HSLIC News

Want to learn more about how to effectively manage your research data? The following workshops this spring will cover topics related to data organization, description, preservation, analysis and more.

Data Organization 101: Directory Structure and File Naming Conventions 

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., online
Register here 

In this workshop, we'll cover some best practices for keeping your data files organized from the very beginning of a research project, including creating a directory structure for your project and naming conventions for files and folders.

Data Organization 101: Organizing Data in Spreadsheets

Tuesday, March 4, 2025, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., online
Register here

Do you work with data in spreadsheets? In this workshop, we'll cover best practices for organizing tabular data in spreadsheets according to tidy data principles and avoiding common errors.

Creating README-style Metadata

Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., online
Register here

This session will provide an introduction to creating README-style metadata and best practices for describing datasets to better enable scientific data sharing and reuse

Creating a Data Dictionary

Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., online
Register here

A data dictionary, often also called as a codebook, helps other researchers--including, potentially, your future self--understand the structure, contents, variables and values in your dataset. We'll cover the importance of data dictionaries for reproducible research and best practices for creating a data dictionary for your research data.

Data Analysis and Visualization in R

Wednesday - Thursday, March 19 - 20, 8:30 - 4:30 p.m., Zimmerman Library 
Register here [FULL - Waitlist available]

Instructors from HSLIC will be partnering with University Libraries to help present a two-day Data Carpentry workshop on Data Analysis and Visualization in R. The lessons assume no prior knowledge of R or RStudio and no programming experience and are open to all academic disciplines.

Selecting a Data Repository Using the NNLM Data Repository Finder and Re3Data

Monday, April 14, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., online
Register here

In this session, we'll review the basics of selecting and searching data repositories and demo how to use the online NNLM Data Repository Finder and Re3data.

Data Deidentification Using NLM-Scrubber

Wednesday, May 14, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Register here

In this webinar we will review the basics of data deidentification and demonstrate NLM-Scrubber, a free deidentification tool developed by the National Library of Medicine to produce HIPAA-compliant deidentified health data.

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

This semester, graduate students from UNM's School of Mechanical Engineering will use the Anatomage Virtual Anatomy Tables in the Library to enhance their education in biomedical engineering. The students in Dr. Dick Greene's course, Biomedical Engineering (BME) 575, visited HSLIC in September to integrate the emerging technology of the Virtual Anatomy Table into their coursework. HSLIC currently houses two of the Tables: the larger model that allows for life-sized head-to-toe views of cadavers, and the School of Medicine's half-sized Table. Five different cadavers and hundreds of smaller case study images are available on both Tables. In addition, the Tables include several animations and a childbirth simulation. For each of the five cadavers, users can simulate dissection using a scalpel tool or by using a slider bar to remove layers. In addition, a checkbox menu allows users make specific structures and systems visible or invisible. Labels move along with the model as a user taps or drags to rotate or resize the cadaver.

As the semester continues, Dr. Greene's students will return to HSLIC to complete assignments that involve analyzing anatomy and physiology from a mechanical viewpoint. Dr. Greene describes the experience of his students using the Virtual Anatomy Table as follows: "The 12 MS and PhD graduate students found the system to provide life size, 3 dimensional, dynamic, photographic, and topographic details of the anatomical, physiological, and pathophysiologic systems of various body donors. The students will be using the unit throughout their training." 

On the topic of integrating the Anatomage Virtual Anatomy Table into a biomedical engineering curriculum, Dr. Greene states, "Obviously, this exposure will significantly increase their understanding of human anatomy and biology. Combined with engineering principles and practices, BME professionals can create cost effective systems to decrease morbidity and mortality and  improve the quality of life throughout the world."

Use of the Anatomage Virtual Anatomy Tables are currently available on a first come, first served basis. However, instructors interested in reserving the larger Table for a class visit can email reflib@salud.unm.edu or use the LibCal booking system. Introductory materials for the Tables are available on our Research Guide. Both Anatomage Virtual Anatomy Tables are located on the 3rd Floor, near the study room cluster. They will be moved to the 2nd Floor following the completion of the renovation work on that floor. 

The Special Collections webpage was recently updated to highlight new online content and make locating resources easier.

Split into three main sections (Learn About Our Collections, Digital Collections, and Using Special Collections), the webpage offers quick links to our A-Z subject guide, Special Collections research guide, access policies and procedures, FAQs, and online resources. These changes make for a more streamlined page that is easier to navigate. 

The webpage also has a direct link to contribute to the New Mexico Health Historical Fund. This fund supports Special Collections by providing money for preservation supplies, such as acid-free folders and boxes, as well as additional department needs.

Postcard, early 20th century, Valmora Industrial Sanatorium records, HHC 239

UNM’s Research Opportunities for Science Educators (ROSE) Program offers science educators from all over New Mexico the chance to work with lab researchers in discovery-based research. One of this summer’s ROSE Scholars, Margaret Lewis, a 30-year teaching veteran from Las Vegas, NM, designed a 3D model to help UNM researchers on their project. The researchers, Jarek Maleszka, Ifigeneia Tsironi Tzinious, and Elvis Attah, work under Dr. Jean-Hubert Olivier in UNM’s Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology.  

Maleszka describes their project as follows: “We want to develop more robust brain-machine interface coatings that can withstand the foreign body response when implanted into the brain. Since electrodes tend to be hard and stiff, there is a mechanical mismatch at the brain interface, causing the degradation of the brain electrodes to be quickened. Our strategy involves applying a hydrogel coating that can soften the material and make it closer in mechanical properties to the brain tissue surrounding it. Our coating also contains a drug that is also used to slow down the foreign body response. It does this by binding iron around the implant site to slow the reactions that cause the degradation of the wires. This is done by sustaining the release of the drug on the order of weeks, and overall prolonging the lifetime of the implant (so people don't need to get a brain surgery every week!).” 

Lewis, who had previously brought her experience with 3D printing into her work as a Chemistry and Physics teacher, designed a new scaffold for loading the microwires in a way that makes the coating of them far easier. Lewis created a 3D model for this scaffold and Maleszka prepared it for printing on HSLIC’s 3D printer. Typically, users of HSLIC’s 3D Printer choose PLA filament for their models, but in this case the acetone from the production of the hydrogel would end up degrading the scaffold. As part of HSLIC’s 3D Printing services, we offer nylon filament as an option, but this was the first time since we got the 3D Printer that we had an occasion to use it. The model required support material, which we printed in water soluble PVA.  

After coating the microwires on this nylon scaffold, the microwires then get sent to Dr. Abishek Prasad, of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. Dr. Prasad will then implant the electrodes into rat models to test the efficacy of the treatment. For more information about this type of brain electrode research, see this recent paper:  Implantable brain–computer interface for neuroprosthetic-enabled volitional hand grasp restoration in spinal cord injury. 

HSLIC staff welcomed this opportunity to participate in a project that featured so many connections: between health sciences and chemistry, secondary education and laboratory research, Albuquerque and Miami, as well as the HSC Campus and the UNM Main Campus. 

This week the new UNM Physician Assistant (PA) Program students will begin their orientation.

Education

PA students spend most of their first 18 months learning alongside the medical students. PA students immediately use the skills and resources they learn from Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center (HSLIC) faculty in their Health of New Mexico Block. Within a few weeks, they will apply different skills and use resources for their series of Clinical Reasoning courses that they take during the first 18 months of their program. They will learn these skills and resources at a training session on Tuesday July 16^th.

Resources

Many of the resources that students will use for their Clinical Reasoning courses can be found in the HSLIC Clinical Reasoning Guide: https://libguides.health.unm.edu/clinical_reasoning

Popular resources include:

• AccessMedicine
• ClinicalKey
• LWW Health Library: PA Rotations/Specialties
• LWW Health Library Board Review series

Throughout their time at UNM PA students will access reserve resources for their blocks and courses such as textbooks, manuals, models, and videos. PA students can freely access the thousands of other texts, journals, and other information sources to supplement the reserve resources placed by block or course faculty members.

Services

HSLIC faculty and staff can provide PA students assistance through the HSLIC Ask a Librarian link on the HSLIC homepage or in-person. Contractors are renovating the main entrance Second-Floor area so simply climb the stairs or take the elevator to the Third Floor to find the HSLIC in-person service desk.

We look forward to working with you over the next 27 months!

Jon Eldredge and Robyn Gleasner

The Medical Library Association (MLA) published its first research agenda [1] in 2009 and its second research agenda [2] in 2012. During the past year, the MLA Research Agenda Committee developed the new research agenda. All three research agendas have intended to focus researchers’ efforts toward investigating the highest-priority research subjects.

The new MLA Research Agenda planning team began by asking 495 elected and appointed MLA leaders to identify what they viewed as the most important research question facing the profession. 130 leaders provided viable questions. MLA members who had published research articles within the past four years were asked to select up to five questions that they thought were both feasible and important. 200 researchers identified the top-ranked 36 questions that were in turn returned to the original 130 MLA members who submitted their questions to pick five top questions apiece.

The top 15 questions will be the focus of the new MLA Research Agenda. The questions pertain to a variety of subjects. Respondents focused on evidence based ways to educate health sciences students on their programmatic competencies, how to best measure the impact of information resources and services on institutional success, and how graduate schools of information should best prepare their graduates for the rigors of every day professional practice. Two questions, perhaps expectedly, sought guidance on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) might be best harnessed to serve health professionals’ information needs.

The applied research projects resulting from the Research Agenda will add to the growing body of evidence on how best to meet your needs.

Interested colleagues can learn more about the methods or results from this project by contacting Jon Eldredge at <jeldredge@salud.unm.edu>.

References

1.Eldredge JD, Harris MR, Ascher MT. Defining the Medical Library Association research agenda: methodology and final results from a consensus process. J Med Libr Assoc. 2009;97(3):178-185. doi:10.3163/1536-5050.97.3.006

2.Eldredge JD, Ascher MT, Holmes HN, Harris MR. The new Medical Library Association research agenda: final results from a three-phase Delphi study. J Med Libr Assoc. 2012;100(3):214-218. doi:10.3163/1536-5050.100.3.012

National Collections Preservation Week, April 28 – May 4, 2024, raises awareness about the need to preserve cultural heritage materials whether in personal and family collections or libraries and archival institutions. Sponsored by Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures, a division of the American Library Association, Preservation Week “inspires action” and “raises awareness of the role libraries and other cultural institutions play in providing ongoing preservation education and information.”

Since its start in 2010, Preservation Week, in particular, draws attention to problems and gaps in the long-term care of culturally and historically-relevant materials. These problems include a lack of proper staffing to oversee collections, improper storage of materials, and the absence of emergency and disaster preparedness plans. As Core states, "personal, family, and community collections are equally at risk."

This year’s theme, Preserving Identities, emphasizes how cultural heritage materials contribute to the preservation of group and individual identities.

To support the sharing of preservation knowledge, ALA offers free resources including webinars, handouts with quick tips, and preservation guides.

Another good source for preservation advice is Gaylord Archival. They offer free webinars and preservation tutorials on book, document, and photograph preservation. Connecting to Collections is another useful website that offers hundreds of free webinars on preservation and collections care topics. 

Additional questions about preservation and collections care? Schedule a preservation consultation. 

And be sure to pick up a free preservation advice bookmark at the HSLIC public services desk and at the Happy Heart Bistro during Preservation Week!

Part of National Library Week’s Ready, Set, Library! celebrates libraries and librarians meeting their users where they are. HSLIC librarians do this all the time, but it’s not always obvious when we do it. Our librarians are embedded in many HSC courses and teach several stand-alone courses. We would like to take this opportunity to highlight the courses our librarians are involved with.

Lisa Acuff helped develop and teach Introduction to Translational Evidence Informed Practice - NURS 701 and the DPT Capstone, she also co-taught the Geriatric elective in the Interprofessional Education program.

Dr. Jon Eldredge is one of the Instructors of Record for the Quantitative Medicine Block in the School of Medicine, co-teaches Foundations of Research Methodologies Physician Assistant course, co-teaches the Determinants & Equity in Public Health Master of Population Health course and co-teaches Dental Hygiene Research in the Dental Hygiene program.

Lori Sloane developed and taught a session on data management in the College of Population Health’s new Doctoral Seminar PH 690.

Leah Everitt updated and taught sessions on literature searching for evidence based practice in Aspects of Patient Care 713 and 753 in the College of Pharmacy.

Ingrid Hendrix taught a series of literature searching sessions to the University of New Mexico Hospital's Unit Based Educators. She also taught a literature searching session in Introduction to Research and Medical Imaging in the Radiologic Sciences Program. She also teaches in the Physical Assessment and Primary Care of Adults courses in the Family Nurse Practitioner program on the topic- Considerations in Caring for Patients with Disabilities.

Melissa Rethlefsen developed, taught, and facilitated the Rigor and Reproducibility Journal Club in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program and Leah Everitt helped co-facilitate. Melissa also taught an Introduction to FAIR Data, Bioinformatics, and Machine Learning in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, BIOM564/BME518.

HSLIC’s efforts in the curriculum and other aspects of HSC education are reported yearly in the HSLIC Annual Report. HSLIC also hosts their own workshops open to the entire HSC community.  Visit the Events Calendar to see upcoming workshops. HSLIC aims to meet their users where they are and being embedded in the curriculum helps us to achieve this goal, we look forward to continuing the partnerships highlighted in this post and gaining more!

Ready, Set, Library!

Rob Dukes, a doctoral student in UNM’s Department of Mathematics & Statistics, approached HSLIC about using the 3D printer to generate models of calculus functions. Dukes wanted to help the students in his Multivariable Calculus course improve their understanding of course concepts by introducing a kinesthetic aspect to his instruction. The first photo here shows Dukes's students using the model printed on HSLIC's 3D printer during a class meeting in February 2024.

The models came from the website Visualizing Mathematics in 2D & 3D produced by Monroe Community College. This site offers several different methods of converting functions into 3D models. Dukes chose to print ready-made STL files from one of the lesson plans, formatted specifically for Cura, the software that matches with HSLIC's Ultimaker S5 printer.

Since so much data gets input into the coding for these prints, the files required a much longer print time than would be expected for a model of this size. When we printed two of the models together, the print time ran to one day, 20 hours and 47 minutes. Our printer performed as we hoped and the mountainous surface models came out great.

In this screenshot from the Cura software, note the print time in the lower right corner and the support material represented in blue. We used water-soluble PVA for the supports, allowing for a smooth underside to the model after some soak time in our water bath.

The lesson using the models went as planned and Dukes featured it in his teaching portfolio: “Students are asked to pick points where the partial derivatives with respect to either variable meet some different combination. Some ask for both positive, some for one negative and one zero, some ask about second derivatives having different signs, etc. Students worked in groups of up to five people sharing a model, and I circulated the room monitoring their behavior. In general, they were engaged in serious conversation about the topic and sharpened their understanding through discussion.”

This month marks the 40th anniversary of HSLIC Special Collections. 

Special Collections, originally known as the New Mexico Medical History Program and Medical Center Archives, originated from Dr. Jake Spidle’s 1982 oral history project about New Mexico physicians and UNM HSLIC director Erika Love's idea to start documenting the history of health and health care in New Mexico.

HSLIC’s first archivist, Janet Johnson, started part time in February 1984 and then became a full-time staff member in April 1984.

As the archives manager, Janet was tasked with processing collections, physically organizing the archives’ holdings, acquiring new materials (particularly items that documented the early history of UNM’s Medical Center), outreach activities, and preservation.

According to the library's 1984/1985 annual report, early archives projects included:

• Adding 31 oral histories conducted by Dr. Spidle to the oral history collection
• Establishing a New Mexico/Southwest collection of 200 monographs and 60 serials that were transferred from the general collection
• Creating 178 subject files on various topics about health in New Mexico
• Acquiring document and photograph collections about the UNM Medical Center and New Mexico health from 25 donors

Outreach activities from 1984-1985 included an exhibit about the history program’s progress and goals at the New Mexico Medical Society’s annual meeting, and a presentation to UNM Medical Center administrative coordinators about the archive and the need to transfer important Medical Center records and publications to it. Janet also created a brochure about the archives. 

Happy anniversary Special Collections!

UNM School of Medicine's first class, 1964. Institutional photograph collection, HHC 321

Resources for Faculty

As the spring semester begins, we have a number of resources that can help faculty with class content and learner success. Faculty wear many hats; researcher, clinician, educator, advisor, and administrator.  This post will focus mainly on the educator role.  If there is a specific resource you want to know more about or a question you have for us, please send us your questions at the Ask A Librarian page or through our Chat.  We are also happy to be a part of your curricula and provide instruction to students on discovery, evaluation and management of information.

Any of our Access resources (Access Medicine, Access Pharmacy, Access Physiotherapy, Access Advanced Practice Nursing) allow you to select images from either the textbooks or the multimedia menu and create a PowerPoint slide with attribution you can add to a slide deck. There are also complete PowerPoints for book chapters that you can find under the For Instructors tab. You can also find cases and quiz questions.

ClinicalKey also provides a Presentation Maker which allows you to add saved images from the database to create your own presentations. To access this resource you must create a free account. Click here to learn more about ClinicalKey Presentation Maker.

MedEdPortal is a great resource for educators.  It is an open access journal of peer-reviewed stand-alone, complete teaching or learning modules on topics related to health sciences. Its primary focus is medicine, but it covers such a wide range of topics, there is information for other disciplines as well. Topics range from patient safety, anti-racism and climate and health. To download materials, you need to set up an account.  To explore other Open Educational Resource platforms, see HSLIC’s Guide on OER’s.

Keeping up with the literature and finding full text is challenging, but we have some solutions. You can set up alerts to automatically run searches and send you results. (Set up an account in the database of choice first.)  Browzine is another way to stay current. It is a resource of full text journals that allows you to select your favorite journal, add it to your ‘bookshelf’ and get updates when there are new issues. You can save individual articles to your bookshelf as well and read them whenever you have a free moment. Set up information can be found here: https://libguides.health.unm.edu/c.php?g=1206413&p=8823251

Nomad is a plug in for your browser that works with select databases, such as PubMed to provide quick access to full text articles. Installation is quick and easy.

Zotero is a free file management program – think virtual filing cabinet – that helps organize your articles. A few useful features are renaming PDFs and automatically adding citation data, automatically searching for PDF’s and generating a bibliography for class reading lists.

Directing students to our Anatomage table for anatomy refreshers or our virtual reality headsets loaded with anatomy, physiology and wellness apps can be a great support for students outside the classroom. More information can be found here: https://libguides.health.unm.edu/tech-at-hslic

New material is available at HSLIC! Check out the New Material Guide to see what has been recently added to our collection! Subjects include:

• Health & Medicine
• Justice, Equity, & Inclusivity

Check out the new location of the New Books display on the 3rd floor of HSLIC to see new titles available in print. Here are a few:

Molecular Neuropharmacology: a Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience, Fourth Edition by Robert C. Malenka; Eric J. Nestler; Steven E. Hyman

Call Number: QV 76.5 N468 2020

ISBN: 9781260456905

Publication Date: 2020-06-23

Mosby's® Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests by Kathleen Deska Pagana; Timothy J. Pagana; Theresa Noel Pagana

Call Number: QY 39 P128 2022

ISBN: 9780323697033

Publication Date: 2021-08-10

Osborn's brain : imaging, pathology, and anatomy by Anne G Osborn

Call Number: WL 301 OS81 2024

ISBN: 9780443109379

Publication Date: 2023

Health Equity by Daniel E. Dawes; Kisha B. Holden; David R. Williams; American Public Health Association Staff (Contribution by)

Call Number: W 68 AA1 D269 2023

ISBN: 9780875533285

Publication Date: 2023-07-01

 

We're Not OK by Antija M. Allen (Editor); Justin Stewart (Editor)

Call Number: LC 2781.5 W47 2022

ISBN: 9781009073561

Publication Date: 2022-05-05

Health Informatics by William Hersh (Editor)

Call Number: W 26.5 H434 2022

ISBN: 9781387854752

Publication Date: 2022-07-29

Take a look at the guide to see the entire list of New Material.

Last week, Occupational Therapy Instructor Mary Hill offered her students a chance to explore the use of the Library's VR headsets. Bringing an innovative mindset to the application of VR for Occupational Therapy, Hill discovered four VR apps in the Oculus Web Store to adapt to the OT context.

“I’ve never used an app designed for therapy,” Hill said, referring to the clunky design of those apps and to her preference for adapting game apps for OT clients. At Hill’s request, the Library purchased four apps: Cubism, Puzzling Places, Car Parking Simulator, and Air Hockey VR.

The OT students played the games and discussed how they could use them to assist clients as they return to activities. In an OT context, simple VR games can offer clients an effective way to build hand coordination, executive function, and vestibular function. Kira O’Neill, one of the OT students, said of the VR experience, “It was really cool being able to use the Oculus to practice real-world skills such as driving. It would be beneficial to use with clients who are physically capable, but they could start practicing and see how it would translate to the real world.”

Although the Library’s Oculus Quest 2 Headsets contain several apps for health sciences education, we also encourage students, faculty, and staff to check them out for relaxation and fun. The Library’s Oculus Quest 2 Headsets have mindfulness apps installed on them, such as Nature Treks VR and Guided Meditation VR. You can check out a headset at the HSLIC Front Desk and take it home with you for three days. The headset will connect to your home wifi, and you don’t need to create any new accounts to use it. For more information, consult our Virtual Reality Research Guide.

Preservation strategies help keep books, archives, and artifacts from deteriorating any further. This is different from conservation where specially-trained conservators do item-level treatments and repairs. The following guidelines will assist with preserving your own family history.

Archival materials should be stored in a cool, stable environment with a relative humidity (RH) of no more than 50% (to help prevent mold growth and reduce insect activity). Archival materials should also be kept away from light whenever possible. Acid-free folders and boxes help absorb acid from paper via an alkaline buffer (calcium carbonate) and extend the life of materials. Boxes also protect archives from light damage, dust, insects, and other pests.

Some easy ways to protect your own family papers and artifacts include storing items in a steady, cooler environment (generally 68-72 degrees) with a lower RH (i.e. no bathrooms), keeping papers and artifacts in boxes, and turning the lights off when rooms aren’t being used. Do not store important materials in attics, basements, or garages as these areas are often prone to leaks, floods, and/or temperature fluctuations. If you use a storage unit, be sure to check that it is climate-controlled. Do not sure store photographs in magnetic (adhesive photo albums) or glue items into albums as they can damage materials. Be sure to monitor for insects and other pests regularly.

Proper handling is also very important. Do not have food and/or drinks near your books and papers. Wash your hands before handling materials and use nitrile gloves when handling photographic prints and negatives to help prevent fingerprints. You might also consider rotating framed family photographs on display to limit light exposure and/or use a preservation copy and safely store the original.

Digital preservation is more complicated. Generally, archivists recommend that you store digital files in three different locations, make sure your file names/identifiers are unique and well-organized, and reformat materials as old technology becomes obsolete.

Have additional preservation questions? Feel free to email me or schedule an archivist consultation during my office hours.

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.

Archivists often do a variety of tasks including selection and appraisal of records, arrangement and description of collections, reference work, promotion and outreach, and preservation administration. Because archives generally contain unique materials, they often have different use procedures from other departments in libraries.

HSLIC Special Collections contains over 300 archival collections as well as photograph collections and artifacts. These materials help document the history of health and healthcare in New Mexico. Please check out our How to Use Special Collections guide for more information and learn about our archival holdings at HSLIC.

And stay tuned for an archives-themed blog post each week in October!

On Friday, September 8, HSLIC was thrilled to welcome participants of New Mexico State Library’s Tribal Libraries Program to the library for an all-day event. The Tribal Libraries Program provides library development services to tribal communities throughout the state, including support for library management, collection development, funding navigation, staff continuing education, and advocacy. The purpose of the field trip to HSLIC was to connect tribal librarians with health information resources and UNM programs as well as develop fresh relationships with libraries serving Indigenous people.

Executive Director Melissa Rethlefsen kicked off the day with a warm greeting and UNM’s Indigenous Peoples’ Land and Territory Acknowledgement. Participants then had a special tour of HSLIC led by Specialist III Amy Weig-Pickering, including a peek at items from the library’s Special Collections with Archivist Abbie Weiser and a walkthrough with Specialist III Rachel Howarth of some of the technology available to students and the public. HSLIC Clinical Services Librarian Deborah Rhue and Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine Library Director Norice Lee introduced PubMed and MedlinePlus, respectively. Participants had the opportunity to view the Native Health Database with Jonathan Pringle, Scholarly Communications and Digital Librarian. Emily Roberts, the Library Services Coordinator at the Center for Development and Disability, provided an in-depth review of CDD’s resources. Carla Sakiestewa introduced the Office of Community Health’s Health Extension Regional Office, which she is a part of as an Affiliate Agent, and Norman Cooeyate, the Tribal Relations Liaison for the Center for Native American Health, rounded out the presentations on UNM programs. Ingrid Hendrix, Division Head, Research, Education, and Clinical Information Services, ended the day by leading a conversation and Q and A session. 

HSLIC is New Mexico’s only publicly accessible health sciences library.  As such, it strives to provide health information access and training to all New Mexicans. Engaging with libraries throughout the state provides HSLIC with the opportunity to reach diverse local communities in the places they call home. We look forward to continuing to expand and improve health information learning opportunities throughout the state. 

I attended Medline search training at the National Library of Medicine in 1977. It was a heady experience to return to the Texas Medical Center Library and start conducting literature searches for researchers, clinicians, and students who, at the time, did not have direct access to databases.

How things have changed! Medline is freely available, and through HSLIC, you have access to many other databases on a wide variety of topics. Still, you need to construct a search strategy in order to retrieve articles. Most systems now have forms where you can type keywords and often get relevant information.

But, it is very helpful to know that the underlying effective searching of most databases is a basic understanding of Boolean ANDs and ORs – named for George Boole, an English mathematician, philosopher, and logician. ANDing terms indicate that you want to retrieve items that are in both your concepts: CPR AND survival retrieve articles that include both topics. ORing terms are more inclusive – you want retrieval from either concept.  CPR OR survival gives you articles that are about CPR as well as articles that are about survival, not necessarily related to CPR – a huge set!

Another important tip in searching databases is to use the “controlled” vocabulary/thesaurus if the system has one. A good example is Medline’s MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), which provides a standard for naming concepts. For example, in MeSH, cancer terms are included under the term Neoplasms and if you search the MeSH term Neoplasms you will get every way cancer is referred to in an article, whether it’s called a tumor, malignancy, cancer, neoplasm, etc.

Also, efficiently searching databases requires knowing the particular system’s syntax for phrases, truncation, etc. Check out HSLIC's Research Guides for Searching for more subject and database-specific information.

Searching databases has certainly become more user-friendly; underlying algorithms and AI make them more so, but maybe less transparent. HSLIC librarians are search experts and willing to help individuals with searches and teach classes on the basics. It’s what we do, so don’t hesitate to Ask a Librarian.

"Venn Diagram for Boolean Operator AND" by Ramaxeymiles is licensed under CC BY 2.0; "Venn Diagram for Boolean Operator OR" by Ramaxeymiles is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Where do you go for quick nursing evidence summaries?

Evidence-based practice is a problem-solving approach to clinical decision-making based on the best available research evidence (Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt 2023). While it is preferable to read the original research reports to evaluate the validity and applicability firsthand, nurses, educators, and students often lack the time to do so.  

I recently discovered the journal, Evidence-Based Nursing, which is available from HSLIC. According to the publisher, the journal publishes critical commentaries and summaries of the most valid research in nursing. Key findings and implications for nursing practice are discussed. The original research articles are clearly referenced, allowing readers to find and appraise the complete reports if desired. In addition to commentaries, the journal publishes two other article types: Research Discussions and Evidence for Nursing Education.

Since my subject expertise is in health education and information sciences, rather than nursing, this journal is invaluable to me. As the librarian for the graduate nursing programs, I can quickly scan information that is relevant to nursing practice.

Evidence-Based Nursing is also available through BrowZine, an application that allows users to browse, read, and monitor journals available through the library. Learn more about BrowZine here.

So, where do you go for quick nursing evidence summaries? I encourage you to add Evidence-Based Nursing to your list of favorites! 

References:

BMJ Publishing Group (2023). Evidence-Based Nursing. https://ebn.bmj.com/
Gleasner, Robyn (2022, December 7). What is BrowZine? https://libguides.health.unm.edu/c.php?g=1206413&p=8823251
Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2023). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare : a guide to best practice (Fifth). Wolters Kluwer.

In Fall 2022, HSLIC obtained a 3D printer for general use. The printer, an Ultimaker S5, allows for printing in two colors, using filaments such as PLA and PVA. Located on the 2nd Floor, near the public computing stations, Library users can send a print to the Ultimaker S5 from those workstations or bring their file on a USB drive. All files must be sliced in Ultimaker’s software, Cura, which is installed on all the 2nd Floor public computing workstations.  

In Spring 2023, Mohammad Razmjoo, a UNM College of Pharmacy student, practiced using the 3D printer to create a variety of laboratory equipment and objects. He says that his 3D-printed pipette holder has been especially useful for lab work. After completing a few prints, Mohammad felt comfortable enough with the 3D printing technology to integrate it into his poster project for the College of Pharmacy’s Research Day on April 17th. The project, titled “Revolutionize Respiratory Disease Treatment Using a Smart Dry Powder Inhaler,” utilized HSLIC’s 3D printer to produce inhaler components designed in collaboration with students at UNM’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Medicine. The Smart Adaptor makes significant improvements over traditional inhalers, such as better feedback and more precise dosage.  

Mohammad’s poster won Best Poster at the Research Day. Regarding his experience at Research Day, Mohammad said, “It was very unusual for a poster presenter to have a physical model to demonstrate, so the 3D printing really set this poster apart. I had a large audience for the whole time.” 

This initial use case demonstrates how a 3D printer can be utilized to deepen educational experiences for students. Mohammad reports that his classmates were hesitant about using the 3D printer, but he routinely assures them, “It’s really not that complicated.” 

If you are interested in exploring how 3D printing can enhance your work at HSC, we welcome the opportunity to work with you. We invite you to explore our 3D Printing Research Guide and to contact us at reflib@salud.unm.edu. Come try it out!

HSLIC, in collaboration with CTSC, University Libraries, and EPSCoR, is introducing researchers, learners, and novice programmers to the R software environment in an upcoming workshop from May 15-19.

R is a powerful tool for working with research data and is commonly used in many scientific disciplines for statistical analysis. This workshop emphasizes building a foundation on the fundamentals of R and teaches best practices for scientific computing: breaking down analyses into modular units, task automation, and encapsulation. We will provide this active, hands-on training session to introduce you to these tools to help you create reproducible code for wrangling and preparing your data for analysis. The last two days will focus on logistic regression.

The R for Reproducible Scientific Analysis workshop is designed for the novice. No prior knowledge of R, RStudio, or RMarkdown is necessary. We step through the process of working with data, followed by a formative assessment exercise. Helpers assist those in-person and virtually to keep pace with the instructor. It’s not about teaching specific skills but building confidence and self-efficacy.

You can sign up for this workshop here or scan the flyer’s QR code. More detailed information about the workshop is posted at the UNM Health Sciences Center Software Carpentry Workshop

You can direct any questions to Lori Sloane or Harry Snow.

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.

Give your research, scholarly & creative works enhanced visibility by taking two important steps: create an ORCID iD if you don’t have one, and if you do, connect it to UNM through your NET ID login. UNM is an institutional member of ORCID and has provided the ability to connect personal ORCID iDs; UNM also supports faculty and staff in creating and maintaining their ORCID iD presence. Learn more: https://libguides.unm.edu/orcid.  

ORCID iDs, or Open Researcher and Contributor Identifiers, are unique IDs that you can use as a researcher to identify scholarly and creative works. The IDs help funders, publishers, scholarly societies, and other researchers to quickly find and distinguish your work from materials created by other researchers with similar names. There is a special urgency behind this drive to have UNM researchers establish ORCID iDs: as of January 2023, all U.S. federal agencies will require researchers to have a digital persistent identifier, and an ORCID iD is the only one that meets all criteria established by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  

Support for UNM’s institutional ORCID is provided as a collaboration between University Libraries and the UNM-HSC Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center. For questions related to getting your ORCID iD set up and/or connected to UNM, please contact: 

• Jonathan Pringle, HSLIC Scholarly Communications & Digital Librarian; jpringle@salud.unm.edu  

• Lori Sloane, HSLIC Data Manager; lsloane@salud.unm.edu

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.

This week is peer review week, and it’s acknowledged and celebrated worldwide. This community-led event provides the opportunity to consider, question, and explore the role of peer review in research quality and scholarly communication. Peer review has been defined many ways, and it has been critiqued and described from multiple angles. One definition suggests it is “a longstanding system of appraisal where journal editors rely on the views of outside content experts in making decisions on publication of submitted manuscripts”.[1]

Some authors write about peer review to inform about the principles, processes, elements, and intent. Others take a critical approach and aim to expose the potential limitations and problematic influences. Each discourse is valuable and contributes to the overall conversation.

The theme of Peer Review Week 2022 is “Research Integrity: Creating and supporting trust in research,” which ties in to both informative and critical discourses. Here are a few resources about peer review. Note, this list is not meant to be comprehensive but rather to introduce multiple perspectives. See also the reference at the end.

• Charlotte R. Owning the peer review process: If we have to do this work, we should own it. 
• Eldredge J. Characteristics of peer reviewed clinical medicine journals. 
• Houghton F. Keep calm and carry on: Moral panic, predatory publishers, peer review, and the emperor’s new clothes. 

After reading, consider whether, and how, your response has changed to the question: What does peer review mean to you?

References:

1. Jefferson T, Rudin M, Brodney Folse S, Davidoff F. Editorial peer review for improving the quality of reports of biomedical studies. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Apr 18;2007(2):MR000016. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.MR000016.pub3

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.

The Class of 2026 medical students began their new student orientation today.

Three HSLIC faculty members and a faculty member from the Department of Internal Medicine will be training the new medical students on how to find authoritative information directly related to their Health of New Mexico Block and their Clinical Reasoning courses. The training includes hands-on applied exercises. The faculty members are Jon Eldredge, Laura Hall, Robyn Gleasner, and Deepti Rao.

Throughout their four years of medical school, the students will experience training from the HSLIC faculty. HSLIC faculty members have facilitated small group sessions in both the aforementioned Health of New Mexico Block and the Clinical Reasoning courses. Dr. Eldredge is one of the two faculty Co-Chairs of the Quantitative Medicine Block and he works with medical students in conducting their research projects. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the School of Medicine’s Curriculum Committee.

Course reserves at HSLIC are now available for the Spring semester! You can find materials on reserve for your course in the Course Reserves module in Discovery—search by your course name (e.g. Dental Public Health), abbreviation (e.g. DEHY 422), department (e.g. Dental Hygiene), or instructor (e.g. Smith). Simply click on your course for easy access to electronic material and to see the status of print books.

Print reserves are now available 24/7 by badge access! They are located on the 2nd floor to the left of the elevators and can be checked out at the front desk during library hours (M-F/8am-5pm) or used within the building any time after hours. We also have an overhead scanner available near Course Reserves to scan any material needed. 

Contact our Course Reserves manager if you have any questions or need help accessing your course materials!
 

Considering the sudden nature in which instruction is switching from face-to-face to virtual, HSC faculty might be wondering about their right to use certain copyrighted materials for instructional purposes. The library world is already responding with helpful tips for the "rapid shift" that is being asked of faculty in these situations. One such example is from our colleagues at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. But you may have more specific questions about content types and whether or not you are "allowed" to use certain materials in an online environment for instruction. For example, should you screen that five minute section of that YouTube video you found online? Or what if you need a whole book to be made disseminated online and it is only available in print? Or what about the difference between sharing these materials through BBLearn or just opening up something from your private social media account? Your sudden shift to online instruction likely leaves you with a few questions... and a decision to make around copyright risk. 

The good news is that HSLIC staff can help you untangle your particular quandary and coach you on some things to consider with all of this. Please note: WE ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL COUNSEL. We consider ourselves copyright coaches. The Association of College & Research Libraries recently hosted a webinar titled "Copyright for Campus Closures: Exploring the Copyright Issues around Moving Instruction and Reference Online." Presenter Sara Benson (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) brought up several important points when moving to online instruction. When contacting us with your copyright concern, you might think about the following:

1. Are the materials you want to use now in the public domain?
2. Do the materials have a creative commons license?
3. Have you learned about where you can find OERs (Open Educational Resources)? 
4. Confused about the face-to-face teaching exception? Or how you could apply aspects of the TEACH act? 
5. Do you know how Fair Use is applied? Or how it can be interpreted in a court of law?
6. Do you know about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the streaming video exception? 

If you have questions about any of this or would like to consult with us, please contact me, Jonathan Pringle, HSLIC Scholarly Communications and Digital Librarian, at jpringle@salud.unm.edu.