Mulford Library Blog

The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open digital educational content using a shared model.

Reputed educational institutions such as MIT publish course materials on a range of subjects that include engineering, biology and economics for free download. Participating institutions have met membership requirements.

Individual courses may be located with these options
**Browsing institution Web sites by country

**Find courses option at the consortium’s home page

**Open Courseware finder is a search engine for consortium supplied courses. It contains a search box as well as an alphabetical listing of about 650 “tags” (terms). Biochemical tags of note include biotechnology, brain, diseases, health, laboratory, medicine, neural, and psychology. Clicking on a tag will yield links to related courses as well as a links to narrower terms.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact Mulford Reference Assistance.

ClinicalTrials.gov offers current information on clinical trials for a wide range of diseases and conditions. (Background information on clinical trials are may be found here and here.)

ClinicalTrials.gov contains information on over 60,000 trials sponsored by both federal agencies and private industry. Study information at present is limited to :
• Summary of the purpose of the study
• Recruiting status (recruiting, not recruiting, etc)
• Who is eligible (may be limited by age, gender, a specific physical condition)
• Location of the trial and specific contact information

Over time, concluding in September 2009, the following will required:

• Participant characteristics at the beginning of the trial
• Number of participants at each stage of the trial
• Information about the results, as outcomes and statistical analysis
• More information concerning the trial, as what exactly is being measured
Submission of adverse events information is not required by law until September 2009

These more comprehensive results should help consumers searching for reported side effects without having to search the medical and scientific literature. (However, it is wise to also check the biomedical literatureto be thorough). The reports will also aid consumers in finding information to discuss with theirphysicians or primary health care providers.

Have questions or need further information?
Please do not hesitate to contact Mulford Reference Assistance.

Sheryl Kennedy, Senior Editor of Resource Shelf, has recently posted a good overview of where to obtain reputable online information on the common cold and flu.

A sampling of quoted sites

• Influenza Vaccination: A Summary for Clinicians is written in relatively non technical language and includes information about who should be vaccinated and when, dosing, and side effects
• Seasonal Flu (published by the US Centers for Disease Control [CDC]) includes numerous links for both professionals and the public
Resources include informational sites (as Cold Vs Flu ), news items, and a weekly surveillance report
• American Lung Association Flu Information Web page
• The Flu page by MedlinePlus has links to overviews, alternative therapies, reference materials, and more
• FDA Releases Recommendations Regarding Use of Over-the-Counter Cough and Cold Products [news release]
• Cold remedies: What Works, What Doesn’t, What Can’t Hurt by Mayo Clinic.com

Please do not hesitate to contact Mulford Reference Assistance if there are any questions or needs for further assistance.

Let your creativity show! Submit your work for the UT Health Science Campus Art Show. The show will be held at the Mulford Library from January 22, 2009 - February 24, 2009.

Digital submissions (from UT-HSC students, faculty, and staff only) are currently being accepted. Please e-mail images of your work to jodi.jameson@utoledo.edu by Friday, December 5, 2008. Along with your submission, please include your name, phone number, mailing address, and affiliation with UT-HSC.

This is a juried art show. Artists will be notified of their acceptance no later than December 10, 2008.

We look forward to showcasing the many talented artists on campus! If you have any questions, please contact Jodi Jameson at 419-383-5152 or jodi.jameson@utoledo.edu.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently released a comprehensive set of physical activity recommendations for people of all ages and physical conditions. The guidelines are based on personal choices of activities that can be easily made part of one’s daily routine. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. “The evidence is clear — regular physical activity over months and years produces long-term health benefits and reduces the risk of many diseases. The more physically active you are, the more health benefits you gain.” The guidelines are based on the first thorough review of scientific research about physical activity and health in more than a decade. An overview of the guidelines by age group may be found here.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Web site includes the following:
• Guidelines for policy makers and professionals
• Guide for adults 18-64
• Guidelines for organizations and communities
• Advisory report for health professionals and researchers

Please do not hesitate to contact Mulford Reference Assistance for further assistance, including locating additional resources (as peer reviewed articles) in this area. Let us save you time and alleviate frustration!

On Saturday, October 18, the Mulford Library and the CLRC will be closed because the water in the building will be shut off for maintenance.  It is expected that we will open at our regular times on Sunday.   We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain recently presented their plans for healthcare reform in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Obama’s Modern Healthcare for All Americans (read opposing viewpoint by Joseph R. Antos, PhD)

McCain’s Access to Quality and Affordable Health Care for Every American (read opposing viewpoint by David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P.)

The Biology Animation Library is just one of many well-designed education materials produced through Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
The animations include a brief overview of cloning, several on DNA, gel electrophoresis, and polymerase chain reaction. All of these digital presentations may not only be viewed, but downloaded for personal use.
Links are provided to related educational resources, as compiled by experts at the Dolan DNA Research Center.

Please do not hesitate to contact Mulford Reference Assistance if there are any questions or for further assistance.

EndNote is fast, but it’s not very smart.  One of the consequences of this is the need to enter data into EndNote in the correct format, and sone of the fussiest bits of information to enter are corporate authors.  A corporate author is an organization, task force, writing group, etc., that is listed as the author of a document, rather than the name of an individual.

If a corporate author is entered into EndNote in the incorrect manner, the name is usually displayed wrong. For example, American Heart Association would show up in the reference list at Association, A. H.  EndNote is not smart enough to recognize that this is not a person’s name.  Here is the work around:

Corporate author with one “level” (add a comma at the end of the name):
For American Heart Association, enter American Heart Association, 

Corporate author with two “levels” (two commas after the first level, no comma at the end)
For U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, enter U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,, National Center for Health Statistics

Corporate author with three or more levels (two commas after the first level, one comma between levels, no comma at the end)
History of Medicine Division, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, enter   History of Medicine Division,, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

For more information about entering corporate authors into EndNote or about using EndNote to format references in manuscripts and course papers, see our web page or contact Mulford Reference Assistance.

Sermo (Latin for conversation) is an online community exclusively for physicians with nearly 70,000 members. Only licensed physicians may register.
While free to the user, it is based on a business model. Physicians collaborate to solve challenging patient cases and to gain knowledge. Sermo’s clients use data harvested from physician postings in a number of areas as : forecasting new uses for commerically significant medical products and therapies, gaining insight into disease outbreaks, and gathering opinions on medical care topics.
Physicians may be compensated through their postings on Sermo.

Other Physician Social Networks of note
• SocialMD - for medical students, residents, fellows and attending physicians
• Tiromed – for medical students and physicans
• DoctorsHangout.com - for physicians and medical students
• DoctorNetworking – for physicians and medical students
• RelaxDoc – for physicans
• MedicSpeak - for physicians, biomedical researchers, medical/biomedical students

Web sites in this posting are for informational purposes only, and do not reflect endorsement.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact Mulford Reference Assistance.
Let us save you time and frustration!