Updates on various…

November 17th, 2006 Stewart

PubDrug.org is getting underway, and there seems to be some interest in the project, judging from e-mails I’ve received and blog posts I’ve read. I would like to develop an editorial board to begin with, a group of volunteers who would guide PubDrug’s overall mission and coordinate it’s development. This isn’t a small commitment, I know, but if you think you’d be interested in serving in this capacity, please e-mail me. First up on the PubDrug to-do list — design a template for drug monographs. If you have ideas for improving it, feel free to edit the template directly! That’s what a wiki is for, after all.

Communications in Information Literacy has received several query letters describing some remarkable research in information literacy. Chris and I are both very excited about the quality of the queries we’ve received. There’s still room for more, though, so please consider submitting a paper for our Inaugural Issue due out this spring.

Lots of other stuff underway as well, including new workshops, a CE workshop I’m developing, and the book chapter. Onward and upward.

Posted in CIL, pubdrug, workshops, writing | No Comments »

A choice quote on Millennials math scores…

November 14th, 2006 Stewart

As Math Scores Lag, a New Push for the Basics - New York Times: ““When my oldest child, an A-plus stellar student, was in sixth grade, I realized he had no idea, no idea at all, how to do long division,” Ms. Backman said, “so I went to school and talked to the teacher, who said, ‘We don’t teach long division; it stifles their creativity.’ ””

Posted in education, millennials | 1 Comment »

PubDrug.org - An open access proposal

November 9th, 2006 Stewart

Main Page - PubDrug.org

For the last several years, I’ve watched as the cost of drug resources has continued to escalate, reaching a point where even large-scale institutions like the University at Buffalo really cannot afford the licensing for the kinds of resources we need for our educational, clinical and research initiatives.

Yesterday, I conducted a public forum to announce the creation of PubDrug.org, an open access drug resource I hope to develop which would serve as an alternative to other high-dollar drug information sources. As I explained to the attendees, this is only the bare-bones beginning of PubDrug — We will need to attract the interest of many others for this effort to be a success.

If you see the potential need for something like PubDrug, I would encourage you to take a moment to download my slides and read them over. I see roles for editors, contributors, and developers, and I’m sure there are many more roles I’m not thinking of.

I believe our three most immediate tasks to be:

• Developing a robust template for drug monographs
• Creating policies and procedures to guide site development without interfering with the viral nature of wiki-building
• Recruiting lots of people to assist in building this resource

Again, I’m sure there’s a lot I’m not thinking of. If you think this effort has merit, please contact me and let me know if you will be able to help. And thank you for reading.

Posted in informatics, pubdrug | No Comments »

I’m going to stop calling them Helicopter parents…

November 8th, 2006 Stewart

And start calling them Complete Failures as Parents!

‘Helicopter parents’ try to help their kids land jobs - CNN.com

Employers, I’m begging you, send a clear message: “If your Mommy calls, you don’t get the job.”

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship

November 4th, 2006 Stewart

Yet another damn smart idea from the JMLA.

The JMLA provides a clinical question that needs an answer. You can then compare your answer with that of the case study author. As self-directed tutorials go, this one is very nicely done — My only (very minor) complaint is that the answer is being fed out in serial form, over several days. For those like myself who always peek at the book’s ending first, this can be a maddening experience.

Good stuff, and for health librarians with little or no clinical experience, a really great way to learn a little better how to deal with “front line” questions.

EDIT: As Rachel points out in the comments below, the article full text, along with the answers, is available online at:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1629446

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

An open access call to arms

November 4th, 2006 Stewart

UBC Academic Search - Google Scholar Blog: “Medi-zendium” - Disgruntled Librarians and Physicians Unite!

Dean is very correct about the need to develop new tools and new resources that circumvent our overreliance on high-dollar electronic products like UpToDate and MDConsult.

I plan on taking up the cause myself in a number of ways. Recently I announced the launch of Communications in Information Literacy, a new open access journal that I’m co-editing. This coming Wednesday I’m conducting a public forum at the University at Buffalo about developing a new open access drug resource, whole cloth, as a wiki. Potentially, it will be able to be harnessed as an alternative to pricey clinical drug information systems and online formularies, while doubling as a drug education aid for information literacy efforts.

I’m very excited about the prospect, but my most fervent hope is that my colleagues in MLA, particularly the Pharmacy and Drug Information Section, will collaborate with me in building this new site. I should have more to report very soon, but if anyone is in the Buffalo area and would like to attend the open forum, please let me know and I will gladly provide directions.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

College Millennials — The stuff we apparently don’t know…

November 2nd, 2006 Stewart

10 Things Your College Student Won’t Tell You (10 Things: Personal Finance) | SmartMoney.com

Seventy percent admit to cheating, and more than that think it’s no big deal. Many of them are terribly depressed; 1,100 a year commit suicide. If they take off their clothes while drunk at a party, pictures will be proudly posted to Facebook the next day. And they’re racking up credit card debt at an astonishing rate, with most grads owning six different credit cards and owing over $3000 to the banks, and that doesn’t even get into their college loans.

Get ready, America. Millennial college grads are boomeranging back home.

All this and more in a neat little article from SmartMoney.com. Worth a quick read.

(Oh, and speaking of reads, my copy of Robbins’ The Overachievers just came into the library and I’m looking forward to starting it tonight.)

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »