Embase, anyone?

Recently I've run into a few researchers here at SFGH, (not really run into them, just talked to them) who are beginning new projects and need to do exhaustive literature searching. They can't risk missing any of the European biomedical literature that may not be included in Medline. They need access to a database called "Embase", the database formerly known as "Excerpta Medica"

UCSF's Parnassus Library does not license this resource. The Mount Zion library is the only UCSF affiliate that does, and will very kindly do literature searches for SFGH staff on request. My question is: should the SFGH library subscribe to this database? Is there enough demand out there to warrant the purchase? Would you use it if you had it? Let me hear from you!

Librarians as Educators

While I don't often take the time to read Library Journal, preferring instead to let them pile up on my desk so no one else can read them, I did notice one news item from the October 1, 2008 issue that struck me as significant. It referred to a faculty opinion survey called Ithaka's 2006 Studies of Key Stakeholders in the Digital Transformation in Higher Education that revealed an "...emerging disconnect between librarians' perceptions of their roles and the expectations and habits of the faculty they serve."

The study drew a lot of comment from academic librarians, among them Steven Bell of Temple University, who suggested that the next study should include librarian roles of educator and instructional partner along with the more traditional ones. Good thinking, Steven. I believe this is a area where librarians can make the greatest impact, both now and in the future, and in all types of libraries.

Paging Dr. Google

Interesting article in the International Herald Tribune about how the public uses the Internet for health information. And later Twitters about their treatment.