Research Raven Rocks

I noticed a snippet of news in a library newsletter the other day about a web site called "ResearchRaven" . What got my attention was not the idea or anything related to the content, but the location: Corvallis Oregon. That snagged me because I lived in Corvallis for ten years in the 1980's, and worked as the one-and-only medical librarian at Good Samaritan Hospital for six of the ten.


So I spent some time looking at ResearchRaven and was increasingly blown away by its utility, functionality, aesthetics, and overall coolness. Developed by librarian Hope Leman (I knew her father, Craig Leman, a surgeon) at Samaritan Health Services Center for Health Research and Quality, it's a free service that aims to provide researchers with up-to-the-minute publishing, meeting, and funding opportunities. Using RSS technology (Feedburner to be exact), it aggregates a variety of information sources in the medical and physical sciences into one well-designed user interface. Users can specifiy their area(s) of interest and be informed via RSS when new opportunities are announced.

As librarians know, this is the type of information that's difficult to ferret out, and if it's not current, it's not worth much, so having it combined in one place is real treasure. Not to mention the fact that it's free...or did I just mention that?

Thank you Hope. Well done!