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Sue Skoglund, Editor
Valerie Reid, Webmaster
Table of Contents
Collection Development
in CAM – Why Bother?
Profile
on Members: Retirees
EFTS
Exploring
Michigan’s New Electronic Library Resource, Part II
April MDMLG Meeting
Announcements
Upcoming Dates
As the economy limps along and fallout from the current
monetary crisis trickles down to everyone, librarians everywhere are looking for
ways to trim their budgets. They
certainly are not looking for expanded opportunities to spend.
But there are valid reasons for medical librarians to allot at least a
small portion of their budgets to provide resources in
CAM
to their users.
Broadly defined,
CAM
(complementary-alternative medicine) includes any “health care practices that
fall outside the bounds of conventional medicine.” (6) In March of 2000, the
White House established the Commission on Complementary and Alternative
Medicine. This commission’s
recommendation is that people (both health care professionals and consumers) be
provided with good information on CAM – what works, what doesn’t, what is
safe and effective and what is not. Information
provided should be reliable, authoritative and unbiased.
This commission further declares, “Conventional health professionals
are ill informed about the benefits, efficacy and potential adverse effects of
CAM
therapies.” (5)
So, who uses
CAM
therapies anyway? The majority of
patients who are diagnosed with a serious disease generally turn to standard
medical care first. They turn to
alternative treatments only after conventional therapies fail and they feel that
they have nothing left to lose. Most
CAM
users are patients who have chronic illness for which conventional therapy has
offered no cure or symptomatic relief. They usually used
CAM
in combination with conventional
treatments; for example, use of herbal preparations to alleviate the side
effects of radiation or chemotherapy. 50%-80%
of cancer and HIV patients use one or more
CAM
therapies. (2) In 1990, patients made 425 million visits to alternative
practitioners, 40 million times more than visits to their primary care
physicians. They spent $13.7
billion, $10.3 out of their own pockets. (2)
By in large, many patients seek out
CAM
providers because “they want practitioners who will take the time to listen
to them, to understand them and to feel for their personal life as well as their
pathology.” (2)
Patients feel that their primary care physicians become defensive when
they try to discuss the possibility of
CAM
. Consequently, their trust in their
physicians decreases and the patients seek out
CAM
treatments without the benefit of their primary care physician’s counsel.
70% or more of patients are not telling their doctors what they are
doing, and doctors are not asking. (5) As
doctors become more informed, they will build a trusting relationship with their
patients and can help their patients figure out what to do and whom to see.
The World Health Organization classifies 65%-80% of the
world’s health care services as alternative medicine.
(1) In 1998, 64% of 117
medical schools surveyed provided information on CAM either as an elective
course or within the content of a regular course.
(1) The most common concerns
within the medical community with regards to CAM are safety, efficacy and
legislation. Opponents of CAM usually discount it due to lack of scientific
evidence. Can CAM stand up to
the standards applied through evidence-based medicine?
Yes, if it “embraces standardization and conventional research
tools.” (8)
Rigorous studies of some CAM practices are appearing more frequently in
the medical literature. This is due
in large part to the NIH’s establishment of the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which (thanks to a $70 million budget)
in 2001 launched a database of 220,000 references on CAM.
(6) CAM practitioners have
begun to publish in peer-reviewed biomedical journals.
A Cochrane Collaboration will publish (2000) a series of papers
“critically appraising systematic reviews of 30 CAM therapies”.
(8)
“Establishment of evidence-based CAM is highly dependent on proper allocation
of resources, in terms of (both) professionals and funds.”
(1) There are two problems in
bringing evidence-based structure to CAM: 1) the conflict between
standardization and individualization; and 2) the degree of faith in the
randomized control trial as the “gold standard” for measurement.
These problems are not insurmountable.
Medical professionals cannot and should not have to rely
solely on their patients to provide them with information on CAM, as the
information available to patients may very well come from popular literature
sources exclusively. Librarians are
in a unique and perfect position to provide the very best information.
Librarians have “ the formal knowledge of information resources and how
to access them, the ability to ensure that information is relevant, training in critically
reviewing research, the professional habit of making decisions based on evidence
rather than opinion, and the ability to discriminate between types of
information sources.” (3)
Librarians are invaluable in bridging the gap between what patients want
and what medical professionals need to know in order to best meet the needs of
their patients.
The Brandon Hill list suggests a print collection of seven
titles for a small medical library. The National Institutes of Health database for alternative medicine can
be accessed at http://www.nccam.nih.gov.
In addition, there is a fine annotated bibliography of CAM resources in
and article by Victoria Rand. (“Where Can I Find Quality Information About
Herbal and Other Complementary Medicines?”, The
Western Journal of Medicine, September 1999, volume 171, issue 3, p. 201)
So, let’s go out there and inform!
Bibliography
-
Caspi, Opher; Iris R. Bell, David Rychener, Tracy Gaudet, Andrew
Weil; “The
Tower
of
Babel
: Communication and Medicine”. Archives of Internal Medicine, 160:21;
Nov. 27, 2000
; p. 3193
-
Gordon, James S.; “Alternative Medicine and the
Family Physician”. American Family Physician, 54:7;
Nov. 15, 1996
; p. 2205
-
Homan, J. Michael; “The Role of Medical Librarians in
Reducing Medical Errors”. HealthLeaders Online;
Sept. 16, 2002
-
Kupferberg, Natalie; “Alternative Medicine Goes
Mainstream”. Library Journal, 119:12; July 1994; p. 51
-
Levy, Sandra; “Authoritative Information on
CAM
Sorely Needed”. Drug Topics; 146:57;
May 6, 2002
; p. 57
-
Vastag, Brian; “New
CAM
Database Online”. Journal of the
American Medical Association. 285:11;
Mar. 21, 2001
; p. 1435
-
Westbrook, W. Michael; “Making Sense of Alternative
Medicine”.
Wilson
Library Bulletin; 69:7; Mar. 1995; p. 43
-
Yamey, Gavin; “Can Complementary Medicine Be
Evidence-Based?”. Western Journal of Medicine, 173:1; July 2000; p. 4
Carla Caretto
Oxford Public Library
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This month, MDMLG shines the spotlight on retired
librarians. For those of you who are
looking down the road to the days when you, too, can retire and relax, think
again. It appears that librarians never really retire. (It
must have been written in the small print of our diplomas.)
 Sandra
Studebaker, an MDMLG member since the mid-1970s, fondly remembers bicycling to
her public library for Nancy Drew mysteries when she was a pre-teen.
Libraries did not become a significant part of her life, however, until
she began her post-secondary education at
Macomb
Community College
and, later,
Wayne
State University. At WSU she earned a BS in Education with a minor in Library
Science in an ALA-accredited program for school librarianship.
Failing to secure a full-time position in a school or public library
after graduation, Sandra was hired as the first professional librarian in the
Medical Library at
St. Joseph
Hospital
-- later
St. Joseph's Mercy of Macomb. She later earned
an MSLS degree with a concentration in medical libraries while working and
raising a family.
Sandra
had a keen sense of how technology could improve library services and was
instrumental in bringing computers into the library at
St. Joseph
’s. She initiated MEDLINE search
service, via a 300-baud dumb terminal, in 1980.
Addition of the library's first computer - an Apple IIe - and fax
equipment was accomplished through her active participation in the Macomb Region
of Cooperation. With funding from
the hospital Auxiliary in the mid-1990's, Sandra was able to increase the number
of computers to six and bring up an online catalog, one of four components of an
integrated library system, over two hospital campuses.
Sandra's 24-year career at
St. Joseph
’s concluded in 1998. Unable to quit most things she enjoys "cold-turkey,
” she continued to work in several other part-time professional positions in
local medical libraries, including
William
Beaumont
Hospital
-
Troy
,
Pontiac
Osteopathic
Hospital
and WSU's Shiffman Medical Library at the Simons Library in the Prentiss
building of the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Having
reached Social Security's official retirement age, Sandra opted to retire and to
expand her other interests.
Sandra particularly liked medical librarianship because it
provided the opportunity to function as a specialist.
The ability to specialize and the knowledge and skills acquired during
her years in the field of medical librarianship has carried over into her post
medical library life.
These days, Sandra is very active in the field of
genealogy. In addition to
researching several family lines, she volunteers at a nearby
Family
History
Center
operated by the
Church
of
Christ
of Latter-Day-Saints, where she often learns from experienced researchers as
she helps those new to researching their family history.
As if this isn't enough, Sandra has served on the Board of the Studebaker
Family National Association since 1998. She
has primary responsibility for a project to create a comprehensive relational
database of descendants of the three 1736 immigrants.
Any travel is largely related to genealogical conferences and research,
but she has been known to incorporate some bicycling miles, both home and away,
into her busy schedule. True to her
roots, she maintains her membership in MDMLG but finds little time to
participate as much as she used to. Is
it any wonder?
 Jean Gilbert is also officially retired from her “regular
employment”, but like Sandra, finds that she is just as busy, if not more so.
Jean received her undergraduate degree in English Literature from the
University
of
Michigan
and then worked full time as a mom. When
she was ready to enter the paid work force, she was encouraged by friends to
study for the Library Technical Assistant degree at Oakland
Community College. Because she already had a
bachelor’s degree, Jean was able to complete the program at OCC in a very
short time. She then accepted a
position in the Oak Park Schools. At
that time, the schools assigned each of their professional library staff to two
or three school libraries. Once her
supervising librarian realized Jean’s abilities, she permitted Jean to
essentially run the library on her own.
In 1979, a friend informed Jean of an opening for a full
time reference technician/ILL support person at Harper
Hospital. Jean was ready for a new challenge
and accepted the position at Harper. She
worked there from 1979-1987, and during that time obtained her MLIS degree from Wayne.
In 1987, due to economic cutbacks (the story of our
professional lives) several staff, including Jean, were laid off from Harper.
Jean was soon hired for a position in the library at William Beaumont
Hospital of Royal Oak, where she worked until her retirement in 2000.
Since leaving Beaumont, Jean, like Sandra, also filled in at
Pontiac
Osteopathic
Hospital
to cover a medical leave. Jean has
also returned to the schools. She
volunteers two days per week in the
Southfield
schools in the library (naturally!) and is secretary of the Beacon Square Civic
Association. Jean is also a polling official – one of those tireless workers
who open our polling stations at
6AM
on voting days and remain there until
9PM
. She also finds time to spend with
her teenage grandson, helping out when he needs transportation to
extracurricular activities; and, she still finds time to read and to play cards
with friends on a regular basis! Jean
remains a member of the MLA, MDMLG and MHSLA.
My sincere thanks to Sandra Studebaker and Jean Gilbert for
making time in their busy schedules for these interviews.
Carla Caretto
Oxford Public Library
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TOP
To EFTS, or not EFTS, -- That is the Question
EFTS (Electronic Fund Transfer System) is a billing
mechanism, which began in the New England Region of the NNLM (National Networks
of Libraries of Medicine), with partners of UCHC Lyman Maynard Stowe Library,
University of Connecticut Computer Center, and Jay Daly of QuickDoc.
They were trying to figure out a way to simplify billing between partners
so that reduced man-hours were needed to provide billing invoices and check
processing.
The partnership grew and was heavily used in the region.
Libraries who did not charge could simply set up deposit accounts to have
deductions taken for filled loans through participants, and charging
institutions could submit charges through the network as well as receive
payment.
This was primarily a regional operation in its inception,
but in 2002 all eight NN/LM regions were encouraged to join.
There are currently 736 members and the numbers keep growing. There are
members in almost every state, 20 in the Greater Midwest Region alone.
Many of these members are the large suppliers that we all use.
Most common questions: (information paraphrased from the
FAQ list on the EFTS site)
How does it work?
Borrowing Library sends request to Lending Library.
Lending Library fills request. Money
is automatically deducted from the EFTS account and credited on a quarterly
basis to the Lending Library.
What are the advantages to my institution?
It might help control the paperwork with which most of us are inundated.
It simplifies billing for those of us who choose to participate.
What if my library charges for document delivery?
Invoicing to participating members is already done through the EFTS system.
You are sent a detailed accounting of transactions and credited for loans
on a quarterly basis. There are
account managers who will assist with errors in billing.
Only libraries that charge for transactions will need to
submit data to EFTS. When a library charges for a loan, it submits data to the
system and its account will be credited and the library that received the loan
will have its account debited.
Is there a service fee?
Yes. A service fee of three percent (3%) will be deducted from the lender for
each transaction to cover EFTS operational costs. These costs include personnel,
postage, photocopying, and computer equipment as well as future enhancements to
the system.
Can EFTS accommodate charges above the national maximum
of $11.00?
Yes. Any loan requiring a surcharge for special handling, such as Fax or Rush,
can be included in the transaction data file. The maximum charge per transaction
is $99.00
The suggested initial amount for deposit is a minimum of
$100.00, or an average of your particular library’s ILL spending for a
three-month period. The forms are
online to set up the account and to request membership (see following links).
Is it the right thing for your institution?
Take a look at the participants and see. You may find that this is a way
to help make more productive use of our time.
For further information and membership applications please
consult the following sites:
Juliet
Mullenmeister
St. Joseph Mercy of Macomb
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Most of the periodical databases in
Michigan’s eLibrary are provided to state residents through the state’s subscription
contracts with vendors. Therefore,
in the future, MeL plans to add new materials recommended by library advisors,
but may lose databases when impacted by state or federal budgetary restrictions
and vendor price increases. As this
MDMLG newsletter is being written, decisions are being made about MeL’s
content for the contract period beginning
September 30, 2003, and ending October 2006. The final
decisions are expected early in April, (although they will still be subject to
approval by appropriate state agencies) and will be communicated via michlib-l
and other library online discussion groups.
The electronic book collection, discussed in Part I of this article
(MDMLG News, Nov. 2002), belongs to the state, and will only grow in the
future.
Until the end of September 2003, however, MeL’s resources
include many periodicals, of which more than 5000 are full-text, and 150 of the
full-text are newspapers from the
U.S.
and other countries. The newspapers
contain almost 18 million articles. These
resources are available to
Michigan
residents from all
Michigan
libraries or via personal computer at home or at work.
The database resources have been selected to cover a wide
variety of topics, including Arts and Humanities, Business, Children’s
Resources, Education Resources, Genealogy, General Reference, Health, Legal
Resources, Library References for Librarians, News and Current Events, Science,
and Social Science. Almost all of
the topical areas include at least one full-text database.
From MeL’s website at http://www.mel.org/index.html
any Michigan
resident can log on to MeL by clicking on “Log on at home or work” and
inputting his/her
Michigan
driver’s license number in the next screen.
The welcome screen for the
Michigan
eLibrary lists hot links for MeL resources under the topics identified above.
Only Genealogy may not be accessed from a personal computer.
Due to contract restrictions, the Genealogy file is only available for
use from a public or other library.
MeL’s periodical databases have come from two primary,
but different, sources: GaleGroup
and OCLC. Therefore, searching the
different databases is likely to be a challenge for those lacking familiarity
with database searching. Medical
librarians will find searching these resources quite a different experience from
using the very tightly constructed Medline databases.
Nonetheless, the resources available in MeL are exceptional, and will
become increasingly valuable to all libraries as individual organizations’
budgets continue to shrink.
For patrons -
or professionals - who need help searching OCLC First Search databases, there is
a MeL training handout,
which gives tips on using truncation, wildcards and proximity searching.
It also contains a definition of the many icons found on First Search
screens, and examples of how to search using the various searchable indexes.
Instruction on searching Gale Group’s Infotrac databases
(Custom Newspapers,
Health
Reference
Center
,
Health
Reference
Center
– Academic,
Health & Wellness
Resource
Center
, and AncestryPlus) is available from a “Help-Search”
button on the database search screens. There
you will find information on keyword searching, relevance searching and advanced
searching, and on use of the InfoMark, wildcard, limiters, and logical
operators. Information about the
databases, themselves, can be found at Gale Group’s website, www.galegroup.com.
Kid’s Edition, another Infotrak database for children, has its own help
link.
In addition to the selection of database resources, other
work is going on to improve
Michigan
’s electronic library. Libraries
whose circulation systems meet project standards and which have expressed a
willingness to participate will be the first for inclusion in a statewide online
catalog and interlibrary loan system. It
will be called MeLCat, and is targeted to go “up” in early 2004. It will
eventually include materials from all types of libraries in
Michigan
.
Work is also progressing on an information portal that will
permit MeL users to search all resources on MeL – electronic books and
periodicals, the MeL catalog, and the Internet resources – using the same
search. Says Rebecca Cawley,
Statewide Database Administrator, Library of
Michigan
, “(the) Portal will provide ‘one stop shopping’ for all of the MeL
resources….When users search across several resources they will see a display
that indicates what the resource is and leads them to retrieval of the
materials.” They will then be able
to request materials and have them sent to their local library for pickup.
Also in the works is a project dubbed the “Making of
Modern Michigan,” which will train library staff in digitization standards.
This will enable them to digitize and then contribute their local materials in
19th and 20th century
Michigan
history to MeL.
To keep up with the progress of these various MeL
components, go to www.accessmichigan.org.
MeL is an ambitious project of immense significance to all
of Michigan’s residents. Yet it
remains an undiscovered treasure to most. Hopefully,
this will change as MeL moves closer to a realization of its vision:
“MeL, Michigan’s virtual library will link all Michigan residents to
the information they need, when they need it, where they need it, and in the
format they desire.”
Wow!
Carol Attar
Attar Associates
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The
next MDMLG meeting will be held at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital on
Thursday, April 17, 2003. The
program features Ruth Dukelow, Associate Director, and Diana Mitchell, Database
Subscription Manager, from MLC discussing the ins-and-outs of licensing
resources. For many of us, negotiating licenses and entering into contracts for
electronic resources definitely falls under the category, “What they didn’t
teach you in library school.” Fortunately,
we can draw upon the experience of these two experts.
The
meeting will be preceded by a brown bag luncheon at 11:30 a.m.
Bring your lunch; beverage will be provided.
This is a great opportunity for members to meet, vent, problem solve,
brainstorm and network with colleagues. Registration
begins at 12:30 p.m. The program
will begin at 1:00 p.m. followed by a break and the Business Meeting at 3:00
p.m.
Further information,
along with a map, can be found on the MDMLG Meetings
web page. Note that parking is $2.00 in the parking structure.
Call Patty Scholl at 284-858-3495 for directions to the free lot (located
two blocks south of the hospital, on Basset).
Sue Skoglund
Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital
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Barbara
Platts, from Munson Healthcare in Traverse City, has been accepted into the
fellowship program sponsored by NLM to attend the Medical Informatics course at
the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in September. The
course is limited to 30 fellows for each session.
Congratulations, Barb!
Diana
Balint is the new manager of the medical library at Oakwood Southshore Medical
Center (formerly Seaway Hospital). The
hospital is starting a new osteopathic and allopathic training program and thus
requires a librarian. Diana will
begin her new position in May.
Diane
O'Keefe has accepted a position as Team Librarian for Adult Services at the
Flint Public Library. She is
enjoying the new job and just waiting for her condo to sell so she can move
closer to work.
Children's
Hospital of Michigan Medical Library won the second place in the MLA-sponsored
Creative Promotions Contest for their marketing and promotional campaign to
celebrate the National Medical Librarians Month (NMLM) last October 2002.
Congratulations! More information about the award can be found in the
February 2003 MLA News.
The
election committee mailed ballots to the membership on Monday, March 24.
The election committee will count the ballots on Thursday, April 10.
Results will be announced at the general membership meeting on Thursday,
April 17.
OVID
Technologies will be providing a training class at Wayne State University's
Shiffman Medical Library on Thursday, April 10. The 4-hour, MLA-accredited CE
course, taught by Stephanie Fulton, will include tips and tricks, use of
administrative tools, and a review of the EBM databases. This course is not a
repeat of the OVID basic training course offered by MDMLG last year.
The class will be held 8:30-12:45. Lunch is not included, but the
Shiffman staff will be providing coffee and muffins for a mid-morning break. To
register for this free course, please send a message to lebard@oakwood.org
or call 313-593-8652.
Upcoming Dates:
| Date |
Event |
| April
10, 2003 |
OVID
class at Wayne State University Shiffman Medical Library |
| April
11, 2003 |
VA
teleconference (Reference Series part 2) |
| April
17, 2003 |
MDMLG
meeting |
| May
2, 2003 |
VA
teleconference (Electronic Databases, part 1) |
| June
6, 2003 |
VA
teleconference (Electronic Databases, part 2) |
| June
19, 2003 |
Summer
Luncheon at the Sterling Inn, Sterling Heights |
| September
18, 2003 |
MDMLG
meeting |
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Communications Committee 2002-2003
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