1946 Bill for Tonsilectomy at Mercy

Click on picture to see an enlarged view.

In 1946, the hospital bill at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh was $10.35 for a tonsilectomy.

The doctor's bill for the same procedure was $35, including anesthesia.

How times have changed! This seems like pocket change to us now ...

These documents were recently donated to the MMC Library Archives.

PubMed Search Clinics

PubMed is a powerful search engine that indexes the medical, nursing and allied health journal literature. Bonus : Use the PubMed Link on the Library Intranet webpage, and you’ll tap into our full-text offerings.

Brush up on your PubMed Search Skills with the following Search Clinics :

PubMed Advanced Search Page Modified
See the NLM Technical Bulletin for details and screenshots

Search Clinic: Building a PubMed Search
NLM Technical Bulletin, Mar-Apr 2010

Skill Kit: Save Time Finding Citations by Title Matching in the PubMed Search Box
NLM Technical Bulletin, May-Jun 2010

Skill Kit: Searching Full Author Names in PubMed
NLM Technical Bulletin, Mar-Apr 2009.

If you’re looking for more in depth training, try this :
PubMed Search Clinic Online Recording
PubMed April 20 Search Clinic: Building a PubMed Search is now online.
A thirty minute online search clinic was presented by the NLM via Adobe Connect on Tuesday, April 20. The presentation covered the mechanics of the PubMed Search Builder and how to search using tags.

More PubMed Online Training Resources

Questons about PubMed? Ask us to do the searching for you. Just tell us what you’re looking for. Feel free to contact your Librarians via phone, Outlook, or in person :

Michele Matucheski (MMC Library) 3-0340
Margo Lambert (STE Library) 8-2857

Reminder - STE Health Science Library - New Location

The St. Elizabeth Hospital Health Science Library has been in its new location for a few months now. Here is a reminder of how to find us and what you'll find when you get here.

The library is located in the basement of the 2006 Hospital Addition near the lab. The most direct way to get to the library is to take the elevator near the gift shop to the lower level. Turn right when you get off the elevator and the library will be the first door on your left.

In addition to books and journals, we have a table and chairs and four computer workstations. Library hours are still Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4:30 PM, but Affinity staff can use the library 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (Just ask a security officer to open the door.) The new Health Science Library is open to Affinity Employees. The Resource Café Library near the coffee shop is open to the public.

Please know that, even though our space is smaller, the library staff at St. E's will continue to provide you with resources and information that you can use to care for your patients, perform other duties, and keep informed about your own health and wellness. You can count on us for professional, friendly service, high-quality research, and quick document delivery whether you visit the library in person or use the library remotely.

We hope to work with you soon. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you very much!

Margo A. Lambert, MLIS
Librarian – St. Elizabeth Hospital Libraries
mlambert@affinityhealth.org
920-738-2325

Health Care Resources for Mobile Devices

Many health care professionals are using mobile devices in clinical settings to enhance patient care as well as their own continuing education.

We’ve recently updated our road map for
Mobile Computing : Smart Phones, PDAs, and PocketPCs (Affinity access only).


On it, you’ll find a listing of selected free and low-cost options for all types of mobile devices. Sources include options for :
* Drug info
* Differential diagnosis
* Point-of-care tools
* Calculators, and
* Gateways to even more options.

This list is not meant to be comprehensive. If you want to suggest an addition to the list, let me know. I’d love to hear what you’re using!

Mobile MDConsult

MD Consult Mobile provides small screen access to MD Consult with a new interface optimized to work on Smartphones and mobile devices most commonly used by physicians including:

· iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad · Blackberry Storm and Bold · Palm Treo · T Mobile G1 (Android) · HTC – Fuze · Nokia N85

MD Consult Mobile includes the following functionality:
· Browse MDC content through growing list of Recommended Resources pages which direct user to best resources efficiently

· Search MDC reference content focused specifically on Reference Books, Clinics, Practice Guidelines and Journals/Medline

· View the full text of all of the searchable content plus Images included in the articles and books

· Share content links – by email with a colleague or to themselves for later review

How to Register for MDConsult (Affinity only) Tutorial with screenshots

Mobile MD Consult FAQ

Mobile MDC Training Guide

Mobile Computing Resources - What else do we offer? (Affinity only)

Find Us on FaceBook

Affinity Library Services has a brand new Facebook page. The goal of the new page is to share news, information, tips, tutorials, and useful links with interested readers.

If you want to keep track of us on FaceBook, Become a Fan.
When you get to our page, click on Like (formerly “Become a Fan”).

Ask a Librarian : PubMed & Full-Text Options

Question : PubMed is so frustrating. Every time I find the perfect research article, I click to find that the full-text is not available unless I pay a fee.

Answer : The PubMed database includes complete article citation info and abstracts whenever possible. PubMed shows links with options for obtaining the full-text but not the full-text itself. On occasion, these options are free, but publishers often require a fee to see the full-text.

Anyone in the world can use PubMed at http://pubmed.gov/ . However, if you use this PubMed link or the one the Affinity Library Services website, you’ll see additional icons in this version of PubMed, because it ties into our Affinity full-text offerings. Feel free to bookmark this link or make a short-cut. As long as you are using an Affinity computer, or remote access, the full-text links should work. The following icons can help lead you to Affinity full-text :

In some cases where we have relationships with the publishers for certain titles, the publisher icons will also work.

Please be aware that the publisher icons will appear whether or not we have agreements with them for online access.

PubMed indexes thousands of subscription journals, many more than any single library could afford. In the current economic climate, libraries have had to make hard decisions about which subscriptions to maintain, and what to let expire. Fortunately, Affinity Library Services is part of a strong network of medical libraries around the world. If we don’t have immediate access to a particular article you need, the chances are very good that we’ll be able to borrow a copy from another library within a day or so.
If you have any questions on this, please feel free to contact your Librarians :

Michele Matucheski (MMC Library) 3-0340 or Outlook
Margo Lambert (STE Library) 8-2857

Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine

The National Library of Medicine has a new tutorial on How to Evaluate Health Information on the Internet.

It is about 16 minutes long.

Current Health News via MedlinePlus

If you want to keep up with what your patients are reading, check out the Current Health News via MedlinePlus. Sources include Reuters Health Information, HealthDay, and recent press announcements from major health organizations.

You can see these updates in a number of ways:

Visit the MedlinePlus website
Receive Current Health News via email (simply click on the link to News and follow the instructions
Have the updates sent to your RSS Reader (such as Google Reader or Bloglines)

You can often link to more detailed information within the articles.

Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) if you would like more information about MedlinePlus or if you need help signing up to receive health news updates.

Consumer Health Info in Your In Box

Want to keep up with the latest developments in health and medicine?
Confused by the technical jargon in professional medical journals?
Affinity Library Services offers access to consumer health newsletters in plain language from reliable sources like Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic.

YOU can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles.
Just let us know which ones you want, and we’ll do the rest!

Contact Affinity Library Services to register for email alerts for the following newsletters.

For a sneak peak at the content, click on the blue links, then choose the current year to see available issues.

Consumer Reports on Health (Badgerlink/EbscoHost)
Harvard Health Letter (EbscoHost)

Harvard Heart Letter (EbscoHost)
Harvard Men's Health Watch (EbscoHost)
Harvard Mental Health Letter (EbscoHost)
Harvard Women's Health Watch (EbscoHost)
Mayo Clinic Health Letter (EbscoHost)
Mayo Clinic Women's Health Source (EbscoHost)
Nutrition Action Health Letter (EbscoHost)
Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter (EbscoHost)

For questions, comments, and assistance, please contact your Librarians :

Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340

or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

Obtaining Tax Forms and Information

Spring has sprung, the birds are singing and daylight savings time has begun.

All of this can mean only one thing … it is THAT time of year … time to file our taxes.

Your local public libraries often have the most frequently used forms. However, you can also use these links to get the forms you need AND file electronically if you wish.

IRS

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

Consumer Health Complete (via Badgerlink)

Consumer Health Complete makes health information available online to citizens of Wisconsin through Badgerlink and Wisconsin Libraries (including Affinity Library Services).

Watch this 5-minute tutorial or PowerPoint to learn how to get the most out of Consumer Health Complete for patient education and consumer health info. PowerPoint Version.

Consumer Health Complete offers the following :
6,000 Evidence-based Reports in easy-to-understand language
175 Encyclopedias and Reference Books
Fact Sheets and Pamphlets
Drug and Herb Info
Alternative and Complimentary Medicine
Images & Diagrams
Videos and Animations
English and Spanish languages

Where is it on the Library Pages?
Affinity Intranet > Library > Consumer Health Complete (under Most Popular Links)

Affinity Intranet > Library
> Find Patient Education Handouts > Consumer Health Complete

If you would prefer a more personal session, your Librarians are available to walk you through it. Call, stop by the libraries, or email via Outlook.

Margo Lambert at STE 8-2325
Michele Matucheski at MMC 3-0340

Easy-to-Read Patient Education Materials in MedlinePlus

Are you looking for patient education materials that are easy-to-read?
Medical concepts and language are very complex. People need easily understandable health information regardless of age, background or reading level. Try the following free sources :

MedlinePlus Easy-To-Read (National Library of Medicine) includes patient education handouts, many in Spanish as well as English.

MedlinePlus Interactive Tutorials
The Patient Education Institute offers a series of interactive tutorials that can be set to run for patients. Viewers can “page” through it if they are comfortable with computers, or it can run by itself. The tutorial will READ the content to the patient, so even if they don't read (or don't like to), they can still take in the info by hearing it. This is also great for people for whom English is not their first language. Using animated graphics each tutorial explains a procedure or condition in easy-to-read language. There's also a printable 1-page text summary that can be used as a handout.

Find additional consumer health and patient education resources here.

St. Elizabeth Hospital Health Science Professional Library Now Open

We are pleased to announce that the Health Science Professional Library at St. Elizabeth Hospital is now open in its new location.

The new library is much smaller than the previous space and, while there are still network computers and a table and chairs, there is no longer a lounge area. Some of the newspapers and magazines are located in the doctor's lounge (the current one and, eventually, the new one) and others are located in the Resource Café Library.

For safety and security reasons the professional library will only be open to Affinity staff. Patients and visitors will be welcome to use professional library resources, but instead of getting them in person they will need to go to the Resource Cafe Library and request those materials from library staff.

Fiction and general interest audio books are now shelved in the Resource Café Library. (Cassettes are on the spinning rack by the desk and CDs are on the shelf behind the computer terminal on the left.)

In addition to the Book Return outside the professional library there is a locked book return box just outside the entrance to the coffee shop/Resource Café Library (look down and to your right as you enter the coffee shop). Materials from the professional library may be returned there and we will make sure they get back to the right place.

Please know that, even though we are in a different location and in a smaller space, we still offer the same services to which you have grown accustomed and can provide you with the information that you need in order to perform your duties.

While we are happy to see you we understand that it may be difficult for some of you to get to the new library location. If you need information or library materials and cannot come to the library in person, please email, call, or fill out an online library request form and we can send the resources to you via email or Interoffice Mail.

The process of planning the new library and substantially editing the collection to fit into the space has been long but ultimately very rewarding. We are very happy with our new space and look forward to seeing how the rest of the STE Hospital Revitalization progresses.

We look forward to your visit.

Best regards-

Margo A. Lambert, MLIS
Karen Witz, MS
St. Elizabeth Hospital Library Staff

St. Elizabeth Hospital Health Science Professional Library is Moving!!!

The St. Elizabeth Hospital Health Science Professional Library is moving and will be closed from Friday, February 26 – Wednesday, March 3. Computers and the color copier/printer will be unavailable during that time.

If you need library assistance while we are closed, you are welcome to contact the library at Mercy Medical Center (mmclibrary@affinityhealth.org; 920-223-0342). The librarians at Mercy will be glad to assist you with your research and other projects.

The professional library will reopen in its new location on Thursday, March 4. You will find us in the lower level of the 2006 Hospital Addition near the lab. The most direct way to get to the library will be to take the elevator near the gift shop to the lower level. Exit the elevator, turn right, and you’ll see the library just to the right of a small stairwell.

What will change?

• Library materials and computers will be in the same room.
• For safety and security reasons, access to the new professional library will be limited to Affinity employees. Patients and visitors should be directed to the Resource Café Consumer Health Library by the coffee shop.
• Our collection of fiction and general interest audio books will now be housed in the Resource Café library.


What will stay the same?

• Though smaller, the professional library will still provide four Intranet computers for Affinity Staff, and a table and chairs for those who need work space.
• Library hours will remain the same (8 AM – 4:30 PM Monday through Friday).
• We will continue to provide professional, friendly, high-quality research, document delivery, and other library services for those who use the library from remote locations as well as those who visit in person.
• Affinity employees will still be able to use the library 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (Those using the library after hours will need to ask a security officer for access.)

As we all work together during this latest hospital revitalization, the library staff at St. Elizabeth Hospital wants to assure you that, while the professional library will be smaller and in a different location, we will continue to strive to provide the most useful information and the highest quality service to assist you in caring for patients and other responsibilities. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you very much!

Margo A. Lambert, MLIS
Librarian – St. Elizabeth Hospital Libraries
mlambert@affinityhealth.org
920-738-2325

PubMed Advanced Search, Limits, and Homepage Revised

This article from the NLM Technical Bulletin (Jan-Feb 2010) includes screen shots and explanations of the latest changes to PubMed.

Remember to use the PubMed Link on the Affinity Library website to take advantage of our full-text offerings, not otherwise available to the general public.

PubMed is the “free” version of Medline, the journal citation index for medicine and life sciences. It currently covers 19 million citations, and continues to grow.

PubMed offers QuickStart Tutorials for searching PubMed, and doing common tasks like
· Searching for a specific citation
· Searching for a specific author
· Searching for a specific subject / topic
· Explaining the search results

Your Librarians, Margo Lambert (STE) and Michele Matucheski (MMC) are also available for live help on searching PubMed. Just ask!

AudioDigest as Mp3 files

AudioDigest programs published 2007-current are available as downloadable MP3 files.
A-D is an excellent source for continuing medical education credits.
Each program is about 1 hour long.

Series Subject areas include the following:

Anesthesiology
Emergency Medicine
Gastroenterology
General Surgery
Internal Medicine
Obstetrics / Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedics
Otolaryngology
Pediatrics
Psychiatry
Urology

Library Services has purchased subscriptions so that staff can access the excellent content. You can download the programs to your MP3 player (or other mobile device) or listen on your computer (no MP3 player needed).

Here’s a tutorial (Affinity access only) with step-by-step screen shots to lead you through the process. Contact Michele Matucheski (3-0340) with any questions.

Please Note : To get CE Credit, you still need to send in the paper form (request from MMC or STE Libraries) via fax or snail mail, until A-D finds a way to track online CMEs for individual members of institutional subscribers (ie Libraries).

Do you prefer the old Audio CDs?
Use the AHS Library Services Journal Article Request Form to have a CD sent to you.
To obtain credit ...

Badgerlink on the Radio!

BadgerLink staff have been working to get the word out about BadgerLink’s terrific information resources to a larger audience. Starting this month radio listeners around Wisconsin will hear ads on popular radio stations for BadgerLink. These ads were created by the marketing team at EBSCO in cooperation with the staff of Wisconsin's Reference and Loan Library, as part of the company’s package of services. The spot, although created by EBSCO, discusses ALL the information resources and not only those provided by EBSCO. The spot will initially run for the next few weeks.

For a preview go to: http://www.ebscohost.com/custom/uploads/topicFile-363.mp3 .

The ads will appear on the following Fox Valley radio stations:

Station Name City Station Type Radio Frequency

WAPL-FM Appleton Album Oriented Rock 105.7
WIXX-FM Appleton Contemporary Hit Radio 101
WNCY-FM Appleton Country 100.3

WAPL-FM Green Bay Album Oriented Rock 105.7
WIXX-FM Green Bay Contemporary Hit Radio 101
WNCY-FM Green Bay Country 100.3

Go to the Affinity Library Services website to find a link to BadgerLink.

--Adapted from Channel Weekly

Copyright Compliance and Sharing Articles

Do you need to share published articles with a group or team? It’s a great way to make informed decisions. However, did you also know that forwarding a PDF of copyrighted material to a group of people is in direct violation of copyright laws and guidelines? There are work-arounds that are permissible (and legal).

One option is to share a url (or link) to the article like this :

Melnyk BM, Fineout-Overholt E, et al. Evidence-based practice: step by step: the seven steps of evidence-based practice. Am J Nurs. 2010 Jan;110(1):51-3. PMID: 20032669. Available at : http://tinyurl.com/ya8xftr Accessed 6 January 2010.

This way, you’re sharing the TRAIL to where the article lives in our licensed databases, not generating multiple copies for all your friends and acquaintances. All your team members have to do is click on the link in the citation to get to the full-text article. Then individuals can decide if they want to print or save the article future reference.

Affinity Library Services has access to over 12,000 journals online. We’ve probably got what you’re looking for.

Contact your Librarians, Michele Matucheski (MMC) or Margo Lambert (STE), for assistance in 1) formatting citations and 2) finding the right url/link for the article you want to share. It’s not always as easy as harvesting the link out of the browser location box. Some of those urls are temporary and won’t work a day later, or they may be ridiculously long. Margo and Michele have some tricks to make that easier and smoother. Just ask us!

Free to a Good Home : Old Audio Digest CDs

The MMC and STE Libraries have 1 year's worth of older AudioDigest tapes available for FREE. Although these audioCDs are too old to apply for CE credits, they do still offer much good information for Physicians, PAs, Nurses, and other health professionals.

Subject areas include the following :

Anesthesiology

Emergency Medicine

Family Practice (on tape)

Gastroenterology

General Surgery

Internal Medicine

Obstetrics & Gynecology

Ophthalmology

Orthopedics

Otolaryngology

Pediatrics

Psychiatry

Urology

Look for them on the book sale tables at each library beginning Jan 4, 2010.

Why are we giving them away?

--limited shelving space for audiovisuals

--CE credits are available only for 3 years since date of publication

--Our libraries emphasize the most up-to-date info, so we want to make room for more recent issues.
-- Newer editions are available on AudioCD and MP3 files that can be downloaded to your computer or MP3 player. Contact Michele Matucheski for more details on accessing the AudioDigest MP3 files from your desktop.

New eBooks in StatRef for 2010 (available now!)

We’ve updated our online book holdings at Stat!Ref. Now available, you’ll find the following new titles :

Cancer Pain Management (2007)
Clinical Guide to Antineoplastic Therapy: A Chemotherapy Handbook - 2nd Ed. (2007)
Current Diagnosis & Treatment Critical Care – 3rd Ed. (2008)
Current Diagnosis & Treatment Emergency Medicine - 6th Ed. (2008)
Guide to Culturally Competent Health Care, 2nd Ed. (2009)
Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices (AORN) - 2009 Edition

Feel free to bookmark these titles, or make shortcuts to your desktop.
See the whole collection of 28 eBooks at Stat!Ref.
On the Library Intranet web page, scroll down until you see the StatRef link on the right side.


These eBooks (and many more!) are also available through the Affinity Libraries Electronic Booskshelf.

Please contact your Librarians for questions or comments :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) 3-0340
Margo Lambert (STE) 8-2325

Holiday Library Hours

Please note the following holiday hours:

Thursday, November 26 – Libraries Closed
Friday, November 27 – Libraries Closed

Although the libraries will be closed, current Affinity employees can access the libraries. If you need to get into the library or computer room, please ask a security officer to unlock the room for you. Also, the Affinity Library without Walls is available 24/7 via the Intranet.

The Affinity Library Staff wishes you and yours a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Emailed Tables-of-Contents to Neurology & Neurosurgery Journals

The following is a subset of professional and clinical journals focusing on Neurology & Neurosurgery. You can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles (as long as you’re using an Affinity computer or remote access).

Sneak a peak at what you’ll get for the titles below.
Click article titles to access full-text.
Sign-up for email notices if you like what you see.

Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders (Ovid) Table of Contents

Contemporary Spine Surgery (Ovid) Table of Contents

Epilepsia (Wiley) Table of Contents

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Journal of Neurosurgery (Publisher) Table of Contents

Journal of Neurosurgery : Spine (Publisher) Table of Contents

Neurology (Ovid) Table of Contents

Neurosurgery (Ovid) Table of Contents

Spine (Ovid) Table of Contents

Spine Journal (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Stroke (Ovid) Table of Contents

See the complete set of over 135 eligible journals here.

Questions, comments, or assistance, please contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340 or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

National Medical Librarians’ Month - 2009 Prize Winners

The Affinity Library Services Staff wishes to extend a hearty “Thank You” to all who participated in the National Medical Librarians’ Month contests.

From the Clark Family Library at Mercy Medical Center:

Crystal Neiling (NHP) had the closest guess for the amount of Dove Chocolates in our 2009 “Choco Challenge” and won the candy.

Shirley K., a regular library visitor, won the drawing for a $20.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

From the Health Science and Resource Café Libraries at St. Elizabeth Hospital:

Kimberly Huntley (Peds/Gyn) had the closest guess for the 2009 “Choco Challenge” at the Resource Café Library and Stephanie Runde, (PACU) had the closest guess for the 2009 “Choco-Challenge” at the Professional Library. Kimberly and Stephanie won the chocolate from their respective libraries.

Jennifer Schultz (Med/Oncology) won the drawing for a $20.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Again, thanks to all who participated from your Affinity Library Staff (Michele and Ann at Mercy; Margo and Karen and St. E’s)

Affinity-Full-Text through Google Scholar

Did you know that if you use Google Scholar from an Affinity computer, you’ll be able to tap into the treasure trove of full-text articles made available by Affinity Lbirary Services? It’s true!

Google Scholar is the “smart” Google that searches the published journal literature.

If you try searching Google Scholar from home, publishers will typically ask you for a credit card in order to see full articles. If you use an Affinity computer, the publishers we work with know you’re with Affinity, and will grant you access to the full articles.

Use this PDF handout (Affinity access only) of step-by-step screen shots to make Google Scholar and Affinity Full-Text work for you. It includes

1) Getting to Google Scholar

2) Using the Advanced Search to focus results

3) Getting to Full-Text.

Questions or comments? Contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski at MMC (3-0340)
Margo Lambert at STE (8-2325)

PubMed Redesign

For those of you who use PubMed Medline, NCBI has announced some changes to the search interface in coming weeks. Read more about the PubMed Redesign here.

PubMed is a powerful search engine that indexes the medical, nursing, and health sciences journal literature. Access millions of scholarly journal articles through PubMed, and zero in on just what you’re looking for!

Remember this added benefit : Using the PubMed link on the Library website ties into Affinity full-text offerings. You’ll get to more “free” full-text by using this link from an Affinity computer. If you find the perfect article(s) but can’t get to the full-text, contact Library Services. We have connections, and most often we can deliver the articles you seek. Just ask us!

If you have any problems with the new PubMed, do not hesitate to contact your Librarians : Via Outlook, contact Michele Matucheski (Voice 3-0340) at MMC or Margo Lambert (Voice 8-2325)at STE. We can help you navigate and get used to the new and improved PubMed.

Ovid Medline is also still alive and well if you prefer this version. Michele and Margo are also available to do the searching for you. Just tell us what you’re looking for, and we’ll do the rest!

Additional PubMed Training Resources.

MDConsult 30-Minute Online Training Sessions

Affinity staff and employees already have access to MDConsult through Affinity Library Services.

MDConsult contains the most comprehensive and relevant clinical information you need, all in an easy-to-use online format.

Training sessions are under 30 minutes. Join MDConsult Trainers for a brief on-line demonstration to learn more.

This October you can learn more about
· what it is
· what it can can do
· and how it can benefit you.

This training session discusses the following:

* Overview of MD Consult

* Searching

* Navigation

* Content available on MD Consult

Sessions are scheduled from now until the end of October. Use this link to find days and times to attend that are convenient for you.

If these sessions don’t fit your schedule, your Librarians can give you a personalized tour of MDConsult. Via Outlook, contact Michele Matucheski at MMC or Margo Lambert at STE.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.
Number Five: You will get your work done.
Number Four: You will do better work.
Number Three: You might even become a “fast-tracker”.
Number Two: You will contribute to knowledge sharing within your organization.

Number One: You will save money.

Due to AHS Libraries’ relationships with other regional libraries, we are able to obtain resources at much lower costs than would be available to individuals. Also, librarians save a great deal of time in both searching for information and determining the validity of that information.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Choco-Challenge : Dove Chocolates

How many Dove chocolates in the jar?
The closest guess wins all the chocolate!


Enter your guess online by visiting the library website,
or use this web form.


Or stop by the Libraries at :

* Mercy Medical Center Library
* St. Elizabeth Hospital Professional Library
* St. Elizabeth Hospital Resource Café
* Affinity Health & Wellness Center at the20th Ave Oshkosh YMCA.


Contest ends October 31.
One entry per person, please.

Door Prize
You could also win a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate!

Fishing for Quality Health Information? : @sk Your Medical Librarians

October is (once again) National Medical Librarian's Month

Celebrate with Affinity Library Services.

We'll be having special festures all month. Stay tuned!

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.
Number Five: You will get your work done.
Number Four: You will do better work.
Number Three: You might even become a “fast-tracker”.

Number Two: You will contribute to knowledge sharing within your organization.

You never know when the information you get for one project might be useful to a colleague working on a similar project. Let your librarians do the legwork. We can save you time and sharing the information you get could help a colleague avoid “reinventing the wheel”.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number One in a future blog post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Health Care Reform 101

We’re starting to get questions like: "You know, I haven't really been following this whole thing in detail, but now.... are there any good summaries of the debate I could look at?"

Here are some good places to start :

New York Times Topics: Health Care Reform

Health Affairs: Fact vs Fiction

Health Affairs: Health Policy Brief Key Issues in Health Reform (PDF)

Kaiser Family Foundation : Health Reform

Comparison of Pending Health Care Bills

For those of you more visually oriented, try the series of "napkin" talks by Dan Roam - a noted speaker on visual presentation of info

They may not be best-sellers, but we are all hearing about the House bill, H.R. 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act and the Senate bill, S. _: Affordable Health Choices Act, together more commonly known and debated as Health Care Reform. These two bills – 1000+ pages from the House and 600+ pages from the Senate - are generating plenty of discussion, but what is really in them? If you are looking for good, readable summaries in order to better understand these two plans, the following may help :

A summary of the S._: Affordable Health Choices Act was prepared and released by the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on July 15. See the summary here (PDF).

Three House Committees: Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor prepared and released this summary of H.R. 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act available here. This possibly more objective summary was prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The complete bills can be found here:
Final version of H.R. 3200
and draft version of S._

If you are interested in following the progression, Slate.com created this online guide to sources.

For an examination of how other countries manage their health care systems, check out this program from PBS :

Frontline: Sick Around the World
You can even watch it online.

Special thanks to Medlib-L for the above summary.

Business Databases Courtesy of Badgerlink

Badgerlink * offers several full-text research databases covering business management, marketing, trade, and industry journals, company profiles and news. The Ebsco Business Databases (Badgerlink) include the following :

· Business Source Premier
Business Source Premier is the industry’s most used business research database, providing full text for more than 2,300 journals, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed titles. Provides full-text coverage in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Updated daily.
· GreenFILE
GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
· Newspaper Source Plus
Newspaper Source Plus includes 1,520 full-text newspapers, providing more than 28 million full-text articles. In addition, the database features more than 601,300 television and radio news transcripts, videos & podcasts.
Regional Business News
Provides comprehensive full-text coverage for regional business publications. Regional Business News incorporates coverage of more than 80 regional business publications covering all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States.

Click on the links above to access, or follow the navigation below :
Affinity Intranet > Library > Find Articles in Databases > Databases by Subject > Ebsco Business Resources

Affinity Intranet > Library > Badgerlink > Service List > Business Resources

* Badgerlink is a project of the Department of Public Instruction’s Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning for the citizens of Wisconsin. Funding is provided through the Public Service Commission Universal Service Fund. Try it : Full-text access from work, school, or home!

Emailed Tables-of-Contents to Cancer Journals

The following is a subset of professional and clinical journals focusing on Cancer and Oncology. You can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles (as long as you’re using an Affinity computer or remote access).

Sneak a peak at what you’ll get for the titles below.
Click article titles to access full-text.
Sign-up for email notices if you like what you see.

Blood (HighWire) Table of Contents

Cancer (Wiley) Table of Contents

Cancer Nursing (Ovid) Table of Contents

European Journal of Cancer (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

European Journal of Haematology (Wiley / Blackwell) Table of Contents

Gynecologic Oncology (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Journal of Clinical Oncology (Publisher) Table of Contents Email Alerts

Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN (Publisher) Table of Contents Email Alerts

Seminars in Radiation Oncology (ScienceDirect)   Table of Contents

See the complete set of over 140 eligible journals here.

Questions, comments, or assistance, please contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340 or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.
Number Five: You will get your work done.

Number Four: You will do better work.

Affinity Librarians go to great lengths to make sure that the information we find for you comes from sources you can trust. If you are working with reliable information, you’ll have a higher quality end product.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Three in a future blog post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Emailed Tables-of-Contents to Critical Care Nursing Journals

The following is a subset of professional and clinical journals focusing on Critical Care Nursing.

You can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles (as long as you’re using an Affinity computer or remote access).

* Sneak a peak at what you’ll get for the titles below.
* Click article titles to access full-text.
* Sign-up for email notices if you like what you see.

AACN Advanced Critical Care (Ovid) Table of Contents

American Journal of Critical Care (EbscoHost) Contact Affinity Library Services to register for email alerts for this journal.

Critical Care Medicine (Ovid) Table of Contents

Critical Care Nurse (EbscoHost)
Contact Affinity Library Services to register for email alerts for this journal.

Critical Care Nursing Quarterly (Ovid) Table of Contents

Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing (Ovid) Table of Contents

Nursing Critical Care (Ovid) Table of Contents

Nursing (Ovid) Table of Contents

See the complete set of over 120 eligible journals here.

Questions, comments, or assistance, please contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340 or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

Emailed Tables-of-Contents to Pain Journals

The following is a subset of professional and clinical journals focusing on pain and pain management. You can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles (as long as you’re using an Affinity computer or remote access).

* Sneak a peak at what you’ll get for the titles below.
* Click article titles to access full-text.
* Sign-up for email notices if you like what you see.

Anesthesia & Analgesia (Ovid) Table of Contents

Journal of Clinical Anesthesia (ScienceDirecet) Table of Contents

Journal of Pain (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Journal of Pain & Symptom Management (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Pain Management Nursing (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

See the complete set of over 100 eligible journals here.

Questions, comments, or assistance, please contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340 or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

A-Z Journal List: Full Text Electronic and Print Journal Holdings

If you have ever wondered if the Affinity libraries have a specific journal, the answer can be found at your fingertips.

The Library A-Z Journal List can be found on the Library web page on the Affinity Intranet. (It is the first link under “Most Popular Links” on the right.) Browse an alphabetical listing of titles, search for specific titles or do a keyword search and find all titles containing a particular word. You’ll be able to find how far back the titles go and whether they are available in print or electronically. (You can access electronic titles directly from the A-Z List and print or download full-text articles from there.)

Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) for help or for more information.

Consumer Health Complete (Badgerlink*)

Since the recent updates and upgrades in Badgerlink, we as Wisconsin-ites now have “free” access to a new tool : Consumer Health Complete (CHC).

Consumer Health Complete offers comprehensive consumer-oriented health information, including
· Full-text reference books like :
o AMA Complete Medical Encyclopedia
o Complete Guide to Prescription and Non-prescription Drugs
o Cornell Illustrated Encyclopedia of Health
o Mayo Clinic Family Health Book, and many more …
· Evidence-based practice reports
· Fact-sheets and handouts
· Video animations
· Articles, and more.

Watch an introductory tutorial about Consumer Health Complete.

Where to find it on the Library Pages :
Affinity Intranet > Library > Most Popular Links > Consumer Health Complete
Or
Library > Find Patient Education Handouts > Consumer Health Complete



* Badgerlink is a project of the Department of Public Instruction’s Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning for the citizens of Wisconsin. Funding is provided through the Public Service Commission Universal Service Fund. Try it : Full-text access from work, school, or home!

The Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act

Ever wonder where to find the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act?
It’s Chapter N1 from the Wisconsin State Statutes. Officially, it’s called "The Board of Nursing," from the Department of Regulation and Licensing. However, most Wisconsin nurses know it as “The Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act.” Googling this one doesn't bring up what you might think ...

Where to find it on the Affinity Intranet :
Affinity Intranet > Library > General Reference Links > Board of Nursing Wisconsin

The Nurse Practice Act describes the standards of practice for nurses (RN and LPNs) in Wisconsin. In some areas, the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act is intentionally vague. Therefore, we’ve added links for the Board of Nursing’s White Papers and position statements that address timely topics like the following :

> Scope of Practice Decision Tree : Guidelines for RN and LPN Licensure
> Use of Nurse Technicians
> Delegation
> Pain Management
And more …

There is also a Wisconsin RN Practice FAQ that may also be helpful for certain questions.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.

Number Five: You will get your work done.

Gathering background information is one of the more time-consuming aspects of any project. If you let your librarians help with any research “leg work”, you’ll be able to concentrate on other things and get those things done.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Four in a future post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

A.D.A.M. Consumer Health Information Available in MD Consult

By now many of you know that, beginning in July, we will no longer offer access to the A.D.A.M. Quick Sheets Patient Education / Consumer Health Information.

We are happy to inform you that, even though the A.D.A.M. Quick Sheets will be discontinued, you’ll be able to get the same content in the Patient Education section of MD Consult.

In addition to offering identical A.D.A.M. content, you can also personalize patient handouts if you create an account in MD Consult. (Check the library website for instructions.)


Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) if you would like more information about setting up an MD Consult account or for help locating ADAM Patient Education information in MD Consult.

New Links for CAMH Manual and Joint Commission Resources

In order to make it easier to find the Joint Commission Resources, we’ve added a few additional links to the Affinity Libraries Home Page.

1) Look for a new link for The Joint Commission CAMH Manual on the Library Web Home Page in the center column. Since this requires a username and password, we wanted the description to be visible.

2) We also added a link to Joint Commission Resources in the Most Popular Column on the right-hand side. This page also contains a link for the CAMH Manual above.

To Get to the Affinity Library Webpage,
Affinity Intranet > Library

On the Library home page, scroll down the page to see the new links for the Joint Commission.

Contact Michele Matucheski at 3-0340 with questions or suggestions.

Harvard Medical School Newsletters

If you want to keep up with medical news or find simple, reliable information for yourself or your patients, take a look at our Harvard Medical School Newsletters.

We have the following titles:

Harvard Health Letter
Harvard Heart Letter
Harvard Men’s Health Watch
Harvard Mental Health Letter
Harvard Women’s Health Watch

These short newsletters come out monthly, so you can visit the library at Mercy Medical Center or the Resource Café Consumer Health Library at St. Elizabeth Hospital if you want to take a look. (You are welcome to photocopy articles from these and our other magazines and newsletters, but please do not take the originals from the libraries.) You can also access these newsletters online from the A-Z Journal List on the Library web page.

If you want to find articles on a particular topic that may have been published in the Harvard Medical School newsletters, contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324). We’ll be happy to help.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.

Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.

Number Eight: You will make better decisions.

Number Seven: You will save time.

Number Six: You will be more productive.

You will be able to devote more time and energy to your primary job responsibilities if you let library staff help with your information gathering needs.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Five in a future edition of The Weekly.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Managing Email Overload

Here are some quick tips to tame your email in-box :
1) Stop “Doing email”
2) Start scheduling time to scan your email
3) Use email when appropriate
4) Deal with email by subject
5) Keep your inbox nearly empty
6) Filter your messages
7) Do not forward chain letters, spam, or virus hoaxes. Delete them.
8) Do not answer spam, ever
9) Limit listserves
10) Follow good email etiquette
11) Delete and archive
12) Stop using your email box as a to-do list

Remembering Nancy P.

Nancy Piencikowski was a longtime nurse at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh, WI, who died last month. Read more about her in the official obituary.

She started the Wound Clinic here and lovingly took care of Ostomy Patients. She was also a big part of the American Cancer Society. I'll always associate her with the spring Daffodil Sales to raise money for The American Cancer Society. She was always just as bright as those flowers.



Nancy always had a bright smile. Her whole face lit up.

Her spirit lives on in all who knew her.

She will be greatly missed.

Library as Place – Do you need some peace and quiet?

Actually, this isn’t new. Some people have always known that they could go to the Affinity Libraries if they needed a few minutes of peace and quiet.

Libraries have always had the reputation of being quiet places. But if you have visited a public library in, say, the last ten years, you’ll know that those libraries are becoming hubs of activity and you can’t always expect a quiet atmosphere when you visit.

The Affinity Libraries are places you can go if you need to get even a few moments of peace. The medical libraries at Mercy Medical Center and St. Elizabeth Hospital offer comfortable lounge areas with newspapers and magazines so that you can create a mini-escape during your busy day. If watching fish calms you, visit the library at Mercy Medical Center and see their new fish tank. (Of course, if you love people-watching and the smell of espresso, the atmosphere at the Resource Café Consumer Health Library at St. Elizabeth Hospital might be more to your liking.)

Other than a cheerful greeting and an offer of help if you look like you need it, library staff won’t intrude on your break time.

So, if you need to escape during the course of a busy workday, the Affinity Libraries might just be the perfect destinations.

Swine Flu Resources

Swine Flu Investigation Page (CDC)

RSS feed on Swine Flu - Get regular updates from the CDC

Google Maps Tool for Tracking Swine Flu (not EBM)

Swine Flu on MedlinePlus for consumer health information

The National Library of Medicine's EnviroHealth web page on Swine Flu
This web page contains information from several US and international agencies and organizations, treatment information, genetic sequence data, information in Spanish, searches of PubMed, the NLM Catalog, and more.

Librarian Secrets to Successful Searching : Focusing Clinical Questions with P-I-C-O

The first step to doing research is to define your topic : What are you looking for?

Example : “Tell me all you know about elderly taxi drivers in Mongolia who have heart attacks while drinking decaffeinated coffee on Friday nights after the bars close and whether prescribing aspirin might help reduce the risk of further heart attacks.”

Break the topic down into individual concepts with P-I-C-O.

P – Patient Population or Problem = Heart Attacks in the Elderly
I – Intervention = Aspirin
C – Comparison = Nothing
O – Outcome = Prevention of future heart attacks

P-I-C-O helps you pick out the important concepts while leaving out some of the extraneous stuff.

The P-I-C-O model helps define and refine a search topic, whether you are searching a powerful database like Medline/PubMed or just Google.

Your Librarians, Michele Matucheski (at MMC) and Margo Lambert (at STE) are available to do the research for you. Just let us know what you’re looking for.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you're involved in patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.

Number Seven: You will save time.

Research can be time-consuming and challenging, but it is one of the more interesting (and enjoyable) tasks for a librarian. Having us handle your research can free up substantial amounts of time for you to take care of other things.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Six in a future post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Joint Commission Manual CAMH Online Access

Access to the E-diton of the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (aka The Joint Commission Manual or CAMH) is once again available on the Affinity Intranet.

Joint Commission Manual - Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (CAMH) - Current E-dition
Username and password required. More info below. Affinity access only.

OR

Follow this path to get there :
Affinity Intranet > Library > General Reference Links > Joint Commission Resources > Joint Commission Manual
Note the username and password in the description.

Also available through the Electronic Bookshelf at :
Follow this path to get there :
Affinity Intranet > Library > Find Books > Electronic Bookshelf > Books by Title > Scroll down to Joint Commission Manual
Note Username & Password in the description.