November - December 1999      Volume XII  Number 6
IN THIS ISSUE

PubMed Beta Test Version

Web of Science

Alt–Health Watch

Health Reference
Center

Noteworthy

Library  Class Schedule

New Staff

LIBRARY HOURS

Monday-Thursday:
7:00 am-Midnight 

Friday:
7:00 am-9:00 pm

Saturday:
9:00 am-5:00 pm

Sunday:
1:00 pm-10:00 pm

The Library will be closed on December 24-26,   31, and January 1-2

CIRCULATION
POLICIES


Audiovisual materials: 7 days, 2 renewals.

Books; 2 weeks, 2 renewals.

Bound journals: Same day, non-renewable.

Nursing journals: In-house use only.

Unbound journals: 2 hours.

Renewals:
713-799-7147

OVERDUES


Overdue charges are $1.00 per item per day. Unpaid fines result in the suspension of borrowing privileges.

TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Location and Hours:
713-795-4200

Administrative Offices:
713-799-7116

Circulation Desk (renewals, fines):
713-799-7147

Knowledge Network Services:
713-799-7161

Health Informatics Education Center:
713-799-7128

Education and Training:
713-799-7154

McGovern Historical Center:
713-799-7139

Photocopy/Interlibrary Loan:
713-799-7179

Publications Services: 
713-799-7803 

FAX NUMBERS


Administration:
713-790-7052

Knowledge Network Services:
713-797-0163

Photocopy/Interlibrary Loan:
713-790-7056

Regional Medical Library:
713-790-7030

WORLD WIDE WEB:
www.library.tmc.edu

LIBRARY LINES
Library Lines is published six times per year. Please call the Library's administrative offices to be placed on our mailing list (713/799-7139).

Interim Executive Director:
J. Robert Beck, M.D.

  

Beta Test Version of PubMed


 

Recently the National Library of Medicine (NLM) released a beta test version of the new PubMed. With this version, NLM staff  have incorporated many of  the suggestions made by librarians and other users. Some of the enhancements include a single search interface with:

  • Pull-down menus to limit searches by age, gender, publication type,
  •  language and publication date 
  • Different display formats including Brief, Abstract and Summary
  • A search history allowing users to combine results from different 
  •  searches 
  • A clipboard to save as many as 500 unique citations from different
  •  searches
The HAM-TMC Library has scheduled training classes for the new version of PubMed.

Web of Science
In the last issue of Library Lines it was stated that Web of Science databases Science Citation Index (SCI), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) are available from 1974-present. Please be aware that the contract negotiated with the vendor only allows access to the databases from 1989-present.


Alt-Health Watch

Acupuncture for nausea? Ginkgo for Alzheimers?  Diet therapy for hot flashes?  More and more people are becoming interested in complementary and alternative medical subjects. According to a study in the January 28, 1993 New England Journal of Medicine, expenditures associated with use of unconventional therapy in 1990 amounted to approximately $13.7 billion.  This figure is comparable to the $12.8 billion spent out of pocket annually for all hospitalizations in the United States. 

One in three patients used alternative therapy in 1990 and 72 percent of those who used alternative therapies did not tell their doctors about the alternative treatments.  Health care professionals need to be aware of the types of treatments that their patients might be obtaining outside of the traditional office setting.  The Library offers you a way to research these topics when they are not reported in the regular medical literature—Alt-Health Watch.

Alt-HealthWatch is a full-text database of periodicals, peer-reviewed journals, academic and professional publications, magazines, consumer newsletters and newspapers, research reports, and association newsletters focused on complementary, alternative and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. The database provides in-depth coverage on both professional and consumer levels across the full spectrum of more than two hundred therapies, modalities and perspectives addressed by integrated medicine. Free text searching and complete indexing make Alt-Health Watch easy to use. It can be accessed through the Library’s databases/full-text website at:

http://www.library.tmc.edu/databases.html

Health Reference Center Database for Patient Education Needs

Need easier-to-understand information on a procedure, a drug, or a disease?  How about a a brochure for your patients on how to start an exercise program?  Or a book chapter on  diabetes?  The library subscribes to Health Reference Center, a consumer-centered database that indexes magazines, newsletters, selected medical journals, nursing & allied health journals, pamphlets, reference books, newspaper articles, and topical overviews.  It provides the full text for a number of publications indexed.  The database includes 4-5 years worth of information and is updated daily.

Health Reference Center is accessible from computers within the Library building and through the Library’s remote access service.  Go to the Library’s databases/full-text website at:  http://www.library.tmc.edu/databases.html and select Health Reference Center.


Noteworthy

Network Update
The HAM–TMC Library is currently updating the network equipment linking the Library to the Internet. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) equipment will soon be connected to the Baylor Enterprise Network (BEN) allowing Library users to access the Internet at a very high speed and providing up to date networking technology. This update is scheduled to be completed by mid–January, 2000.

Internet Remote Access
The Library currently has 1,100 clients registered and using Phase I of the Library’s Remote Access Service (RAS). Phase I provides direct dial-up access via modem to the Library’s IP licensed full-text journals, books, and databases. RAS Phase II will provide access via a Proxy server and is scheduled to be available by mid January.

Electric Library
Electric Library is a database of full-text articles taken from more than 150 newspapers, hundreds of magazines, and national and international news wires. The database also includes the full text of 2,000 complete works of literature; over 28,000 photos, images and maps; television, radio and government transcripts; book, movie and software reviews; and an encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, almanac, fact books, and more. The database is updated daily and coverage extends back as far as the 1980s.
Accessible from all TMC IP addresses and by all remote access users from the Library’s databases/full-text website or directly at http://www.elibrary.com/s/edumark.


Library Class Schedule January–May 2000
Internet for Medical Research* January 20 9:00am–11:30am
March 22 2:30pm–5:00pm
CINAHL* January 18 9:00am–11:00am
February 15 9:00am–11:00am
Navigating Full-text Journals* January 19 9:00am–11:00am
February 16 9:00am–11:00am
March 14 9:00am–11:00am
April 18 9:00am–11:00am
PubMed* January 10 12:00pm–1:00pm
January 26 12:00pm–1:00pm
February 14 12:00pm–1:00pm
March 13 12:00pm–1:00pm
April 17 12:00pm–1:00pm
Basic HTML January 21 9:00am–11:00am
March 23 3:00pm–5:00pm
References & Citation: 
Reference Manager		 January 31 9:00am–11:00am
References & Citation:
EndNote		 January 27 9:00am–11:00am
PowerPoint Presentations January 28 9:00am–11:30am
February 29 2:30pm–5:00pm
Biomedical Desktop Publishing February 3 9:00am–12:00pm
Creating Tables & Graphs March 6 3:00pm–5:00pm
Biomedical Writers Workshop I April 5  2:30pm–5:00pm
Biomedical Writers Workshop II April 12 2:30pm–5:00pm

Writers Workshops are held in the HIEC Videoconference Room on the Library’s lower level (space is limited).
Please call (713) 799-7174 or access www.library.tmc.edu/classchd.html to register. Class registration is $25 for faculty, staff, residents, or post-docs. (Students with valid ID may attend free.)

Go to the Library's online Class Schedule to register and/or for more information about classes.

* Denotes free classes. Space is limited; registration is required for all classes.


New Staff


John Harold joined the RML as the Technology/Education Coordinator on October 18.  John graduated from the School of Library and Information Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.  Previously, John was an intern with Gates Center for Technology Access, in  Seattle, WA., where he was involved in teaching public librarians Windows NT, Internet searching, and other Microsoft applications.  Before entering library school, John completed his PhD in Toxicology and worked as an Assistant Professor in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India.
Barbara Cosart is the new Outreach Coordinator, joining the RML on November 16.  Barbara comes to us from the Houston Public Library’s Business, Science, and Technology Department.  She has eight years experience in academic and public libraries, and received her MLIS from the University of Texas at Austin.  Her areas of expertise include bibliographic instruction, and business and science reference and research.
Dennis Moser joined the Library as Web Librarian for the McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center.   He  received his MILS from the University of Michigan and his BA degree in Anthropology from the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to attending library school, he spent five years working in rare book conservation at the University of Texas’s Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. and the University of Michigan Conservation Labs. After library school and a three year internship as Project Photo-Archivist at Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, he spent four years working as a Web developer for Compuware Corporation, where his assignments included redesigning the web sites for the General Motors Research Center’s libraries and developing a redesign for Ford Motor Company’s Supplier Network website.

Welcome
In October 1999, Karla Bourque joined the library as the Publications Assistant in the NN/LM SCR office.  Karla is a native Houstonian with a degree in English from Southwest Texas State University.  She has experience in newsletter production, Web page development, and documentation.  Karla taught pre-school for many years before moving into the business world where she accumulated knowledge of numerous office software programs.  She previously worked for a small software development company where she continued to develop her writing/editing skills.

Farewell
Best wishes to Thomas Gegeny, Publications Specialist, in his new job as editor of “Research Initiative/Treatment Action!” (RITA!), a nationally distributed research communication on HIV/AIDS, at the Center for AIDS, Houston. 

  LIBRARY LINES
Library Lines is published six times per year. Please call the Library to be placed on our mailing list (713-799-7169). 

Interim Executive Director:
J. Robert Beck, M.D.

   Houston Academy of Medicine - 
Texas Medical Center Library 
1133 M.D. Anderson Boulevard 
Houston, TX 77030 
Nonprofit Organization 

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