HSLIC News

October is National Medical Librarians Month—a time to celebrate the vital role that medical librarians play in partnering with and supporting healthcare professionals, researchers, and students. At the heart of this celebration is a recognition of the many valuable services our health sciences library offers, such as the expert searching provided by our highly skilled library faculty.

As medical research grows exponentially and healthcare decisions are more data-driven than ever, the need for precise, high-quality information is critical. Expert searching is one of the essential services our library offers to help meet this demand, providing you with access to the best, most relevant evidence to support your clinical care, research, and academic work.

Expert searching refers to the specialized, thorough search strategies that our library faculty members develop to help you find the most relevant information in vast databases of medical literature. It involves carefully selecting the most appropriate databases, using advanced search techniques, and applying subject-specific expertise to ensure that the results are accurate, comprehensive, and tailored to your specific needs.

In the field of health sciences, access to high-quality evidence can mean the difference between an effective treatment plan and one that’s based on outdated or incomplete information. An expertly crafted search can uncover peer-reviewed articles, clinical trials, guidelines, and other resources that are pivotal in making informed decisions in patient care, research, and education.

Need help navigating the overwhelming amount of information for a capstone project, thesis, or academic presentation?   Preparing for a case, reviewing clinical guidelines, or conducting a systematic review?  Writing a grant proposal or developing a new research project, our library faculty can assist with comprehensive searches, saving you time and ensuring no key study is overlooked.

Getting help is simple. If you're unsure where to start with your research or if you want to ensure your search is as thorough as possible, we encourage you to reach out. You can request an expert search consultation through our  website or by visiting the reference desk in person. Our faculty will work with you one-on-one to understand your research question and tailor a search strategy that best fits your needs.  Don’t hesitate to reach out to our library faculty for an expert search consultation, and celebrate with us as we continue to advance the health sciences together!

A fact is a fact is a fact. Information is information is information. Except when they aren’t. Join us for an introduction to misinformation and disinformation that explores the true complexity of facts in the world. 

Title:                     An Introduction to Misinformation and Disinformation

Date:                    Wednesday, October 30

Time:                   12:00 PM

Location:             Zoom (Zoom link will be sent prior to the workshop)

Registration:       https://libcal.health.unm.edu/event/13253260 

If you have questions, please reach out to Deirdre Caparoso, Outreach and Community Engagement Librarian, or Ingrid Hendrix, Division Head, Research, Education and Clinical Information Services.

This year’s theme focuses on “community over commercialization” 

The University of New Mexico is thrilled to be celebrating International Open Access Week (October 21 – 27). International Open Access week celebrates the benefits of free, immediate, online access to scholarly research, and the right to use and re-use materials as needed. A collaborative team consisting of the Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center, Law Library, and University Libraries has planned a week of speakers and workshops bringing awareness to open access. 

Open Access is the free, immediate, and online publication of research articles that are openly licensed and digitally accessible. At its core, Open Access publishing is a social justice issue that aims to make research more accessible to the greater public. Open Access scholarly publishing is related to Open Educational Resources (OER) in that they share similar licensing and ideology. OER materials provide students and teachers with free access to educational materials. OERs can significantly reduce costs students spend on textbooks and other course materials. The UNM OER Initiative seeks to lower college costs for UNM students by encouraging and supporting UNM faculty with resources to adopt quality open materials in their courses. 

This year’s theme of “Community over Commercialization” encourages a candid conversation about which approaches to open scholarship prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community—and which do not.  

Please find a list of the UNM Open Access Week events below. The event list consists of in-person and online formats. For more information about OER and Open Access Week, visit goto.unm.edu/oaweek. 

Navigating the Evolving Open Access Landscape: Local and Consortial Library Perspectives and Strategies - October 21, 2024, at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM 

Online | Register at https://libcal.health.unm.edu/calendar/events/OAWeek 

Explore the evolving landscape of Open Access in this session featuring two key presentations. We will begin with an environmental scan revealing how North American universities are supporting OA initiatives and addressing challenges. This will be followed by insights from an academic consortial perspective, focusing on the challenges of implementing consortial transformative agreements and sharing approaches for navigating them. This session aims to provide practical strategies for institutions looking to enhance support for authors and promote sustainable OA models. 

Speakers: 

• Robyn Gleasner, Resource Management Librarian, UNM Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center 

• Laura Hall, Division Head Resources Archives & Discovery, UNM Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center 

• Danielle E. Maurici-Pollock, Research Data Specialist, UNM Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center 

• George Machovec, Executive Director, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries 

AI and Open Educational Resources: A Community-Centered Approach – October 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM 

Online & In-person: Zimmerman Library, Frank Waters Room 105 | Register at https://libcal.unm.edu/calendar/register/AIandOER 

Come explore the principles of openness and inclusivity and learn about ways UNM researchers are making education as widely available as possible through AI tools. This Open Access Week session, available to the public, will afford attendees the chance to learn about curriculum developed by University of New Mexico instructors to meet the needs of their students. This research project was tailored to support faculty and instructors across diverse disciplines to use AI for OER development. AI tools can empower educators and learners with tools to create, customize, and adapt open educational resources. Projects from this program include the development of case studies and assignments and even a chatbot tailored to beginner and intermediate Russian language learners. Members of the Graduate and Faculty Engagement team within the University Libraries will also be on hand to talk about this program and share content and ideas. Speakers for this event include University Librarians David Gustavsen and Jennifer Jordan and UNM faculty members Jeffrey Houdek, Irina Meier, and Xaver Neumeyer. 

Refreshments will be served at the in-person event happening in the Frank Waters room 105 inside Zimmerman Library. Registration for this event is recommended. 

Speakers: 

• David Gustavsen, Assistant Professor, Graduate and Faculty Engagement Librarian, University Libraries  

• Jennifer Jordan, Assistant Professor, Open Educational Resources Librarian, University Libraries 

• Jeffrey Houdek, Lecturer, Department of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy 

• Irina Meier, Senior Lecturer of Russian and the Director of the Russian Program in the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Literatures 

• Xaver Neumeyer, Assistant Professor, Anderson School of Management 

Organizations that deal with patient care celebrate health literacy month every October as they recognize that health literacy is an important part of the care they provide to patients.  For instance, if a patient does not know how to take their medication correctly, they can end up back in their doctor’s office or the hospital.  Patient outcomes suffer and the cost of medical care rises.  The goal of health literacy is to help individuals make informed health decisions by improving their ability to access, understand, and effectively use health information.  It is important to emphasize to busy patient care providers that health literacy matters and the annual October celebration serves as a wonderful reminder of this often-overlooked aspect of good medical care. 

The Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center offers workshops on Health Literacy every year.  In addition, the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) is one of the few hospitals in the country that has an Health Literacy Office.  UNMH’s Health Literacy Office provides workshops on teach-back and plain language methods of communication.  In addition, they will review forms, policies and handouts for UNMH departments to make sure the documents meet suggested health literacy standards:  https://unmhealth.org/diversity-equity-inclusion/health-literacy.html

If you would like to learn more about health literacy, there are many excellent websites on the Internet for you to browse.  Here are a few:

National Institutes of Health:  https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-public-liaison/clear-communication/health-literacy

CDC:  https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/index.html

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion:  https://health.gov/news/202010/october-health-literacy-month

The November 5, 2024 general election is fast approaching and it can be difficult to get accurate, unbiased information. The League of Women Voter's has created a voter guide which covers every New Mexico federal, statewide, district, and county level race. You may pick up your voter guide at HSLIC or view it on line here.

Some information in the guide includes:

● How to register to vote or how to update your voter registration

● How and where to vote;

● Which races and candidates will appear on your ballot; and

● What the candidates have to say about issues that are important to you

This guide can be a very useful tool for all voters, so please take some time to either vote early, mail in your ballot, or vote in person on Election Day. 

Have you wondered where you should publish your research article?   Join our comprehensive online class on Predatory Publishing and How to Avoid It and learn about the red flags to watch for and the tools to identify and avoid the traps set by predatory publishers.  This class is perfect for graduate students, early-career researchers, and seasoned academics alike.

Taught:  October 23, 2024 (Wednesday) from noon until 1:00 pm

Registration:  https://goto.unm.edu/hslicevents

October is American Archives Month and we are celebrating with a special collections-related blog post each week!

A common archival format most people have is photographs (print and digital).  

Here are some basic tips for preserving your print images:

• Focus on storage conditions. This includes using acid-free paper or archival polyester sleeves to enclose your images and acid-free boxes to store them.
• Avoid magnetic albums (sticky pages), adhesives, etc. Also, be sure to store images in boxes upright so that they don't slump or curve. 
• The environment should be clean and kept at a stable temperature - usually around 68-70 degrees - and avoid high humidity and areas prone to pests, dirt, leaks, and floods (i.e. attics, basements, garages, storage units, etc.) 
• Be aware of light damage risks and use copies of important photos for display. 
• Handle prints with clean, dry hands or wear nitrile gloves (not cotton) and try to avoid touching the emulsion side of prints. 
• Always avoid fasteners such as tape, rubber bands, paper clips, etc. 
• Label sleeves of photographs and never write on the center back of an image.

For more specific preservation advice, feel free to book a preservation consultation with Special Collections staff.

Here at HSLIC, we are so excited to welcome our newest staff member, Anh N. Phan! Anh is joining us as our new Business Services Coordinator. She will be overseeing many of the important financial tasks that help to keep HSLIC going, and growing. She comes to us after working on Main Campus for over four years as a Senior Student Success Specialist with TRIO-Student Support Services.

Anh was born and raised in Vietnam. She received her Bachelor's of Business Administration at Arcada University in Helsinki, Finland. She also earned an MBS from UNM in 2023. She and her husband have been married for ten years, and have lived in Salt Lake City, and Pittsburgh before moving to Albuquerque. When she is not at work, Anh is a fan of good food, and traveling to find good food.

Welcome, Anh! We are so happy to have you!

Celebrate with HSLIC as we recognize National Medical Librarians Month! The health sciences librarians and staff at HSLIC really are the ultimate source for accurate and trustworthy information. We make sure that the UNM Health Sciences Center faculty, staff, and students have access to high quality information in journals, books, databases, videos, and more every day. We also teach the campus how to access and critically assess that information.

It's not just National Medical Librarians Month--it is also National Estate Planning Awareness Month. This October, during both these special months, consider recognizing UNM’s Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center and the role HSLIC plays in improving health and health equity across the state through education, research, clinical care, and community engagement.

Including the Health Sciences Library and the University of New Mexico in your will or estate plan is a way to show your support while accomplishing your personal, financial, estate-planning, and philanthropic goals. Planned gifts allow donors to leave a legacy through a provision in a will or trust, a beneficiary designation, a charitable gift annuity, a charitable remainder trust, or a retained life estate.

Want to learn more? Join the UNM Foundation at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 14 at the UNM Continuing Education Building for an estate planning seminar. More information and registration here.

Want to discuss these opportunities? You can learn more here or by contacting Liz Kahane at the UNM Foundation at liz.kahane@unmfund.org or 505-313-7672. 

During October the United States celebrates American Archives Month. This annual celebration highlights the critical role archives and archivists play in collecting, preserving, and making available records of enduring value. Archives support collective memory, are vital for organizational administration, help document history, promote governmental transparency, and protect people’s rights, identities, and property.

New Mexican archivists are celebrating Archives Month with these special events that are free and open to the public:

• Phantoms of the Past: A Halloween Archive Extravaganza! October 17, 1-3pm MST, via Zoom. Archivists from the University of North Texas, the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, Cornell University, and the University of Pittsburgh will present about their spooky special collections. For more information and to register, click here.
• Border Regional Archives Group’s Border Archives Bazaar, New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, October 19, 10am-4pm. This event will feature displays of archival materials from cultural heritage institutions in southern New Mexico and West Texas as well as live speakers that will discuss regional history and archival research. 
• Archives “Bizarre”, Rainbow Rainbow Room, Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, October 28, 4pm-7pm. The Archives Bizarre will include displays from archival institutions (including HSLIC Special Collections!) in northern and central New Mexico. Register here.

The Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center is pleased to offer Searching for Animal Experimental Research for IACUC Protocols on 10/17/2024 from 12-1pm.

This session will provide information about:  

• Advanced searching in PubMed and Agricola
• Meeting the USDA's requirements for IACUC protocol searching
• Searching for animal research duplication
• Searching for animal use alternatives

Confirmed speakers:  

Leah Everitt, MSLS, Research and Education Librarian

Link to register: https://libcal.health.unm.edu/calendar/events/IACUCSearching

For more information or questions contact Leah Everitt at leveritt@salud.unm.edu.