Medical Journals and ghostwriting

Michael Wold of OSF St Mary’s Medical Center library sent me a link to an article in the July 8, 2009 edition of Heartwire by Michael O'Riordan entitled “Sen Grassley asks medical journals about ghostwriting.” The prospect of companies ghostwriting articles and presenting them as medical research is beyond “troubling.” It would call into question whether independent research is being conducted and could skew other research projects. Makes me wonder: how much medical literature is research and how much is marketing?

WIU and Illinois Regional Archives Depositories

I attended an archive program two weeks ago which was sponsored by Western Illinois University. The program was very informative and our hosts, Jeff and Heather, were great. Everyone in attendance (there were 14 of us) seemed to enjoy the day—I know I sure did!

One of the things I learned is that WIU is part of IRAD and is committed to assisting others with their archival expertise. The Illinois Regional Archives Depository at Western Illinois University is one of seven Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD) in the state which is administered by the Illinois State Archives. The WIU depository houses county and local government records which have been appraised as having long-term value and been transferred to the Archives custody. The 16 counties served by the WIU-IRAD include: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox, McDonough, Mercer, Peoria, Pike, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, and Warren.

Even though this was a program on the Basics of Archives, Jeff and Heather presented us with lots of new information, and we had several exercises to practice new skills. One of the ideas I particularly liked was the form WIU uses to indicate why an item is included in the archives. It's a standardized form that is slipped into each book and the form makes it easy to see at a glance the reason the book has been archived. Jeff has graciously agreed to let us add it to our Library Toolkit and it's now available under Archive Notes for Books (Courtesy of WIU).

I enjoyed the program and appreciated the opportunity to meet others with the same interests and challenges. I look forward to attending future programs sponsored by WIU’s Archives and Special Collections.

Alliance’s Trail to Learning-Casts and Syndicated Sites (ATLAS)

Yesterday, Alliance Library System (ALS) introduced ATLAS (Alliance’s Trail to Learning-Casts and Syndicated Sites) in an online program and launched the site: http://www.atlaspodcasts.org/. The ATLAS project was funded through a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant, from the Illinois State Library, a division of the Office of Secretary of State, through the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

There are a lot of interesting aspects to this grant, but I have been intrigued by the podmap. The podmap is designed to link podcasts not only with a searchable database but with an interactive map. As podcasting expands and becomes more prevalent in libraries, this podmap has the potential to serve as a directory for locally produced and relevant audio, image, and video files. Currently, the Alliance Library System has no directory of podcasts, standardization of access, or way to notify users that new podcasts are available from our libraries. This may also foster collaboration and innovation by making them accessible in a single place.

Lori Bell, ALS’s Director of Innovation, was instrumental in developing this grant, and I believe there are many applications for podmaping at ALS and throughout the state. More information about the grant is available at: http://www.atlaspodcasts.org/about/.

Kindles and libraries

I’ve been watching the news stories about Kindle use in libraries with interest. There was a thread on collib-l earlier this year about the mixed messages from Amazon about loaning Kindles. The concern focused on Amazon’s terms of use agreement and whether libraries could lend Kindles with pre-loaded books. Some libraries are loaning Kindles (with books) and others are not. On June 5, there was an article in Library Journal about a study being conducted at Brigham Young University Library on the use of Kindles for faculty interlibrary loans (Brigham Young Library Tests Kindle as ILL Option for Faculty). Unfortunately, after the article was published, BYU suspended the study. University officials were uncomfortable with the oral permissions they received from Amazon and want to obtain written permission instead (At BYU, Kindle Program on Hold, But University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Program Going Strong). Kindles has raised a variety of questions about copyright and terms of use agreements and these questions persist.

E-textbooks

Is your institutions considering e-textbooks? Check out (pun intended!) this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education: 6 Lessons One Campus Learned About E-Textbooks. Northwest Missouri State University recently ran a pilot study using Sony Reader and they offer lessons for any university considering digital textbooks.

Library closings

I was at a Capital Area Consortium (CAC) meeting today, and one of the discussions centered around library closings. Karen Douglas from the Passavant Hospital Library suggested reading the post : "Why is the Hospital Library Disappearing?" from the Krafty Librarian. Instead of a lament about how libraries and librarians are undervalued and unappreciated, it is a call to reassess library services and recommit to the needs of library users. In our tough economic times, Michelle's comments are relevant to all libraries:
"Now days academic medical libraries are feeling the pinch of the economy and they are being asked to do more with less. How they respond will predict their outcome. If they become complacent or ignore the future issues, they will encounter many of the same problems as hospital libraries and librarians have been dealing with for quite a while. Time to stop thinking about your users coming to you, but how you can come to your users. That may not prevent all closures and cutbacks like those hospital librarians who were cut despite the wonderful services they provided. But to do otherwise will almost assuredly land your library in the same spot as the hospital library that still relies on card catalogs and has no links to their electronic collection."

blogs as course managment systems?

On the ALA listserv collib-l, there has been discussion of using blogs instead of traditional course management systems (CSM) like Blackboard or WebCT. I was aware of some colleges using open source options like Moodle, but for academics to seriously consider blogs—that just seemed too much of a leap. However, there was a recent article in the Chronicle (June 1, 2009) on just this topic: Colleges Consider Using Blogs Instead of Blackboard. After having technical difficulties with Blackboard this year, CUNY invited a keynote speaker to discuss blogs as an option to better run their online classrooms. Since their technical issues seem to be over, the urgency for change is probably gone, but it’s great to see that conversations on Web 2.0 technologies are happening on the academic level.