Staff is pretty much recovered from the library's first annual "Clean Sweep Book Sale" held January 23-25th on the second floor of the Barnett-Briggs Medical Library. Although the tumult and shouting has died, one question remains: "Will there be a second annual Clean Sweep Book Sale?"
Polishing up my crystal ball with my soft chamois cloth reserved for this purpose, I would say the answer is "A definite maybe". In other words, I don't have a clue. Although we took in over $1200 in the three days of the sale, and managed to donate all but $50 of that to SFGH's Volunteer Program (refreshments took their toll), the future of the book sale remains murky at best. In January of 2009 the second floor of the library may no longer be part of the library. It may be turned into an Information Commons, a possibility I heartily endorse, or put to some other purpose which I endorse less heartily. Since one of my major objectives in holding the sale was to raise awareness regarding the existence of the library, having the sale in a location other than the library might not have the same consciousness-raising effect.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think that everyone needs to come to the library to check out books and read journals and all that other good stuff. I would consider it a huge success if people NEVER came to the library but knew about all the online books, journals, and databases that the library licenses and pays for AND knew how to access it from their homes and offices without ever setting foot in the good old Barnett-Briggs. Maybe they could just IM us from time to time to tell us how much they appreciate our content.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Poll
I'm playing with the Vizu poll application, thinking it could be used with interesting results in a blog or a wiki. I'm a little confused about the spacing of the text vis a vis the poll text box. We'll see how it turns out when I publish.
Monday, January 14, 2008
What were they thinking?
Alert NYT reader and Florida hosital librarian Patti Reynolds
brought this important news item to the attention of the MedLib-L listserv.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/nyregion/09dead.html?_r=1&em&ex=1200200400&en=82dcdb8fa84ead1b&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
Picture this: two guys trying to steal the proceeds of a dead guy's payroll check by wheeling his dead body seated in an office chair into a check cashing business. Maybe they thought no one would notice? We're talking New York here, you know.
brought this important news item to the attention of the MedLib-L listserv.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/nyregion/09dead.html?_r=1&em&ex=1200200400&en=82dcdb8fa84ead1b&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
Picture this: two guys trying to steal the proceeds of a dead guy's payroll check by wheeling his dead body seated in an office chair into a check cashing business. Maybe they thought no one would notice? We're talking New York here, you know.
Friday, January 4, 2008
She'll Google That - Rant
A nursing faculty member at an Australian University was complaining in the December, 2007 issue of the AORN Journal that when she did her usual Google searching for data on incidence of accidently retained sponges, she got waaaaay too many results. What a surprise. (Dripping sarcasm). Her solution? Use Google Scholar, and oh my, was that better! (More sarcasm). Only 231 hits. But she was thrilled because the search contained mostly credible resources and went back 30 years.
This is the kind of report that makes librarians crazy, or crazier than we usually are. And it's published in AORN, one of the world's top nursing journals. We're concerned. We wonder: how'd she get to be in a position of teaching future nurses doing Google searching with nary a nod to the concept of database searching? You know, databases such as Medline, the world's largest biomedical database with 15 million citations and indexing back to 1950, and CINAHL, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, the world's most comprehensive indexing and abstracting database for nursing literature?
Poor baby. How upsetting that her Google search yielded too many hits and "...an eclectic range of information and 'facts'" Does she not have a clue that databases such as PubMed have search features such as subject headings, subheadings and limit capabilities that allow you to hone your search to get the precise retrieval you're looking for?
But wait...there's more. She's saying that the "World's best books and scholarly journals will become increasingly available on your computer monitor at the touch of a key..." Well, sure. But whom does she think is going to be paying for them...the Easter Bunny? Unless the publishing industry suddenly decides it no longer wants or needs to be in business, these resources will have to be paid for. Guess who's paying for them now?? LIBRARIES, THAT"S WHO. Ok, I'm calming down. I'll stop shouting now.
This is the kind of report that makes librarians crazy, or crazier than we usually are. And it's published in AORN, one of the world's top nursing journals. We're concerned. We wonder: how'd she get to be in a position of teaching future nurses doing Google searching with nary a nod to the concept of database searching? You know, databases such as Medline, the world's largest biomedical database with 15 million citations and indexing back to 1950, and CINAHL, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, the world's most comprehensive indexing and abstracting database for nursing literature?
Poor baby. How upsetting that her Google search yielded too many hits and "...an eclectic range of information and 'facts'" Does she not have a clue that databases such as PubMed have search features such as subject headings, subheadings and limit capabilities that allow you to hone your search to get the precise retrieval you're looking for?
But wait...there's more. She's saying that the "World's best books and scholarly journals will become increasingly available on your computer monitor at the touch of a key..." Well, sure. But whom does she think is going to be paying for them...the Easter Bunny? Unless the publishing industry suddenly decides it no longer wants or needs to be in business, these resources will have to be paid for. Guess who's paying for them now?? LIBRARIES, THAT"S WHO. Ok, I'm calming down. I'll stop shouting now.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
My New Hero
Julie Stielstra, alert reader of the New York Times and hospital librarian in Winfield, Illinois, recently brought this article to the attention of the MedLib-L, a medical librarians' listserv:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/arts/31rese.html?pagewanted=print
It describes how David Smith, reference librarian at the New York City library affectionately known as the "NYPL" (say it), has given so much really valuable reference help to so many people, some of whom are famous authors. The article refers to him as "Librarian to the Stars". He says he used to be shy and retiring, but at some point later in life (age 45) got to be good at schmoozing. All right, David! David has become my new role model. If you'd like to help me out with that, come by the Barnett-Briggs Medical library and ask me for reference assistance or email me at jgraham@sfghdean.ucsf.edu. You don't have to be famous, but it wouldn't hurt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/arts/31rese.html?pagewanted=print
It describes how David Smith, reference librarian at the New York City library affectionately known as the "NYPL" (say it), has given so much really valuable reference help to so many people, some of whom are famous authors. The article refers to him as "Librarian to the Stars". He says he used to be shy and retiring, but at some point later in life (age 45) got to be good at schmoozing. All right, David! David has become my new role model. If you'd like to help me out with that, come by the Barnett-Briggs Medical library and ask me for reference assistance or email me at jgraham@sfghdean.ucsf.edu. You don't have to be famous, but it wouldn't hurt.
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