As the semester draws to a close, the Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HSHSL) is humming! Over the last months I have been working with HSHSL leadership, librarians, and staff to complete the FY25 HSHSL annual report. This report will be forthcoming and shared on our website as well as through the next “Connective Issues” edition. As a preview of the annual report, I would like to share some of the data that we will include:

Gate count is an indicator of how many people are coming into the building. We have continued to see increases in the number since 2020 but FY25 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025) saw a marked increase of 22% from 184,682 in FY24 to 226,047 in FY25. Gate count includes anyone coming into the HSHSL building. While our space is shared with other units, we are pleased to see the increase, an indicator that students, faculty, and staff are using spaces within the building.

Reference consultations or reference transactions are defined by the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) as “a one-on-one information contact that involves the knowledge, use, recommendation, interpretation, or individual instruction in the use of one or more information resources by a member of your library’s staff.” Information Services staff and Research and Education librarians are highly engaged in supporting users and tracking reference transactions. In FY25, the HSHSL saw a 97% increase in recorded reference transactions from 3,825 recorded in FY24 to 7,560 recorded in FY25. Data in this area has been tracking upward since FY21.

I am proud to see more users coming into the HSHSL and more users interacting with our librarians and staff for their reference and research needs.

Also of note, the HSHSL restroom renovation project is nearing completion! We are on track to complete the work in early December. If you plan to be at the HSHSL on Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 10 – 11 a.m., we invite you to visit the restrooms on the first floor for our “tissue cutting” and open house event. Special thanks to Linda Wise and Jerry Anthony for their work in keeping this project on track, and to the UMB Facilities and Operations team for all they did to bring this project in on budget and on time.

In October I was pleased to welcome the local Goxxip Girl Art Collective to the Weise Gallery. This exhibit was on display from Sept. 15, 2025 – Nov. 7, 2025, and the Oct. 22 reception welcomed many of the artists to the space to share and discuss their work. I enjoyed meeting with the artists and learning about their inspiration and process.

As a reminder, the HSHSL 2026 calendar would make a great holiday gift! This year we are also selling sticker four-packs of stunning botanicals featured in last year’s calendar. Visit us online to purchase. All orders must be picked up at the HSHSL Information Services desk.

As we move into the holiday months, I would like to wish everyone a very safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.

Your voice really made a difference. Over the past month, you shared your ideas through our survey and the easel boards on the first floor. We also heard thoughtful feedback from the HSHSL Student Advisory Board. Students, faculty and staff across campus helped us understand how you use this space and what would make it even better.

Your feedback covered everything from seating and study zones to tech needs and the leisure reading area. These insights will help us create a first floor that feels more comfortable, useful and welcoming for everyone who studies, collaborates or just takes a break here.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. We’re excited to dig into your ideas and keep moving this project forward. Stay tuned for updates as we take the next steps to refresh this space together.

The HSHSL will launch a yearlong premium trial of Consensus, an “AI-powered search engine for scientific research papers.” Consensus uses large language models to search, analyze, and summarize research findings. It is designed to make it easier to explore topics, compare studies, and understand the current state of evidence.

The free trial, organized by the HSHSL, will begin in January 2026. Details on how to access the trial will be shared at the start of the new year. Stay tuned for more information on how you can try out this emerging tool and share your feedback.

Hello, UMB community!

I’m Dennis Nangle, your new assistant dean for Resource Development and Access. Since stepping into this role earlier this fall, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside the talented teams that steward our collections, metadata, and historical resources. As we enter this season of gratitude, I can’t help but offer my thanks to the HSHSL team for their warm welcome. Their dedication and expertise have made my transition both energizing and inspiring. I’m grateful to take part in HSHSL-wide efforts to enhance access, deepen engagement, and meet the evolving needs of those we serve.

In leading the Resource Development and Access Division (which includes Collection Management and Sharing, Historical Collections, and Repository and Metadata Management), I’m committed to advancing the HSHSL’s mission to support UMB’s academic, clinical, and research excellence. My vision centers on strategic stewardship of our physical and digital collections, and elevating the visibility and long-term preservation of UMB’s scholarly and institutional legacy. I look forward to collaborating with students, faculty, and staff to ensure our resources and services reflect the vibrant, innovative spirit of our University.

I’d love to hear from you. Whether you’re navigating a research project, preserving scholarly work, compiling your department’s historical records, or exploring ways to make your scholarship more accessible, your insights can help shape how we support you. Don’t hesitate to reach out; I welcome your ideas, questions, and aspirations as we build an even more connected and responsive HSHSL. You can reach me by email.

The Network of the National Library of Medicine Region 1 Office has awarded six new funded projects that continue to support the mission of the National Library of Medicine of equal access to biomedical information to help individuals make informed decisions about their health.

These projects support digital inclusion, student mental health support, rural professional education, environmental health, and cancer information access.

Enhancing Technological Infrastructure to Improve Health Information Access and Care Quality: Support for a technology upgrade to a youth group home to expand internet access, train staff and support residents in finding reliable health information.

Health Literacy in the Laundromat: A Place-Based Outreach Model: Bringing trustworthy health information directly to underserved families into community laundromats for health education and connection.

Access to Wellness Resources and Programs: Supporting 1st & 2nd Year Students: Expanding access to Providing wellness workshops specifically designed for first- and second-year college students, for mental health support and stress reduction.

Rural Waves: Broadcasting Health, Empowering Communities: Supporting the expansion of podcasting health information to rural healthcare providers, strengthening professional learning and community connections in underserved areas.

Connected Camden: Public Wi-Fi and Environmental Monitoring at Community Art Spaces: Installing Wi-Fi at arts-based nonprofits in two neighborhoods facing air-quality challenges to link residents to NLM health resources.

Improving Prostate Cancer Health Information Access for Rural Older Adults in North Carolina: Partnership with rural public libraries to to evaluate the usability of a digital prostate cancer information platform to help older adults access reliable cancer information and improve health literacy.

NNLM Region 1 Office provides outreach, training and funding to 8 regional states and the District of Columbia.

The UMB Data Catalog is a finding tool for discovering datasets generated by UMB researchers. If you have shared or published data (e.g. as part of funder or publisher compliance), the Data Catalog can help make your data more visible and findable for future use. This catalog provides information about datasets and how to access them but does not function as a repository to store data.

The UMB Data Catalog is designed to:

• increase the visibility of research data generated by UMB researchers
• facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration by identifying common research interests
• support the process of data re-use and data sharing
• share metadata about datasets that cannot be shared publicly due to ownership or privacy concerns

It’s now easier than ever to list your dataset in the catalog with the new Include Your Dataset form. You will be asked for author and affiliation information, a description of the data, associated publication(s) (if applicable), and instructions for accessing the data.

Link to your dataset record on your ORCiD profile, your CV, or grant reports (e.g. RPPR, final reports) to document your data sharing and let others know how to access your data.

To accompany the new submission form, we also put together the new UMB Data Catalog LibGuide, which provides more information about the catalog and what to know to submit your data! Please email us if you have questions.

Dec. 1, 2025 – Jan. 1, 2026

Monday – Thursday	6 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Friday	6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday	8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Exceptions to Regular Hours

Dec. 23, 2025	6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Dec. 24, 2025 – Jan 1, 2026	CLOSED

As we move into the end of the calendar year and a time of thanksgiving and gratitude, we at the HSHSL would like to share our work in creating opportunities for development and giving. Earlier this year, Anna-Marie Epps, senior program specialist in Administration and Operations, began working more closely with Dean Hurst to create a development plan for the HSHSL. Her work has included a review of all current endowments as well as previous donors to the HSHSL. She has met with various members of the UMB Office of Philanthropy to learn more about the opportunities to engage with potential donors and develop meaningful options for giving.

For readers who are interested in donating to the HSHSL, the library website offers several giving options. These endowments allow the HSHSL to provide support for library services, resources, and spaces. All donations are tax deductible.

In October, the HSHSL celebrated International Open Access (OA) Week with a five-day challenge designed to educate researchers on different facets of open access. The challenge focused on improving the discoverability of scholarly work through brief but meaningful daily activities, including creating an ORCiD, locating OA journals, learning about repositories and data sharing, and utilizing MyNCBI.  A total of 74 people registered for the challenge, and we received some great feedback. One of our grab-bag winners, Sanaya Shenoy, a first-year PhD student in the School of Pharmacy, summed it up best:

“Open Access advances knowledge generation. It enables critical review of scientific literature, which is a core component of my doctoral training. I sincerely appreciate the efforts undertaken by HSHSL to spread awareness about Open Access resources and help students across disciplines build a stronger research footprint.”

Sanaya Shenoy

Syeda S Batool

Mary Hackbarth

Congratulations to our prize winners:

• Sanaya Shenoy, PhD student, School of Pharmacy
• Syeda S Batool, Postdoc, School of Medicine
• Mary Hackbarth, MD/PhD, School of Medicine

On behalf of the HSHSL’s Scholarly Communications Committee, thank you to everyone who participated!

In September, the HSHSL welcomed members of the Society for Clinical Data Management (SCDM) to speak to UMB students and trainees on career opportunities in their field. Emily Hurst, dean of the HSHSL, kicked off the event, during which attendees were able to engage with leaders from companies like Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi, Veeva, and more. There was also a special presentation by Dr. Eun-Shim Nahm, associate dean of the School of Nursing PhD program, on navigating career pathways in an era of big data and AI. This event was a great example of the innovative ways the HSHSL can connect UMB community members with each other and with partners beyond UMB.

In early November 2025, the Historical Collections department received a donation of two handwritten notebooks of Dr. Solomon Granville Moore, a 1906 graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore (P&S). The notebooks represent Dr. Moore’s final two years at P&S and include course notes and diagram doodles from all required courses. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore was founded in 1878 by Maryland State law and was a competitor school to the University of Maryland School of Medicine until the two schools merged in 1915. Historical Collections collects and preserves the history of P&S and includes yearbooks, course catalogs, publications, and other items from the now defunct school, many of which have been digitized.

Solomon Granville Moore was born Dec. 1, 1877, in Belington, W.Va., to Alpheus and Lucinda Moore. He attended local public schools and earned a teaching certificate. After three years as a teacher, he entered West Virginia University (WVU), graduating with an A.B. (early name of the Bachelor of Arts degree) in 1904. While at WVU, Moore met and married Peri Inez Miller, a student from Pa.

In 1903, Moore matriculated in P&S as part of an agreement with WVU that allowed students to attend their first two years of medical school in a pre-med program at WVU and finish the degree at P&S. The agreement was introduced in 1903, making Moore one of the first pre-med students at WVU. When Moore graduated from P&S in 1906, WVU also conferred a Doctor of Medicine degree to Moore. Moore completed two postgraduate courses at Harvard Medical School (1914) and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (1921).

…

After graduation, Dr. Moore set up practice in Coalton, W.Va., where he remained until 1910. In 1910, Dr. Moore moved to Elkins, W.Va., where he purchased the home and office of Dr. John C. Irons. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. From 1910 to 1915, Dr. Moore served as professor of chemistry at Davis and Elkins College; he was also on staff at Davis Memorial Hospital and a physician to the West Virginial Odd Fellows Home and West Virginia Children’s Home. Dr. Moore retired in 1948. After an eight-week illness, he passed on April 29, 1961, of cerebral arteriosclerosis. He is buried in Maple Park Cemetery, Springfield, Mo.

The notebooks provide a glimpse into medical education at P&S and include notes from courses with influential Baltimore doctors like Dr. Thomas S. Latimer, president of P&S; Dr. John Ruhrah, professor of diseases of stomach and dietetics and professor of pediatrics and dietetics; and Dr. C. Hampson Jones, professor of hygiene and public health, later Baltimore health commissioner.  The notes include instructions on examining patients, treatments for common illnesses, as well as hand-drawn images of labor techniques. The volumes are available for use in Historical Collections by contacting Tara Wink.

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Posters & Presentations

Emily Hurst, MSLS, presented the lightning talk “Yes Chef! Leading Change and Adapting Recipes for a Modern Health Sciences Library” at the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association annual meeting, Oct. 2025, Baltimore. Dean Hurst also served as an invited panelist for the session “Journey of Budgeting Knowledge” at the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) annual meeting, Oct. 2025, San Antonio, Texas.

Emilie Ludeman, MSLIS, Amy Yarnell, MLS, Nicole Shelawala, M.Eng., MLIS, Everly Brown, MLIS, and Shanell Stephens, MLIS, presented the paper “The GenAI Test Kitchen: Experimenting with Emerging Research Tools” at the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MACMLA) 2025, Baltimore, MD.

Alexa Mayo, MLIS, AHIP, Everly Brown, and Emily Hurst presented the poster “The Secret Ingredient: Student Advisory Boards to Enhance Student Engagement” at the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association annual meeting, Oct. 2025, Baltimore.

Amy Yarnell, Emily Gorman, MLIS, and Nicole Shelawala presented the poster “From Data to Decisions: Visualizing Open Access Publishing Trends to Inform Institutional Strategy” at the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association annual meeting, Oct. 2025, Baltimore.