Tulane University - Medical Library Director Takes Advocacy Role

Tulane University - Medical Library Director Takes Advocacy Role

Got PMCID? - NIH Public Access Policy is Permanent!

FIRST U.S. PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY MADE PERMANENT

2009 Consolidated Appropriations Act ensures NIH public access policy will persist
Washington, D.C. – March 12, 2009 –

President Obama ... signed into law the 2009 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes a provision making the National Institutes’ of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy permanent. The NIH Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access requires eligible NIH-funded researchers to deposit electronic copies of their peer-reviewed manuscripts into the National Library of Medicine’s online archive, PubMed Central (PMC). Full texts of the articles are made publicly available and searchable online in PMC no later than 12 months after publication in a journal.
The NIH policy was previously implemented with a provision that was subject to annual renewal. Since the implementation of the revised policy the percentage of eligible manuscripts deposited into PMC has increased significantly, with over 3,000 new manuscripts being deposited each month. The PubMed Central database is a part of a valuable set of public database resources at the NIH, which are accessed by more than 2 million users each day.

The new provision reads in full:

The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require in the current fiscal year and thereafter that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.

“This is a significant moment for all of us in the health community, and for efforts in health reform. With free access to health research, individuals are empowered with the knowledge necessary to understand the health threats they and their families face,” said Sharon Terry, President and CEO of Genetic Alliance. “Congress recognizes the incredible power of technology and innovation in enabling new solutions for the proactive management of health, consumer-driven healthcare, and novel partnerships and collaborations in research. Congratulations to us all.”

The NIH Public Access Policy addresses the public’s growing need for high-quality health information and promotes accelerated scientific advancement in the biomedical sciences.

"Public access to publicly funded research contributes directly to the mission of higher education,” said David Shulenburger, Vice President for Academic Affairs at NASULGC (the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges). “Improved access will enable universities to maximize their own investment in research, and widen the potential for discovery as the results are more readily available for others to build upon.”

Heather Joseph, spokesperson for the Alliance for Taxpayer Access noted, “Thanks to the work of a wide coalition of patients, libraries, researchers, publishers, students, and taxpayers, the results of NIH-funded research can be accessed – and used - in ways never before possible. The successful implementation of this policy will unlock the potential of this research to benefit the public as a whole. ”

For more information, and a timeline detailing the evolution of the NIH Public Access Policy beginning May 2004, visit the Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA) Web site at http://www.taxpayeraccess.org.

LIVE DEMO of FIRST CONSULT - Fri. Mar. 6, noon-1pm in SOM

First Consult is an evidence‐based, continuously updated clinical resource for health care professionals, providing instant access to the latest in evaluation, diagnosis, management, outcomes and prevention.

Matas Library presents -

• LIVE DEMO of FIRST CONSULT ‐An EBM “point‐of‐care”Clinical Decision Tool
  
• Friday March 6, 2009, 12 noon - 1 pm
• School of Medicine (1430 Tulane Ave.)
• Rm. 1525
• **light refreshments will be available**

A trial period of this product is currently available and will continue through March 30th, 2009. To Access FirstConsult - Go ton MDConsult and choose "FirstConsult".

• A FirstConsult Flyer for printing is available in .pdf.

Please contact us with you comments, medref@tulane.edu or 988-5155.

SCIFINDER SCHOLAR - Version upgrades and a new web version for off-campus use

SciFinder is a research discovery tool from the American Chemical Society that allows access to research from many scientific disciplines, including biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, materials science, agricultural science, and more!

Two versions of SciFinder Scholar are now available to Tulane users. In addition to the traditional client software download, a web edition is now accessible. Both versions provide access to the same information, but the web edition has some new functionality.

If you have problems with a previously downloaded version of SciFinder, you will need to upgrade to the newer version. The 2006 version of Scifinder Scholar will no longer work, as of February 2009. There are both PC and Mac versions available for download.

Information on Tulane's SciFinder access and the downloads of the software are available at:
http://library.tulane.edu/scifinder_dload.php.

Only a limited number of people can use SciFinder Scholar simultaneously. If you have difficulty accessing the database, try again at an off-peak time such as early in the morning or during the evening. SciFinder Scholar client software (downloads) may only be used on campus.

If you need SciFinder Scholar while off campus, try the SciFinder Scholar Web Edition. To use the web version, you must register to establish your own userid and password, but you don’t need to download any client software. The web version allows users to set up current awareness searches, called "Keep Me Posted.

John Barry's The Great Influenza .. Popular Culture!

Get the Pun? Want to read the book?

Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis. Feb, 11, 2009. From Comics.com -- The great influenza : the epic story of the deadliest plague in history / John M. Barry. NewYork : Viking, 2004. (MATAS LIBRARY - WC 515 B279 2004)

More information about John Barry, Tulane Faculty.
Thanks to Kathleen Puglia..."This was in yesterday's comic pages. How many authors wind up in the funnies?" - Thu 2/12/2009

Trial Period for JAMAevidence until March 31st, 2009

A Free trial to JAMAevidence is available through March 31, 2009.
To access the free trial, please visit: www.jamaevidence.com/
(You must be on the Tulane University Network.)

JAMAevidence is an online resource for teachers, learners, and practitioners of evidence-based medicine. JAMAevidence was developed in partnership with the American Medical Association (AMA) and McGraw-Hill. Its focus on evidence highlights a critical and emerging aspect of modern medicine.

JAMAevidence features:
• Full text access to The User's Guides to the Medical Literature and The Rational Clinical Examination
• Online Education Guide slideshows including teaching points to enhance classroom and conference learning - Also available as downloadable PowerPoints
• Direct free access to referenced articles from JAMA and the Archives Journals that are cited in
• Exclusive online-only content including updates to RCE articles and podcasts from the leading minds in evidence-based medicine
• Core Topics to highlight critical educational concepts across all content types
• Powerful interactive capabilities, including:
• Functional calculators and nomograms
• Question wizards to help users formulate well-built clinical queries
• Customizable worksheets focusing on critical appraisal skills and mastering the information cycle
• Extensive evidence-based medicine glossary

Lunch time sessions with the Rudolph Matas Library School Of Public Health, Tidewater Bldg (TDW 1202)

Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 12noon-1pm

E-Books for Public Health and Tropical Medicine
E-books are an integral part of the Tulane Libraries’ collection. Come to this informal session to learn how to discover and use electronic information in current and historic books. Bring your questions and suggestions.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 12noon-1pm

Come meet the new Matas Library Director, Neville Prendergast. This will be an information question and answer session.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 12noon-1pm

Gideon and Global Health Databases are two resources licensed specifically to support the curriculum in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. This session will introduce the content, suggest search strategies and give pointers on the use of these sources.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 12noon-1pm

Citation Management
Learn how web-based citation managers can help you with storing, managing, and citing your papers and creating bibliographies. RefWorks and EndNote Web will briefly covered.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 12noon-1pm

Citation Management
Learn how web-based citation managers can help you with storing, managing, and citing your papers and creating bibliographies. We will cover both RefWorks and EndNote Web.


Tulane University students, staff, and faculty are welcome to attend Library Workshops to learn new skills or find out about new resources. Other topical sessions are available on request during the semester. Please contact the Matas Librarians for more information and to schedule sessions at medref@tulane.edu or (504) 988-5155.