I just heard about OIT's Tech Stop over in Coffman, which might be a good thing to know about if students need computer help beyond the scope of what we cover in our library. Here's the website: http://oit.umn.edu/techstop/
"Tech Stop offers walk-in assistance with and support for University technology services including e-mail client configuration; Internet password changes—including a self-service password change station for students; Symantec AntiVirus installation or assistance; consultations on virus removal; ResNet connection problem troubleshooting; updating drivers; common good software such as e-mail, UMCal, WebVista, and Moodle; and much more, including general "how do I get started with…." questions."
Hours are linked on the left hand side of the Tech Stop website. I might just be behind the times in not knowing this existed, but it looks like a valuable referral resource!!
Liz
For those of you using Word 2007, you may have noticed that the default line spacing is different than in Word 2003. Microsoft added additional space to provide "better readability."
Here's the workaround to change it back:
1. Click the Home tab.
2. Click Change Styles in the Styles group, point to Style Set, and then click the style set that you want to use.
To change the default formatting of your document, such as the line spacing and paragraph spacing, to the default formatting that is used in earlier versions of Word, click Word 2003.
3. To set the style set as the default style set in Word 2007, click Change Styles in the Styles group, and then click Set as Default.
Hello all,
I got a question from a faculty member today who was confused about the citation format for an article from a BioMed Central (BMC) title. The faculty member's confusion centered around trying to find a page number range for the citation, as well as trying to cite a specific page number for a direct quote.
This is the citation:
Herman, P., Craig, B., & Caspi, O. (2005). Is complementary and alternative medicine(CAM) cost-effective? A systematic review. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 5:11
The article is available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/5/11. If you look at the PDF version of the article, you'll notice it says, "page number not for citation purposes" at the bottom of each page.
As a reminder, BMC is an open access publisher, and most of their journal titles are published only in online form. Because it never appears in printed form, it's not paginated the way articles normally are. The citation gives a volume number (5) and an article number (11), which is all you need to cite the article. This link gives you further information about citing BMC titles: http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/faq?name=citation
My response to the faculty member was that for the reference list, the article would be cited as it appears above. To cite a direct quote from the article (which requires a page number in the in-text citation in APA format), I think it's fine to use the PDF page number. My interpretation is that the "not for citation" designation means that you wouldn't put 1-15 as a page range in the citation in your reference list, but for an in-text citation, the PDF page number seems appropriate.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions, or if you would have given the faculty member a different answer!
Thanks,
Liz
Just a reminder that if you have any e-resource access issues/problems, you should email bmsers@umn.edu (instead of directly emailing individual tech services staff members). This helps HSL technical services expediently resolve any E-resource access issue/problems. Someone from tech services department will be checking this mail box; however, if it's an emergency feel free to call tech services staff members directly.
Today, Judy called my attention to a new special query in PubMed for Health Disparities (see May 8 post on the NLM Technical Bulletin). Since there was not a MeSH term for either Healthcare Disparties or Health Status Disparities until 2008, it is potentially very handy to have this special query available.
Keep in mind, however that this search strategy is extremely broad (it retrieves over 57,000 citations), so you will need to AND it in with more specific criteria, such as population, condition, intervention, etc. Also, Lisa suggests that you consider using it as a starting point and maybe cutting and pasting only the portions of the search strategy that you need into PubMed. To see the entire search strategy, click here.
Hope this information is helpful,
Martha
Check out the recent multilingual additions to MedlinePlus! They don't necessarily jump out at you, so take a look at this description to see what's available and how to access it. Very cool! -Liz
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MedlinePlus has a multilingual feature, providing access to high quality health information in languages other than English and Spanish. This new service benefits people who prefer to read consumer health information in their native language. It also helps the information professionals and health care providers who serve them.
The new collection contains over 2,500 links to information in more than 40 languages and covers nearly 250 Health Topics. Continuous growth is expected.
Users can navigate the new collection of health information in multiple languages either by language or by topic. A page listing all of the languages covered is on the MedlinePlus homepage, in the list on the left side of the page. Users can browse these languages or link to the page listing all of the topics covered.
Also, on individual English language health topics pages, a "languages" box appears on the right side of the page. The languages box lists the languages with links on that topic in MedlinePlus. The languages box also links users to the collection of health information in multiple languages. Users can also search the new collection of health information in multiple languages. Additionally, a new collection called Multiple Languages appears on the MedlinePlus search results pages.
The MedlinePlus collection of health information in multiple languages is not meant to be comprehensive. Instead, as with our English and Spanish collections, MedlinePlus staff selects materials according to our quality guidelines (quality guidelines specific to the new collection are available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/criteria.html).
As always, NLM welcomes your comments and suggestions about MedlinePlus. A Contact Us link appears at the top of every MedlinePlus page.
As you know, the National Institutes of Health have recently instituted the NIH Manuscript Submission System, to facilitate compliance with the new NIH Public Access Policy , per Division G, Title II, Section 218 of PL 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008). The law states:
The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require 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.
I believe that the Scholarly Communication Collaborative is working on a toolkit of resources regarding the NIHMS, but, in the meantime, here are a few links you might find useful if you get any reference questions or want to find out more about it:
- NIH Public Access Policy Overview: This provides a nice overview of the policy.
- NIH Manuscript Submission System: News & Updates, Help: Provides links to log into the NIHMS System, to search the NIHMS Grants Database, to various FAQ and Help pages, and to contact information for the NIH.
- NIHMS System Slide Show Help: The NIH has assembled a set of online tutorials on the following topics: Submission Help for Principal Investigators, Login Help, Submission Help for non-PI Submitters, and Miscellaneous Help Items.
I am adding these links to the Reference Quicklinks. Also, if you get questions about this at the Reference Desk, please do not hesitate to refer current UMN-Twin Cities students, staff and faculty to the liaison librarian for their department or school.
Thanks,
Martha
There was an article on the front page of the Star/Tribune yesterday about a bioartificial heart. One of the authors, Doris Taylor, is here at the University of Minnesota. I just got a question about the article and you might too. The article is in Nature Medicine, 2008 Jan 13 [Epub ahead of print]. The PMID number is 18193059. Here is the Find It link: http://tc.liblink.umn.edu/sfx_local?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:18193059
Del
Hi-
We've gotten a couple of inquiries recently at the Reference Desk regarding how to find salaries of University of Minnesota employees. This information is published online only in the University of Minnesota Total Salary Report. Publication has ceased on paper, but UMN faculty and staff can gain online access with their x.500 usernames and passwords.
The report is listed in MNCAT under several different titles, including the following: University of Minnesota total salary report, Total salary report, University of Minnesota employee salaries, and Employee salaries report. Even searching in MNCAT using "salary report" as title keywords will pull it up. Once you find the correct MNCAT record, click on the internet access url to reach the UM Reports Home page. Then, click on the "Search reports" box in upper right. At the Report Search page, search keyword "salary" with "All Categories" selected in the Category field. Results open in a new page of options.
Martha
Hi-
Chad has confirmed that the University spam filter is indeed blocking all email from Wufoo, so, in order to get any email forwarded to you from Wufoo you must add Wufoo.com to your safe list. I should point out that Chad has used Wufoo to create several of the online forms embedded in our Web pages, such as the literature search request form. The entries from these forms forward to various people (medref, Chad, Andre, etc.), but the email actually come from Wufoo.
Today, a patron reported that she had submitted a literature search request via the online form and never heard back from anyone. It turned out that the email to medref were getting blocked by the spam filter and that some of the settings in Wufoo had changed. This has now been fixed. If any patrons ever report to you anything similar in the future, please notify Chad. If you need help with Wufoo specifically or have a question, please let me know.
Thanks,
Martha
Some of the Wufoo forms are set up to generate automatic confirmation email in response to your entries. Please remember to check your spam filter to make sure that email from Wufoo are not being blocked. If the Wufoo email are being blocked, you will need to add Wufoo to your safe list. If you have questions regarding how to do this, please see https://www.umn.edu/dirtools. You can also set up your email so that you are notified every time an incoming email is blocked, which is kind of handy in general.
If you have questions about this, please let me know.
Cheers,
Martha
As you may know, you can set up your voice mail options so that callers can press 0 to be forwarded to a different number if you're not there and they don't want to leave a message. I have my voice mail set up so that callers can be forwarded to the Reference Desk if they press 0, in case I'm not at my desk and they want to talk to a real person about a general reference question. Instructions on how to do this are a little further down.
If someone actually chooses that option, the call that comes to the reference desk will be a little weird. It freaked me out the first time it happened, and it freaked Martha out on Friday so I thought it was worth posting about. Basically, when you answer the reference desk phone, you'll hear a computerized voice saying something along the lines of "Forwarded call. Liz Fine is not answering the phone." (you can imagine why this threw me for a loop when I happened to get my own forwarded call when I was down at the desk). After the computer voice stops, you'll probably hear dead air (and be tempted to hang up).
When the computer voice stops and you hear that silence, you're connected to the caller. So, just say "Bio-Medical Library Reference Desk" or whatever, and treat it like a normal incoming call.
So, now that you know about this, I know you want to set up your own forwarding number so that you can avoid the "if you need immediate assistance, please call the reference desk at blah blah blah" portion of your voice mail message. You can just say "press 0 to be connected to " wherever.
Log into your voice mail account at go4msg.umn.edu. On the pale blue menu on the left, click "options." Click "user profile," and click "edit." Scroll down to the bottom, and you'll see the "Personal Assistant" box. Enter the extension you want people to be connected to when they press 0, click update, and voila!
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Liz
Hi all,
There have been a few discussions lately in reference and communications meetings about the ability to make your UCard picture show up with your contact information in your online directory entry. See Andre's entry as an example.
This is another nice way to put a face with your name, especially if you're a liaison. But say, for example, that your UCard ID photo is hideous. Really, you're not vain, but it's the worst piece of photo identification you have. Only slightly better than your Sam's Club ID (just a rhetorical scenario, of course). Another way you can integrate some added value into your directory entry it to add a link to your liaison page, which has a picture you have more control over. See my entry as an example.
Here's how to do these things. You might want to do both if your ID picture is acceptable.
*In OneStop, click "Personal Information" (in the list on the right sidebar).
*In the drop-down menu at the top center, choose "Internet Options." You can change a lot of stuff here. Also, if you've never been into your personal information before, you should explore the options in the other menus to see the different things you have control over. For example, if you don't want your home address information available in the directory, you can change that under "Directory Suppression."
*Scroll down toward the bottom. Under "World Wide Web URL," paste the link to your liasion page in the box if you so desire.
*Right below that is "UCard Photo Access." If you'd like to make your UCard photo available, you can do so there.
*Click submit at the bottom of the page. Your changes should be visible in the online directory almost immediately.
Of course, this isn't something you have to do, but it's another nice way to make ourselves more visible. Thanks to Andre for thinking of this. Let me know if you have any questions!
Liz
Hi everyone,
I mentioned this in last week's reference meeting, but wanted to get it posted in a central place. If you want to print out a patent, it's tedious (if not impossible) using Google Patents or the USPTO website. However, the European Patent Office has PDF versions of US and International patents, which print like a charm. You can also quickly find the website by Googling "espace".
The best way is to find patents once you get there is to click "number search" on the left sidebar, plug in the patent number, and voila.
Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy!
Liz
Greetings,
Chad reminded me that our Reference Blog is open to the public and as such we should avoid any reference to a patron by name. I had considered this prior to posting the original message and was in error by including the name. For future posts please do not use names and if necessary, we will discuss individual patrons during our staff meetings.
Regards,
Jim
Hi all,
I've created a new guide under the Research Quick Tips section about how to research health disparity topics in Medline. This guide contains a list of MeSH headings and keywords that may be helpful in uncovering this type of literature.
The guide is at: http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/help/guides/healthdisparities
Please feel free to send me any suggestions/changes/comments.
Lisa
You may want to include some MNCAT records on a CourseLib page, or send someone a link to a MNCAT record. Here is a tip for creating a persistent link to MNCAT records. I got this email through the AP list, and thought this was a good thing to put into our central memory bank in case any of us ever wants to do it.
To create a persistent link for a MNCAT record, copy the code below, and insert the system number at the end of this url:
http://umnlib.oit.umn.edu/F/?local_base=tcmncat&func=find-a&find_code=SYS&Request=
With a system number, it looks like this:
http://umnlib.oit.umn.edu/F/?local_base=tcmncat&func=find-a&find_code=SYS&Request=004941571
Go wild!
Liz