On April 5, 2023, work will begin to remove and replace the plaza pavers in front of the Library. During this project, both the area in front of the Library and the library building’s main entrance will be closed. The new, temporary entrance to the Library will be through the Campus Center. The plaza renovation will take about four months to complete and will not affect library services or hours.

While the sidewalk will remain open during most of the project, it will close intermittently to allow trucks to remove debris and deliver construction supplies. Updates and signs will be posted inside and outside of the Library with information about foot traffic detours.

Once the project is complete, look for a renovated plaza with new planter boxes and attractive, landscaped beds.

Exciting news on the upgrade to the third-floor space! Beginning in April, the journal collection on the fourth floor will be condensed, allowing journals from the third floor to be moved up one floor. This will create a smaller collection footprint and open up new space on the third floor.

Once the journals are shifted to their new location, the empty shelves will be removed, and space will be reconfigured as a quiet study area. The new study space will extend from the area in front of the elevators to the windows overlooking Greene St. and into the large rectangular area across from study rooms 312 to 317.

The collection shift will begin in early April. Expect some noise as books are shifted and shelves are dusted and vacuumed. Removal of the shelving units and new carpet installation will take place over the summer.

In late summer, new furniture will arrive, including individual study pods, diner-style banquettes, and computer tables with second monitors. Also as part of the third-floor renovation, new tables will be added to the study rooms. The new study tables will be identical to those on the second and fifth floors.

If you have any questions or suggestions for the third-floor space, send us an email.

February and March mark two important month celebrations: Black History and Women’s History Months. While equity and justice are among UMB’s core values today, the university did not always include diverse staff, faculty, or students. Therefore, it is important during these months to highlight and celebrate pioneering firsts like Dr. Harriet P. Trader, DSW, the first African American woman associate dean at the School of Social Work.

Harriet Peat Trader was a Baltimore native. She attended and received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Morgan State College (today Morgan State University) in 1944. Trader continued her education at Columbia University, earning her master’s in social work (MSW) in 1946, and the University of Pennsylvania, earning her doctorate in social work (DSW) in 1962.

Before pursuing a career in academia, Dr. Trader worked as a social worker at Bronx Hospital (NY) and Crownsville State Hospital (MD). Dr. Trader taught social work at Howard University from 1963-65 before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work in 1968. In 1971, Dr. Trader and Dr. Paul Ephross developed the first course on human sexuality at UMB.

In 1975, Dr. Trader along with Dr. Ruth H. Young became the first women to serve as associate deans in the School of Social Work. As associate dean, Dr. Trader oversaw the clinical social work program and served on the campus’s Middle States Evaluation Committee. She remained with the school until 1979, when she became the vice president for Academic Affairs at Morgan State University, a position she held until 1989.

We are inundated with health information. As professionals and as consumers of health information, it can be confusing or overwhelming for all of us. The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) will host the 2023 NNLM Virtual Health Misinformation Symposium. This event will equip attendees to do the following:

• distinguish between the types of misinformation;
• describe current research regarding health misinformation;
• identify and implement resources and tools to combat health misinformation, resources, and tools; and
• explore programs, projects, and practices related to health misinformation in communities.

This symposium is intended for librarians and information professionals, health professionals, public health professionals, researchers, and even students with an interest in research. The three-day symposium will take place April 4 through April 6, 2023. The agenda features three keynote presentations and a variety of sessions to choose from to meet your interests. Not only will you be able to gain knowledge on how to combat health misinformation, but you can also earn continuing education credits — all for free. If you have questions, visit our FAQs page or email us for further assistance.

Book It Forward is happening again this year! From April 3 through May 31, 2023, we will be collecting new and gently used children’s books, age levels birth through high school, for donation to local schools and daycare centers. Book donation bins will be distributed across campus — look for them at the HSHSL, the SMC Campus Center, BioPark, School of Nursing, and the Saratoga Building.

This year our donation recipients will include four individual daycares, a central daycare network serving 35 care centers, and a middle/high school. One school requested a visit to HSHSL, and a story time featuring health-related children’s books.

The sponsors for Book It Forward are the HSHSL Community Service Committee, the HSHSL Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and the Office of Community Engagement.

Questions about the project? Send us an email.

A delightful new exhibit brings joy and bursts of color to the Weiss Gallery from March 10 to April 10. Mother Mary Lange Catholic School, a pre-K through eighth-grade school in West Baltimore, has covered the Gallery in their student’s captivating artwork, including pastels and paints, paper crafts, pen and ink, ceramics, and other media.

Art teacher Joanne Terrell explained the lesson behind the show, “Color theory is a guide to mixing colors. Using the color wheel, designers can create color schemes that produce emotions and behaviors in audiences. Sir Isaac Newton created the color wheel theory to explain the nature of primary colors. The objective of this unit was for students to reinforce prior knowledge of color theory and apply that knowledge while creating and responding to artwork. I wanted the students to enhance their knowledge of color theory and master the skill of using it to intentionally express ideas.”

Good news! Matte canvas is back in stock for your poster printing needs. Supply chain issues meant that we were temporarily unable to provide this popular choice, but now we are fully stocked. To have your poster printed, consult our guide.

Additionally, we heard your pleas for a rush poster printing option. We know that deadlines sneak up on you, as well as last minute requests. So we have added the option to submit a rush request for same-day poster printing. Please note that certain parameters must be met, and that the price is $110 for rush posters versus $55 for our regular service.

Rush requests submitted before noon, Monday through Friday, are guaranteed to be ready for pickup by 5 p.m. that day. Rush requests submitted after noon Monday through Thursday are guaranteed to be ready for pickup by noon the following business day.

We’re an Eventeer Awards winner! The 2022 NNLM Virtual Symposium, Advancing Engagement through Research: New Trends and Opportunities, was recognized on February 7, 2023 as the Best Research Event (sciences category) at the Eventeer Awards, a program that recognizes excellence in virtual hybrid, and in-person events hosted by vFairs and aims to celebrate and generate public recognition of the amazing efforts of event organizers and hosts worldwide.

The 2022 NNLM Virtual Symposium, Advancing Engagement through Research: New Trends and Opportunities was designed to provide attendees opportunities to explore the current state and future directions of medical and scientific research and advance the use of practices proven to be effective. A wide range of topics were shared, including understanding scientific and biomedical research; concerns in the world of research; and the inclusion of diverse populations in research, both as a participants and as researchers.

The symposium was designed to:

• Examine current and future trends in biomedical research
• Evaluate practices from researchers and organizations to gain trust in medical research
• Learn about library services that contribute to the research lifecycle
• Investigate new service models to support a data-ready scientific and biomedical research focused workforce

A NNLM YouTube playlist is available for participants to watch recordings from this event.

The Health Sciences and Human Services Library, as the Regional Medical Library for the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) Region 1, collaborated with other NNLM regions, offices, and centers to host several events to celebrate Love Data Week – February 13 to 17, 2023. Love Data Week is annual, international celebration of all things data! Organizations commemorate and participate in this by offering special events, classes, workshops, and presentations related to data. Topics for these events range from data management and sharing, to data storytelling, data reproducibility, and open data — as well as discussions around AI, geospatial data, data in the humanities and DEI, and so much more!

NNLM hosted five events that drew over 800 participants! Some of these events included webinars on data visualization and the DMPTool, were recorded and are available for viewing on the NNLM YouTube channel. You can learn more about the NNLM’s Love Data Week programming from the NNLM Center for Data Services’ website.

Ivan Freedman, library specialist, delivering the HSHSL’s hygiene drive donation to the Maryland Center for Veteran’s Education and Training (MCVET). MCVET has been serving veterans in the Baltimore area since 1993, with a mission to “provide homeless veterans and other veterans in need with comprehensive services.”

DeAnn Brame joined us in January as the assistant director of NWSO (NNLM Web Services Office). She comes to us from the Medical University of South Carolina where she was the technology and innovation strategist for the Regional Medical Library for Region 2.

Irmarie (Irma) Fraticelli-Rodriguez joined the HSHSL as a data services librarian. Previously, she worked as a data curator for the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan, where she also graduated with a master’s in science information.

Jordan Heustis moved from library assistant to library specialist in the Information Services department in February. She is already contributing at the front desk and will soon begin work on projects and committees around the HSHSL. Jordan has degrees in deaf studies and family science from Towson University.

Keisha Pearson joined the HSHSL’s Information Services department in February as an evening library assistant. Keisha also works full-time at Enoch Pratt’s Washington Village branch as the operations manager and is very skilled in providing excellent customer service.

Nicole Shelawala joined the HSHSL in January as a librarian for the School of Medicine. She is originally from Baltimore, but spent the past 11 years in England, where she received her master’s degree in library and information science from City University London. She also has a Master’s of Engineering degree from Cornell University.

Shanell Stephens recently became faculty librarian to the School of Dentistry. Shanell began her career at HSHSL in the Information Services department as a library services specialist. In 2021, she received her master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Maryland College Park.

Sarah Weirich has accepted the position of head of Resource Development. She will provide vision and leadership for the ongoing development and management of the UMB Digital Archive and the UMB Data Catalog. Having served previously as HSHSL’s metadata librarian, Sarah is already very familiar with both databases; she will now lead all aspects of their development.

Tiffany N. Chavis, MSW, MLIS, LCSW-C, co-curated a virtual exhibition, “Safety in Numbers: Portraits of East Baltimore’s ‘Reservation’,” featuring photographs sourced from archival collections of American Indian people who were part of Baltimore’s “reservation” in its heyday. Chavis and her co-curators are all members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

Tiffany N. Chavis completed the Institute for Healthcare Advancement’s Health Literacy Specialist Certificate Program in January.

Tiffany N. Chavis authored “Once upon a Time in the Academic Library: Storytelling Skills for Librarians,” published in Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries.

Christine Nieman, MLIS, co-authored “Free, FAIR, & Fabulous: Five data tools to support open and reproducible research,” which was published in MLAConnect.

Christine Nieman was awarded an ACRL 2023 Conference Scholarship to attend and present at the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) annual meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.