Library News

Hardin Library’s newest exhibit traces the history of the dubious attempts to divine personality characteristics by analyzing the size, shape, structure and composition of the human head. 

It was Aristotle who coined the term, “physiognomy” to support his own writings and inclinations on the subject. Since that time the notion that character and personality are somehow imprinted in facial features has received considerable attention through a variety of approaches, nearly all of them unsupported by empirical evidence of any kind and many of them used for such nefarious purposes as racial stereotyping and the outright support of bigotry. 

The exhibit is located near the 3rd floor entrance to the library.

Hardin Library is now sending tweets on Twitter.  If you want to follow us, our name on Twitter is HardinLHS.  (http://twitter.com/hardinlhs)

If you are interested in twittering yourself, stop by the Information Commons on Fridays from 10am-Noon or contact us for help.

The open house and exhibit, “De Partu Hominis; Six Centuries of Obstetrics,” will feature rare books on childbirth from the 15th through the 20th centuries.  Visitors can view and page through early atlases and manuals used by midwives and physicians featuring illustrations and descriptions of birthing chairs, forceps, caesarean section, the development of anesthesia, and complications of labor and delivery. 

Among the dozens of works to be displayed include William Hunter’s striking 1774 atlas, The anatomy of the human gravid uterus, Oliver Wendell Holmes’ controversial 1842 treatise,  The contagiousness of puerperal fever, and De formato foetu, a set of plates rendered in the Baroque style, published in 1626. 

Thursday, May 14 from 4:30 to 7:30
John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences 

The exhibit is part of a series of public lectures and presentation sponsored by the University of Iowa History of Medicine Society.  The John Martin Rare Book Room is located on the fourth floor of the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.  For additional information, please contact Ed Holtum, Curator at 335-9154.

Hardin librarians have developed an information guide about Swine Flu. All of the information contained in the guide is free and open to the public.

http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/swineflu

Beginning this semester the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences has extended its weekend hours.

Fridays 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sundays 12:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

A 24-hour study room is also available at Hardin.

Jonathan Koffel, education and outreach librarian, recently received special recognition from the UI College of Pharmacy for his teaching and outreach efforts.  The award was based on votes and comments from Pharmacy students and was awarded at the College’s annual reception held to honor scholarship recipients and Teacher of the Year award winners.  

Jonathan is the Library’s liaison to the College of Pharmacy and holds an adjunct faculty appointment within the College.  He teaches information use skills to students in the Pharmacy Practice Lab course sequence, creates customized resource guides on pharmacy topics, and selects pharmacy-related materials for the library’s collection.

In this election season, competing proposals for health reform have again taken center stage.  Colin Gordon, the author of Dead on Arrival: The Politics of Health in Twentieth Century America, will place these proposals—and their prospects for success—in historical perspective.

Colin Gordon, Ph.D. is a professor of history at the University of Iowa, specializing in 20th Century U. S. History. For this program, Professor Gordon will provide a brief background on health care policy and its interaction with Presidential politics, prior to facilitating what we hope will be a lively discussion by all those in attendance.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, Information Commons, 2nd floor 

The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society is an informal group of students, faculty, staff, and members of the community sharing an interest in the history of medicine and the health sciences. We present speakers about once a month and, in the spring, host a banquet with a presentation from a well-known medical historian. We have no membership dues and we welcome participants from the University and the general community.

To become a member, simply send an e-mail to either Ed Holtum or Donna Sabin and ask to be placed on our electronic mailing list. In addition to alerting members of forthcoming presentations, the list is also a vehicle for members to communicate matters of interest relating to the history of medicine and the health sciences.

Librarians at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences have compiled links to important health information in an online resource guide.

http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/floodrecovery

For other health information related questions, please Ask a Librarian.

The John Martin Rare Book Room will hold its annual open house on Thursday, May 15 from 4:30 to 7:30. The exhibit, “’No Small Presumption’–Surgical Works From Six Centuries,” will feature rare books from the earliest days of surgery through the twentieth century. The event is open to the public. 

Although chloroform and ether were not widely used before the second half of the 19th century, a surprising number of surgical procedures were employed hundreds and even thousand of years ago, including operations for cataracts, bullet removal, hernias, club foot, and bladder stones. The open house will allow visitors to view and page through the early texts and illustrations used by surgeons for instruction and guidance. Of special interest are the woodcuts and engravings of the elaborate and sometimes quite modern instruments developed over the centuries for specific tasks, including drills, scalpels, and saws designed with speed and efficiency in mind. Important early works in anesthetics and antisepsis will also be featured. 

The exhibit is part of a series of public lectures and presentation sponsored by the University of Iowa History of Medicine Society. The John Martin Rare Book Room is located on the fourth floor of the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.  For additional information, please contact Ed Holtum, Curator at 335-9154.

Experts estimate that as many as 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals. That’s more than die from either motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS–three causes that receive far more public attention.*  

The first week of March is National Patient Safety Week. This year, the Hardin Library is providing consumer outreach to Iowa communities on how a patient can help to improve their safety while in the hospital (hand washing, asking, medicine list, and more).

We will be kicking off this outreach effort on Thursday March 6th with staff from UIHC. The panel includes a consumer who will discuss a hospital error and the impact it had on her family; a health professional from the hospital will talk about what goes on in a large system such as UIHC and how errors can sometimes occur and give suggestions for what patients can do to be a part of the safety team; and a health sciences librarian will present information resources that are available on patient safety and consumer health.

The National Patient Safety Week reception and introduction to the Iowa-based Empowering Public Health/Patient Safety Outreach through Community Partnerships will be held: Thursday, March 6th Nursing Clinical Education Center UI Hospitals and Clinics. For more information:  http://hosted.lib.uiowa.edu/ppeca/

• Panel presentation for consumers: 3:00-4:00 pm
• Introduction of hospital patient safety program and community outreach: 4:15pm-5:00pm
• Reception: 5:00pm-6:00pm

*A report by the Institute of Medicine, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, 1999.

Have you ever left the doctor’s office with questions about a condition or medication? The Internet is full of health resources, but not all information online can be trusted. At a free workshop Wednesday, Nov. 7, librarians from the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa will demonstrate some high-quality consumer health resources to help make you a better-informed patient.

The workshop begins at 7 p.m. in the Information Commons at Hardin Library for the Health Sciences. A hands-on opportunity exploring these resources will also be provided.

According to a report from the Pew Internet and American Live Project, 80 percent of American Internet users, or some 113 million adults, have searched for health information online. The report also says most Internet users start at a general search engine when researching health and medical advice online and 22 percent of these searchers feel frustrated by the lack of health information or an inability to find what they were looking for online.

This workshop is being held in conjunction with the “Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians” exhibit that will be on display at Hardin Library through Friday, Nov. 30. This exhibit tells the extraordinary story of how American women who wanted to practice medicine have struggled over the past two centuries to gain access to medical education and to work in the medical specialty they chose.

The National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., and the American Library Association in Chicago, Ill., organized the exhibition with support from the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health and the American Medical Women’s Association. The traveling exhibition is based on a larger exhibition that was displayed at the National Library of Medicine 2003-05.

For more information about the workshop or the exhibit, see http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/women or call Kristi Bontrager at 319-335-5960.

As part of the Changing the Face of Medicine exhibition, Hardin Library will host two brown bag book discussions. The first will be Friday, November 9th at 12 p.m. and the second will wrap-up the exhibit on Friday, November 30th at 12 p.m. Both discussions will be held in the Fourth Floor Conference Room of the Hardin Library.

Angel of Harlem by Kuwana Haulsey won the 2005 Blackboard Medal of Courage Award. Inspired by the extraordinary events of Dr. May Chinn’s life, Angel of Harlem is a deeply affecting story of love and transcendence. Weaving seamlessly scenes from the battlefields of the Civil War, during which her father escaped from slavery, to the Harlem living rooms and kitchen tables where May is sometimes forced to operate on her patients, this fascinating novel lays bare the heart of a woman who changed the face of medicine.

Bring your lunch, we’ll provide the cookies and drinks, and we’ll talk about this remarkable story.

Susan Winckler (left), chief of staff of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a University of Iowa alumna, and Jennifer Niebyl (right), UI faculty member and physician, will help launch a traveling exhibit on women and medicine with talks beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, in the Dr. Prem Sahai Auditorium, Room 1110A, in the Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF) on the UI health sciences campus.The talks will be preceded by a 4-5 p.m. reception in the MERF atrium. Following the talks, there will be a 6 p.m. dessert reception at the exhibit, “Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians,” located in the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

The exhibit is sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, and will be on view during regular library hours through Nov. 30. For more information, visit http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2007/october/100907hardin_exhibit.html or http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/women.

Winckler, a graduate of the UI College of Pharmacy and 2003 Distinguished Alumna, will present, “Women in Health Care: Changing Policy and Practice.” Niebyl, M.D., professor and head of obstetrics and gynecology at UI Hospitals and Clinics and the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, will present, “Women in Medicine: Four Decades of Change.”

Winckler joined the FDA in September 2006 as director of policy communications. She previously served in successively advanced roles for the American Pharmacists Association. Earlier, she directed implementation of the Iowa Medicaid Drug Prior Authorization Program for the Unisys Company and worked for the Iowa Pharmacists Association (now the Iowa Pharmacy Association) and a community pharmacy in Iowa. In addition to holding a UI degree in pharmacy, Winckler earned a law degree from Georgetown University.

A UI faculty member since 1988, Niebyl is recognized as a “Local Legend” of the America Medical Women’s Association and listed among “Best Doctors in America.” She also is a member of the Institute of Medicine. Niebyl’s research interests include drug treatment during pregnancy, tocolytic agents for preterm labor, folic acid for preventing birth defects, nutrition in pregnancy, and nausea and vomiting related to pregnancy. She earned a medical degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in Montreal.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact UI Libraries in advance at 319-335-5867.

Women doctors are the focus of a new traveling exhibition opening Friday, Oct. 12 at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa.”Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians” tells the extraordinary story of how American women who wanted to practice medicine have struggled over the past two centuries to gain access to medical education and to work in the medical specialty they chose.

The National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., and the American Library Association in Chicago, Ill., organized the exhibition with support from the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health and the American Medical Women’s Association. The traveling exhibition is based on a larger exhibition that was displayed at the National Library of Medicine 2003-05.

“Changing the Face of Medicine” features the life stories of a rich diversity of women physicians from around the nation and highlights the broad range of medical specialties women are involved in today.

“Women have brought fresh perspectives to the medical profession,” said Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D., director of the National Library of Medicine. “They have turned the spotlight on issues that had previously received little attention, such as the social and economic costs of illnesses and the low numbers of women and minorities entering medical school and practice.”

Women physicians in the 21st century are benefiting from the career paths carved out since the mid-19th century by a long line of American women. Some early physicians featured in the exhibition are Matilda Evans, the first African American physician to be licensed in South Carolina, and Florence Sabin, one of the earliest woman physicians to work as a research scientist. Among the many other doctors whose stories appear in the exhibition are Antonia Novello, the first woman Surgeon General of the United States, and Catherine DeAngelis, the first woman to be appointed editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Two interactive kiosks traveling with the exhibition offer access to the National Library of Medicine’s “Local Legends” Web site (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/locallegends), which features outstanding women physicians from every state, and to a Web site created for the larger exhibition at the National Library of Medicine: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine.

The exhibition Web site offers access to educational and professional resources for people considering medicine as a career, as well as lesson plans for classroom activities. A section of the Web site called “Share Your Story,” allows the public to add the names and biographies of women physicians they know.

The Hardin Library is one of 62 libraries in the United States to host the exhibit and one of two in Iowa; the Council Bluffs Public Library will also host the exhibit after the Hardin Library.

“We are delighted to have been selected as a site for this exhibition,” said Linda Walton, associate university librarian and director of the Hardin Library. “Although ‘Changing the Face of Medicine’ focuses on women in medicine, its lessons about persistence, dedication and courage in one’s life choices speak to everyone — men and women and young adults — and to people in all lines of work.”

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held Thursday, Oct. 18 starting at 4 p.m. in the Medical Education Research Facility Atrium at the UI. UI alumna Susan Winckler, chief of staff for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Jennifer Niebyl, M.D., professor and head of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, will speak about the changing role of women in health care at 5 p.m. in the Sahai Auditorium. The exhibit will be open for viewing in the Hardin Library after the reception speakers.

The Hardin Library is sponsoring free programs and other events for the public in connection with the exhibition. For more information and hours, visit the library’s Web site at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/women.

Starting July 1st, UI students, faculty and staff will be able to login to the Libraries’ online Interlibrary Loan system to request articles and book chapters that the Libraries’ holds only in hard copy. In addition to making their requests online, they will also be able to track their requests online.

This isn’t a new service; students, faculty and staff have been able to request delivery of articles and book chapters from the UI Libraries for years via the Article Delivery Services (the new service will also include the former Pagerunner service), but now they can do it completely online.

Any article from a journal held by the UI Libraries (excluding the Law Library and the Curriculum Lab) can be photocopied and delivered to a home address or delivered electronically through email. Photocopies will be mailed or delivered electronically via email within 24-48 hours.

Contact the Main Library Interlibrary Loan via e-mail (lib-ill@uiowa.edu) or phone 319-335-5917 or the Hardin Library for the Health Science Interlibrary Loan via email (lib-hardin-ill@uiowa.edu) or phone 319-335-9874 for more information.

Kathy Skhal, Clinical Education Librarian at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, has been appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Carver College of Medicine. This is a three-year appointment with the department of Internal Medicine.

Skhal will tailor her education sessions specifically to medicine students and faculty; she will coordinate and lead small group sessions on specific related topics; she will have lecturing responsibilities and she will help provide information resources.

“Kathy plays a valuable role within the medical school as a Clinical Education Librarian. She provides Course Directors with numerous resources that will be helpful to our students on a variety of topics,” says Dee Dee Stafford, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine FCP IV Course Director. Kathy is extremely enthusiastic about medical education and in the dissemination of knowledge. She has the knowledge and commitment to trouble-shoot problems extremely well. She is very committed to helping out learners at all levels.”

The University of Iowa Libraries and the UI History of Medicine Society will sponsor an open house of one of the finest collections of notable anatomical illustrations in the United States from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, in the John Martin Rare Book Room of the UI Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

The exhibit, “So Divinely Built a Mansion: Six Centuries of Human Anatomical Illustration,” highlights the largest and most exquisite anatomical atlas ever produced — the rare work “Anatomia Universa” completed by Italian scholar Paolo Mascogni in 1823. The atlas is one of only five copies owned by libraries in the United States. Recently, the UI Libraries Conservation Unit painstakingly remounted 44 hand-colored lithograph plates into acid-free panels to protect Mascogni’s work and provide easier access.

The exhibit will also feature the groundbreaking book that revolutionized the study of anatomy during the Renaissance, “De humani corporis fabrica” (Fabric of the Human Body), produced by Andreas Vesalius in 1543.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served at the open house. The event is part of a series of presentations sponsored by the UI History of Medicine Society.

For more information, contact Ed Holtum at 319-335-9154 or Susan Lawrence at 319-353-4681.