In the February 6th NY Times Sunday Magazine, Virginia Heffernan wrote about the hazards on online medical advice sites, comparing WebMD and May Clinic Health Information.  This week’s Magazine section published a letter from Hahnemann Libraries’ Linda Katz, recommending the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus as a highly-trusted site for consumer health information, free from advertising or product endorsements.

Congratulations to H. Michael Dreher and Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow of the College of Nursing and Health Professions for their role as editors of the recently published book, Role Development for Doctoral Advanced Nursing Practice; and to Hahnemann librarian Gary Childs, co-author with Fran Cornelius and Linda Wilson of CNHP of the chapter, Leveraging Technology to Support Doctoral Advanced Nursing Practice.

We don’t like to be the food police.

However, we’re hearing complaints about smells, trash — especially in study rooms — and sticky table surfaces. And we know that as the weather gets colder, the critter population will grow.

Please limit food brought into the library to drinks (with covers, of course), and small snacks. Large sandwiches, pizzas, salads — particularly anything “aromatic” or messy — can be enjoyed at the cafe tables in Geary Lobby, or the lobby inside the first floor entrance to the library.

Thank you for helping us to keep the library cleaner and healthier for everyone!

In celebration of Independence Day, Hahnemann Library will be closed on Sunday, July 4th and Monday, July 5th (University Holiday).  The Queen Lane Library will be closed from Saturday, July 3rd through Monday, July 5th.

Of course, the study areas in the Queen Lane Library, and the 24-hour study lounge at Hahnemann will remain open around the clock as always.

If you’re looking for entertainment while the libraries are closed, don’t forget that no city celebrates the Fourth of July like Philadelphia.  The Welcome America festivities have already begun, and will continue through Monday with historical celebrations, free movies, and concerts and fireworks at both Penn’s Landing and the Art Museum.  Check out the full schedule at http://www.welcomeamerica.com/.

The libraries have begun transitioning to a new link-resolver system; that’s “library-talk” for the mechanism that helps you get from an article citation in one database to the article content that may be available from a different provider.

The SFX icons that you’ve seen in the past will be going away and will be replaced by the bold new icon you see above.  This change will be phased in through the month of June; watch for it in your favorite databases!

The Get It change is more than cosmetic — our new link-resolver system promises us more frequent updates, and more accurate information about our electronic journal subscriptions. Changes in our catalog and electronic journal finder will also make the linking process smoother and more error-free.

GET IT = new icon – easier linking – better service!  Got it?

The producers of EndNote bibliographic management software are very good at keeping current with changes in database structures and interfaces, and changes in publication styles.  These changes, however, are not necessarily integrated into the EndNote application. Visit EndNote’s Support & Services site (http://www.endnote.com/support/ensupport.asp) site to find updates.

Some  recent updates that may be of particular interest include:

• APA 6th Edition Update (even if you installed EndNote since the release of APA 6th edition, you must download this update!)
• Import Filters for EBSCO databases
• Instructions for importing from Google Scholar

Also noted on the EndNote homepage is new information related to the NIH requirement that PMC (PubMed Central) reference numbers be included in references for grant proposals.

The bill signed Tuesday by President Obama is probably one of the most complex — and certainly controversial — pieces of legislation passed in recent history.  Here are some sources for the actual text of the bill, the changes as voted upon by the House on Sunday, and summaries/explanations of the bill:

H.R.4872 : Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (THOMAS, the Library of Congress’ database of Federal legislation)

H.R.3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (THOMAS)

How the Health Care Overhaul Could Affect You (New York Times)

Proposed Changes in the Final Health Care Bill – A look at key provisions of the Senate bill and the changes proposed in the reconciliation bill passed by the House Sunday (New York Times)

Frequently Asked Questions about Health System Reform Legislation (H.R. 3590) (American Medical Association)

Health-Reform Bill Holds Changes for Medical Training (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Cost estimate for the amendment in the nature of a substitute for H.R. 4872 (Congressional Budget Office)

The American Psychiatric Association anticipates publishing the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in May 2013. As part of the development process, the preliminary draft revisions to the current diagnostic criteria for psychiatric diagnoses are now available for public review and comment. The proposed revisions, discussions of the development process and the timeline for publication can be found at http://www.dsm5.org/.

Many of the proposed changes have been widely discussed in both professional circles and the popular press, including a recent article in the New York Times.

Public commentary is being sought on the draft of objectives for Healthy People 2020, online at http://www.healthypeople.gov/hp2020/Comments/default.asp.  Those who wish to comment can register to receive email updates on the objectives, or can comment anonymously.

Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for promoting health and preventing disease. Every 10 years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leverages scientific insights and lessons learned from the past decade, along with new knowledge of current data, trends, and innovations.

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/.