HSLIC News

All of Us Tech Days Presentation

Lori Sloane and Deborah Rhue from HSLIC joined Todd Quinn and Karl Benedict from CULLS to present a talk about the All of Us Research Program at the annual University of New Mexico’s Tech Days on Friday, April 26, 2024.  The talk, entitled “All of Us: Using Big Data to Study Factors Affecting Health and Health Impacts,” was well- and enthusiastically received. 

Deborah, Lori, Todd and Karl have been working to promote awareness and enrollment in the NIH-sponsored All of Research Program since 2023 when the University of New Mexico became one of the Program’s officially enrolled research participants. 

The All of Us Research Program is an effort funded by the National Institutes of Health to gather health data from one million or more people in the United States.  The All of Us Research Program encourages individuals from communities historically left out of biomedical research studies to enroll and share their health data and make that data available to researchers through the All of Us Research Program platform.

   "All of Us: Using Big Data to Study Factors Affecting Health and Health Impacts":  Tech Days Slide Presentation

    For more information about the All of Us Research Program:  All of Us Research Program 

The purpose of National Minority Health Month is to "raise awareness about the importance of improving the health of racial and ethnic minority communities and reducing health disparities."

This year's theme is Be the Source for Better Health, which fits right in with HSLIC's mission to advance health and health equity as New Mexico’s only publicly accessible health sciences library. HSLIC is a source for better health information, which we believe can lead to better health.

Health disparities are a significant problem, and the library provides resources about them. The OMHRC Knowledge Center Online Catalog (Office of Minority Health Resource Center) gives access to 75,000 documents, books journal articles, and media related to the health status of racial and ethnic minority populations. PubMed searchers will find the MeSH terms Minority Health and Health Status Disparities, which were introduced in 2008. Note that there are other terms available to search the concepts prior to 2008.

Datasets are increasingly important and available to researchers. The National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA) contains physical, economic, demographic, and social information at the census tract, ZIP code, and county level. This dataset was used in a recent publication about the devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods. As a minority majority state (with less than half the people being non-Hispanic whites), and home to 23 American Indian tribes, as well as Black and Asian people, minority health issues are important to New Mexico researchers, health care providers, and community leaders. The New Mexico Community Data Collaborative maps local health conditions and behaviors, as well as provides data about special populations, such as health care providers and rural vs urban designations.

Image from World Bank CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED

National Public Health Week 2024 celebrates collaboration, cooperation, and partnerships in public health. The theme is “Protecting, Connecting and Thriving: We Are All Public Health.”

At HSLIC, we make resources available that support research in the broad field of public health, and collaborate with faculty and educate students in the College of Population Health.  Ours is a strong partnership. These past two years, as part of a grant from the college to develop an Academic Health Department, HSLIC librarians extended services to New Mexico Department of Health (NM DOH) practitioners. Academic Health Departments are partnerships between an academic institution and a health department. A goal is to strengthen the links between practice and academia, with opportunities for joint education, research and practice.

Librarians developed training modules in the process of evidence-based public health practice. We regularly teach these skills throughout the health sciences professional programs' curricula. A team of librarians, some with public health degrees, customized training to the context of public health and created four modules, following the steps of the process. These included:

• • Module 1: Developing Searchable Questions
  • Module 2: Searching for Evidence
  • Modules 3: A Toolkit for Evaluating Evidence
  • Module 4:  A Toolkit for Applying Evidence

Modules 1 and 2 were offered synchronously online to NM DOH personnel last spring, and all modules are now available to anyone through the UNM Digital Repository at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/er/

In addition, HSLIC became the partner library for NM DOH's Public Health Digital Library, a project of the Network of the National Library of Medicine. This means that New Mexico public health personnel have access not only to the hundreds of books, journals, and databases in that library but, if an item is not available, HSLIC will provide it from our collection or from another library. This greatly extends the scope of information sources available to practitioners.

At HSLIC we recognize and support the valuable work of public health practitioners. We are all public health!

You are invited to join us on Thursday, April 6th, from 10 A.M - 11 A.M. for a virtual seminar by Lewis Worley, BE, and Robyn Gleasner, MLIS.

Topic: HSC Citation Analysis Project

Description: The HSC Citation Analysis Project set out to answer the following questions: where are faculty at the HSC publishing, does HSLIC/UNM provide access to these journals, what journals are the authors citing, and does HSLIC/UNM provide access to those journals. The answers to the questions would assist in the evaluation of HSLIC’s journal collection and determine potential gaps.  This session will show how we went about attempting to answer these questions from pulling data from Web of Science, analyzing it, and wrangling and parsing it using a number of programs and scripts including excel, open refine, SQL, and python. 

Learning Objectives: 

We will discuss: 

• What citation analysis is and why it is beneficial for collection evaluation 
• Our process of pulling, cleaning, wrangling, and parsing the data to meet our needs 
• Next steps to analyze the data and how to apply the analysis to future collection development decisions 

Please email BLCarroll@salud.unm.edu to request Zoom info.

You are invited to join us on Thursday, March 2nd, from 10 A.M - 11 A.M. for a virtual seminar by Glyneva Bradley-Ridout, BA, MI, and Elena Springall, BSc, MLIS.

Topic: Cross-Sectional Study of UpToDate versus DynaMed

Description: Health Sciences Libraries are often faced with difficult budget decisions regarding which clinical tools to purchase while keeping in mind user preferences and needs. Our research study was designed to inform evidence-based decision-making around this issue. We designed and executed a cross-sectional research project which compared the speed and accuracy of two popular point-of-care information tools: UpToDate and DynaMed plus. We will share the results of our research, including a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our research process. 

Learning Objectives: 

We will discuss: 

• how to form research objectives from collections priorities
• how to balance multiple priorities and changing roles while conducting research
• how to work with busy medical residents as study participants

Please email BLCarroll@salud.unm.edu to request Zoom info.

You are invited to join us on Thursday, February 16th, from 10 A.M. - 11 A.M. for a virtual seminar by Jonathan Pringle, MAS.

Topic: The Native Health Database in 2023: Embedding Outreach with Culturally-Respectful Technology

Description: The years 1993-2019 marked significant changes and modifications to the Native Health Database, a (then) abstracting database that provided unique health information and resources for myriad audiences. Between 2019 and 2022 the resource underwent significant changes, this time focused on the underlying platform delivering the information; the new NHD now has the capacity to elevate source Native American & Indigenous communities to equal partners in the exchange of information. In 2023, the NHD is poised to leverage this new platform and engage in focused outreach efforts to show content creators, communities, users, and healthcare providers how they can interact within the new platform.

Learning Objectives:

We will discuss:

• How the past has informed the present and future of this resource
• How the new platform provides solutions to information exchange that embodies the Indigenous Data Sovereignty movement
• How the platform can be utilized broadly as an effective outreach tool for researchers

Please email BLCarroll@salud.unm.edu to request Zoom info.

You are invited to join us on Thursday, October 20th, from 10 to 11 AM for a virtual seminar by Emily McRae, BA, and Cynthia Jacobs, BS

Topic: The New Mexico Community Data Collaborative

Description: Join the New Mexico Community Data Collaborative (NMCDC) to explore social determinants and health indicators across your neighborhood. The NMCDC team will provide a brief tutorial of how to find data on the site, as well as describe recent and future projects, including the NM Food Supply Chain Data Hub and the Data Disaggregation Project.

Learning Objectives:

1. Navigate to a data product on the NMCDC website given only a broad topic area.

2. Use the NM Food Supply Chain Data Hub to find data related to the food supply chain components and understand how you can support the upkeep and relevance of the Data Hub.

3. Describe the Data Disaggregation project and understand how to follow, support, and inform the work.

Please email BLCarroll@salud.unm.edu to request Zoom info.

You are invited to join us on Thursday, October 6th from 10 to 11:30 AM, for a virtual seminar by Gabe Peters, BA.

Topic: Inclusive Dermatology: Creating a Diverse Visual Atlas of Skin Conditions

Description: Existing literature on Dermatological conditions highlight little to no visual diversity amongst skin conditions of varying individuals of color. Inclusive dermatology focuses on the importance of gathering and sharing images of dermatological conditions in all skin types with an emphasis on individuals who have been excluded in medical education. By expanding the availability of images in varying skin types, we hope to not only advance medical education but also strive to improve patient care, especially with our diverse population here in New Mexico.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe what Inclusive Dermatology is

2. Explain the importance of inclusivity and how it benefits patient care

Please email BLCarroll@salud.unm.edu to request Zoom info.

You are invited to join us on Thursday, September 15th from 10 to 11 AM, for a virtual seminar by Deborah L. Lauseng, AMLS

Topic: Roles, Collaborations, and Activities in Health Informatics Education - a discussion of scoping review findings and your own involvement

Description: Librarians and libraries have been engaged in informatics training for decades, however, sharing of the types and extent of engagement has been limited in the literature. The scoping review, “Library involvement in health informatics education for health professions students and practitioners,” published in JMLA, seeks to explore the extent library involvement in health informatics education, specifically focused on activities and outcomes described in the published literature.

In this BioMISS session, the lead author will share findings on the roles, collaborations, and activities librarians have had in health informatics beyond instruction. The author will lead a discussion about current and potential collaborations. Additionally, attendees will explore how best to report their involvement with health informatics to inform the profession.

Learning objectives: 

• Participants will gain insights into the extent and nature of librarian/information professional involvement with health informatics as discovered through this scoping review. 

• Participants will explore potentials of collaboration with health informatics activities in their own work. 

• Participants will discuss generating a standardized template for reporting librarian/information professional involvement in informatics educational activities. 

Please email BLCarroll@salud.unm.edu to request Zoom info.

Today is National HIV Testing Day. First observed on June 27, 1995, this is an annual day designed to encourage people to get tested for HIV, know their status, and get linked to care and treatment. 

The theme for 2022, “HIV Testing is Self-care.” The World Health Organization defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider.” is timely, given that self-care has been a particularly important topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also timely as the need for individual and community actions to promote physical and mental health remain critical.

HIV testing is an act of self-care. According to the CDC, encouraging people to get tested and know their HIV status can help them stay healthy. Today, there are more free, easy, fast, and confidential HIV testing options available than ever before. Testing, including self-testing, is the first step to engaging in HIV prevention or treatment services. HIV testing is a critical tool to helping us end the HIV epidemic in the United States.

Watch this Taking the Test is Taking Care of You video to learn more about HIV testing and self-care.

Currently, CDC and many other organizations are distributing free HIV self-testing kits . You can find more information about HIV testing on our HIV Testing Overview page.

Content courtesy of HIV.gov

Lying face down, arms shackled and our wrists behind our backs with invisible handcuffs. Five minutes into the die-in protest we wondered, “How did George Floyd feel?”

Our experiences bore only the vaguest resemblance to Mr. Floyd’s. We were lying on a lawn in front of the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center (HSLIC) below a blue sky with over 200 others. Bearing down on Mr. Floyd were three Minneapolis police officers. One officer, Derek Chauvin, jammed his knee directly on Mr. Floyd’s neck. While we could breathe on that lawn, Mr. Floyd could only gasp for his life, “I can’t breathe!”

On Thursday, June 4^th at 12:00 p.m. the UNM White Coats for Black & Indigenous Lives sponsored a Die In Protest on the lawn in front of HSLIC. The event was catalyzed by the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Breonna Tayler in Kentucky, and George Floyd in Minnesota. In addition to a sobering and powerful 8 minutes and 45 seconds, organizers and speakers took turns detailing a series of demands for HSC administration, including:

• Addressing underrepresentation of Indigenous people and African Americans in the medical field
• Withdrawing funding (if any) to the ABQ Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and NM correctional institutions
• Supporting "racial-based" data collection to show how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Indigenous and Black communities

The authors of this blog post were on hand to not only observe and take photos, but to also participate in the protest. We are both cisgender, white males with significantly more privilege than those at the heart of this protest. We wish to share what, for us, was a profoundly moving event.

Jon Eldredge & Jonathan Pringle

Protest Looking Northeast. Jon Eldredge, June 4, 2020.

Protest Event Signs. Jonathan Pringle, June 4, 2020.

Protest Looking West. Jonathan Pringle, June 4, 2020.

Protest Looking Northeast. Jon Eldredge, June 4, 2020.

Protesters Lying Down Looking Southwest. Jon Eldredge, June 4, 2020.

Protest Looking Northeast. Jonathan Pringle, June 4, 2020.

Protest Looking Southwest. Jon Eldredge, June 4, 2020. 

Did you know that there is a collaborative team of researchers at HSC who scrape the global literature and social media posts related to COVID-19, 6 days a week, vet them for quality, and then compile them into shortened briefings for other researchers, legislators, and providers?

If not, check out and learn the latest/greatest from across the globe, at the Daily Briefings page in the UNM Digital Repository!

A subgroup of the larger New Mexico Medical Advisory Team and Led by UNM Associate Professor Dr. Christophe Lambert, the team size ranges from 10-30 contributors (including students and folks from the UNM Center for Global Health) who work Sunday through Friday evenings for up to two hours each night. They take Saturdays off and spend Sunday night compiling information from both Saturday and Sunday. On average, the team reviews (daily) anywhere from 500-700 individual research articles, news stories, and social media posts, then whittles them down to 30-70 items that meet specific criteria for inclusion. These are then summarized in an easy-to-read format in a brief, 3-6 page document. It is a daunting task, to say the least!

The payoff has been most rewarding, with metrics confirming that these briefings have been downloaded over 1000 times and in nearly 80 countries! 

UNM Professor and section chief for geriatrics, Dr. David Scrase, and presently New Mexico's Secretary of Human Services, recently complimented and “thanked [the] team for [their] efforts and mentioned that he reads [the briefing] each night as the best part of his day and adds his favorite articles to his daily PowerPoint slides for updating the Governor.”

Kudos to HSLIC's own Ingrid Hendrix and Lori Sloane for their efforts and collaborations with this invaluable team!

Would you like to be on the listserv and get notification when the newest briefing is ready? Signup is quick and simple:

1. Email with a blank subject line to: listserv@list.unm.edu
2. In the body include a single line: subscribe GLOBALHEALTHCOVID19-L [YourFirstname] [YourLastname]
3. You will receive an email requesting confirmation that you want to join the list
4. Make sure to check your junk folder to "un-junk" material from this list