Comic: Librarians 101

r.kyserSeptember 25, 2024September 25, 2024Leave a comment

What do librarians do anyway? If you want to find out, check out the comic below!

Panel 1:
Narration: When people think of librarians, they often picture the following: an older woman with glasses and a cardigan.
Image: A librarian, who looks as the narration described, shushes the audience.

Panel 2:
Narration: Who mainly spends her time shushing people, reading and sitting at a desk.
Image:The same librarian from the first panel sits at a desk with a sign that says “silence is mandatory”

Panel 3:
Narration: Like all stereotypes, some folks do fit the mold demographically, the realities of the job are much different than what folks expect.
Image: Rebecca, a librarian with brown curly hair and glasses, shrugs and says “honestly, I can’t remember the last time I shushed anyone.”

Panel 4: The tools librarians use might look different in the digital age, but the basic goal of ensuring information is accessible and discoverable remains the same.
Image: A stack of books is placed next to a laptop.

Panel 5: To achieve this goal, along with other library functions, there’s actually a wide variety of types of librarians.
Image: A librarian building is held up by the silhouettes of five people of various body types and skin colors.

Panel 6: Let’s take a closer look at some of the variety out there…
Image: There are eight boxes, each featuring a different person. The box labeled Circulation contains a heavy set pale blonde man with glasses. The Acquisition box contains a lean person of older age with gray hair, brown skin and wrinkles. The box labeled Serials contains a man with dark skin and dreads, wearing a red suit. The box labeled Scholarly Communication, has a medium sized woman with tan skin and black hair. The box labeled childrens has a heavy set black woman with her hair in two buns, smiling. The box labeled Specialists, features a lean tan man with a goatee and wrinkles with graying hair. The box labeled archivists features a pal skinned red headed woman with glasses. The last box contains Rebecca, and is labeled reference.

The circulation librarian sits at a desk, facing the audience. He says “Circulation doesn’t just check out books, but things like chargers, electronics or even dry erase markers.”

Panel 8: Like circulation acquisitions can also be a team effort. Acquisitions involves ordering and acquiring new material for the library.
Image: The acquisitions librarian sits behind a stack of books, saying “an acquisitions librarian works with vendors and publishers to acquire material”

Image: A laptop is open on a desk and on the screen is the serials librarian. He says “these days many serial publications can be found digitally.”

Panel 10: In academic libraries, scholarly communication librarians help students and faculty alike publish their work. This can be by helping journals to publish in or managing an institutional repository.
Image: The scholarly communications librarian is in a sailor’s outfit on a tiny boat, where a shark swims. She says “when it comes to avoiding predatory publishers, we can help.”

Panel 11: Children’s librarians work with children and young adults. They help select material for different age groups and organize events and outreach for patrons. Storytime for young kids is a good example of an event they run.
Image: The children’s librarian sits in front of a group of children with a picture book she is reading out loud. Behind her is a teddy bear and books.

Panel 12: Specialists librarians work in special libraries where the often specialize in a topic or field. Law librarians and medical librarians fall into this category.
Image: The specialist librarian stands in front of a cabinet with a scale on it. He says “around one-third of law librarians have a law degree”

Panel 13: Archivists aren’t the same as librarians but they often have the same masters degree. They are specialists in preserving material and helping people access it.
Image: The archivist reads a book in front of a desk and several file cabinets

Panel 14: Reference librarians, like myself, help people do research and find materials. They may also specialize in a topic or subject area.
Image: Rebecca stands in a hedge maze, with a torch. She says “There’s so much material to look through it can feel like a maze. Our job in reference is to help people navigate that maze.”

Panel 17: There are initiatives to recruit librarians from underrepresented groups and organizations dedicated to supporting these groups.
Image: Rebecca is shown, saying “there are efforts to also recruit librarians from underrepresented groups.”

Panel 17: Libraries seek to protect intellectual freedom and preserve privacy. The American library association opposed the Patriot Act and in 2006. Four connecticut librarians went to court regarding gag orders.
Image: Uncle Sam stands in front of an American flag, saying “I wasn’t trying to spy on patron records…I just wanted…uh. Book recommendations.”

Panel 18: Libraries also promise literacy and not just for books.
Image: Different types of images are shown next to types of literacy: a computer with computer literacy, a stethoscope next to health literacy, a dollar next to financial literacy, a ballot box next to civic literacy and a phone next to media literacy.

Panel 19: Teaching, instruction, budget management, programming, research: all of these skills are needed to keep libraries going.
Image: two shelves are shown with different kind of hats on them. The hats are labeled with different kinds of library skills.

Panel 20: And only one of them, on rare occasions, is to shush people. END
Image: Rebecca stands in front of two shelves and a reminder to keep quiet on the second floor. She winks as she says “shush”

Hispanic Heritage Month: Reading About Leaders

deborah.wassertzugSeptember 20, 2024September 18, 2024Leave a comment

Red book cover — Latino, Hispanic, or of Spanish Origin+ Identified Student Leaders in Medicine

September 15 to October 15 each year is celebrated as Hispanic Heritage Month. In honor of the contributions of Latinx people to the health sciences, we spotlight the open access book, Latino, Hispanic, or of Spanish Origin+ Identified Student Leaders in Medicine. The acronym used to identify this population in the book is LHS+. This book, published under the auspices of the United Nations, traces the 50 year history of LHS+ leadership in the field. The volume was authored by members of the Latino Medical Student Association, a national organization which was formed from five regional associations that were founded in the 1970s and 1980s.

The book brings together personal narratives from LHS+ medical students and regional perspectives from organizations across the United States which led to the formation of the national body. The chapter "Tu Lucha es Mi Lucha" (Your Struggle is My Struggle) examines the development of a health policy initiative led by LHS+ medical students. Other chapters focus on the role of faculty/physician advisors who are partners in the success of LHS+ students, as well as the support roles of Student Affairs offices, and the role of Medical Education offices in training future practitioners to care for LHS+ individuals. The book also covers faculty development and advancement of LHS+ faculty in graduate medical education, which touches on topics such as culturally relevant faculty mentoring.

For those interested and engaged in medical education, or those wishing to gain more detailed insight into the history of LHS+ people in the graduate medical education field, this book is a unique and comprehensive resource.

References

Sánchez, J. P., & Rodriguez, D. (2023). Latino, Hispanic, or of Spanish Origin+ Identified Student Leaders in Medicine : Recognizing More Than 50 Years of Presence, Activism, and Leadership. (1st ed.). Springer International Publishing AG.

Five 3D Printing Use Cases for Health Science Students

randy.plymSeptember 18, 2024September 17, 2024Leave a comment

For around a decade, 3D printing has been leading to significant medical advancements – custom prosthetics, for example, or orthopedic implants. However, while exciting, these are not the most immediately useful for a health sciences student. As SMHS, GWSPH, or Nursing students, if you’d like to get the most out of the free 3D printing service at Himmelfarb, consider the following five use cases!

Stethoscope Holder:

Durable, quickly-printed, and clips to a belt! And like with any print request, you can state your color preference on the Google Form.

A rendering of a stethoscope clip in a 3D printing slicing software.

Molecules:

3D Printing benefits tactile and visual learners, especially with objects that must be represented abstractly, like atoms and molecules. Unlike a diagram on a page, molecules like this dopamine model can be rotated and moved, which can aid memory of chemical interactions.

A rendering of a dopamine model in a 3D printing slicing software. — [*Dopamine model guaranteed; dopamine hit from receiving not guaranteed]*

Bones of the Hand: Anatomy Models to Study

When it comes to the complexity of the human body, structures with many similar parts – like the bones of the hand – benefit from modeling. They can be arranged, labeled, and assembled [but unfortunately not high-fived, unless you have amazing plastic glue].

A rendering of the bones in the human hand in a 3D printing slicing software.

Temporal Bone: Anatomy Models to Test:

Certainly within GW, 3D models can (and have) been used to practice surgery. Kidney models can be used to practice transplants, and (depicted below) prints of the temporal bone can be used for a trial mastoidectomy.

A rendering of the temporal bones in a 3D printing slicing software.

The Human Heart: Study, Decoration, or Both

A 3D-printed classic, few things say “medical world” like the human heart. [Also appropriate for Edgar Allen Poe fans].

A rendering of a human heart in a 3D printing slicing software.

September is Suicide Prevention Month

Ruth BueterSeptember 16, 2024September 16, 2024Leave a comment

Image of diverse group of people talking. Text about raising awareness for suicide prevention & treatment. — Image from the National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/get-involved/awareness-events/awareness-resources/

September is Suicide Prevention Month - making it a good opportunity to raise awareness about suicide and suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know has thoughts of suicide, immediate help is available. Call, text, or chat 988 to speak to a trained crisis counselor.

Just like other mental health conditions, suicidal thoughts can impact anyone. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over 49,000 people died by suicide in 2022, equating to one death every eleven minutes (CDC, 2024a). Between 2000 and 2018, suicide rates increased by 37%, and returned to their peak in 2022 following a brief decline between 2018 to 2020 (CDC, 2024a).

Knowing the risk factors of suicidal ideation and behavior is important for everyone. According to a 2016 review published in The Lancet, “approximately 45% of individuals who die by suicide consult a primary care physician within one month of death, yet there is rarely documentation of physician inquiry or patient disclosure” of suicidal ideation or behavior (Turecki, & Brent, 2016).

While many individuals with suicidal ideation do not attempt suicide (Dlonsky, et al., 2016), recognizing the risk factors can help you identify someone in need of help and help you find the help they need. According to the CDC, factors that contribute to suicide risk range from individual, relationship, community, and societal factors and can include, but are not limited to the following:

Individual Risk Factors:

Previous suicide attempt
History of depression and other mental illness
Serious illness
Job or financial problems
Impulsive or aggressive tendencies
Sense of hopelessness

Relationship Risk Factors:

Bullying
Family or loved one’s history of suicide
Loss of relationships
Social isolation
High-conflict or violent relationships

Community Risk Factors:

Lack of access to healthcare
Community violence
Historical trauma
Discrimination

Societal Risk Factors:

Stigma associated with seeking help and mental illness
Easy access to lethal means of suicide
Unsafe media portrayals of suicide

(CDC, 2024b)

Some factors can protect people from experiencing suicidal ideation and behavior. These include, but are not limited to the following:

Effective coping and problem-solving skills
Strong sense of cultural identity
Support from loved ones
Feeling connected to others
Feeling connected to school, community, and social institutions
Availability of high-quality physical and behavioral healthcare

If you are interested in learning more about suicide prevention, Himmelfarb Library has a Suicide and Suicidology Collection that includes numerous books on this topic. Notable books from this collection include:

The International Handbook of Suicide Prevention edited by Rory O’Connor and Jane Pirkis (2016)
Preventing Suicide: The Solution Focused Approach by John Henden (2017)
Community Interventions to Prevent Veteran Suicide: The Role of Social Determinants by Laura Yoder and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2022)
Suicide Prevention: An Ethically and Scientifically Informed Approach by Samuel Knapp (2020)
Suicide Prevention by Navneet Kapur and Robert D. Goldney (2019)

References:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2024a). Suicide data and statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/data.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2024b). Risk and protective factors for suicide. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/risk-factors/index.html

Klonsky, E. D., May, A. M., & Saffer, B. Y. (2016). Suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation. Annual review of clinical psychology, 12, 307–330. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093204

Turecki, G., & Brent, D. A. (2016). Suicide and suicidal behaviour. Lancet (London, England), 387(10024), 1227–1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00234-2

Medical Media: Scrubs

r.kyserSeptember 13, 2024September 13, 2024Leave a comment

With September in full swing, folks might find themselves short on downtime as exams and courses wind into full gear. Thankfully, this month’s medical media recommendation from our new Scholarly Communications and Metadata Librarian, Brittany Smith, is a sitcom that might be easy to sneak watching an episode during a tight schedule.

Known for its humor and heart, Scrubs is a sitcom that ran from 2001-2010 that follows a group of interns and continues throughout their residency at Sacred Heart Hospital(1). While the show centered around its lead J.D, it also spent time building out its extended cast such as fellow residents Turk and Reid, nurse Carla Espinosa, Doctor Cox and the mysterious Janitor. Winning multiple awards, the wacky series wasn’t afraid to get silly despite the medical setting; there was even an entire episode that was a musical.

Despite the zany antics, what really made Scrubs a treat to watch was its heart. The show “wrestled with the humanity of the characters in a meaningful way,” said Smith. Both patients and the physicians are shown as real people, and when Scrubs tackled those moments, it did so with empathy and thought. Some examples include a doctor struggling with OCD, the loss of a fellow staff member, and how losing patients can impact those who care for them (2).

Scrubs can be streamed on multiple streaming services online.

Works Cited

1.Scrubs. Doozer, Towers Productions, ABC Signature; 2001.

2. Pantoja K. Scrubs: 15 Saddest Moments, Ranked. ScreenRant. June 23, 2019. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://screenrant.com/scrubs-tv-show-saddest-moments-ranked/

The Health Legacies of September 11, 2001

deborah.wassertzugSeptember 11, 2024September 9, 2024

Light beams in tribute to the victims of 9/11/01 terrorist attacks — Tribute in Light, photographed by Jack Cohen, licensed for free on Unsplash

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are now 23 years behind us. In a general sense, they have receded from our collective memory. However, the human health effects of the events of that day linger, and continue to be the subject of research across a variety of disciplines. A MeSH search of the PubMed database between 2022 and 2024 produces 93 results, with publications focusing on a variety of topics, including PTSD, specific health outcomes, and racial and ethnic mortality disparities. In this post we will focus on a 2024 publication focused on the longitudinal effects and treatment of PTSD on those most affected by this event.

An account of a randomized controlled trial on internet-based therapies for World Trade Center workers and survivors with persistent PTSD was published this year in the open-access journal Psychiatry Research. PTSD is prevalent among those exposed to the World Trade Center attacks, with almost half of individuals reporting poor quality of life and life satisfaction, in addition to unmet needs for mental health care. (Feder et al, 2024) Despite the availability of expanded mental health services offered by the CDC’s World Trade Center Health Program, many barriers to access to care remain .

In selecting the two interventions to test, the authors found that while trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective and empirically-supported treatments for PTSD, it has a number of limitations, including geographic constraints, stigma, and the limited number of expert practitioners of this type of therapy. Another type of therapy, integrative testimonial therapy (ITT), which presents none of the challenges of trauma-focused CBT, is an Internet-based form of CBT which is conducted via asynchronous patient-therapist written communications. ITT involves patients constructing a chronological narrative of their lives. Prior RCTs found that ITT yielded significant reductions in PTSD among trauma survivors of other historical events.

For the purposes of this study, ITT was compared to therapist-assisted Internet-based modified present-centered therapy (I-MPCT). I-MPCT is a modification of present-centered therapy (PCT), which has been found to be modestly less or as effective as trauma-focused PTSD therapies, with lower dropout rates. The authors hypothesized that ITT would have a greater impact on reduction of PTSD symptoms of those affected by the events of September 11, 2001. Participants in the trial came from several categories, including both traditional responders (e.g. police officers and firefighters), non-traditional responders (e.g. construction workers and volunteers), and survivors.

Both therapies included three modules of guided writing exercises (or “narratives”) which were interspersed with written feedback from the therapist. Both types of therapy had patients write eleven narratives in total, each taking 45 minutes to complete. For each therapy modality, patients contributed biographical information, wrote about their current life circumstances, and/or discussed problems. The effectiveness of each therapy modality was assessed through a self-reported scale.

Both therapy modalities showed significant reduction in chronic PTSD symptoms and depressive symptoms, and improved quality of life across the board. In post-treatment, both therapies showed significant impact on PTSD, and represent promising treatment options for this particular population.

References

Feder, A., Kowalchyk, M. L., Brinkman, H. R., Cahn, L., Aaronson, C. J., Böttche, M., Presseau, C., Fred-Torres, S., Markowitz, J. C., Litz, B. T., Yehuda, R., Knaevelsrud, C., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2024). Randomized controlled trial of two internet-based written therapies for world trade center workers and survivors with persistent PTSD symptoms. Psychiatry Research, 336, 115885–115885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115885

Humanities Highlights: “An Anthropologist on Mars,” by Oliver Sacks

With Humanities Highlights, Himmelfarb staff aims to spotlight useful books from our Humanities collection. This week, we’re showcasing “An Anthropologist on Mars,” by Oliver Sacks.

randy.plymSeptember 6, 2024September 5, 2024

With Humanities Highlights, Himmelfarb staff aims to spotlight useful books from our Humanities collection. This week, we’re showcasing “An Anthropologist on Mars,” by Oliver Sacks.

A copy of "An Anthropologist on Mars" by Oliver Sacks is displayed on a shelf.

About the Book: "An Anthropologist on Mars" explores seven fascinating cases of mental conditions, depicting outliers who not only had a rare experience but the talent or background to make sense of it. Drawing from his direct contact with these patients, Sacks enriches the facts of these accounts with history and a strong narrative sense. These limit cases help us not only understand others with these conditions but human cognition itself.

Reasons to Read: If you like listicles but want something more robust and literary; "Anthropologist" is a set of seven attention-grabbing, memorable cases; except, unlike the average listicle (which features recycled content and minimal research), the stories in "Anthropologist" come from first-hand accounts and benefit from Sacks bountiful knowledge and narrative capabilities. Recommended if you enjoy thinking about creativity and the relationship between limitations and strengths.

Reasons to Avoid: While eloquent and readable, the book is aimed at general readers (and therefore contains broad overviews of neurological conditions that might be redundant to researchers); moreover, Sacks interacts with patients in a "gonzo journalism" kind of way, embedding himself in their lives outside of a clinical setting. This gonzo psychiatry makes excellent reading but may be of less clinical use.

Further Reading:

Comic: Why Can’t We Just Google It?

r.kyserSeptember 4, 2024September 4, 2024

Today on the blog, we answer a common query: why can't we use Google? Hopefully this comic provides an answer.

Panel 1:

Narration: It’s wild to remember how information seeking used to work before Google.
Image: A picture of the google search string is shown

Panel 2:
Narration: I don’t have the best memory of it myself: I was a 90’s kid who was still in 6th grade when the digital revolution started to really hit its stride.
Image: A picture of the cartoonist, Rebecca, as a child is shown. She has glasses, a green day American idiot shirt on, and a bob haircut. Next to her labels read as follows: My early 2000s look: thick pair of glasses, bowl cut unsuited for curly hair, i-pod mini blasting MCR, t-shirt from hot topic

Panel 3:
Narration: I was taught to use a card catalog in the library and until age 12, I viewed the computer mostly as a machine to play games on.
Image: A screenshot from oregon trail is shown. It is the outline of a bull and wagon in bright green. Under the image, text reads: you have died of dysentery.

Panel 4:
Narration: Google was around along with Ask Jeeves and Yahoo, but it wasn’t quite the default search engine it is today.
Image: a 6th grade Rebecca now wearing a different shirt, looks intent as she uses an old apple computer from the 2000s. A thought bubble next to her reads “how to catch regirock pokemon ruby”

Panel 5:
Narration: In high school, however, google had won its spot as king of the search engines.
Image: The cartoonist, now age 15 in a batman shirt is shown, with straight hair and no glasses. Text next to her is labeled as follows: My mid-late 2000’s look: burnt hair from hair straightener, contacts, first pair of earrings, t-shirt still from hot topic.

Panel 6: It was so well known, it’s now a very: the term “google” was added to multiple dictionaries in 2006 (1).

Image: Two women, one with her hair up in a bun and a blue sweater, and one with long straight hair with a scarf stand in a baking grocery aisle. The one in the blue sweater says “Hey can you google what we need to make red velvet?” and the woman with the scarf, checking her phone says “Yeah sure.”

Panel 7: I use Google frequently to this day. Just this morning I googled… a question about Pokemon.

Image: The cartoonist, now, wearing a purple shirt, a light purple blouse and glasses, holds up her phone. She says “some things never change.” In the bottom right hand corner, text reads “I wish this was a joke, but sure enough my history is “encounters for Tornadus”

Panel 8:
Narration: “Now with all of this said, let’s dive into a question I hear a lot from medical students
Image: Four different students, a man with a beard and a beanie, a women with a pink shirt and red hair, a man with glasses and a tie and a man with curly hair and a green jacket all ask “why do you not want us to use google.”

Panel 12:
Narration: It may appear like asking folks to take the long way around.
Image: A map is shown with a blue and a red route. The red route appears shorter and a speech bubble from off screen says “Red is faster!”

Panel 13:
Narration: The key word here is “appears.” Because the fact of the matter is, trying to find academic papers with Google may take longer than just using a database.
Image: The same map is shown, but this time we can see that the red route goes through a body of water and mountains. A speech bubble from off screen says “wait a second…look at this version.”

Panel 14: This is because Google indexes webpages. Scholarly articles are often not indexed as Webpages. So they won’t appear with a Google search (2).
Image: A magnifying glass with green glass is shown on a purple whiteboard. On the whiteboard, text reading “webpage” is written in black, while text in green reads “article.” Due to the green glass in the magnifying glass, the text reading “articles” can’t be seen. A speech bubble from off screen reads “I don’t see anything there.”

Panel 12:
Image: A bald man with a goatee and a blue long sleeved shirt asks: “what about google scholar?”
Across from him, Rebecca, replies “Good question.”

Panel 13:
Narration: Google scholar has its uses, but it doesn’t index quite as comprehensively as a library database. Also, since it’s highly automated, it can contain articles from predatory publishers or other untrustworthy sources (3)..
Image: A man with blonde hair and a tie standing at a podium looks skeptically at a shark with a top hat and a red bowtie. He asks “You’re a publisher” which the shark replies “You betcha.” Text in the upper right hand corner reads “see the comic predatory publishing for more on ponzi the shark (4).”

Panel 14:
Narration: Another advantage to databases is their filters. Google has some filters like publication date but there’s not much to limit results unless you like long search strings.

Image: Rebecca stands in front of a computer monitor. The monitor reads: Search: Headache Results: 2,300,000. Rebecca says “that’s a lot of results!”

Panel 15:
Narration: Given the size of the web, without ways to filter results, you might find yourself looking for a metaphorical needle in a haystack.
Image: A person with short brown hair, a red jacket and an orange shirt looks at a stack of hay. They say, looking resigned “Time to find a pitchfork, I guess:

Panel 16: Databases have a variety of filters that allowTYPO us to be very specific regarding our searches. To use our haystack metaphorTYPO, an academic database is like searching with a metal detector.

Image: A women with a green shirt and long black hair holds out a metal detector towards the haystack. She says, excited “found it!” The person from the last panel, has their head poking out of the haystack, says “I’m never gonna get this hay out of my hair.”

Panel 17:
Narration: Finding Good medical information with google might not only take longer than a database but it might take you to a biased or out of date answer.
Image: Dorthy, from the wizard of Oz, holding Toto, explores what looks to be a dungeon with cobwebs, a bookshelf full of outdated books on “The 4 Humors and Miasma.” She says “I don’t think we’re in accurate medical literature anymore, Toto.”

Panel 20:
Narration: Google can also provide results that are flat out wrong.
Image: Dorthy still with Toto, stands in Mordor from lord of the rings. They eye of Saroun, Mnt Doom and fire can be seen in the distance. Near Dorthy, a sign reads “Sick? Try the one ring!” with a picture of the ring. Dorthy says “We’re definitely not in accurate medical literature anymore.”

Panel 21:
Narration: Back when I was in grad school, studying covid misinformation, the second result google gave me for “covid care” was an anti vax org.
Image: Rebecca, sitting at a desk with her computer, a cup of coffee and a lamp, leans back as a duck wearing a white lab coat pokes out of her computer screen. Rebecca, disgusted says “Ah! A Quack!” The Duck says “Have you tried my magic tonic water?!”

Panel 22:
Narration: (Also, Google’s AI summaries are making the false information problem worse. See the comic on AI for more info) (6).
Image: A robot holds a tray with a slice of hot pizza on it. On the monitor that us the robot’s head, text reads as “Menu: Pizza with Glue”

Panel 23:
Narration: This isn’t to say google has no uses: if you need to look up something straightforward, like the scientific name for viruses that can cause the common cold, it can probably do that (7).
Image: Three virus molecules are shown labeled as “rhinoviruses” ”Coronaviruses” and “adenoviruses.” The rhinoviruses has a rhino horn on it’s head. The coronaviruses says “please don’t confuse me with my cousin!” The Adenoviruses says “Time to pray at the porcelain throne.”

Panel 24:
Narration: But I wouldn’t necessarily go to google to get treatment advice for the common cold.
Panel: Three types of advice are shown. Next to an image of a glass of water and tea text reads: drink lots of fluids? Good. Next to the image of a variety of fruits such as orange, strawberries and lemons text reads :Eat stuff with vitamin C? Uh, well it won’t hurt you, I guess (and tasty)? Next to the image of three pills, text reads as “antibiotics? Noooo.” One of the pills says “Wait, did you say viruses?”

Panel 25:
Narration: Think of Google as one tool in your toolbelt. It’s good for some tasks, but that doesn’t mean you should use it for everything.
Image: A hammer labeled as google, tries to hammer a screw into a piece of wood.

Panel 26:
Narration: So make sure to use the right tool for the task. Dynamed or Epocrates for practice guidelines, pubmed or scopus for peer reviewed articles, access medicine or clinical key for textbooks.
Image: A toolbelt containing a scraper, a screwdriver and pliers hangs down the side of the page.

Panel 27:
Narration: And Google for where to find a snack after a job well done.
Image: Rebecca sits at a table with a giant bowl full of pasta. Her eyes are closed and she looks content, with little hearts next to her. In the bottom right hand corner, text reads as “fin.”

September Study Break Guide

yvyleeSeptember 2, 2024August 22, 2024

Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb

September 2024 Study Break Guide with images or colorful streamers, fair tents and streaming lights.

National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Annual Labor Day Concert
Date: Sunday, September 1, 2024. 8:00 PM. Public security screening sites open at 3:00 PM.
Location: West Lawn of the US Capitol
Cost: FREE! No tickets required. Seating first come, first served.

The National Symphony Orchestra’s FREE annual Labor Day weekend concert returns to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol! This year, the NSO performs classics by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, John Philip Sousa, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and more led by charismatic conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez and featuring Grammy–nominated rapper/beatboxer Christylez Bacon. Don’t miss this must-see celebration!

Opening September 2024. The People’s House: A White House Experience
Date: Open seven days a week. 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. (Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year’s Day)
Location: 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
Cost: FREE! Reserve your passes in advance

The White House Historical Association is bringing a new cutting-edge education experience, “The People’s House: A White House Experience,” one block away from the White House. The experience will tell the story of the Executive Mansion, its inhabitants, and the people who have dedicated their careers to its functions. The 33,000-square-foot three-floor site will feature exhibits and galleries bringing the White House and its storied history to life. Visitors will interact with a large-scale White House model, re-creation of the Rose Garden, White House moments, a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, and dimensional galleries combining immersive media and inventive scenic representations.

DC State Fair
Date: Saturday, September 7, 2024. 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Location: Franklin Park. 1332 I Street, NW.
Cost: FREE!

The 15th Annual DC State Fair will include contests, local vendors, and a celebration of the District’s agricultural, culinary, and creative talents and all things homegrown. Inspired by time-honored state fair traditions—growing and gardening, contests, and deep-fried foods—the DC State Fair honors the things that make the District of Columbia unique. There will be competitions to find the tastiest mumbo sauce, best honey, and the top photographers with a creative eye. The fair will include 50+ exhibitors including local makers, community organizations, food vendors, government agencies, and universities, live performances, children’s activities, arts, demonstrations, and blue-ribbon presentations for 30+ contests.

Adams Morgan Day
Date: Sunday, September 8, 2024
Location: Varies by event
Cost: FREE!

Adams Morgan Day Events:

For 46 years, Adams Morgan Day has been a family-friendly celebration with music, art, and activities for all ages. Adams Morgan Day is Washington, DC’s longest-running neighborhood festival. Residents and visitors are welcome to meet their neighborhood businesses, artists, and service organizations.

Dance Plaza at Moonlight DC. Time: 11:50 AM - 7:00 PM. Location: 2327 18th St NW.

Sit back, relax, and let hostess, Cheryl “Cee-Cee” Hardy take you on an international journey of dance, fashion, and culture. This interactive platform is where you will experience an explosive lineup of dance groups that will perform and teach basic dance moves, allowing the audience to join along.

Melodies at Kalorama. Time: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Location: 2327 18th St NW.

Live music will resound from the stage at Moonlight DC in “Melodies at Kalorama” hosted by
DJ Qhill. Sit back, relax, and take in the smooth tunes by some of our local performers. There will also be a Soulful House Session hosted by DJ Divine with a special tribute to DJ Sam “The Man” Burns, who was instrumental in incorporating House music in the Adams Morgan area.

Community History on Belmont. Time: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Location: 18th & Belmont St NW.

American University’s Humanities Truck will highlight stories and photographs from Adams Morgan history, including a display about the New Thing Art and Architecture Center and Adams Morgan photo exhibit by past and present local photographers.

National Dance Day
Date: Saturday, September 21, 2024. 10:00 AM
Location: Kennedy Center REACH Campus
Cost: FREE! Signup to get event email

Find joy in the communities created through dance! Join the Kennedy Center for another exciting National Dance Day celebration with FREE classes, performances, and parties. Recognizing the power and importance of showing up for each other, this year’s event explores how dance builds and strengthens community well-being. National Dance Day coincides with the fifth anniversary of the REACH opening, so get ready for arts activities and performances all weekend long.

H Street Festival
Date: Saturday, September 21, 2024
Location: H Street NE between 3rd Street and Florida Ave.
Cost: FREE!

H Street Festival is one of the most anticipated and highly attended single-day festivals in Washington DC. The festival is 12 blocks long and has 15 staging areas that are diversely themed and programmed to target different segments of audiences. The staging areas feature music of different genres, dance, youth-based performances, fashion, heritage arts, poetry, and many more. Art has been a principal motivator of the festival and has proven to be a valuable agent in impacting local economic growth. The festival also has a direct impact on reducing commercial building vacancy rate on H Street Corridor from 75% to under 5%. H Street Festival has successfully utilized arts as an engine for the growth of the historic neighborhood.

A Transgender History Month Reading List

Ruth BueterAugust 30, 2024August 30, 2024

Picture of a large group of people with two blue, pink, and white trans flags being held above the crowd. — Photo by Oriel Frankie Ashcroft

In honor of August being Transgender History Month, we bring you a reading list that highlights transgender history and elevates transgender voices. Are you interested in learning more about transgender history? Consider adding one of the following titles to your reading list.

Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyman, Ph.D.: This book explores academic research and cultural writing focused on transgender and gender-nonconforming people and examines gender norms perpetuated by society. Before We Were Trans highlights stories of trans people worldwide, throughout human history and chronicles often overlooked trans experiences. Request this title through our Consortium Loan Service (CLS).
Transgender Warriors: Making History From Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman by Leslie Feinberg: Transgender people have existed for as long as people have. Part memoir, part history, and part gender studies text, this book explores the lives of transgender history-makers from around the globe. A print copy of this title will soon be available at GW’s Gelman Library.
Others of My Kind: Transatlantic Transgender Histories by Alex Bakker: In the 1950s, a group of transgender people from both sides of the Atlantic created communities that profoundly shaped the history and study of sexuality and gender. They created private networks of affirmation and trust by exchanging letters and pictures among themselves and submitted their stories and photographs to medical journals and popular magazines to educate doctors and the public alike. Others of My Kind celebrates the faces, lives, and personal networks of those who drove 20th-century transgender history. Click the link above to read an e-book version of this title.
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton: This exceptional book explores the intersectionality of transgender history and Black history through a multi-faceted lens. This is the story of Christine Jorgensen, America’s first publicly known transgender figure. Click the link above to read an e-book version of this title.
Trans Medicine: The Emergence and Practice of Treating Gender by Stef M. Shuster: Transgender medicine is a rapidly growing medical field. This book explores the history of trans medicine and current practices through interviews with medical providers, and ethnographic and archival research. Trans Medicine provides a rare look inside how providers make decisions when providing care to trans people. An e-book version of this title is available through Himmelfarb, or you can request a print copy through our CLS service.
The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet by Avery Dame-Griff: This book explores how the rise of the internet has shaped transgender identity and activism from the 1980s through today. This book combines a largely ignored period within the history of computing and the poorly understood role of technology in queer and trans social movements and offers a new understanding of both. Click on the link above to read the e-book version of this book.
From This Day Forward by Bullfrog Films: While this one isn’t a book, it is an interesting look at trans experience. This film follows filmmaker Sharon Shattuck as she returns home before her wedding to explore the mystery of her upbringing: How her transgender father Trisha and her straight-identified mother Marcia stayed together against all odds. This moving portrayal of an American family coping with intimate transformation is available in Himmelfarb’s streaming video collection and in our third-floor audiovisual collection (call number: HQ77.9 .F76 2015). A print book companion is available in the stacks (call number: HQ77.9 .F76 2015).

The Rotation: A Himmelfarb Library Blog