In the twenty-eight years HS/HSL has been home to NN/LM’s Southeastern/Atlantic Regional Medical Library (RML) we have been a vital force in ensuring health information access for health practitioners and the general public. Through training and funding we work to guarantee that every person in our region who needs quality health information-from peer-reviewed research articles to "low-to-no" literacy materials-has access and the health literacy tools needed to make clinical or personal health decisions.

Our educational efforts, which include 34 themed workshops, short presentations, and exhibits, help our constituency find, evaluate, and access health information. Between 2006 and 2011, we taught more than 600 classes to physicians, nurses, librarians, consumers, etc.; we supported 248 exhibits at national, state, and local shows, including the American College of Cardiology, Native American pow wows, health fairs at public libraries, and street festivals. We reached thousands of people in this manner, teaching them how to find good health information and teaching others how to pass their new skills on to others.

Empowering our partners in the academic, hospital, and community-based worlds to do outreach and provide information where needed, we funded 450 projects in the 2006-2011 period. These projects ran the gamut from $500 to $50,000 and covered such things as training public librarians on consumer health information in Tennessee, training of health practitioners in the use of NLM services, providing a rural EMT service with mobile information technology, and installing computers in a beauty salon that serves as an information hub for its community. Each of these projects served, in some way, to train users on health information or to make health information more readily available.

Recently, a librarian at a national conference told me an RML staff member had changed her life. The courses on consumer health she had taken had a large effect on her work. It is always great to hear good things about the RML program and staff. More importantly, something we did had a real consequence in the life of an actual person. This confirmed that what the RML does is important at the personal level and that the work we do makes a difference.

“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.” ~Russell Baker

There’s something different about summer in the HS/HSL. Back in the old days, there was actually a lull in the life of the campus. Now, summer is just as busy, although in a different way, than the rest of the year.

We use the summer to gear up for the upcoming academic year. Some of our summer projects include:

• Reconfiguring the building to support new late night library study hours
• Planning activities for the exhibit Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine
• Working on the fall Scholarly Communication Series event.  The fall topic will be "Publication Ethics"
• Designing a curriculum for our health disparities grant and getting ourselves ready for our 12 students
• Assessing the condition of the building and furnishings, top to bottom
• Renewing subscription and resource licenses
• Evaluating, shifting, and weeding the physical collection

We enjoy the different types of things we do and the more casual, relaxed atmosphere as we plan for the next academic year. We certainly enjoy the air conditioning which keeps some of that “suffering” at bay!

We’re still here to help when you need us. And we hope you have a summer where you can “suffer and like it.” Eat blueberries for the antioxidants. Go out in the sun for 15 minutes daily to get your Vitamin D. Look at lightning bugs twinkling. Take deep breaths. Take a walk, swim, ride a bike, and be well. See you soon.

We are pleased to announce that the HS/HSL is the recipient of an $11.5 million, five-year contract from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at NIH. This marks the seventh time that the University of Maryland has been chosen to serve as National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Southeastern/Atlantic Regional Medical Library (SE/A RML). The SE/A region encompasses 10 southeastern states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands and almost 25% of the US population. Through the contract, the SE/A staff provide funding, exhibits, and training for health information outreach, not only to librarians and health care professionals, but to community-based organizations, emergency responders, faith-based groups and others. In all, there are eight regional medical libraries across the US located at:

• New England Region: Lamar Soutter Library, University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Middle Atlantic Region: Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh
• Greater Midwest Region: Library of the Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago
• MidContinental Region: Spencer E. Eccles Library, University of Utah
• South Central Region:  Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library
• Pacific Northwest Region: Health Sciences Library, University of Washington
• Pacific Southwest Region: Louise M. Darling Library, UCLA

"We are delighted and honored that we can continue to fulfill this essential role in NLM’s outreach efforts, as we have done since 1983. We look forward to our ongoing work with our friends and colleagues within the region and across the national network," said M.J. Tooey, Executive Director of the HS/HSL and Principal Investigator for the contract.

In support of the Board of Regent’s Policy on Textbook affordability measures, the School of Pharmacy and the Health Sciences and Human Services Library are collaborating to provide McGraw Hill’s Access Pharmacy to the campus for a one year pilot. This collection of over thirty electronic books and other online tools contains such standard texts as Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, Goodman and Gilman’s Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, and Dipiro’s Pharmacotherapy.

This valuable resource allows an unlimited number of users and is available both on and off campus through the HS/HSL’s Databases list. Individual books can be found in the Library Catalog and the E-Book list. A mobile version optimized for use with handheld devices is also available.

The faculty and staff of the HS/HSL are excited to be working with the School of Pharmacy to provide this resource and think that you will find it useful.

The HS/HSL will host a demonstration of Research in View, a research analytics product from Thomson Reuters on July 26, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Research in View allows users to:

• Take advantage of an information management system that captures data for service, teaching, and research activities for the entire campus
• Provide all of faculty with a one-stop resource for collecting and reporting on their scholarly activities, including an automated infrastructure to keep profiles up-to-date
• Search for faculty, and faculty can search for each other
• Support collaborative activities

For more information, or if you are interested in attending, please contact Steven Douglas

Colette Becker, Web Developer for HS/HSL’s Southeastern/Atlantic Regional Medical Library office, has been elected Chair of Staff Senate for the 2011-2012 term year. Throughout over 25 years of service at the Baltimore Campus of the University of Maryland, Becker has devoted much time and effort to staff activities. As a member of the Staff Senate since 2001, she has served as webmaster, chair of the Communications Committee, and vice-chair. Colette has also served on the Council of University System Staff (CUSS) since 2003, working in the capacities of chair of the Community Development Committee, editor of the CUSS newsletter, and vice-chair of the Council itself. Congratulations Colette!

Regina Tumasella is from the Catskill Mountains of New York where she spent most of her time observing the natural world around her. She resides in Baltimore and earned a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art (1999). Regina’s paintings were featured in the New York Times article “Art by the Rails in Baltimore”.

Regina’s paintings are currently on display in the Frieda O. Weise Gallery June 13 – July 29, 2011.