Holding Space to Discuss a Complicated Past: Exploring Medical Libraries’ Role in Perpetuating Racial Science, A Region 6 Spotlight Speaker Webinar

Based on a recent commentary published in the Journal of Medical Library Association (JMLA) called, “Medical Libraries and Their Complicated Past: An Exploration of the Historical Connections Between Medical Collections and Racial Science,” this webinar presentation will briefly dive into the historical connections between medical libraries and racial science, especially focusing on empire building. This presentation will highlight ways for library workers, particularly those involved in library instruction, to engage their learners critically in understanding how medical sciences and…
Date: November 17, 2023

R4 Connections: Finding Rural Health Information with RHIhub

Health disparities for rural residents compared to the overall population are well documented. Rural residents have higher incidence of disease and/or disability, higher mortality rates, lower life expectancies, and higher rates of chronic pain. Reasons for these disparities are complex and varied. The Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub) is committed to supporting healthcare and population health in rural communities by providing access to current and reliable resources as well as tools…
Date: November 16, 2023

How PubMed Works: ATM

The How PubMed Works: Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) session addresses increasing health information access and use by highlighting information about the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed bibliographic database.  

During this 90-minute session about ATM we'll go behind-the-scenes in PubMed with an in-depth explanation of:

• How PubMed processes your search using ATM's 3 translation tables
• What's included in the three translation tables
• Practice verifying how ATM interprets your search
• Learn how to…
  Date: November 16, 2023

Rural Health Resources

Evidence shows that there are marked health disparities between those living in rural areas versus their urban counterparts. Not only do rural residents suffer from higher incidence of chronic illness, they also have limited access to primary care services and are more likely to be uninsured or under-insured.

This webinar will describe hallmarks of rural America, identify access challenges of living in rural communities, and equip participants with tools to service the health information needs of those living in rural communities.

We will explore websites from the…
Date: November 16, 2023

How PubMed Works: MeSH

The How PubMed Works: MeSH session addresses increasing health information access and use by highlighting information about the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed bibliographic database.  

The session will cover:

• Exploring the MeSH Database
• Defining a Controlled Vocabulary
• Exploring the four types of MeSH Terms
• Locating and explaining entry terms, date introduced, previous indexing, automatic explosion

How PubMed Works: Selection

The How PubMed Works: Selection session addresses increasing health information access and use by highlighting information about the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed bibliographic database. 

This 90-minute session covers issues and concerns surrounding the current publishing landscape; the selection criteria for the different components of the PubMed database and NLM responsibilities and practices in collecting and providing access to the biomedical literature.

MEDLINE and PMC staff will be available to answer audience questions.…
Date: November 9, 2023

Health Insurance Literacy in Libraries

​​​​​​Many people have difficulty knowing how to find a physician, fill a prescription, use and pay for medications, and use health information to make informed decisions about their health. Libraries are prominent places in communities, making libraries and librarians excellent resources for advancing health information literacy. For example, librarians can address the unmet information needs that leave many unable to make appropriate health insurance choices. For those with lower levels of health insurance literacy, the ability to procure appropriate levels of health…
Date: November 8, 2023

How PubMed Works: Introduction

This How PubMed Works: Introduction session addresses increasing health information access and use by highlighting information about the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed bibliographic database.  

This 90-minute introduction session provides overviews about:

• What PubMed is and what's in it.
• Finding the original research that is the basis for a news article.
• Finding articles by a specific author.
• Searching for articles on a specific subject.
• Narrowing search results to a more specific subset…
  Date: November 7, 2023

Creating Data Management Plans with the DMPTool

The DMPTool is a free tool that walks users through creating comprehensive data management plans. This webinar will guide attendees through data management plan basics, creating a DMPTool profile, and exploring available templates and planning resources.

The DMPTool is a great resource for building data management plans for grant applications, especially considering that starting in January 2023 the NIH requires funded researchers to submit a plan outlining how scientific data from their research will be managed and shared.

Deciphering the Social Media Pulse: Twitter's Role in Shaping COVID-19 Health Beliefs and Vaccine Perceptions

In this presentation, we'll explore the profound influence of social media, specifically Twitter, on shaping public health beliefs and perceptions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The first study uses Tweets to understand how COVID-19–related health beliefs are affected in the age of social media. We delve into a dataset of over 92 million tweets to gauge health beliefs using the health belief model. Alarmingly, it reveals that both scientific and nonscientific events influence health belief trends on Twitter equivalently, amplifying the challenge of the…
Date: November 1, 2023