The staff at the HS/HSL took a ten-year break from publishing an annual report. It wasn’t that we had nothing to report. In fact, this has been an extremely productive time as we focused on transforming the HS/HSL into an organization of knowledge experts offering new and unique services and resources. However, the type of annual report we used to do was laborious to write, edit, and publish. We were fatigued by the process and bored by the content by the time it was eventually published.

Inspired by graphic, dashboard-oriented reports, we decided to try a short, focused annual report. We limited ourselves to two pages. It needed to be in color, contain images, be available online with live links, and able to be printed out as a promotional piece. While our inaugural short report didn’t take us any less time due to our need to make design and content decisions, we are pleased with the result. Now that we have the format, we vow to have next year’s completed before the 2019 holidays.

The report hones in on the many ways we support our user community and beyond through our expertise, our resources, and our place.

I am pleased to present to you the HS/HSL 2017-2018 Annual Report.

Time flies! On April 3, 1998, the HS/HSL opened its doors for the first time at 601 West Lombard Street. The beautiful new building was the result of years of planning and fundraising; groundbreaking occurred in May 1996. When the building opened, it had 900 seats—760 more than the old library building, which was located across the street—40 group study rooms, and 55 computers. Floors one through five had stacks for books and journals, a much different environment from today’s Library. Over time, as collections have become digital, shelving has been removed to make way for new services, study space, and offices.

Exhibit
To learn more about the HS/HSL’s 21@601, stop by the 5th floor of the Library to see our exhibit. It features a working 1998 computer and a model of the Library building. The exhibit will run from April 3 through May 24.

Luncheon and Panel Discussion
Join us on April 15 for a celebration luncheon and panel discussion, 21@601: Looking Back/Looking Forward. The panelists will discuss the history of the building, changes over the years, and the future.

Panelists

• Steven Foote, FAIA, president emeritus, Perry Dean Rogers Partners Architects.
  Design principal for HS/HSL project (1992-1998)
• Edward C. Kohls, FAIA, LEED AP, vice president, Higher Education Design Studio Leader, JMT Architecture, Baltimore, Maryland.
  Principal, Design Collective/Perry Dean Rogers Partners Architects, Joint Venture for the HS/HSL project (1992-1998)
• MJ Tooey, MLS, AHIP, FMLA, associate vice president, Academic Affairs, executive director, HS/HSL, UMB.
  HS/HSL building project manager (1992-1998)

Date: Monday, April 15, 2019
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Place: HS/HSL Gladhill Ballroom, 5th Floor

To register for this event, please email events@hshsl.umaryland.edu with your name and contact information.

It’s time for a furniture upgrade on the first floor. Coming soon, we’ll be replacing most of the first floor furniture. The assortment of new chairs, tables, study pods, café tables, and banquette seating we’ve chosen will accommodate both private, individual study and collaboration. Along with new furniture, we’ll be installing additional electrical outlets to make accessing power more convenient.

Through surveys and one-on-one discussions, the HS/HSL planning team listened to our users’ preferences, and made them the basis for the first floor plan. When will you see big changes on the first floor? Late spring or early summer.

Most of our current subscriptions only allow online access to articles that were published from when journals began to offer online access—usually the mid-1990s. This means that researchers who want a copy of an article that was published before electronic publishing began have to find it in the library stacks or request it through document delivery or interlibrary loan.

Most publishers, however, have digitized earlier volumes of their journals and make these “backfiles” available for a one-time purchase. These journal backfiles provide easy access to older literature both on and off-campus through the Library’s webpage and search tools such as OneSearch, PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL.

The Library was given special funding to support the acquisition of journal backfiles. This year we have purchased the ScienceDirect Medicine and Dentistry Collection (about 380 titles), the New England Journal of Medicine, and a collection of 26 Pharmacology and Toxicology titles from Wiley. Over the next few years we hope to add other backfile collections to make this important older literature easily accessible.

In order to get a better handle on resource usage – who? and why? – a survey will appear when users log in to library resources during the month of April. The survey, which will pop up randomly three times every day, at different times throughout the month, will ask the following questions:

1. What is the user’s status: faculty, staff, or student?
2. With what school or unit the user is affiliated?
3. What is the purpose of the use (research, assignments)?

M.J. Tooey, associate vice president for Academic Affairs and executive director of the HS/HSL explained, “We are hoping this survey will not be too intrusive, but it is critical during these times of budget and resources cuts to get a good picture of who is using HS/HSL resources.”

March 18 – April 18, 2019

Stop by and view Maryland artist and First Lady Yumi Hogan’s exhibit “Nature’s Spring Sonata” in the Weise Gallery. Mrs. Hogan’s works, made with sumi ink and hanji paper, display interpretations of her life and memories, and visually reflect those connections with nature. For more information about the exhibit, visit the Weise Gallery web page. Additional information about Yumi Hogan is available at the artist’s website.

HS/HSL Gladhill Boardroom
Friday, April 19, 2019, noon to 1 p.m.

The HS/HSL is proud to feature Brad Hennessie, CEO of NextStep Robotics and former HS/HSL Innovation Space user. NextStep Robotics has developed a personalized robotic therapy to help recovering stroke patients overcome “foot drop” syndrome. The technology behind the therapy was created when Mr. Hennessie was a researcher with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Baltimore VA Medical Center. Mr. Hennessie will talk about his entrepreneurial pathway from lab to market, investment and grant funding, and new areas of expansion for NextStep Robotics.

On March 4 and 5, HS/HSL hosted 92 staff members from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine for the 2019 NNLM Summit.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, or NNLM, is a network of eight health sciences libraries across the country that advance the progress of medicine and improve public health through funding, training, community outreach, and partnerships. As headquarters of the Southeastern/Atlantic Region, HS/HSL is committed to providing regional and national leadership for core programs and initiatives of the NNLM.

Over the course of the two days, participants of the Summit focused on three main goals:

1. Develop a shared understanding of key messages from the National Library of Medicine
2. Strengthen relationships among NNLM staff
3. Improve network operations

Key workshops of the Summit included a session on cultural humility lead by Dr. Isabel Rambob of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, a discussion of the barriers to effective communication within NNLM, and a conversation on the future of the National Library of Medicine with Director Dr. Patti Brennan. Additionally, smaller breakout sessions allowed for meaningful conversation between NNLM staff of similar interest areas. Discussions on outreach initiatives, research data management, membership engagement, and partnerships with public libraries formed new connections between staff and helped direct the path of key NNLM initiatives.

Through workshops, breakout sessions, and extended conversations, staff left the Summit with stronger relationships with colleagues from around the country and a focused vision for the future of NNLM.

Connection, education, participation, and empowerment—these are defining characteristics of strong and healthy communities.

A recent partnership between the National Network Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) and the All of Us Research Program seeks to build and strengthen these characteristics in communities across the U.S. The mission of the NNLM is to “to advance the progress of medicine and improve public health by providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improve the public’s access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health.”

The All of Us Research Program aims to advance discovery in biomedical research and improve health by providing more precise, individualized treatments for disease. The All of Us Research Program is a clinical trial that seeks the participation of over one million individuals traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research—people of color, women, people of diverse sexual orientations and identities, and people from diverse environments and socioeconomic backgrounds—to make biomedical advancements possible.

The NNLM/All of Us partnership empowers public libraries to educate the public about the All of Us Research Program and connect participants with health information. Through the partnership, libraries are encouraging people to take an active role in their health, by asking questions, learning about data privacy and informed consent, and learning how to find reliable health information. Libraries are also encouraging the public to participate in discussions about research ethics and genetics, and to think critically about these issues when assessing the value of their own contributions, as individual participants, to clinical research, medical advancements, and health of their communities. Libraries empower their communities by listening to their health needs, convening discussions, offering health and wellness programs, and finding answers to their health related questions.

Libraries truly are the foundations of strong and healthy communities through connection, education, participation, and empowerment. The NNLM encourages you to celebrate National Library Week, April 7-13, and discover how libraries are building a strong community.

The UMB Digital Archive has a new look and feel. While its organization remains the same, information within individual records has been rearranged to provide a better user experience. New features include a download button and a thumbnail image for accessing the digital item from within a record, and a statistics link leads to usage data at the individual item or collection level.

Unfamiliar with the Archive? Its goal is to collect, preserve, and distribute via the web the academic works of UMB. Search the Archive for dissertations, faculty works, and grey literature (materials not easily found through conventional systems of publication), such as annual reports, newsletters, white papers, and posters. In addition to text files, it includes historical images, oral histories, and promotional materials of the University.

If you have questions or want to contribute content, please email us.

Honors & Awards

M.J. Tooey, MLS, AHIP, FMLA, has been named the recipient of the 2019 Marcia C. Noyes Award by the Medical Library Association (MLA). The Noyes award is MLA’s highest professional distinction and recognizes a career that has resulted in lasting, outstanding contributions to medical librarianship. Tooey’s distinguished service and leadership in the field will be honored at the upcoming MLA Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Gail Betz, MSLIS, has been accepted into the 2019 cohort for the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship. The Institute provides training in research methodology for librarians so that they can successfully complete a research project of their own design. The training will take place in June 2019, with a project completion estimate of July 2020. Gail’s research will focus on the hiring process for academic librarians with disabilities.

Tony Nguyen, MLIS, AHIP, and coauthors have been honored with the Ida and George Eliot Prize from the Medical Library Association (MLA) for their article “Advancing the Conversation: Next Steps for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (LGBTQ) Health Sciences Librarianship,” published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA). The Eliot Prize Is awarded annually for a published work that has been judged most effective in furthering medical librarianship. Nguyen and his colleagues will receive the award at the MLA Annual Meeting in May.

Publications & Presentations

M.J. Tooey, MLS, AHIP, FMLA, delivered the keynote address at the Leadership Institute of the Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting held in Hot Springs, VA.

Brian Zelip, MSLIS, MA, presented “Making Saves Lives” at the January meeting of the Maryland Association of Public Library Administrators in Silver Spring, MD. He also presented “Makerspace Use Cases in the Health and Life Sciences” at the Loyola Notre Dame Library in February.