Don't you just hate it when they do that?

This falls into the "Don't you just hate it when they do that?" category of petty annoyances associated with daily life at the library that, because I have a blog, I can rant about. Here it is: medical reporters have picked up on, no, jumped on, a Lancet study reporting the disproportionate effect of the H1N1 virus on pregnant women in the US.

Okay, good work, EXCEPT that in order to get the PDF of the article at this moment you have to pay $31 for it or HAPPEN to know that it's available from ScienceDirect, an information platform on which UC HAPPENS to provide this particular journal.

Adding insult to injury, the article is not in the print version of the journal and it's not available in PubMed yet, so you can't get it by clicking on the full text link that your library has so graciously added to PubMed to facilitate your fulltext access. If you'd like to see the full text of this article, just put your email address in the comments box and I'll PDF you a copy, pronto.

Cloud Computing

I've been hearing a lot about the computing cloud lately. Cloud storage software, cloud nodes, cloud architecture, cloud apps...references to cloud computing abound. The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer did a piece on it a few weeks ago,so you know it has entered popular culture.

Although the idea is still a little hazy to me (with a 50% chance of clearing), I've figured out that it's a way of conceptualizing the trend away from storing and using information on your own PC or organization's network to doing everything online via whatever device may be handy...your smart phone, your laptop, what-have-you.

Actually, this is a concept that I've been thinking about alot lately, although I didn't know it was called cloud computing. Here are some possible ways to use the cloud: Don't host your site on your network server, put it up on the open web in a wiki format where everyone can get to it and contribute content. Create your presentation in Slideshare, don't carry it around on some thumb drive you'll lose or forget to bring to the presentation. Write your report as a Google Doc, not in a docx file format that no one can open unless they happen to have the correct version of Microsoft Office. It goes without saying, of course, that you are aware of HIPAA rules and regulations and are sensitive to your organization's privacy and proprietary issues. So don't be hanging around on the ground if you can take it to the cloud. Up, up and away.

The Personal is Professional?

I remember the slogan ' the personal is political' from the feminist movement in the 70's. It has certainly played out in some twisted ways. I find myself wondering, in these toddler days of online social networking, how the blurring of the boundaries between public and private life will play out over the next few decades.

Have you 'googled' yourself recently? Find anything you wouldn't want a prospective employer to see? Patients can google their physicians, students their teachers, and vice versa. I know my curiosity sometimes leads me to information that, I'm probably better off not knowing. If I'm facing a complex surgery how does it affect my peace of mind to know that my surgeon is a big fan of slasher movies?

Things should get even more interesting as new tools like Google Wave emerge which will take email where it has never gone before. Here's a post about it from Roy Tennant's blog, Digital Libraries: "Google Wave" Aims to Transform Online Communication

Apple Developers Converge

They're everywhere you look: nerdy guys (where are the girls?) in black-rimmed glasses, rumpled cotton shirts and cut-off cargo pants, pockets overflowing with what?...stuff. They've descended on San Francisco's Moscone Center to learn about how to develop applications for Apple's iPhone.

And not just a few of them are developing health care apps. They're not dumb, these developers. They know that the percentage of us in the geriatric category will be will be increasing over time and that our physicians will want instant, seamless, anywhere/anytime, HIPAA-compliant transmission of the data necessary to take care of us. I want them to have that...I want my providers to be able see my real-time ECG strip, my MRIs, my lab values, my blood gases, and whatever else they might want want to see. Let 'em see it all, instantly, from wherever the heck they might be.

Take a look at one of the new iPhone apps that will let them do just that.

Blogging from my iPhone

And they said it couldn't be done. Well, maybe it should't be done. But at least I know it can be done. I'm at MLA (Medical Library Assoc) meeting in Honolulu and didn't feel like bringing my laptop. Hence the need to blog via iPhone.

There is some actual work being done here by a few select individuals. See the official meeting blog: http://npc.mlanet.org/mla09

Oops, gotta run. Can't be late for the luau.

The Who, What & Where of Swine Flu Information

I'm on a disaster outreach listserv that deals with the role of libraries and librarians in dispensing disaster and pandemic information on topics such as the recent swine flu outbreak. The librarians on this listserv are particularly proactive and see the dissemination of disaster-related information as something that they are uniquely suited to do because of their technical expertise in web content posting as well as their ability to find, evaluate and synthesize information.

Well, one of the most active librarians on the list was complaining that she got her hands slapped because she was posting links to a variety of swine flu related information on her library web site. Her administration told her to cut it out because they didn't want people to panic. This kind of directive goes against the librarian grain, because we feel that, in general, more and better information makes for less panic, not more, and probable better outcomes for all concerned.

I think this controversy will die down as soon as everyone in the organization gets onto Web 2.0 technology. Or maybe it won't. Maybe it will intensify for a while. Everyone will know how to create web pages with links to information, Google Flu maps, and widgets of all flavors, and they won't have to rely on one IT-based webmaster OR one librarian who knows how to cut code or use web editing software. The underlying issue, though, will remain: who in the organization will be responsible for putting up the official content on the official web site? Through my Web 2.0-colored glasses, I'd say, "let them collaborate".

Swine Flu Alert

Click here for a comprehensive list of links relating to Swine Flu

Another page of links from the Specialized Information Services at the National Library of Medicine.

And handy box with links that you can put on your own home page using the "Get widget Now!" link