The University of Iowa Libraries joins thousands of other academic research libraries worldwide in celebration of Open Access Week, which is now in its fourth year. To draw attention to this important issue facing faculty, students and librarians, we’re turning our website orange in recognition of Open Access.

We see this as an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.

“Open Access” to information – the free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research, and the right to use and re-use those results as you need – has the power to transform the way research and scientific inquiry are conducted. It has direct and widespread implications for academia, medicine, science, industry, and for society as a whole.

Open Access (OA) has the potential to maximize research investments, increase the exposure and use of published research, facilitate the ability to conduct research across available literature, and enhance the overall advancement of scholarship. Research funding agencies, academic institutions, researchers and scientists, teachers, students, and members of the general public are supporting a move towards Open Access in increasing numbers every year. Open Access Week is a key opportunity for all members of the community to take action to keep this momentum moving forward.

Since July 1, 2010, Hardin librarians and staff have taught over 80 sessions on library resources.  We have done orientation sessions for students, faculty and residents.  We go into the classrooms and teach library resources to students at the Colleges of Public Health, Pharmacy, Nursing, Dentistry and the Carver College of Medicine.  And of course we teach our Hardin Open Workshops which offer a variety of content and are open to any student, staff or faculty on campus.

Register for a session today!  http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/regform.html

Please join us this Friday, August 27th for a tour of Hardin Library. We will be offering tours at 9am and 1pm. Tours will include the locations of the book and journal collections, computer classrooms, study areas, simulation equipment and general information about our electronic resources.

Friday, August 27th – 9am and 1pm

We look forward to seeing you.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Hardin Library in advance at 319-335-9151.

As of this morning, MedlinePlus has a new look! The entire site has been redesigned with a new layout and color scheme. Some highlights of the new design are:

• A Videos & Cool Tools page that makes multimedia content easier to find and searchable.
• A Share button on all health topic pages and interactive tutorials that allows you to share links to MedlinePlus through your favorite social networks. See the Diabetic Diet topic page as an example.
• A medical dictionary search box on the English homepage for quick look-up of medical terms.
• A search cloud widget on the homepage, and a widgets page where you can find options for embedding MedlinePlus content in your own blogs, personalized homepages, and other sites.

We invite you to visit MedlinePlus to see the changes and new features for yourself. Let us know what you think of the new design by clicking the Contact Us link that appears on every page.

As always, you can stay up-to-date with the latest changes to MedlinePlus by following us on Twitter @medlineplus4you, visiting our What’s New page, and signing up for email updates. Also, don’t forget about the mobile version of MedlinePlus for reliable health information when you’re on-the-go.

As of noon on March 25th the Interlibrary Loan system is back up. Thank you.