Random Notes

• Books are cataloged and shelved by NLM number. A "L" precedes the call number if the book is for "lighter" reading.


• There is a labrinth on the campus. Read more about it here: http://www.insidehopkinsbayview.org/labyrinth/


• There is a Farmer's Market on the Bayview campus open to the public on Thursdays from 10-2 (May to November). I plan to visit next week.
• I visited the gift shop today -- and found Bucky Badger items -- who would have thought. . .?

Thursday and Friday, 6/24 & 6/25

The completion of these two days marks three weeks for a total of 8 days at the library. The internship is HALF OVER already. They say that time flies when you are having fun -- and time is certainly flying. During these two days, I spent more time reviewing the "g" drive and thinking about management issues. I completed the book and shelflist card pulling project. Tille was gone for the day, so I had the opportunity to help out at the desk a little and made sure to observe if I didn't know how to do something. I changed a printer cartridge, helped a couple of patrons with computer issues, shelved some books, sat in the Community Library for a bit (and worked on this blog:) Little things, I know, but it makes me feel good to be able to help out if only a little.

Blood Drive/Day with the Director

Picked up the car Tuesday evening. So, back to the library on Wed., June 23. The library takes part in the promotion of Bayview's blood drives. They set up in the conference room across the hall, it was time for me to donate again so that was my first order of business. Got a voucher for a free lunch from the cafeteria, too.
Much of the rest of the day was spent with the library director, Linda. Twice a year, the staff has a retreat off-site to discuss important library issues and plans. This took place in May and one of the topics of discussion was a survey conducted this spring with the faculty and staff at Bayview. There were 18 questions with a number of answer options each. Some of the questions:
How do you use the Harrison Library?
Did you know the library has books on?
What services are most beneficial to you?
How do you prefer to receive library instruction?
It was interesting that the survey indicated that 2:1, the preference was for individual instruction instead of formal classes.
I also began a book pulling project -- taking those books off the shelves that Tillie had decided should be weeded and pulling the cards from the shelf list. This is one task I have experience with working at the CCBC!!

HOME (not part of the internship, but . . .)

Traveled home (to Wisconsin) on Thursday, 6/17. Spent a busy day at the lab on Friday. Heidi and children were visiting from Minnesota. We saw Toy Story III while eating pizza and popcorn at the Cinema Cafe in Stoughton on Saturday. Sunday was Father's Day and Monday was Glen's 60th birthday. Great weekend.
My flight out from Milwaukee on Monday was delayed, however, and then there was "weather" that delayed it more, so didn't actually get back to Josh's until 1 AM on Tuesday. Our car was at the body shop for repairs (an "inattentive" driver without insurance decided to move into the lane already occupied by us). No time to get it fixed before our trip to MD and it was drivable -- so a little (or maybe a lot of) duct tape (the Red-Green treatment) and repairs in Maryland. It wasn't done yet, though, so couldn't go back to Bayview until Wednesday.

Wednesday, June 16

Statistics and archives with Irene today. Irene has the title of library associate. She is a delightful woman from Russia who graciously shares her office with me. Irene takes care of many of the clerical tasks necessary in a busy library, as well as being the back-up -- taking care of the desk when Tillie is away, sitting in the Community Health Library when Christine needs to be away, answering the phone, assisting patrons, etc. She takes part in the cataloging process, gathers statistics into excel sheets, and works on archives. Today she took time out of her busy schedule to talk about statistics and archives.
Each member of the library staff has a monthly "time tracking form" customized to their particular postion. An informationist will log how much time was spent doing searches as well as how many searches were done, for instance. At the end of the month, Irene will combine these stats. There are other statistics to be logged -- number of class participants, # of reference questions, items cataloged, circulation records, library patron walk-ins, etc. A yearly summary of these is compiled and a five year record is maintained to easily note any major increases or decreases in an area. These statistics do NOT have to be shared with administration.
Archives: A quick note here about a Bayview medical center archive project that has begun here in the fall of 2009. Hard copy archival items are being filed by topic and moved into electronic format using Archon developed at the University of Illinois, (Archon is award-winning software for archivists and manuscript curators. It automatically publishes archival descriptive information and digital archival objects in a user-friendly website.)
In addition, Irene showed me the "classical book collection" (that I did not mention in my earlier blog about the books in the library). These are historical books kept in a locked glass cabinet. They DO circulate. I was also very impressed by a collection of books prepared by the library staff that focus on an individual (or in one case, a couple) Bayview doctor. There is, for instance, a 5 volume set of Harrison Works, containing information about and the papers of Harold E. Harrison, the doctor for which the library was named.

Camtasia: One more note for today -- I spent just a little time with Christine who is working on preparing some online tutorials to put on the library website using Camtasia http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp.

Inside Hopkins

We get a daily email feed "Inside Hopkins" that includes a "Hopkins Trivia Challenge". Here's today's:

Question: What sideline did Max Brödel (1870-1941), founding director of the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine, pursue during the 1920s and early '30s?

Answer: During Prohibition, the German-born Brödel was given beer yeast obtained in New York by his great friend, famed newspaperman H.L. Mencken. Brödel grew and perfected it in the Hopkins bacteriological laboratory, creating a pure strain that he then used to provide Mencken and other friends with good beer throughout the Prohibition drought.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Today was my day to work with Tillie and learn about Clinical collection development. Tillie is a para-professional who also holds the title of library informationist -- by virtue of the professional duties she performs and performs well. She has worked in the library for 18 years and sits at the front desk. She takes care of many things in addition to collection development, of course -- including customer service, circulation, ILL (interlibrary loan), book sales, and some cataloging (plus much more I would guess) . The library uses Horizon, an integrated library system from SirsiDynix for circulation and cataloging. Book selections are made with a combination of knowing the patrons and reviews. Tillie has a good feel for what will circulate. The library subscribes to Doody's Reviews and receives weeeky alerts based on the library's profile. There is a core title list that includes "essential titles". Tillie is a librarian selector -- scoring books on: content, relevancy, value for dollor, reputation, and reviews. The librarian selectors provide input for choosing the essential titles as well as recommendations for books that should be on the core title list. Books are purchased from Majors with a discount provided to hospitals.
For those of you non-librarians reading this blog, I apologize for all this library stuff, and absolve you of any guilt if you choose NOT to read further in this post. That is if there IS anyone reading this blog. . .
And then there's everyone's favorite job, next to the budget, that is -- weeding:) Tillie has a good system that involves shelflist cards and circulation statistics from Horizon. Since for the most part, it is not advisable to keep medical books longer than 5 years (outdated medical information can be dangerous), the books are reviewed and removed from the collection basically as follows. Books that circulate well but have an update available will be weeded when the update has been ordered and received. Books that do not have an update available but continue to circulate are retained. On the other hand, even if there IS an update, if a book has not circulated in two years, it will be weeded and the update will not be purchased. Of course, there are other factors to consider when deciding whether or not to purchase the update -- such as the cost of the book vs. the number of uses of the preceding edition. My impression is that a good collection and weeding process involves both a solid set of guidelines AND a knowledge of the library clientele combined with a feel for what works best.
(Spent a lot of time with Tillie today -- but almost finished:)
Sherlock: A handy-dandy hard copy (also available online on the "g" drive) binder containing basic information including phone numbers, policies and procedures. Great idea to have this available -- since every once in a while I get a chance to watch the desk and answer the phone when someone steps out.

Librarian as Informationist

Actually the idea of librarian as informationist in certain settings was discussed as early as 1974. Variations on this theme include "clinical medical librarian", "clinical librarian", "librarian in context" and "informationist". I am posting this at this point in my blog because the previous blog describes how the librarian functions as an informationist by rounding. We normally think of librarians providing services "at the library". In this case, the librarian takes library services to health professionals by attending rounds, morning report and conferences -- functioning as librarians "in context". Here are some of the benefits.
–Helps the librarian know what the important topics or common diagnoses are in that unit
•May impact collection development
–Increases the librarian’s value to the hospital
–Boosts the visibility of the library and its services
•May increase use of library resources: Provides a venue to promote library resources.

The impetus to use the title here at Bayview originated with the hospital president and I think, fits the work of these librarians well.

The term informationist can be and is used in a different way in other institutions (e.g. NIH library has 15 informationists) to describe an individual who is both a librarian and who has "extensive expertise in a clinical or research specialty". (Grefsheim, SF, et al, J Med Libr Assoc 98(2) April 2010)

Thank you to Christine Caufield-Noll for the copy of her presentation and the additional information provided from which I have borrowed heavily.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Rounding with Cheri on the medical floors of the hospital. We first met in the teaching room with the We round with the Green Team - also known as the Aliki Team:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/innovative/about/aliki.html
And here's a video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT_0gp1s_zo
The team consists of an attending, a third year resident, two interns, and up to four students who come for clinical rotations.There are also occasionally sub-interns from anywhere in the world who are considering coming to JHMI for residency. OR just want to see how things are done here. This was great because the doctors are obviously quite accustomed to having Cheri on rounds and were very gracious. Then we all visited the patients in the patient rooms, reporting first outside the room and then all trooping in to see the patient. I was impressed with how the team interacted with the patient -- with respect and consideration. I was also excited because the doctors asked for assistance with two questions. Cheri has an electronic notetaker that keeps a history of the questions asked. After rounds, the librarian does a literature search and emails the results to the requesting doctor. I was invited to run a search, and Cheri not only passed along my find, but credited it to me. She also copied me when when she shared the search results with the doctors. I am provided with lots of practice searches and although I haven't had a lot of time yet to devote to searches, I am looking forward to doing more.

Community Presentation

Still Thu., 6/10 -- busy day. This afternoon, I accompanied Linda to a Senior Center where she did a presentation on how to find reliable health information on the internet. Funded by a grant, this project includes presentations to all 19 senior centers in the area. We arrived outfitted with a computer and projector for a ppt presentation, information about Johns Hopkins Bayview, a folder of helpful information*, and a pen.

*Pamphlet entitled "Reliable Health Information on the Internet: A Reference Guide" (Contains links to really useful information, searching helps, and Harrison Library info); a National Institute on Aging pamphlet titled "AgePage" (how to tell if a health website is trustworthy); The "AskMe3" questions (questions to ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist); and a comprehensive health information form.

We were a little worried -- people were eating, playing cards, the TV was on. But when the show was ready to go, the TV went off, the cards were put down, and everyone was attentive and interactive. There were requests for additional folders for friends or relatives and a number of positive comments. As I understand it, that reception is not always the case, but pleasant when it is. Linda did a very good job of presenting the information, btw. What was also nice was the chance to see a bit of a different part of Baltimore with a knowledgable, friendly tour guide -- who could point out other spots where the library participates in community education.

Who, Where, What. . .three w's that are not the World Wide Web.

WHO: The staff -- really nice and helpful people who are making me feel very welcome. (And I would say that even if I didn't know that they would be reading this.)
Linda Gorman, MLS (Director), Christine Caulfield-Noll, MLIS, AHIP (Senior Informationist), Tillie Horak (Library Informationist), Irene Kiyatkin (Library Associate), and Cheri Smith MLS (Senior Informationist).
WHERE: Harrison Medical Library at Johns Hopkins Bayview - Baltimore, MD. Part of the Hopkins wide system. (Look for a later post with some history). About 30 minutes from where I am staying with Josh and Jill and girls in Millersville. The commute includes driving through the tunnel under the harbor -- @$2 per passage(: The good news - the library pays for my parking:)
WHAT does the library have to offer? 5600+ electronic journals, 400+ databases, 5000+ electronic textbooks, and 12 computers for faculty and staff. A note about those computers -- they have a plastic sleeve over the keyboards that can be cleaned daily with Cavi-wipes (mice are cleaned, too). There is a collection of health and wellness CDs and videos for Bayview staff. There are NO paper copies of professional journals here -- only publications such as Newsweek, PCWorld, Scientific American, Reader's Digest. (I'll talk more about that in a later post.) Oh -- and there are books, too; several collections, in fact. A clinical collection (of course), non-clinical books on health topics, special collections that include cookbooks, caregiver, diversity, service excellence, Maryland, and Pastoral care. The books are cataloged using NLM call numbers and can be checked out by Bayview staff. There is a also a leisure reading collection that is not cataloged and is available on the honor system. Donations are always welcome. Many of the donations are offered for sale currently to benefit the American Heart Association. An electronic archive project is currently in progress.
In addition, the library offers the following services: rounding, community presentations, group and individual instruction, literature searches, and notary service. Space is provided for volunteers to work assembling packets for clinics and hospital units.
Touchdown Suite:
A touchdown suite is a physical space for library staff to meet with faculty and staff for the purpose of assisting with information needs, located in another building on the Bayview campus. This is manned by Cheri Smith and houses 3 computers, professional journals, popular magazines and novels.
Community Health Library:
The Community Health Library, located around the corner from the Harrison library, is open to outpatients, visitors, and community members, as well as hospital faculty and staff. A member of the Harrison library staff (usually Christine) is present to answer questions and to assist with health information needs. There are 4 computers with internet access, printing, copying and faxing. There is no charge for the library's services. And of course, there is a collection of consumer level health books, cookbooks, newsletters, magazines and a wide variety of novels for leisure reading;
As soon as I get a little more proficient with my (very first) new digital camera, I'll add pictures.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Rounding with Christine in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). This was one of the aspects of this internship that most excited me. At one time, I worked for 4 years as a unit secretary (Bayview uses this same title) at Milwaukee Children's Hospital. Now I'm volunteering at the children's hospital in Madison (in the in-patient library). What a combination -- children, medicine, and books -- couldn't get better for me. The rounding took place in the units (intensive care and intermediate care) which are basically one large room each. The center of the rooms have a long computer station with a number of computers on each side. The team consisted of the attending, a nurse practitioner (who reported), the resident, medical student, clinical dietition, and the librarian (and me). Why a librarian you may wonder. I'll get to that...

Tuesday, June 8

My first real day. . . Two of the librarians, Christine and Cheri, presented an informational session for the summer Geri students. "Geri" is an abbreviation of Geriactrics. The students are “Geriatric Summer Scholars” – they come from med schools all over the country to work with a faculty member from the Johns Hopkins Bayview geriatrics department for the summer. The session ran from 9-12 and included information about the library including after hours access, library barcode for book checkout, website access, and ILL. The presentation included searching techniques and hands on (the session took place in a computer lab not in the library) practice with the following databases: PubMed, embase, PyscInfo, ISI (Web of Knowledge, Web of Science) and SCOPUS. ISI and SCOPUS are included the presentation as "Who is Citing You?". This was followed by a presentation of RefWorks. Each student also received a packet of the hard copies of the ppt presentations (me, too:). Basic searching information, but a really nice and helpful review for me. Two different teaching styles, but both very effective.

The Blog

Because my hours on Monday were short and mostly not so much library stuff, I decided not to count that day as one of the 15 days I would spend here for my internship. Did I mention that this internship is actually a praticum for me and the 120 hours will count as a 3-credit (999) course? My advising professor for this course recommended a journal so that I would actually remember all the wonderful things I learned and did -- and could write a paper to fulfill the requirements for the course. My first inclination (evidence of my age) was to buy a nice journal and write an entry every night. Hmmm -- how likely was that to happen? I actually had a journal in hand and then thought -- OK, Wendy, the computer is your friend -- keep a journal online. Then, because a number of thoughtful people have asked me to let them know how things are going, I finally decided on a blog (that's me, just thoroughly modern Wendy). So the following posts are daily highlights.

The Badge

Complete with picture, my badge reads:
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Bayview Medical Center
Medical Libary
Library Informationist
Wendy S. Hellwig

I don't expect that seems very interesting -- except for the title "Library Informationist". What is a library informationist? Why that title here? Keep tuned:)

The First Day (Sort-of)

Glen's flight out of BWI was scheduled for 12:40 P.M. I had been encouraged to come in later because there was to be a reception later in the day for which we would be staying longer. So after dropping the grandkids at the sitter and Glen at the airport, I arrived at Bayview after 11AM. My first stop was at HR to pick up my official badge and to affix my signature to the temporary employee agreement. I finally arrived at the libary at ~11:30 AM. That was not such a bad situation since we had a chance to eat lunch together. In the afternoon, I completed the new employee "mini" orientation. This consisted mostly of reviewing normal new employee literature and completing just a few more forms with the library director. I was glad for the "mini" aspect -- the normal orientation lasts two full days -- 7:45-4:30. I also got my own library barcode for checkout, email and computer log-in access, and activation for after-hours access to the library (feeling pretty much part of Hopkins here). The reception was actually for the doctor's annual meeting. For the first time, the library had a table with information for the doctors along with a PPT of archives. There was a period of time after set up and waiting until the meeting ended and the doctors emerged from their meeting where we had a chance to chat. This was great because we got to know each other on a more personal level and that, of course, chased away some of those first day butterflies. The food was great, too, by the way -- love those Maryland crabcakes!

June 2, 2010

Assisted by the GPS the kids gave to Glen for Christmas, we (Glen & I) set off to Johns Hopkins, Bayview for my 9AM appt at HR. I took with me my UW BA diploma, documentation of two recent TB tests, and a lot of kleenex. I understand now why the physical really needed to be done on site -- there was a drug test included. I think it was good I hadn't taken Sudafed that morning -- although I had the morning before. More paperwork, a picture for my badge, and the promise to fax MMR titer results, and I was on my way to the library to meet the staff and see where I would be spending a good bit of time during the next six weeks.

We found the Community Health Library and Christine Caufield-Noll who took us on a tour of the Harrison Medical library and introduced us to the library staff. What can I say except that everyone was really gracious and welcoming, even though I opted to NOT shake hands and my brain was a bit on the fuzzy side (more than usual, that is). At least I now had a few days to recover before my actual start date.

The Journey Begins

Tuesday, June 1, 2010: Accompanied by my iMac and other perinent info necessary to work at my Biochem job remotely, basic necessities for a 6-week absence from home, gifts for my son and his family, and my wonderful supportive husband, we set off for the 850 mile, 14-hour trip to Millersville, MD. Although we started a little later than hoped (not unusual), we were still on the road by 6:46 AM (CDT). As is usual with our longer trips, we changed drivers ~ every 3 hours and arrived @9:32 EDT. Just one little set-back -- a summer cold of epic proportions and my nose running like a faucet. I hadn't had a cold for three years -- why me, why now?

And the paperwork. . .

We agreed upon a start date of June 7. I love the electronic age. All the necessary forms came to me via email. The completed forms were faxed back to the Human Resource Department. We made plans to drive out on Saturday, June 5. Glen would fly back on June 7. In time an official offer letter arrived. I got a little surprise when HR called to arrange for my physical. Hmmm -- apparently this had to be performed at Johns Hopkins and the latest it could be done was on Tuesday, June 2 in order to begin on Monday, June 7. So, a little change in plans. . . .

March 30, 2010

Good afternoon Wendy,
Congratulations! You’ve been selected as the next Harold Harrison, MD, Library Informationist intern at Johns Hopkins Bayview. (Nuff said:)

Phone interview

Next step after submitting the official application materials -- a phone interview. This took place at 1PM on March 26. This was perfect timing. I worked in the CCBC (Children's Comprehensive Book Center) until 12:30. I had time for lunch and preparation. While eating that lunch, I suddenly realized that 1 PM in Baltimore is Noon in Wisconsin. Help!! Sure enough, I missed the call. However, an explanatory email to these amazingly understanding folks and the interview was conducted. Now the wait until next week and the final decision. . .

Early Events

A little history for this adventure: The School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Wisconsin sends out a SLIS digest. The following posting arrived in my email inbox on Feb. 15, 2010:
Internship Posting -- Baltimore, MD. The Harrison Medical Library has an opening for a temporary student intern to work as a Library Informationist during the summer. Some examples of learning included: *Delivering reference assistance to faculty, staff and community members * Collection development * Clinical rounds on the medical floors, burn ICU or neonatal ICU * Assisting with or teaching classes to community members, faculty and staff * Collecting and archiving of faculty publications * Marketing of library services * Providing mediated literature searching * Funding sources * Library management * Consumer health librarianship*.
Open the door to the best of both worlds...Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center offers a unique environment that combines the prestige and opportunities of a respected academic medical center with the personality and camaraderie of a community hospital.With a rich history of healing and a world-famous reputation, Johns Hopkins Bayview can offer you an exciting, fulfilling career, wherever you are on your career path.
What can I say -- I HAD to apply. Here is an excerpt that sums up my feelings from my initial email -- "I am especially interested in Medical/Consumer Health Librarianship, have family in the Baltimore/DC area, was excited by the examples of learning opportunities presented, and would be
especially pleased with the opportunity to work at a Johns Hopkins facility.