On January 3, 2022, the HSHSL will implement changes in its masking and food policies. When the HSHSL fully reopened in August 2021, we returned to our former policies allowing food in the public areas of the Library. Even though it is UMB policy to be masked while in university buildings, we have observed, almost daily, users who stretch the liberal food policy for hours as a rationale for not masking. As I write this column, COVID-19 cases are on the rise, a new variant has emerged, and we have entered cold and flu season.

Therefore, effective January 3, 2022:

• Food will no longer be allowed on the open public floors of the HSHSL.
• Beverages are allowed and masks may be removed for a “sip,” and then replaced.
• Eating may take place in study rooms if there is only one person in the study room.
• If there is more than one person in the study room, everyone must be masked and no food may be consumed.
• Eating will be permitted in the Tower Café (the round room on the main floor, to the left of the entrance) following the same guidelines as in the Campus Center – only two to a table, masks off for “active eating.”
• Those who fail to comply with the masking guidelines may lose library privileges and be asked to leave the building.

Aside from the aforementioned rise in COVID-19, cold, and flu cases, we should keep in mind that we’re not living in an immunity bubble in the HSHSL. Yes, there is a high vaccination rate at UMB. One hundred percent of HSHSL staff are vaccinated. Most of you are vaccinated. Yet some of the tenants in the building may not be. Additionally, the HSHSL is open to the public, people from other universities, the VA, and the UMMC/UMMS. There is no way to know everyone’s vaccination status. Masking keeps us safer – AND it is UMB policy.

I sincerely hope someday this will all be behind us. In the meantime, let’s all work together to keep everyone safe and well.

On October 19, 2021, the HSHSL and the School of Pharmacy hosted their fourth annual flu clinic.  Over eight hours, 155 campus members were inoculated. Students, faculty and staff from all parts of UMB – the seven professional schools, central administration, campus services, and the UMMC – made appointments to get flu shots in the Library’s Frieda O. Weise Gallery.

As in past years, the clinic offered School of Pharmacy students a valuable opportunity to practice giving flu shots to actual patients under the guidance of professional Walgreen pharmacists and Dr. Cherokee Layson-Wolf, associate dean and associate professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science.  Students also helped to check patients in and keep the clinic running smoothly. Despite the added challenge posed by COVID-19 restrictions, the clinic operated safely and effectively – and managed, once again, to provide both an excellent opportunity for student experiential learning and a convenient location for campus members to get a flu shot.

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 more comfy chairs and group study tables, consistent coffee availability, better Wi-Fi, a reflection room, and temperature control. Some of these ideas have been addressed, and others are on their way. Our intrepid facility operations specialist, Jerry Anthony, worked with campus facilities to resolve the complaints of cold areas on the 5th floor. Campus IT placed 12 more Wi-Fi hotspots around the Library to improve performance. We have plans for new tables and seating in all of the study rooms, but have no date for starting the project as yet. The Library Genie is creative and is always watching for opportunities to make visiting the HSHSL a super experience for you.

Responding to a request from the University Student Government Association for better Wi-Fi in the Library, the Center for Information Technology Services (CITS) installed 12 upgraded Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the building.  If you continue to encounter Wi-Fi problems in the Library, please let CITS know by contacting the IT Help Desk at help@umaryland.edu or 410-706-HELP.

The HSHSL is working on our new strategic plan for 2022-2026 – and since we know our success depends on your success, we’d love to get your input on our five-year plan.

You can help guide our strategic planning by answering the seven open-ended questions in this short survey. The survey will be available through December 17. We look forward to hearing from you!

The UMB Council for Arts & Culture and the Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HSHSL) have organized an exhibition in the Library’s Frieda O. Weise Gallery to celebrate artists featured in 1807, An Art and Literary Journal, Issue 3 (Autumn 2021). Faculty, staff, and student artists contributed pieces for the display, including pottery, acrylics, photography, collage, drawing, poetry, and mixed medium pieces. The exhibit will be on display until January 15, 2022.

You may notice a new kiosk at the HSHSL’s security guard desk. The kiosk is a LobbyGuard® check-in system for those who wish to enter the building without a UMB One Card. Visitors, UMMC and VA staff, and students from other campuses will use this kiosk to check in upon entering the building.

Users scan their state ID or driver’s license to input their information automatically. The system then takes a photo and prints an ID badge sticker with the user’s picture and name, along with an assigned barcode. Those who do not have a state ID or license can use the touchscreen to enter their information manually. The ID badge is only valid for entry to the HSHSL; it does not allow entry to other UMB buildings. Similar systems are already in use at a few other UMB buildings and will eventually be deployed at all campus buildings.

On November 17, the HSHSL hosted computer scientist Anthony DiFranco, PhD, and biochemist Yann Huon de Kermadec, PhD. Both are core members of the Open Insulin Foundation, a project to make available open-source software and open-access knowledge to produce insulin cheaply at local scale.

The two detailed how insulin list prices increased steeply – as much as 1,500% or more since 1997 – despite comparatively little corresponding innovation in insulin manufacturing. They then provided an overview of the Open Insulin Foundation, and the work of “biohackers” around the world investigating open protocols to produce insulin.

The Open Insulin Foundation began in 2015 at a community biology lab in Oakland, California. Work continues in a handful of similar labs around the US, including Baltimore, with a new branch opening soon in Paris, France.

For Celebrate Diversity Month in April 2022, two HSHSL committees – the diversity committee and the exhibits, displays and promotions committee – will be putting together an exhibit honoring the diversity of our campus: Woven Stories: Out of many, we are one. To support the exhibit, the HSHSL is seeking photograph submissions of items culturally significant to campus members. Culture, broadly defined, encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of individuals. Photographs for the exhibit should feature one item that represents your culture. Submissions may include recipes, books, art, food, creative work, clothing, sheet music, instruments, or textiles; however, we encourage you to be as creative as you’d like. This is an opportunity to display what’s culturally significant to you.

Visit the Woven Stories webpage to submit your photograph along with a paragraph describing its importance to you. Multiple submissions are welcome. If you wish to remain anonymous, just leave the name and email fields on the form blank.

For questions or concerns, please email the Library’s diversity committee.

Enjoy botanicals from the Historical Pharmacy Collection all year long with the 2022 HSHSL Calendar. The calendar includes twelve images from The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed, founded in 1787 by William Curtis. William Curtis was a botanist and entomologist from Alton, Hampshire, England. The images were illustrated by Syndenham Edwards and James Sowerby. The Botanical Magazine continues today as Curtis’s Botanical Magazine.

The calendar images represent traditional birth month flowers, with a few exceptions when botanical drawings of the flower were unavailable in Curtis’s work. Historically, birth month flowers were chosen for each month according to their hardiness, bloom season, and symbolism. February’s flower, for instance, is the Iris, which can bloom in early spring’s cool temperatures. The Iris is associated with wisdom, hope, trust and valor; and the purple variety (shown above) signifies royalty. The calendar provides information about each month’s flower and describes its traditional medicinal uses.

The HSHSL Historical Collections houses several volumes of The Botanical Magazine in the Pharmacy Historical Collection. These volumes were donated to the Library in 1940 as part of the estate of August Kach, Maryland College of Pharmacy class of 1882. The donation included 700 volumes, many of which are still in the Library today. The Pharmacy Historical Collection contains influential pharmacy and medical texts, as well as dispensatories, pharmacopoeias, botanicals, and herbals from around the world dating from the 17th century.

The calendar features content written and provided by Tara Wink, Historical Collections librarian and archivist, and graphic design by Thom Pinho, lead instructional technology specialist.

We’ll be sharing the calendar digitally in our archive in January 2022, so keep an eye out for announcements in The Elm, and on the HSHSL Updates blog and social media. Our team has already begun sifting through the wealth of images in our Historical Collections, anxious to share more highlights with you in our next edition, 2023, calendar!

During the month of October, the NNLM celebrated both National Medical Librarians Month and Health Literacy month by engaging with network members and promoting a Book Spine Poetry Contest on Twitter.

By marking their submissions #BookSpinePoetry and tagging their NNLM Regional Medical Library, participants entered a contest to win free books from the NNLM Reading Club, a collection of books focused on 21 different health topics. The NNLM received close to 100 entries, which collectively generated more than 205,800 impressions over the entire month!

Visit Twitter and check out all of the wonderful submissions. Thank you to all of the participants, and congratulations to all of the winners!

• Valerie @ West Chester Public Library
• University of Tennessee Health Science Center Library
• Carly @ Boston University Alumni Medical Library
• Shellie @ Wegner Health Sciences Library
• Nicole @ Memorial Healthcare System Library
• Carol @ Western Kentucky University Library
• Brandi @ Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives
• Carolyn @ Shady Springs Branch Library
• Andrea @ Talbot Research Library and Media Services
• Mara @ Wilkes County Library

Priscilla Anderson, MS, retired in October 2021 after 45 years at the HSHSL. Priscilla was part of the bedrock of Information Services, and she will be sorely missed. She kept the HSHSL safe and secure, provided expert assistance to our users, and gave her valuable perspective on the workings of the Library, especially after everyone else went home for the night. Priscilla plans to travel and spend time with her family. Before retiring, Priscilla earned a master’s degree in human resources management from the University of Maryland Global Campus in May 2021.

Meg Del Baglivo, MLS, is retiring December 31, 2021, after more than 22 years of service at the HSHSL. She began her career at the HSHSL working on the reference desk in Reference and Information Management Services (RIMS) department. Since then, she has been a serials cataloger, interim head of acquisitions, and most recently an extraordinary metadata librarian. During her years at the HSHSL, she has contributed to many of the Library’s milestone accomplishments, including the transition from print to electronic journals and the advent of the link resolver, the development of both the UMB Digital Archive and the UMB Data Catalog, and the creation of a citizen science edX course, to name but a few.  Over the years, she has served on numerous committees in the HSHSL and in the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI). We have always appreciated her good humor and characteristic laugh, her honest concern and willingness to help whoever needs it, and her incredible productivity. And we know that Meg will be greatly missed!

Jessie Bauer joined the Resources Division as a digital content specialist, focusing on SFX, database and journal usage, and submissions to the Digital Archive. She comes from Southern Maryland, where she spent two years working in a public library, and is about to start working on her MLIS at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Ivan Freedman is a library services specialist. He comes to us from the Jessup Correctional Institute and the Carroll County Public Library, where he served as a library associate. Previously, he served 14 years as a library associate at the Anne Arundel County Public Library.

Laura Youngborg joined the Resource Sharing department in October. She comes to us from George Mason University, where she worked within the Interlibrary Loan Department as the lending coordinator. Prior to that, she worked at Bowdoin College at the Information Service Desk. At HSHSL, she is responsible for interlibrary loan services.

Publications & Presentations & Posters

Emily Gorman, MLIS, wrote “Increasing student engagement using an Amazing Race-style competition,” which was published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association, 109(3), 478-482. 2021. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2021.1178

Patricia Hinegardner, MLS, and Na Lin, MLS, gave a lightening talk, “Building a Unique Collection through Collaboration: International Employee Assistance Archive,” at the Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries (MIRL) Symposium, November 17, 2021.

Emilie Ludeman, MSLIS, and Yunting Fu, MLS, presented the poster “Reimagining Librarian Consultation Workload” at MAC/MLA in October 2021

Alexa Mayo, MLIS, AHIP, and Katherine Downton, MSLIS, presented “Gearing Up for Discovery: Designing a Citizen Science MOOC” at the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association’s (MAC/MLA) in October 2021.

Brian Zellip, MSLIS, MA, Kirsten Burcat, Jean-Paul Courneya, MS, and Amy Yarnell, MLS, gave a lightning talk, “Building Capacity to Provide In-Demand Data Analysis Skills,” at MAC/MLA in October 2021.

Service

Katherine Downton, MSLIS, was elected as chair of the MAC/MLA Professional Development Committee in October 2021.

Andrea Shipper, MSLIS, was elected to the board of MAC/MLA as treasurer at the annual conference in October 2021.