In 1813, the founding fathers of the University of Maryland very wisely purchased the preeminent medical collection of its time from the estate of the late Dr. John Crawford for the use of the medical faculty. In 1815, the collection was opened for use by medical students. In honor of these milestone dates, we will be celebrating our 200th Anniversary for two years, from 2013-2015. The Crawford Collection, the predecessor of today’s Health Sciences and Human Services Library, is ranked as the 5th oldest medical library in the United States and is the founding library of the University System of Maryland.

Over the next two years, we will be celebrating our anniversary in a variety of ways: special programming, events, displays, and exhibits highlighting treasures from our collection, an e-history, and various events designed for our University community and beyond. Our first event will be a light luncheon and lecture by Dr. Phil Mackowiak on May 1st in the Library’s fifth floor Gladhill Board Room. See the article below for more information.

Many libraries, particularly in the Old World, have been around for far more than 200 years, making our Library a mere youth. Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans – all of them recognized the worth of collected information. It is humbling to realize we are part of that continuum of knowledge. In my 27 years here at Maryland, I have witnessed a revolution in information technology, knowledge integration, and the transference of tools into the hands of users via the social framework that has resulted in exponential growth in discovery and dissemination. Thresholds for the new and amazing are constantly changing and always in motion. It is exciting and frightening to contemplate what the future holds for the personal, academic, and scientific use of knowledge and the impact it will have on the construct of the concept of “library.” Beginning on May 1, welcome to our next 200 years! Journey with us.

Our 200th Anniversary begins on May 1st with a light lunch and historical talk by Dr. Philip Mackowiak entitled, “Dr. John Crawford, His Life, His Books and Our Library.”

Who was John Crawford?

Doctor John Crawford, a distinguished member of the School’s faculty and owner of an impressive private book collection, taught Natural History at the University in 1812. Born in Ireland, Crawford completed his medical education at the University of Leiden. His career path led him to several positions in the Caribbean and South America; his collection reflects his interest and experience in tropical medicine. After his death in 1813, faculty colleagues purchased his private library. As the founding collection for the entire University of Maryland Library System, Crawford’s books still remain intact and are the proud centerpiece of the HS/HSL’s Historical Collections.

Crawford was the first to practice vaccination in Baltimore. Perhaps more importantly, he held truly forward-thinking theories about the cause of disease. As an innovator, he is a fitting precursor to the dynamic Library which evolved from his founding.

After Dr. Mackowiak’s talk, attendees are invited to travel with library staff to lay flowers on the grave of Dr. Crawford, who is buried in the Westminster Hall graveyard.

The luncheon and talk will be held starting at 11:30 a.m. on May 1st in the Gladhill Board Room on the fifth floor of the HS/HSL. The luncheon is free, but reservations are required due to limited seating. Email to secure your spot.

The Anatomy of the Brain, by Humphrey Ridley
London: Printed for Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford, 1695
“Containing its mechanism and physiology, together with some new discoveries and corrections of ancient and modern authors upon that subject: to which is annex’d a particular account of animal functions and muscular motion, the whole illustrated with elegant sculptures after the life.”

There are now 277 books from the Crawford Collection available through the UM Digital Archive. The collection contains books from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. No longer hidden in a dark archive, these resources are now freely available worldwide via the Internet.

Would you like your work to be preserved with a permanent URL and made accessible across the Internet? If so, then help us build the Archive. If you have content that you would like to contribute or questions about the UM Digital Archive, please email us.

On April 2nd, the Association of American Medical Colleges, Khan Academy, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced a collaboration to provide free, online resources to aid students in preparing for the revised Medical College Admission Test® (MCAT®) that will be administered in 2015.

To develop the new resources, the organizations are inviting medical students and residents to compete in creating the best educational videos on medical and pre-health topics.

Contest submissions are now being accepted until the deadline, June 14, 2013.

Contest rules, submission guidelines, and criteria for entry are available at the Khan Academy website.

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) and the Medical Library Association (MLA) have released a statement encouraging publishers to support mandated author compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Authors’ failure to comply could result in non-renewal or denial of grant funding. This issue is affecting thousands of research scientists across the United States. The HS/HSL is developing services to assist researchers in complying with the mandate. For more information, contact Alexa Mayo.

What is the significance of April 3, 1998? That was the date we opened the current Health Sciences and Human Services Library building. That means in the midst of the 200th Anniversary celebration we should pause to remember the building’s 15th birthday.

At the time the building was opened, we existed in a primarily print-based environment. The building was designed to accommodate our large print collections. Of course, the intervening years have brought great changes, and just about 98% of the resources acquired by the Library these days are digital. Happily, the design of the building has easily accommodated this shift in technology and philosophy. We built a robust technology infrastructure and were one of the first on campus to embrace wireless technology throughout our building. Staff and functions have shifted and changed, and the building’s purpose has flexed with them. We have removed entire ranges of books and shelving and welcomed a larger CITS presence, the Counseling Center, Student Accounting, and Student Financial Aid. We look forward to the possibility of buying digital backfiles and welcoming the Center for Health Informatics and Bioimaging and potentially the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute into the building.

Some things we did very well. In addition to the technology infrastructure, our student, educational, and special event/meeting spaces have served us well over the years. The building is as busy as ever with over 380,000 entrances last fiscal year. Our 45 small group study rooms are extremely popular, as are other study spaces. We have more study rooms than any other academic health sciences university in the U.S., and we have enhanced them over the years. Throughout our renovations and additions we have not lost any of our 900 seats for users. Our teaching and learning spaces are used by library staff, campus units, and even outside organizations. We have maintained them at a technologically high level, and they are highly regarded and heavily used. Over the next three years, they and the Distance Education Room will be upgraded to support new teaching modalities. Our meeting spaces are also heavily in demand, particularly our Balis Conference Room, with its added video conferencing capability. That capability will be added to the Boughman-Alpern Family Conference Room as well. The Weise Gallery is constantly booked with interesting and thought provoking exhibits. And who can deny that the Gladhill Board Room is the premier and most beautiful special event room on campus?

When the Library opened, it was seen as a signature building for the campus that would convey our University’s intent and aspirations as a major clinical, research and educational institution. Just as our University has changed over the past 15 years, so has the Library. We are very grateful for the support of everyone on campus who knows what a special space the Library is.

Happy 15th Birthday, HS/HSL Building!

The Gladhill Boardroom (President’s Boardroom), previously reserved through Campus Events, will transition to being reserved through the HS/HSL. The room is available and can be reserved for campus-related business by a Dean, Vice President, or designee.

Starting May 1, 2013, contact Library Administration (410.706.0668) with questions about the room or visit our website for more information.

• Covers overs 7,000 active, high quality peer-reviewed journals
• Contains over 1,800 biomedical titles not offered by PubMed
• Covers more drug literature than PubMed
• Covers more international publications than PubMed
• Includes conference proceedings

To try Embase, visit the Library’s Databases list.

We all know how simple searching with Google can be. Sometimes you just need a quick answer. The Library’s new OneSearch tool is modeled on the ease of searching with Google. It lets you search over 50 different databases to uncover multiple types of library resources: scholarly articles, books, reviews, images, and more. OneSearch is located on the Library’s main webpage or through the database list.

It’s important to remember when using OneSearch that you are not searching “everything.” For help on doing a more complicated and comprehensive search, contact the librarian for your school or request a consultation.

We want to thank the faculty, staff and students who participated in the usability study. Your contributions were invaluable.

The University of Maryland’s President’s Outreach Council will host its fifth Annual Community Partner Art Exhibit and Silent Auction in the Weise Gallery, located on the first floor of the Library.

This exhibit features artwork created by students of George Washington Elementary and Southwest Baltimore Charter schools, where the University runs CLUB UMB, a free after-school mentoring and youth leadership program. Proceeds from the silent auction will support activities of CLUB UMB and its partner schools.

The bidding for the artwork will start on Friday, April 19th at the opening reception, and winners will be announced on Friday, May 10th at the closing reception. Everyone is invited to participate and attend the receptions.

Farewell to Megan Wolff

The HS/HSL bids a fond farewell to our longtime Reserves Associate, Megan Wolff. Megan accepted a position at the UMB School of Nursing as an Instructional Technology Specialist after completing her Master’s in Instructional Technology at Towson University.

Megan began work in Course Reserves in 2005. She later became supervisor of the department and oversaw our switch to electronic submissions, an update to our copyright policy, and the spread of e-reserves to new departments on campus that previously had not used the service. Her work was consistently of the highest quality, and she received many compliments from faculty pleased with their experience using e-reserves. We wish Megan the best of luck in her new career at the School of Nursing!

Aphrodite Bodycomb Teaches Library Financial Management Workshop

Aphrodite Bodycomb, MBA, taught a workshop at The Association of Library Financial Management Officers (ALMFO) Conference held on March 10, 2013 at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania. The workshop, titled “Forecasting Your Revenue and Expenses,” focused on using break-even analysis as a tool for pricing new products and services accurately and for negotiating the contracts. The workshop was attended by Library officers from across the U.S. and Canada.