Teresa Hartman

Guide on the Side.

Guide on the Side (GotS) is an award-winning application that makes developing interactive, online tutorials simple [1–3]. As the “Guide on the Side” name suggests, each GotS tutorial has an instruction panel—which may contain text, pictures, links, and/or interactive questions—on one side of the browser window and displays the online resource that is the focus of the tutorial on the other side. GotS is open source software that is available without charge from the University of Arizona. Even if you are not sure that your information technology (IT) department will be willing to install GotS, you may want to request a free demo account on the University of Arizona server and give GotS a try [3]. As the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) 2013 Instructional Services Innovation Award committee cochairs have said, the software “allows librarians to easily create tutorials that are both engaging to students and pedagogically sound. GotS serves as a model of the future of library instruction” [1]. The reviewers have been creating online tutorials with GotS in an academic medical library for two years [4]. During that time, we have received many positive comments from students on tutorials created with the product. Students find the navigation tools easy to use, enjoy being able to move through the tutorials at their own pace, and find the interactive questions engaging. One student even described our library’s “PubMed for Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS)” GotS tutorial [5] as, “mind blowingly awesome” and said “[I] never knew how easy searching for research could be.” We used to develop side-guided tutorials using Dreamweaver, but GotS makes this process much easier.

Navigating the US health care system: a video guide for immigrant and diverse populations.

Commitment to diversity is an important part of the strategic plan of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) [1]. As part of this commitment, the university provides support and incentives for diversity initiatives. It is hoped that, in addition to promoting diversity, the funded initiatives will strengthen existing relationships and build new, positive relationships with local community service organizations. In 2004, the McGoogan Library of Medicine at UNMC was selected as one of the units to receive diversity funds. A team of five librarians, the authors, was chosen to work on this project. While no exact guidance was given, the team was encouraged to address the health information needs of diverse or underserved populations in Nebraska. Twenty-five thousand dollars in one-time funding was provided. As continued funding could not be anticipated, it was important that the project be relatively timeless. While brainstorming about the type of project to undertake, the team found numerous studies describing difficulties recent immigrants might encounter when dealing with the US health care system [2–7]. Difficulties ranged from making appointments to understanding the need to disclose personal information or express disagreement with a physician. The team realized that many of these issues can result from a lack of knowledge about the basic elements of a doctors appointment in the United States. These basics likely do not change rapidly over time; thus, a resource explaining these concepts should have long-lasting usefulness.

Epigenetic dysregulation of Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-related genes and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review

Abstract Objectives: Preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age (SGA) are leading causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity around the world. Epigenetic alterations of the human genome may be involved in the causal chain of adverse pregnancy outcomes. In this systematic review we investigated whether PTB, LBW and SGA are associated with epigenetic dysregulation of insulin-like growth factor-related genes (IGF). Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for peer-reviewed articles about IGF and PTB, LBW and SGA published up to February 2015. Two independent reviewers selected original, controlled, human studies published in any language and graded them using the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Disagreements were resolved by consensus with a third reviewer. Results: Eighteen observational studies of low-to-moderate quality met the eligibility criteria out of 210 unique studies. There was substantial heterogeneity across studies. Most studies reported no, limited or borderline association between epigenetic changes (methylation or imprinting) of IGF-related genes and LBW or SGA. There were no IGF-related epigenetic studies of PTB. Conclusions: Overall, evidence of an association between epigenetic abnormalities of IGF-related genes and LBW or SGA was weak and inconsistent. Methodological concerns limited results validity.

New Educational Strategies for Training Information Professionals: Building Awareness, Concepts, and Skills through Learning Technologies.

Libraries, Medical Informatics, and Health Care was an experimental distance-education course aimed at both health sciences and other librarians and graduate students. The course included three modalities for delivering instruction: a satellite broadcast, materials on the Internet, and an intensive seminar. The teleconference focused on two topics, consumer health care information and telemedicine and the relation of each to librarianship. The Internet-based materials covered the U.S. health care delivery system, the language of medicine, MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), and MEDLINE. The intensive seminar covered other health sciences resources, the biomedical community, trends in health sciences librarianship, and medical informat-ics. Each modality presented opportunities and challenges to the instructional team and the students. Evaluations revealed that participants were generally favorable about the experience but that there were more problems with the Internet section of the course than with the other sections.

Epigenetic modifications of human placenta associated with preterm birth: a systematic review

Abstract Objective: Preterm birth (PTB) is one of the leading causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity around the world. Epigenetic alterations of the human placenta may be involved in the causal chain of adverse pregnancy outcomes specifically PTB. In this systematic review, we investigated whether epigenetic dysregulation of the human placenta is associated with PTB. Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE and systematically reviewed all relevant studies on epigenetic placental modifications in PTB. Two independent reviewers selected controlled human studies published in any language, evaluated their quality, and graded them using the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. We resolved disagreements by consensus with a third reviewer. Results: Eleven observational studies of low to moderate quality met the eligibility criteria out of 60 unique studies. Most studies reported an association between placental epigenetic changes (methylation, mRNA and miRNA) and PTB, although research methods were highly heterogeneous. Conclusions: Studies reported various associations between specific epigenetic findings and PTB, although methodological concerns limited results’ validity. Additional high quality studies are needed to assess the repeatability of these findings. The STROBE guidelines can be used to improve the quality of reporting.

Creating Interactive Online Instruction: The McGoogan Library Experience

Online instruction is a hot topic at academic medical centers. Seizing the opportunity to join the online movement at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), the McGoogan Library created an open access course made up of six learning modules. The modules addressed three issues: 1) supplementing one-shot library instruction, 2) offering opportunity for instruction when a librarian is not embedded in a course, and 3) showcasing the library as an online instruction supporter. This article discusses the planning process, technology used, how the modules were received, and how this initial project increased McGoogan Librarys involvement in the UNMC online movement.

Smallpox Vaccination of Laboratory Workers at US Variola Testing Sites

To evaluate the need to revaccinate laboratory workers against smallpox, we assessed regular revaccination at the US Laboratory Response Network’s variola testing sites by examining barriers to revaccination and the potential for persistence of immunity. Our data do not provide evidence to suggest prolonging the recommended interval for revaccination.