Hardin News

You may have noticed that things look a little different here in "News@Hardin." In an effort to keep our news areas more up to date and accessible, Hardin Library has updated its method of online publishing for announcements and news. In addition to our two newsletters (News@Hardin & Hardin Scholarly Communication News), we have added a new area called Hardin Announcements which will contain more immediate news and announcements happening at Hardin Library.

The new system we’re using is actually a blogging tool called WordPress. In addition to making it easier for Hardin staff to post news items and keep newsletters up to date, it also provides a number of useful other features for reading and organizing news from our site. One new feature that we’ll be playing with in the future is the ability to comment on a news story. If you take a look at the bottom of this post and others throughout our site, you’ll notice there is a comments link. If you would like to comment on a particular story, or read what others have to say about a story, click that link and you’ll be directed to an area where you can read or leave a comment. This is a good way to get discussion started about a particular topic. It is also a good way for us to see how this newsletter it being read and interpreted. Another handy new feature we’ve added is RSS feeds. RSS feeds are available from the bottom of the "Hardin Highlights" area of Hardin’s home page. If you haven’t heard of RSS or all the wonderful things that it can do, take a look at our Information Commons Developer Log post about RSS feeds and how to use them.

We’ve made a lot of changes recently in order to get our information out faster and more conveniently. Please give our new comment areas a try, and let us know what you think.

The new EBSCO interface of CINAHL isn’t just a pretty color change. It offers new ways of retrieving the searches you’re used to in Ovid and offers new features you may have never considered.

Spend a few minutes browsing the new CINAHL at http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/ebsco/cinahl then try answering these questions:

http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/news/cinahl_exercise.html

Friday, May 6: 7:30 am - 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 7: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday, May 8: Noon - 11:00 pm
Monday, May 9: 7:30 am - Midnight
Tuesday, May 10: 7:30 am - Midnight
Wednesday, May 11: 7:30 am - Midnight
Thursday, May 12: 7:30 am - Midnight
Friday, May 13: 7:30 am - 5:00 pm

The 24 Hour Study will be open.

Click here for summer session and holiday hours.

You may be familiar with WebCT and Blackboard. Have you heard about ICON? Iowa Courses Online (ICON) is the name for a new centrally-supported Course Management System (CMS) being implemented on campus. Pioneer faculty members will be able to request accounts on this system beginning in May 2005.

Hardin librarians are hooked in to the ongoing developments of this e-learning system and are beginning to plan for the integration of library resources and services. The goal is to better equip faculty and instructors with material for teaching, while exposing students to information resource tools that will enhance their learning and research. Hardin Library is excited about the possibilities for enhancing its existing reference service, curriculum-integrated instruction, web course design and instructional media services. Our librarians and instructional developers are particularly excited about the possibilities for using this system as a platform for collaboration with faculty members and instructors

More information about the campus E-Learning initiative, CMS selection process, and the ongoing CMS implementation process is available at:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/elearning/cms_implementation/index.shtml

If you would like to see a demonstration of ICON or talk with a Hardin librarian about possibilities for collaboration, contact Jim Duncan, Assistant Director for Technology Services, at 319/335/6928 or jim-duncan@uiowa.edu.

The Hardin Library celebrated its 30th anniversary on October 6, 2004 with speakers, a video, music and refreshments. Over eighty people heard President Skorton make remarks about Dr. Hardin and the Hardin Library professionals. A video entitled “Reflections on Hardin Library 1974-2004” was also featured. President Skorton’s remarks, photographs, and the video are still available on the Web site if you were unable to attend the celebration.

Related Links
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences - A Photographic History

New@Hardin article from September 2004 announcing the Open House Celebration

Google Scholar will help you locate a wide variety of peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. It’s very easy to use and ranks results based on citations. Google’s nifty new search service is in public beta test, which means there are lots of new features coming soon, and it doesn’t always work as expected. For example, there isn’t any way to limit to peer-reviewed articles or sort results. Some links take you right to the full article, book or report, while others lead to an abstract. Your access to electronic journals and books will be limited if you are off-campus. Be sure to check the University Libraries electronic journals, electronic books and library catalog before pulling out your credit card to pay for things you find in Google Scholar. We’re very excited about this new service and will share information with you as it develops.

Please read The Debut of Google Scholar in Hardin Scholarly Communication News for more information on Google Scholar.

We read to know we are not alone.
–C.S. Lewis

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested.
– Francis Bacon

As you enter the library on the third floor, take the first turn to the left and you’ll pass the Hardin Library Browsing Collection, a shelf-full of books by such disparate authors as, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, E.B. White, and William Carlos Williams. The books all have one thing in common: they are works from the humanities, arts, social sciences, and religion that are directly or indirectly related to the healing arts. While many of the books are duplicated in the Main Library or in the Hardin stacks, this smaller assemblage offers an opportunity for users to browse books they might not otherwise encounter. All of the books may be checked out by staff and students. The initial funding and book drive for the browsing collection was provided by the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society around 20 years ago. Since that time, the collection has grown through both formal and informal donations which are always welcome. The next time you find yourself in the library, take a few minutes to glance at some of these classic works – you may find yourself coming back often.

Recent additions to the Browsing Collection

• What patients taught me: a medical student’s journey, by Audrey Young [R729.5 .R87Y68 2004]
• Mountains beyond mountains, by Tracy Kidder [R154 .F36K53 2003]
• Complications: a surgeon’s notes on an imperfect science, by Atul Gawande [RD27.35 .G39A3 2002]
• The Doctor’s quotation book: a medical miscellany, by Robert Wilkins [R705 .D63 1992]

Last winter, a crisis loomed for the Hardin Library 2004-05 collection budget. Hardin’s Director, Jean Sayre, went to the Health Sciences Policy Council* to deliver the bad news. A flat budget, as had been predicted by the Provost’s Office, or a budget with even a 5% increase would result in cancellation of several popular and extremely well-used electronic databases and resources. After thoroughly discussing options, the health sciences deans and the Director and CEO of the UI Hospitals and Clinics elected to help support the Hardin collections budget for this fiscal year. The amount of support, $117,000, in addition to a 5% increase of the library’s collection budget is helping Hardin keep its popular resources and even add a few carefully selected resources that will support the health sciences curricula and research. The Hardin Library staff on behalf of the thousands of Hardin Library users would like to thank the Health Sciences Policy Council for helping to maintain a strong library collection during these troubled budget times.

*The Health Sciences Policy Council is a forum for discussion of issues affecting the health sciences and consists of the deans of the health sciences colleges, the Director of the U of I Hospitals and Clinics, the Director of the State Hygienic Laboratory, and the Provost and Associate Provost for Health Sciences.

Information and Health at Iowa: Breaking Boundaries and Building Bridges
October 28-29 2004

The Human Genome Project, DNA sequencing and data mining: it’s all possible because of informatics. Informatics connects educators, information specialists, computational engineers and biomedical researchers.

Learn about the groundbreaking cross-disciplinary health informatics research taking place here at the University of Iowa. Distinguished speakers from UI Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Law, Nursing, Public Health, and the Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as the National Library of Medicine and University of California-San Diego School of Medicine will share their research in health informatics.

Share your informatics projects in conference poster sessions. Submissions not exceeding 300 words should be submitted by September 24th to michael-kienzle@uiowa.edu with “Poster Proposal” included in the e-mail subject line. They should include a title, author name(s), affiliation (student, staff, faculty, area professional), e-mail address, and a brief description including purpose, design, results, discussion and conclusions.

“This poster session will provide an opportunity for both UI faculty and student researchers to discuss their work with leading experts in health informatics,” said Michael Kienzle, professor in the College of Medicine and member of the Health Informatics Steering Committee. “Authors of accepted proposals will earn recognition in the conference program and a peer-reviewed entry on their own curriculum vitae.”

Students are encouraged to share their research. The top five student posters will receive a $100 award.

Find more information and to register online go to http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/conference

The cost of the two-day conference is only $25.00. Students can register for “sessions only” free of charge!

Conference sponsored by
Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Research, The University of Iowa Libraries, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, and the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology

On Wednesday, October 6, the Hardin Library will celebrate its 30th anniversary with an open house from 1:30 to 4:00. The festivities will include remarks by President David Skorton, tours of the library, exhibits, demonstrations, refreshments, and music. Those in attendance will also have an opportunity to view the recently remodeled public service area on the main floor.
Today’s users of the Hardin Library take for granted the well-maintained and service-oriented facility that serves their information needs. Earlier users were not as fortunate as they were forced to navigate the crowded, narrow stacks, low ceilings, and limited study space that characterized the earlier homes of the collection. The completion of the Health Sciences Library in 1974 (its name was changed to the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences in 1988) marked the first time that all University health sciences information resources were located in a single building—a structure whose unique architecture continues to stimulate controversy.

Since its completion, in 1974 Hardin Library staff members have played a leading role in the health science information revolution as they sought to take advantage of the burgeoning technology that has characterized the last three decades. The Library is recognized as one of the most innovative in the country and has established a sterling reputation for service excellence through its close partnership with health science staff and faculty. The Hardin Library staff is justly proud of its history and its accomplishments. We hope you will help us celebrate by attending this special event.

View Photos from the event: Album 1 - Album 2
Update (October 7, 2004): Anniversary Video Now Online!