Recently, I have had the opportunity to reflect on the value of HS/HSL’s many friends. Our friends come in all shapes and sizes, from a variety of places. They are all friends for different reasons too. For example, during the Changing the Face of Medicine exhibit, we had a committee of volunteers and supporters, including President and Mrs. Ramsay, the Helena Foundation, and the Medical Alumni Association. Without them, we never would have been able to support the exhibit. Other friends include those of you who filled out our LibQual+ survey earlier this year. Your input will help us improve our services and resources.

We have friends who enrich our resources by donating rare books and materials to our historical collections. We have friends like Charlotte Ferencz, who has enriched the library by contributing her time and talent to the creation of Congenital Heart Disease, a website currently used as a textbook in remote areas of the world. Our Library Board of Visitors and the Library Advisory Committee have provided sage advice regarding strategic direction for the library’s future. We also have a cadre of dedicated donors who contribute money to us yearly through United Charities and through the University of Maryland at Baltimore Foundation (UMBF) to support the work we do, remembering that a gift to the library is a gift to everyone. At this season of Thanksgiving, we are grateful for every one of the friends we have. Thank you!

Learn more about giving gifts to the library.

Love to give and receive – A Food for Fines program will take place from Monday, November 21st to Friday, December 21st. The Library will collect non-perishable food items at the Circulation Desk during HS/HSL’s open hours. We will waive $10 in HS/HSL overdue fines when you donate one non-perishable food item, $20 for two items, etc. This offer does not apply to lost book charges. The goods collected will be donated to the Maryland Food Bank.

What are you waiting for?

With the recent addition of Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database and Lexi-Comp Online to HS/HSL’s database collection, the UMB community now has an even wider range of resources in which to find evidence-based information on complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). Here is a list of resources that we highly recommend using to answer your questions regarding natural products and supplements:

Subscription Databases

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  Facts and Comparisons lets you search for natural product summaries as well as information on effectiveness, adverse reactions, and possible interactions. Within the database you can also access "The Review of Natural Products," a section designed to help you find detailed information on the history, chemistry, pharmacology, medicinal uses, and toxicology of products, as well as useful patient information.

  Access: On and off campus

• 
  This database contains over 1,000 evidence-based monographs on natural medicines. Within the database you can find information on natural product uses, safety, effectiveness, pharmacological actions, adverse reactions, possible interactions, and much more. The database also lets you search topics such as obesity, depression, and influenza to see which natural products are being used as treatments.

  Access: Within the library building for users not affiliated with the School of Pharmacy, on and off campus access for School of Pharmacy students, faculty, and staff.

• 
  This database lets you search for natural product summaries as well as information on natural product effectiveness, adverse reactions, and possible interactions. Because it is designed to be used at the point-of-care, its information is concise and easy to read. This resource also provides links to research articles at the end of product summaries when possible.

  Access: On and off campus

For additional links to online CAM resources, visit our CAM e-resource page.

Some of HS/HSL’s older books and directories are currently stored in compact shelving, located in the Library’s lower level. If you cannot find a book on the 5th floor shelves, or if the online catalog says, "Closed Stacks: Ask at Circulation Desk," just inquire at the Circulation Desk by the Library’s front door. A staff member will pull the book for you.

New PubMed Features

Finding the full-text of articles is now even easier in PubMed! – Here at the HS/HSL we have been working behind the scenes to save you time by making it faster for you to locate the full-text of articles from their citation in PubMed. We’ve made several changes. Check it out:

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  Directly below many PubMed abstracts to which HS/HSL users have access, you will see a link reading: "University of MD HS/HSL (online)". Click on this link to be taken directly to the full-text article.

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  Print journals still exist – not everything is digital quite yet! For some citations, HS/HSL will have the full-text of the article in a print copy of the journal at the library. Clicking on this link will show you HS/HSL’s active subscription range for the journal.

• 
  No HS/HSL links under the abstract? Look to the right of the article’s title. You will see the "Find It" link. Click on this link to find out if the HS/HSL has either a print or electronic subscription to the article. If there is no active subscription listed, you can also use "Find It" to automatically generate an interlibrary loan request for borrowing from another library.

• In a hurry? – Try the "University of Maryland, Baltimore" tab. – Clicking the tab in PubMed labeled "University of Maryland, Baltimore" will limit the results displayed to only those citations that HS/HSL has either an electronic or print subscription.

Did you know that many UMB authors are publishing in Open Access (OA) journals? These publications are freely accessible and provide the world with electronic access to important and often publicly funded research. The HS/HSL has been a vocal supporter of OA publishing models and is interested in promoting OA as an alternative to the UMB community.

If you’d like to check out OA articles from UMB authors, we’ve been collecting citations in one easily accessible database. Maintained using RefWorks, articles collected in the Open Access @ UMB database all have at least one UMB affiliate listed as an author. New items are added on a monthly basis and the database currently contains 138 articles.

To find out more, visit the HS/HSL Scholarly Communication information page or attend the upcoming Scholarly Publishing and Open Access Webcast.

HS/HSL workshops are still being offered as the semester comes to a close. Don’t forget, if you attend workshops you are eligible for prizes, including our grand prize of a reserved study room with bagels and coffee during Finals Week!

Upcoming workshops include:

• RefWorks Advanced, Tuesday, November 27th
• PubMed Advanced, Wednesday, November 28th
• Google Scholar, Wednesday, December, 5th
• E-Journals, Tuesday, December, 11th
• Lexis Nexis, Wednesday, December 12th

Register now!

On November 20th, HS/HSL will play host to a webcast entitled "Scholarly Publishing and Open Access: Straight Talk," produced by the Medical Library Association.

Objectives of the webcast include:

• Introducing, defining, and explaining significant models of scholarly publishing
• Exploring the impact of open access on hospital libraries, academic libraries, and authors
• Discussing university and hospital perspectives to support new approaches

The webcast will air from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Room LL05. Information about webcast presenters is available. To register, contact Teresa Knott at tknott@hshsl.umaryland.edu before November 19th.

We always welcome suggestions from patrons on ways to improve the Library. Here’s a recent submission from HS/HSL’s Suggestion Box.

Furniture Question from a Student:

The condition of the upholstery on the furniture is very poor in the library, especially on the second floor, one of the more high traffic areas of the library. A significant number of the floor chairs are torn from natural use. As a student paying services for my education, I would expect that re-upholstering these chairs would be done for the benefit of students’ use and for general respect to those who use this library, which consists of doctors, faculty researchers, guest researchers, and other dignitaries that come visit our campus. The appearance, quite frankly, is appalling; more so, the usability of the upholstery of the chairs is undesirable. I rarely see people sitting in these very comfortable chairs. I am asking for a response [from] the University [regarding] the plan for reupholstering these chairs. Sincerely, Concerned Student

Library Response from Assistant Director for Business Development & Operations:

Thank you for your concern. Recently the campus approved funding to repair the chairs and I am currently working with the Library Director and fabric vendors to select fabrics to be used to reupholster the chairs. You can look forward to clean new fabric on these chairs within the next few months.

Giving a gift to HS/HSL is a great way to support everyone associated with HS/HSL, from our faculty, staff, and students to the larger community of users in the city, across the state, and around the region. Gifts to the HS/HSL support technology renewal, digital collections, and special programming.

Most gifts come to HS/HSL through the University of Maryland at Baltimore Foundation. A gift can be donated online or with a check made payable to the UMBF, with a note indicating the donation is intended for the Health Sciences and Human Services Library. Donations can be mailed directly to the Health Sciences and Human Services Library, Library Administration, UMB, 601 W. Lombard St., Baltimore, MD 21201, or to the Foundation office at 660 W. Redwood St., Rm. 021, Baltimore, MD 21201.

You can also donate through the United Charities Campaign by designating HS/HSL on the supplemental card after selecting the UMB Foundation (Code 9695). It is important that you check "I do want my name and address released to the agencies I have designated to receive my gift" on the United Charities main form or the donation will go to the UMBF general fund and not the library. There are complete instructions on the reverse of the supplemental form.

Please consider giving a gift that supports everyone!

Exceptions to the Library’s regular hours during the Thanksgiving and December holidays are as follows:

Fall term ends December 22, 2006.
We will resume regular hours on Tuesday, January 2, 2007.

Historical Highlights focuses on some of the unique materials available for viewing in the Historical Collections department, located on the fifth floor of the HS/HSL. For more information on the materials you read about, contact Rich Behles, the library’s Historical Librarian and author of our series, at 410.706.5048 or rbehles@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

First Librarian Restored To Life

Through the generous support of the Medical Alumni Association, the Library’s restored portrait of Eugene F. Cordell now hangs on the fifth floor, adjacent to the elevator lobby. The painting and its frame both sustained extensive water damage several years ago. Historical Librarian Rich Behles recently mentioned its condition to Medical Alumni Executive Director Larry Pitrof, who graciously offered to fund its restoration. Sian Jones of Art Conservation Services expertly completed the painstaking project at a cost of $10,000.

Born on June 25, 1843 in Charlestown, West Virginia (then part of Virginia), Eugene Fauntleroy Cordell went on to serve in the Confederate army, and later entered our School of Medicine after the war. He graduated in 1868, later founded the Woman’s Medical College of Baltimore, and went on to write his Historical Sketch of the University of Maryland in 1891. His Medical Annals of Maryland appeared in 1903, a monumental compendium of the history of the medical profession in Maryland up to that time. In 1907 he published his two-volume set, University of Maryland, 1807-1907: Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics, With Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Its Founders, Benefactors, Regents, Faculty and Alumni.

Cordell became the University of Maryland’s first Professor of the History of Medicine in 1903, as well as the first to bear the title "Librarian." Before that time, the Library had languished under dire circumstances, and Cordell brought the scholarly stature of his professional position to its proper care and development. The largest of the Library’s Historical Collections is the Cordell Collection, named for him.

Learn more about Cordell and the Cordell Collection