Bio-Medical Library - Bio-Medical Library News

IHI Construction - 3rd Floor Entrance Closed 11/22/08

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:07:05 -0600

Construction Update:

The 3rd floor (street-level) entrance to the Bio-Medical Library will be closed on Saturday, November 22. Patrons can enter the library via the 2nd floor (tunnel-level) entrance. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The Bio-Medical Library seeks to develop new partnerships within the Academic Health Center, so has cleared the north side of the 3rd floor of Diehl Hall to house office space for the Institute for Health Informatics (IHI).

MNCAT Plus Launched

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:53:43 -0500

The University Libraries has recently unveiled a new interface to our MNCAT catalog called MNCAT Plus. The MNCAT Plus interface will be the default access to the catalog from the Bio-Medical Library’s homepage (http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu) beginning on Wednesday, October 1, 2008. The original interface to the catalog will still be available as MNCAT Classic for the immediate future.

My Health Minnesota -> Go Local Celebrates Birthday

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:11:20 -0500

My Health Minnesota -> Go Local at: http://medlineplus.gov/minnesota, a free database of health services throughout Minnesota, recently celebrated its first birthday! The project is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Health Sciences Libraries, the Mayo Clinic Libraries, and the MINITEX Library and Information Network, in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine. This project joined others across the country to link the trusted health information from MedlinePlus (http://medlineplus.gov) with information about local health services. People can use Go Local to find hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, support groups, pharmacists, libraries, rehabilitation programs, and other health services in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, plus reliable health information about a multitude of diseases and conditions. My Health Minnesota -> Go Local continues to grow daily as we add resources throughout the state.

What's New at Bio-Med for Fall Semester?

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:28:36 -0500

The staff of the Bio-Medical Library has been busy over the summer with improvements to library spaces and services. Here's a snapshot of what you can expect for the new fall semester:

Library Spaces:

34 new computer workstations were added to our newly installed computer furniture on the 2nd floor
2 new round tables on the 2nd floor have power and space for multiple laptop users. No more stringing power cords across the floor to a wall outlet!
2,200 square feet of new user space has been created from former stacks space on the 2nd and 3rd floors

2nd Floor Construction Project From Aug.4-13

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:51:50 -0500

The Bio-Medical Library will be installing new computer furniture on the 2nd floor of the library beginning on Monday, August 4. The new computer furniture will have modern wire management and additional space that will allow for more collaborative group work. Expanded electrical power outlets for wireless laptop users will also be available. Self-service printing and copying, similar to what users experience in other University Libraries will also be initiated.

Extended Hours Begin August 1

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:35:20 -0500

The Bio-Med Library will have extended hours until 3am beginning on Friday, August 1, 2008. During the Fall semester finals week the library will be open 24/7. Extended hours access requires showing a U Card as identification.

New EFS Number Needed for Payments

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:26:53 -0500

Beginning July 1, 2008, the Bio-Medical Library will no longer be able to accept payment via CUFS budget numbers. If you have used a CUFS number in the past, you will now need to provide an EFS/PeopleSoft number instead. Ask your department’s accountant for the EFS number string that replaces your former CUFS number to continue using a budget account. If you like, take one of our EFS number reminder cards available at the Circulation Desks for your accountant to complete for you.

Major Change Coming to CINAHL in July 2008

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:12:21 -0500

Beginning in July 2008, the U’s method of access to CINAHL will change from the Ovid platform to the EBSCO platform. This change is a result of EBSCO purchasing the CINAHL database, and subsequently disallowing other vendors (like Ovid) to serve the database through their platforms. EBSCO will be the only source of access to CINAHL.

The EBSCO search interface is very different from Ovid, but the content of CINAHL itself (journals covered, record structure, subject headings, etc.) will not change. From now through the end of June, we will have access to CINAHL through both Ovid and EBSCO, so you can test out the EBSCO interface before the Ovid one is gone.

A bit of a complicating factor is that the EBSCO interface will be undergoing a change sometime in July, so what you see in EBSCO now will be changing soon. All these changes will hopefully lead to increased usability and functionality.

To access to CINAHL via EBSCO, go to http://www.lib.umn.edu/get/ebsco In the database list, CINAHL is toward the bottom of the page. Check the box beside it, and click the continue button.

You can view a brief tutorial on basic searching in CINAHL here: http://support.ebsco.com/training/flash_videos/CINAHLBasicSearching.html

If you have any autoalerts currently running in CINAHL, they will need to be recreated in the EBSCO system. Instructions for creating autoalerts in EBSCO are here: http://support.ebsco.com/help/index.php?help_topic_id=8

If you have questions or need help with anything involving the new CINAHL interface, contact Liz Fine at 612-624-6492 or evfine@umn.edu or the Reference Desk at 612-626-3260 or medref@umn.edu.

New Summer Hours for 3rd Floor Circulation Desk

Thu, 22 May 2008 12:52:41 -0500

Starting on 5-27-2008, the 3rd floor Circulation Desk will closing at 5pm Sunday-Thursday and at 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Because the Circulation Desk will be closed, the library doors to Diehl Hall on the 3rd floor will also be closed. Patrons needing assistance can use the elevators or stairs for library assistance and to checkout materials at the 2nd floor Circulation Desk.

Need to prep for USMLE? Try ExamMaster Online!

Fri, 09 May 2008 12:05:02 -0500

ExamMaster Online is is intended to provide a flexible on-line exam preparation tool for self-study in preparation for the USMLE, Medical Subject exams and / or Certification exams. There is also a USMLE Step 1 Practice Exam available.

Each user has the ability to create their own exams by USMLE Outline in either Vignette / Case style questions, Non Vignette / Recall style questions, Medical Subject within USMLE, or by Certification specialty. Combined with the score tracking and immediate feedback, the outline flexibility allows each user to tailor their study as best to meet their specific needs.

Extended hours access for Finals and beyond

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:48:58 -0500

Extended Hours study access to the Bio-Medical Library will go round-the-clock for finals beginning Friday, May 9, at 7pm. Extended Hours study access is available to those with a current UCard, and will run 24/7 until Saturday, May 17th , when the library will close at 6pm. The Extended Hours program will then be in hiatus for the summer, and will start up again on August 1st , with study access until 3am.

Journal Shift Underway at Bio-Med

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:55:17 -0500

The Bio-Medical Library is currently shifting its journal collection. Journals with titles beginning with the letters C through F will be moved from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor. Journals with titles beginning with the letters A through B will remain on the 3rd floor.

Shifting progress signs have been posted at the beginning and end of the empty shelves created by the shift, to help guide you around the shift. Please be sure to ask at any Circulation desk or the Reference desk if you need help finding a journal title. Please note that stack locations from our catalog, MNCAT, will be in transition during this time.

Get It Service Starts 3/3

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:43:35 -0600

Get It: One-Stop Shopping for Book Requesting & Delivery

Starting March 3, 2008, requesting a book from a Twin Cities campus library will be a one-stop process for University of Minnesota faculty, staff and students. The “Get It” link in the availability page of the MNCat library catalog consolidates book requesting services currently found in 4 places:

Recall –changing the due date of a book that has already been checked out for earlier pickup at any convenient campus library
Point-to-Point - for delivery of books not checked out, to be picked up at a more convenient campus library than the owning library
Libraries to U – for delivery of books to on-campus faculty/staff offices
MLAC Paging - for MLAC deliveries

New Requirement for NIH-Funded Research

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:37:04 -0600

NIH funded? Ready to Publish? Here's what you need to know.

The NIH Public Access Policy has been signed into law and takes effect on April 7, 2008. After April 7th, the new NIH Public Access Policy will require you to submit any articles which arise from NIH Funding to NIH's PubMed Central, where they will be freely and permanently accessible to all so that they might better advance science and improve health. Before that, however, you'll need to make sure you don't sign away the necessary rights in the journal's author agreement.

Open Access Day is October 14, 2008

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:05:02 -0500

Open Access is a growing international movement that encourages the unrestricted sharing of research results with everyone, everywhere, for the advancement and enjoyment of science and society. Open-access journals and archives make research freely accessible online, without the traditional expensive subscription barriers that limit the reach of research.

The goal of Open Access Day is to broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access within the international higher education community and the general public. The founding partners are SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), Students for FreeCulture, and the Public Library of Science.