated for quality by research staff then rated for clinical relevance and interest by at least 3 members of a worldwide panel of practicing physicians.

The service is free of charge, but registration is required.

Need a few pointers on getting your presentation "just right"? Want to get your point across quickly, easily, and with little effort? Join us for a session on how to create effective presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint. In this free library workshop, topics covered will include:

• Creating a basic slideshow
• Inserting graphics and hyperlinks
• Saving and presenting your slideshow
• Presenting visual and text-based information to make a strong impact

This workshops is just one of several free workshops offered throughout the summer by the HS/HSL . Registration and course descriptions are online.

This Fall, from September 28th through November 6th, the HS/HSL will be hosting a traveling exhibit entitled "Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health" in the library’s Weise Gallery. When the library hosts national exhibits such as this we like to add local flavor. We are looking for partners from UMB who can bring their perspectives on global health to enrich the exhibit and highlight their work. We seek suggestions for additional programming, such as speakers or programs reflecting on this topic. The Weise Gallery is also a great place to hold a special function during the exhibit, related to the theme.

If you are interested in working with the library staff to develop programs or have suggestions regarding how we can enhance this exhibit, please email Aphrodite Bodycomb or call her at 410.706.8853

The Parish Nursing Health Information Resource website has a new name and an updated look. Faith Community Nursing Health Resources still brings together health information, referral information, Maryland regional information and other resources that support the profession of faith community nursing in one convenient place. A Disaster Planning section has been added and a more streamlined Health Information section is now available. Highlighted in this section are quality health information websites such as MedlinePlus, MayoClinic.com, and KidsHealth. The Content Team would love to have your comments and suggestions.

We want to thank the faith community nurses who helped with this redesign. We appreciate their time and suggestions. Please visit the new site and take a look. Also, remember to update your bookmarks!

Personal Electronic Health Records: From Biomedical Research to People’s Health was the theme of the 2009 Annual Conference of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine, co-sponsored by the National Library of Medicine. The conference addressed the implications of PEHRs for clinical care, public health, research, and the overall health care system. There were many outstanding speakers and thought provoking discussions. What follows are a few observations.

Rather than merely duplicating the paper medical record the PEHR should offer added value. Traditionally, health records have been used by health care providers to record examination data and lab results, but the advent of the PEHR provides an opportunity to emphasize the "personal health" of the patient. With PEHRs, patients will be able to keep a log of their own health information between episodic visits to their health care provider. Allowing patients to contribute to their own records will make patients more aware of their own health patterns while offering health care providers an additional source of information. PEHRs also provide a great opportunity for observational and interventional research, but with this come the issues of the quality and consistency of the information, ethics of use, and privacy.

The bottom line – PEHRs are here and have great potential to help improve the health of the nation. For the list of conference speakers and their PowerPoint presentations, visit the conference website.

Yunting Fu, Library Liaison to the School of Pharmacy, received a stipend from the Grace and Howard Sewell Memorial Fund to attend the July 2009 meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) in Boston. The mission of the Sewell Fund is to help librarians and information specialists gain a better understanding of their clients’ needs by providing funding for them to attend their clients’ national professional meetings. The stipend covers all travel and registration costs for either the AACP or the American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting.

Congratulations, Ting!

To exchange ideas and find out how others on campus are using social media such as Facebook and iTunes U, stop by the Social Media User Group meeting on Tuesday, June 23rd, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. in the Distance Education Room, Lower Level, HS/HSL. Formation of the group was inspired by the success of the Social Networking Symposium that the library hosted in April 2008.

For more information, contact Jaime Blanck or Toni Yancey