It is hard for me to believe, but in April of 2019, the HS/HSL will have been open for 21 years. Having served as client project manager during the original planning of the building, I find this 21st anniversary an occasion to reflect on the idea of library as “place.” If I had a dollar for every time I have heard, “Why do you need a library? Everything is online (and in some minds, free),” I would be very rich. It is true, however, that if we were building a library today, it would be a very different facility. Yet the library we built back in the 1990’s has proven remarkably flexible and adaptable to modern needs.

We designed this beautiful building as a symbol of UMB’s aspirations to be a premier public research institution and a major player in the health sciences and human services. And while I am not saying it is because of the Library that this has happened, I will say the buildings we build illustrate how we feel about ourselves. Library buildings are cultural icons. Even the most digitally attached person knows what a library is.

While we certainly don’t need the room for collections we once did, our library has met other needs through our Innovation Space, Presentation Practice Studio, Frieda O. Weise Gallery, and consultation and collaborative spaces as we have evolved with our users. Students are the biggest users of our physical space, and for them we are a refuge, a place of contemplation and collaboration. Even though we have more study rooms (45) and seating than most other health sciences libraries, it’s still not enough. While we have not seen any fistfights, things do get a little tense during midterms and finals when students can’t find places to study. We are FULL.

Over the next six months, we will be refurbishing our main floor as things have gotten a little threadbare, worn, and dated over 21 years. We have already started with the addition of our “pilot” of booths on the second floor and third floor tower. More to come. We are very thankful UMB Administration has approved funds for five years to do a little bit more modernization every year.

I am closing by thanking so many people who have supported our “place” over 21 years. Our tenants – CITS, the Counseling Center, Student Accounting, the Registrar and Bursar – all great building colleagues. University Administration. Facilities Management, who clean, maintain, and support our infrastructure, taking as much pride in our building as we do. And, finally, the many library team members who have passed through over the years. Their pride in the building and vision for change is always inspiring.

I hope you can join us for some of our events celebrating 21@601. As always, you can find previews of our upcoming events in Connective Issues.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday break and exciting 2019!

Our upcoming exhibit, 21 Years of Art at the HS/HSL, will showcase selected art works from past exhibits. It runs from December 10, 2018 through February 22, 2019.

Throughout the past 21 years, art exhibits of paintings, sculpture, photography, and more have graced the walls and spaces of the HS/HSL, showcasing creativity and artistic expression. Works by University staff and students, as well as other artists, have been featured. Additionally, traveling exhibits from various organizations have informed us on a wide variety of health-related topics and social issues. The sponsoring organizations have ranged from medical institutions and groups to national museums and crisis centers. Former HS/HSL Executive Director Frieda Weise, for whom the Gallery is named, envisioned the Library as a community space – where people could gather surrounded by more than books and computers, a place that invites the diverse University community to come together. What better way to do so than through the arts?

Join us on January 24, from 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, in the Frieda O. Weise Gallery for a reception and brief overview of the past 21 years of art at the HS/HSL.

Stop in the second floor or third floor tower and see the latest addition to the HS/HSL’s furniture – booths (or banquettes, if you are being fancy). The HS/HSL purchased six of these in order to freshen up our seating. Let us know what you think.

VisualDx is a visual diagnostic clinical support tool that includes over 2,800 adult and pediatric conditions and thousands of images. Search by a diagnosis, build patient- specific differentials, or review medication reactions and adverse events. This versatile tool delivers speed and diagnostic accuracy in your clinical work.

Find it in the Databases list on the HS/HSL website. Download the iOS or Android app from the Library’s VisualDx account for use off campus!

• Access over 40,000 medical images. See the variations of disease presentation by age, skin type, etc.
• Build a differential diagnosis in seconds.
• Review succinct disease information.
• Provide patients with images and information designed to improve follow-up.

To learn more, view these VisualDX video tutorials.

In October, the HS/HSL hosted a group of international researchers from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) for their yearly Data Standards Hackathon – DaSH 8. The purpose of the hackathon is to encourage collaboration on coding and data standards.

At the DaSH 8, the 8th annual CIBMTR hackathon, researchers finalized the minimum information specifications for reporting next generation sequence genotyping (MIRING). They also worked on tools such as Histoimmunogenetics Markup Language (HML 1.0) for implementing MIRING, and prepared standards and code for expressing novel polymorphisms without human curation (Gene Feature Enumeration). HS/HSL’s Bioinformationist, Jean-Paul Courneya, collaborated with event organizers to provide logistics for the 2-day hackathon and to ensure technology was accessible and running smoothly.

Events like the hackathon highlight the HS/HSL’s continued involvement in Bioinformatics and Data Science initiatives on campus and abroad.

On November 7, the HS/HSL hosted a drop-in session for a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to help improve Wikipedia, one of the most accessed sources of online health information. Health professionals, students, and librarians from around the country participated in an all-day edit-a-thon.

Overall, participants in the nationwide edit-a-thon revised 162 articles, made 556 total edits, and created 8 new articles on women’s health using United States National Library of Medicine resources. Fifty editors contributed to the fall edit-a-thon. Participants learned how to edit articles, identify which articles were in need of imporvement, and how to use the National Library of Medicine resources to add valuable information when articles were lacking.

Interested in participating in the next edit-a-thon? Stay tuned for information on our spring event!

To learn more about Wikipedia and the impact it has had globally, you can watch the recording of last year’s Wikipedia training from Dr. James Heilman.

During the month of October, the Library Genie asked for your top three library wishes. We have received your requests and are looking at ways to grant your wishes.

The Genie heard your calls for free printing, nap pods, more rolling/comfy chairs, coffee/snack options, and more standing desks. Some of these ideas are being investigated and others are on their way. Look for more of your favorite chairs, new padded seat cushions, and more mobile standing desks in the near future. We are evaluating what can be done to ease those coffee and snack cravings as you spend hours studying in the Library. Free printing is an understandable wish, but more difficult to tackle as we provide printing and copying paper on a cost-recovery basis to keep the equipment functioning. While we will not be investing in nap pods, we are committed to providing you with more comfortable furniture options such as the cushioned booths on the 2nd and 3rd floors with more to come. The Library Genie is creative and is always watching for opportunities to make visiting the HS/HSL a super experience for you.

The UMB Data Catalog, implemented by the HS/HSL, is part of the Data Catalog Collaboration Project (DCCP). New York University (NYU) developed the software (open source) for the project and leads the collaboration. Through their Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI), NYU submitted the DCCP to the CTSA Great Team Science Award Contest and won for the Top Importance Category in a field of 170 entries. Other institutions in the DCCP include University of Pittsburgh, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke, and Wayne State.

The UMB Data Catalog facilitates the discovery of datasets created or used by UMB researchers. It promotes collaboration by assisting researchers in locating datasets for possible reuse. If you have questions or want more information about the UMB Data Catalog, please email us.

The HS/HSL Innovation Space recently expanded its prototyping power with the addition of a new 3D printer. The Raise3D N2 printer provides a larger build volume than what was previously available. Additionally, the N2 can print down to a z-height resolution of 10 microns (0.01 mm), an order of magnitude finer than its counterparts.

“There have been times our printers couldn’t print a user’s design due to resolution constraints. The new N2 printer will help out in this area,” said Brian Zelip, Emerging Technologies Librarian.

Google has launched a new search engine to facilitate identification and access to datasets. The new service captures metadata from thousands of data repositories and catalogs available on the web, making them searchable through a single discovery tool. UMB Data Catalog records are discoverable through Google Dataset Search. UMB researchers interested in submitting information about their datasets or finding out more about the UMB Data Catalog can email us.

In 2004, Dr. Theodore Woodward donated 37 letters written by Dr. James Carroll (University of Maryland School of Medicine, class of 1891) to his wife Jennie, as well as letters from Dr. Walter Reed to Carroll. The letters were written between August 1900 and October 1901, while Carroll was stationed in Cuba researching the cause of yellow fever for the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Commission.

The correspondence between Carroll and his wife provides a unique insight into the life of a physician doing lifesaving research in a foreign country, the day-to-day lives of his family at home, and the financial strain the posting placed on the Carrolls. The letters between Reed and Carroll provide an inside look at the difficulties the U.S. Yellow Fever Commission faced in trying to prove the cause of the disease, as well as the politics of the military’s medical community in the early 20th century.

In September and October of 2018, the letters were digitized and uploaded to the Library’s Digital Archive. The letters have been transcribed to allow for easy reading and searching. Check out the newly uploaded collection today!

Honors & Awards

Everly Brown, MLIS, and Shanell Stephens, were awarded the People’s Choice award for their poster “Strategic Surveying: We Want to Hear from You,” at the MAC/MLA annual meeting.

Emily Gorman, MLIS, AHIP, won first prize for her research poster, “Mortal or Moodle? In-Person vs. Online Information Literacy Instruction in the Health Sciences” at the MAC/MLA annual meeting.

Mary Ann Williams, MSLS, and Lauren Wheeler, MSLIS, were recently highlighted in a National Medical Librarians Month feature discussing health literacy in Sea Currents, blog of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Southeastern/Atlantic Region.

Publications & Presentations

Jean-Paul Courneya, MS, and Alexa Mayo, MLS, AHIP, co-authored “High-performance computing service for bioinformatics and data science,” published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association.

Aimee Gogan, MLIS, and Erin Latta, presented a lightning talk, “Collaboration and innovation: NNLM’s nationwide online Wikipedia edit-a-thon” at the MAC/MLA annual meeting.

Patricia Hinegardner, MLS, AHIP, Na Lin, MLS, M.J. Tooey, MLS, AHIP, FMLA, Vickie Campbell, and Lorraine Woods, Katherine Downton, MSLIS, Aimee Gogan, MLIS, and Erin Latta presented posters at the MAC/MLA annual meeting.

Mary Ann Williams co-authored the systematic review “Immediate loading vs. early/conventional loading of immediately placed implants in partially edentulous patients from the patients’ perspective” in Clinical Oral Implant Research.

Tara Wink, MLS, and Sarah Minegar, PhD, presented, “Underrepresented archives” at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference Fall meeting in Wilmington, DE.

Brian Zelip, MSLIS, MA, presented, “Making for health and life sciences education and research” at the Construct3D 2018 Conference at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.