Hahnemann Libraries begins reduced hours for the summer on Monday, June 29th.  The Library will close at 10:00 pm Monday through Thursday (Friday hours will remain the same, 7:45 am – 8:00 pm); on Saturdays and Sundays, the Library will be open from Noon to 6:00 pm.

The Queen Lane Library has already begun summer hours, open 8:00 am to 9:00 pm Monday and Tuesday, and 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Wednesday through Friday.

On Friday, July 3rd and Saturday, July 4th, both the Hahnemann and Queen Lane Libraries will be closed for the Independence Day holiday.

The Libraries’ license to DynaMed — a popular clinical reference tool — has been expanded to include access via PDA devices, including Smartphones, BlackBerry, and iPhone.

DynaMed, created for use primarily at the ‘point-of-care’, provides clinically-organized summaries for more than 3,000 topics and is updated daily.

Use of DynaMed on a handheld device requires an individual serial number; instructions for obtaining the serial number and installing DynaMed, as well as a complete list of the devices on which it can be used, are available at Dynamed for PDAs.

The Libraries have canceled our subscription to First Consult, after determining that the level of usage did not justify the expense. We will, of course, continue to subscribe to MD Consult, which continues to be a very popular information source.

As substitutes for those seeking at-hand clinical information, we recommend Dynamed — watch for an announcement later this week about PDA/cell-phone access to Dynamed! We’re also arranging a trial subscription to Epocrates; watch for more news about this in coming weeks.

The Health Sciences Libraries have chosen to subscribe to the Cochrane Library via Wiley InterScience to address access issues that have occured with our current subscription via OVID; our Wiley subscription will have no limit on simultaneous uses.

Currently, you’ll find the Wiley version of the Cochrane Library available through our lists of database (both the Medicine/Biomedical Sciences list, and the alphabetical list).  Watch for it as an addition to our homepage QuickLinks in coming weeks for fast, convenient access to the valuable evidence-based practice resource. Please note that the Cochrane Databases will be be removed from the list of databases available in OVID at the end of this month.

The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. Cochrane reviews represent the highest level of evidence on which to base clinical treatment decisions.  The Cochrane Library also includes the Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cochrane Methodology Register, Technology Assessments, and Economic Evaluations.  Each section can be searched by keywords or MeSH (medical subject headings); the Reviews can also be browsed by topic, by review group or alphabetically.   PDFs are provided for printing.

The AAMC has sent out a message to the Medical Education community, requesting that faculty, students, residents and researchers urge their members of congress to support increased funding the NIH.

Your action on this issue is extremely important. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved its subcommittee allocations for the FY 2010 spending bills. These allocations set the limit on the amount of funding each subcommittee has for the programs under its jurisdiction.

The Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which includes NIH, received an allocation of $160.7 billion. While this amount represents an increase of nearly $8.9 billion (5.8 percent) over the subcommittee’s funding level in the FY 2009 omnibus (P.L. 111-8), it falls approximately $50 million short of the President’s request. You will recall that the President’s budget calls for $30.759 billion for the NIH through the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, a $442 million (1.5 percent) increase over the FY 2009 appropriated level of $30.317 billion.This number excludes funding provided to NIH through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L. 111-5).

The committee also announced the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee tentatively is scheduled to mark up its bill July 8, followed by full Appropriations Committee action July 14, and House floor consideration July 22 through July 24. This means there is only three weeks to get messages of support for increasing NIH’s budget to Congress before the House subcommittee considers its bill. Given the competing priorities within this bill and an allocation that barely matches the President’s budget, it is critical that the medical research community deliver an emphatic message of support for increased NIH funding.

Further information about NIH funding and this initiative from the AAMC, including sample letters, can be found at http://www.researchmeanshope.org/.

Our warmest congratulations to all of our students who will be graduating this week!

As you head towards that finish line, please take a minute to make sure that you’ve returned all books and videos to the libraries, and cleared any outstanding fines.  You can checkyour record online, stop by the circulation desk, or give us a call (215-762-7631 for Hahnemann, 215-991-8740 for Queen Lane).

But you don’t have to say “good-bye” to us!  While we regret that we can’t offer off-campus access to our electronic collections, alumni are welcome to visit the libraries and are entitled to borrow books from our collections using their Drexel University alumni card,

The Health Sciences Libraries would like to extend our best wishes to all of our students for success on their exams.  Don’t forget that there is 24-hour study space available at both Hahnemann and Queen Lane, with access to computers, printers and copiers.

And when your exams are over — RELAX!  Have a wonderful break!  We’ll look forward to seeing you when you come back.