Nature Publishing Group (NPG) has launched an online calendar of global scientific events. The calendar provides users with a new way to search for science events, which can also be personalized and synced to a personal online or mobile calendar. The calendar is hosted on nature.com;  it is free both to view and to contribute to.

The calendar provides users with an innovative way to find important dates in science, as well as events that have been specifically selected by Nature editors. Content includes:

• Conferences
• Training courses
• Careers events
• Journal publication dates
• International observances
• Congress
• Historical anniversaries
• Astronomical events
• Webinars/virtual events

Users can synchronize their personal calendar automatically with the events calendar using the iCal feed. Feeds can be tailored by a number of preferences including subject area, location and type of event, to match their interests. The iCal feed is supported by Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook 2007 and Apple iCal.

Visit the calendar

Read the press release

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) recently announced its TOXMAP  and TOXNET TRI resources have added 2010 Toxics Release Inventory data (TRI) – the most current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data available.

TRI contains information on the annual estimated releases of toxic chemicals to the environment and is based on data collected by the EPA. Mandated by the Pollution Prevention Act, TOXNET TRI data covers air, water, land, and underground injection releases, as well as transfers to waste sites, and waste treatment methods and efficiency, as reported by certain industrial facilities around the United States. TRI also includes data related to source reduction and recycling.

TOXMAP contains 20,587 facilities that reported to the EPA TRI program in 2010, with 78,423 chemical submissions.  See the complete list of TRI chemicals required to be reported to the EPA.

TOXMAP maps the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemicals reported to the EPA, as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).  TOXMAP covers on-site TRI releases only and also includes EPA Superfund data.

Visit TOXMAP

VIsit TOXNET TRI

View the EPA’s TRI previous years’ basic data files

You may have noticed that the 1st floor popular reading materials have been moved to the 2nd floor. This is the next step in the renovations planned for Scott Memorial Library over the coming months.

You were patient while we withdrew thousands of volumes of print journals (duplicated by our electronic subscriptions), and shifted the journal collection so that it now all fits on a single floor.

Over the next couple of months, we’ll be taking out the excess shelving, replacing the aged purple chairs, recarpeting the first floor, and replacing carpet on the second floor where the shelving is removed.

This is the first of two phases of Library space improvements. The second phase will involve the construction of 10 rooms for group study and will hopefully begin in May.

There will be some days when areas are unavailable, but the Library will always maintain some quiet study and group study areas for your use. We’ll post regular notices about the scheduled changes, so you know what to expect.

RefWorks has announced a set of new features in its January update.   The new features will be available to you immediately the next time you log in.  RefWorks is the citation managment tool freely available to all Jeffersonians.

You said you wanted:

• Drag and drop of references between folders and tasks
  Streamlines your work and makes your RefWorks environment behave more like your desktop.
• Ability to share folders via social media
  Takes the concept behind RefShare a step further, to let you work where you want to be.
• Duplicate checking after import
  We’ve all been asking for this one for a long time.  Kudos to RefWorks for finally making it happen!

Log into RefWorks to see these and more new features in action.

The full release notes are also available.

If you like to study on the 3rd or 4th floors of Scott Memorial Library, you’ll notice that we’re changing the lights on the 3-sided carrels on those floors.

Why?

The new lights are LED lamps, expected to use far less energy than the old lamps, while providing better light for studying.  When the project is completed, 111 carrels will be outfitted with the new technology.

You’ll also find power outlets accompanying these lamps, so you can plug in your mobile computers.

Other Green Projects

We’re paying attention in other areas, as well.  All of the withdrawn print journals, if unclaimed by individuals or other libraries, were recycled as paper.

And we’ve heard you asking for double-sided copying and printing options.  We’re looking for technology that will allow this with reliable performance.

Do you have ideas about more ways we could save energy?  Leave a comment on this blog, or contact Rod MacNeil, our Deputy University Librarian (Rod.MacNeil@jefferson.edu).

Springer is launching a new interdisciplinary science journal, SpringerPlus, using an open access model and promising a transparent and fast publication process for authors.  SpringerPlus is also an online-only journal.

From the press release:

The new journal will feature interdisciplinary manuscripts describing original research, case studies and methods.  It is Springer’s  first open access journal to use a broad interdisciplinary approach covering the entire scientific spectrum.  Papers from emerging areas of research are welcome.

The online-only format extends the range of acceptable data formats, including audiovisual formats, data reports, and extensive tables either as complete articles or part of the paper. There are no restrictions on the number of words or figures, and articles detailing statistically negative correlation will be considered.

Springer promises a transparent and fast publication process; if a manuscript meets the necessary scientific criteria as determined by peer review, the paper will be accepted immediately and without major revision. The only thing that counts is the high quality of research described. The peer review process is organized efficiently so that authors can count on a very short time to publication.

Like all other SpringerOpen journals, SpringerPlus will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution License. This means that authors retain copyright and all content is freely available in full to everyone immediately. Authors will be assessed a standard open access fee.

Visit the journal’s web page.

Read the full press release.

Needed:  Scholarly authors’ comments on  H.R. 3699, a new bill to block public access to publicly funded research

A new bill, The Research Works Act (H.R.3699), designed to roll back the NIH Public Access Policy and block the development of similar policies at other federal agencies has been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives. Co-sponsored by Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), it was introduced on December 16, 2011, and referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Essentially, the bill seeks to prohibit federal agencies from conditioning their grants to require that articles reporting on publicly funded research be made accessible to the public online.  That is, it would prohibit the NIH from requiring deposit of manuscripts about research funded by NIH grants.

The bill text is short and to the point. The main point reads:

“No Federal agency may adopt, implement, maintain, continue, or otherwise engage in any policy, program, or other activity that — (1) causes, permits, or authorizes network dissemination of any private-sector research work without the prior consent of the publisher of such work; or (2) requires that any actual or prospective author, or the employer of such an actual or prospective author, assent to network dissemination of a private-sector research work.”

Several editorials and press releases have already appeared on the issue.  Here are a few:

• Michael Eisen, PhD, Research Bought, Then Paid For (New York Times)
• Rebecca J. Rosen, Why is Open Internet Champion Darrell Issa Supporting an Attack on Open Science? (The Atlantic)
• ACRL, Stop Making Sense (Library advocacy)
• Why Open Access Matters – articles for background reading from the Public Library of Science

Supporters of public access to the results of publicly funded research need to speak out against this proposed legislation. Contact Congress to express your opposition today, or as soon as possible.

For contact information and details on how to act, see the Alliance for Taxpayer Access Action http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/action/action_access/12-0106.shtml.

Note that 3 Pennsylvania congressmen sit on the relevant committee – if you are a constituent of Pat Meehan (7th District), Todd Platts (19th District), or Mike Kelly (3rd District), your voice may carry more strength.

No Delaware or New Jersey legislators sit on this committee.

Psychiatry Online offers a free e-book each month from American Psychiatric Publishing.  This month, the free title is Community Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A Manual of Clinical Practice and Consultation, edited by Theodore A. Petti, MD, MPH, and Carlos Salguero, MD, MPH.

From the publisher’s blurb:

Child psychiatrists and psychologists, clinical nurses, social workers, and other mental health practitioners working in the public sector—where limited funds, poverty, social environments, and bureaucracy add to the daily challenges—can now turn to Community Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for approaches and insights to make their work easier and more productive.

Twenty chapters are divided into four main sections, where 31 seasoned clinicians and administrators detail the most useful tasks, strategies, and tactics for child and family-focused community mental health professionals:

• Multiple facets of public sector agency work with or consultation to community agencies from the major mental health disciplines employed in community settings, differentiating roles and responsibilities and detailing consultation phases, including pitfalls
• Basic community practice principles and issues commonly faced by public sector professionals, including particular types of agencies and differences between rural and urban practice
• Contemporary concerns about the impact of a managed care or cost-cutting environment on service delivery, including reimbursement, differentiating consultation from direct service, and the location of a system of care
• Descriptions of the setting or activity of each community agency, including the qualifications that allow the professional or trainee to enter and work in that system
• Practicalities of clinical practice or consultation or both in community settings in the current service environment
• Questions—from differing perspectives—that mental health care practitioners must consider before consulting to or assuming a staff or administrative position in a community agency, different types of demands—and discussion of/for each role

You can download this month’s free e-book until January 31 from JEFFLINE’s Psychiatry Online link – just scroll down your screen until you see the Book of the Month headline.

An invitation from the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Greater Philadelphia:

Make Your Life Your Argument

Are you a graduate student interested in improving the health and well-being of vulnerable Philadelphian communities?

• Design & implement an innovative 200 hour service project addressing a community’s unmet health and/or human service needs (with the guidance of a mentor)
• Join an interdisciplinary group of like-minded Fellows dedicated to making a difference
• Plan public health symposia and service days
• Become a lifelong Fellow
• Fellows receive a $2,000 stipend
• Applications are due February 1, 2012 by 5 p.m.

To learn more about becoming a Schweitzer Fellow, attend the information session:

Monday, January 9, 2012 at 5:00pm
205 College Building

Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 4:00pm
203 College Building  

1025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA  19107
RSVP to phillyschweitzer@gmail.com

For further information:

Nicole Cobb Moore, MA
Program Director | Greater Philadelphia Schweitzer Fellowship Program
Assistant Director of Academic and Student Services

Jefferson School of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University
215-955-9995 | 215-923-6939 – fax | 800-TJU-3545
nicole.moore@jefferson.edu
www.jefferson.edu/population_health

http://schweitzerfellowship.org

http://schweitzerfellowship.wordpress.com/

http://facebook.com/schweitzerfellowship

The National Library of Medicine continues to push back the date boundaries on MEDLINE, converting more of the old paper-based records every year.

With its regular January update of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), MEDLINE also released its latest coverage data — MEDLINE now covers the medical literature from 1946 to present.

Users of both PubMed and OvidSP interfaces for MEDLINE will find the older records included in their searches automatically.   Of course, you can select to include or exclude publication years in both interfaces.

Also with this year’s update, OvidSP has added a new Pharmacological Action limit for advanced searchers.

Power searchers may be interested in the details of  MeSH Vocabulary Changes for 2012:

• About MeSH Changes
• Lists of Data Changed
  • New Descriptors – 2012
  • Changed Descriptors – 2012
  • Deleted Descriptors – 2012
  • New Descriptors by Tree Subcategory – 2012

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has launched its YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/nlmnih, thereby joining a growing list of NIH and other U.S. government agency channels for health information.

The NLM channel allows unregistered users to watch videos and registered users to post videos of lectures, training, special events NLM exhibitions, public service announcements, and more.  Registration is free.  Users may also subscribe to the channel to receive notification when new materials are loaded.

The YouTube channel is one of the many ways NLM is celebrating its 175th anniversary:  “175 years of information innovation.”

Visit the NLM channel

Visit the NLM 175th anniversary celebration site

Other health-related channels:

NIH Channels and Other Health Resources

	Health & Human Services The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government’s pri…
	NCBI YouTube Channel Understanding nature’s mute but elegant language of living cells is the quest of modern…
	National Cancer Institute US The United States Government’s cancer information authority.
	NIDANIH NIDA’s mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug a…
	NIMH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the largest scientific organization, in …
	AHRQHealthTV The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) seeks to improve the quality, sa…
	USFoodandDrugAdmin The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficac…
	AIDS.gov AIDS.gov is gateway to Federal domestic HIV/AIDS information and resources.
	Veterans Health Administration The official YouTube channel for the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health…
	NIGMS
	CDCStreamingHealth

Journal Medicine has launched a series of bimonthly podcasts about infectious disease medicine: Stories in Medicine.   Initial podcasts will feature pioneering infectious disease physician Dr. John Bartlett, Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and an Associate Editor of Medicine.

In his first podcast, Dr. Bartlett talks about his background in infectious disease medicine and his work on  HIV/AIDS.   He shares a few insights on the unpredictable and ‘always electrifying’ field of infectious disease.

View the first podcast at http://journals.lww.com/md-journal.

[Note that the podcasts are freely available to all Internet users from the Medicine website. However, journal articles and other features are available by subscription only; Jefferson's subscription via Journals@Ovid does not yet include the podcasts.]

The goal of the new Stories in Medicine series is to provide an accessible means for students, physicians and those interested in infectious disease to learn about articles that have substantial clinical relevance and practical application.  In forthcoming podcasts, Dr. Bartlett will focus on new articles, drawn from the pages of Medicine. New podcasts will be posted with each bimonthly issue of Medicine.

As the Stories in Medicine series evolves, Editor-in-Chief Dr. David B. Hellmann and Associate Editors Dr. Howard M. Lederman and Dr. Roy C. Ziegelstein will join the cast of contributors.

MedEdPORTAL is an archive of peer-reviewed educational materials and teaching tools.  Supported by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in partnership with the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), MedEdPORTAL provides free and open access to its resources by all academics and members of the public.

Each month, it highlights outstanding recent submissions.  Most recently featured:

Neurogenic Shock Simulation Case
Cullen Hegarty, MD
Regions Hospital
This simulation case for a Laerdal SimMan is geared for residents and looks to teach learners to appropriately manage the major trauma victim with spinal cord injury and neurogenic shock…

Sociocultural Women’s Health Standardized Patient Case and Student Guide
Carrie Bernat, MA, MSW
University of Michigan Medical School
The Sociocultural Women’s Health Standardized Patient (SP) exercise is designed primarily for learning the skills of incorporating a patient’s personal, cultural, social and health beliefs into their medical history taking and negotiation of care/treatment plans…

AED: Altruism Excellence and Duty: A Professionalism Module for Emergency Medicine
Edward Callahan, MD, MS
Medical College of Wisconsin
This module summarizes the concepts of professionalism into three core values of altruism, excellence, and duty and allows them to read, reflect, discuss, and write about their personal values and how to apply them to their professional career…
 
Teaching Palliative Care Skills Using Simulated Family Encounters
Carrie Brown, MD, FAAP
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine
This project describes a curriculum intervention developed to train pediatric residents on pediatric palliative care and end of life discussions, using standardized families trained to portray scenarios from real life experiences…

Browse all MedEdPORTAL Publications