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Month: January 2020

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Did you know that you can borrow books from Georgetown, Howard, and other DC university libraries and have them delivered to you at Himmelfarb? 

What is it? To put it simply, the WRLC is an agreement between libraries in the Washington D.C area that allows us to share materials between other libraries within the vicinity. Thanks to the WRLC courier system, we generally receive books within 2-4 business days from the time that the request was made, (if materials are available at the requested library) and more often than not, Consortium Loan Service (CLS) books come with a generous check out period. This option is a great way to save some money and time compared to common hassles of standard shipping.

If you would like to place a Consortium Loan Service (CLS) request, make sure to follow these steps:

  1. Use the Health Information @ Himmelfarb search box on Himmelfarb's homepage to locate a book.  Remember to switch the search to Articles + GW and Consortium Libraries.
  2. Sign in using your GW NetID and password, then click on Consortium Loan Service Request (2-3 Day Delivery) under "How to get it".
  3. Select George Washington University Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, or select a different location, if preferred.  When your book arrives, you will be notified via email to come and pick up your request.

As always, if you are looking for a medical article, monograph, or if the book you are looking for isn't available via the Consortium, feel free to check out our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Document Delivery Services.   Himmelfarb users can also make requests through Documents2Go by using their GW NetID  and password to log in.

If you have any questions about Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Document Delivery Services or Documents2Go, please contact mlbdoc@gwu.edu.  If you have any questions about Consortium Loan Service requests, please contact our Acquisitions and Resource Sharing Librarian, Ian Roberts at imroberts@email.gwu.edu.

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Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National (CTSI-CN) members have access to a wide variety of services and resources, many at little or no cost!  It's easy to sign up and membership is free.

Come meet and have coffee with the CTSI-CN to learn more!  A limited number of Starbucks gift card giveaways will be available!

When: Wednesday, February 5 12 - 2 p.m.

Where: Milken Institute School of Public Health Convening Center; 950 New Hampshire Ave, Washington, DC 20052

For more information, contact Stephanie Salazar (ssalazar@gwu.edu).

CTSI-CN event poster

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books on cartsHimmelfarb Library’s Annual Book Sale will be held from Wednesday, January 29 through Friday, January 31, 2020.  Hours will be: 8:30am to 12midnight on Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 to 12:00 noon on Friday.

The book sale takes place on the 1st floor of the library in the Reference alcove.  Cash or check only!

Questions?  Please contact Ian Roberts (imroberts@gwu.edu).

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GW COVID-19 responseThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak caused by a new coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The outbreak has resulted in hundreds of confirmed cases in China and additional cases in a growing number of other countries, including the first confirmed case in the US.

Himmelfarb Library has links to the latest information from CDC, World Health Organization, and the National Library of Medicine’s Disaster Information Management Resource Center on the Emergency Preparedness and Response Resources Research Guide. This guide will continue to be updated as the situation coronavirus imagedevelops.

Research Guide: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

If you are planning to travel internationally, consult the CDC Traveler’s Health page. Currently travelers are being asked to avoid non-essential travel to Wuhan. There are further recommendations and precautions if you plan to travel to China or are traveling to Asia for Lunar New Year celebrations.

Additionally from the CDC:

If you traveled to China in the last 14 days and feel sick with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, you should seek medical care right away. Before you go to a doctor’s office or emergency room, call ahead and tell them about your recent travel and your symptoms. 

Further important instructions are on the Traveler’s Health page.

Healthcare providers should immediately notify their local or state health department in the event of a patient under investigation for 2019-nCoV. Information for the Washington, DC Department of Health is below. For other localities, check the Directory of Local Health Departments (NACCHO).

Government of the District of Columbia Department of Health
899 N Capitol St Ne
Washington, DC 20002-4263
Phone: (202) 442-5955

Image source: AJC1. (2013) Novel coronavirus nCoV. flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/8783460538

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XKCD webcomic Wikipedian Protester

Announcing the Seventh Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, more commonly known as APA Citation Style! The APA published their updated 7th Edition late last Fall, and the APA-using community is beginning to transition from the 6th Edition to the 7th. Luckily, most of the changes have been quality-of-life changes.

The good news for students?

  • No more running heads!
  • No need for publication place in book citations!
  • Any in-text citations with more than three authors are shortened to the first author and et al.!
  • Clearer guidelines for including contributors other than authors and editors, e.g. podcast hosts!
  • Increased font flexibility!
    • Hello Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans Unicode 10, and Georgia 11 (in addition to the old favorite, Times New Roman 12)!

The goal of APA 7th Edition is to codify many of the suggested citation rules the APA created as the 6th Edition evolved. In addition to making these suggestions into official guidelines, the APA has adjusted how it cites more modern texts, in particular anything with a URL. The hope is to make citation a more streamlined process, while maintaining a rigorous academic standard.

The APA is suggesting users begin to switch to 7th Edition rules Spring 2020, though some universities and groups may choose to put off the transition to Fall 2020. Check with your professors on which version they expect you to use, if it’s not included in your syllabus.

For 7th Edition resources, be sure to check out our APA Research Guide. We recently updated it to conform to the 7th Edition. The APA Style Blog has also transitioned to 7th Edition, and is a great resource for more obscure citation questions. For 6th Edition resources, Purdue OWL still has their 6th Edition site live, though they do note they are scheduled to publish the updated 7th Edition guide in Spring 2020. You can also still find the APA Style Blog’s 6th Edition Archive, so you can search it for answers to any 6th Edition questions.

You can always reach out to us at Himmelfarb Library with any questions you may have. Our reference staff are more than happy to answer your questions about APA 6th or 7th Edition!

Image Source: Munroe, R. (2007). Wikipedian protester [Webcomic]. xkcd. https://xkcd.com/285/

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research

Did you know that Himmelfarb Library provides a specialized web page available to our GW Hospital users? Here you will be able to find access to databases, ebooks, and e-journals that are available to you.

Himmelfarb’s website for GW Hospital users tries to maximize access and convenience:

  • No login required: resources listed can be accessed without logging in.
  • Automatic display of customized webpage; simply locate the Himmelfarb web page from a GWU Hospital location it will display automatically.

Information tools are optimized for clinical use and include:

  • DynaMed: evidence-based, clinically organized topics that are constantly updated as the study of medicine grows. The content ranges from comprehensive reviews of diseases and conditions, to abnormal findings based on differential diagnosis and management. You can also download the DynaMed mobile app to get easy access on your mobile devices!
  • Lexicomp: comprehensive clinical drug information includes access to a drug interaction checker, drug ID Tool, and calculators.
  • ClinicalKey and ClinicalKey for Nursing: full-text access to key books, journals, drug information, clinical overviews and more.

To explore the full selection of resources available to GW Hospital users, select Databases, Hospital e-Journals, or Hospital e-Books from the homepage.  Each of these pages will help you locate resources that can be accessed from the GW Hospital and without entering a login/password. If you have a GW NetID, you can view a complete list of available resources by changing to the default library webpage or by changing the view on an individual page (i.e. toggling from Hospital E-Journals to All E-Journals.

If you have questions, please contact himmelfarb@gwu.edu!

 

 

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Stop/Unethical - Think/Grey - Go/EthicalA scientist wrongfully imprisoned?  Or, a scientist who ignored ethical principles and scientific standards?

Dr. He Jiankui earned a PhD from Rice University in 2010, did postdoctoral work at Stanford University, and returned to China in 2012 to work in the Southern University of Science and Technology.  In 2018, Dr. Jiankui confirmed reports that he had edited the genomes of embryos using CRISPR, transferred them to women's uteruses, and that a set of twin girls had been born.  Subsequently, Dr. Jiankui was placed on unpaid leave and eventually dismissed from Southern University of Science and Technology.  In late 2019, Dr. Jiankui was sentenced to three years in prison and fined about $430,000 U.S. dollars for having "forged ethical review documents and misled doctors into unknowingly implanting gene-edited embryos into two women."

So what happened?  Did Dr. Jiankui go too far, too fast?  Or, did China stifle a cutting edge researcher?  Read these articles to understand the science, ethics, and researchers involved in this story:

For more discussion, check out additional articles in Dr. Chuck Macri’s Genetics Journal Club

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Question bank icons for LWW Board Review Series, USMLEasy, ExamMaster and Case Files CollectionHimmelfarb Library provides access to USMLE board review question banks and review materials.  All review materials are available on the Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3 Research Guides which help users access online practice tests, case files, and question banks as well as print and online review books in anatomy, behavioral science, biochemistry and molecular biology, etc.

Questions banks include:

LWW Health Library: Board Review Series - full-text access to the entire Board Review Series includes full-text book access and 5,000 questions and explanations. A self-assessment function provides customized subject review and tracks progress in specific areas.  For full-access, create free personal account.

USMLEasy - customizable practice tests with detailed results.  You set target test date, prep mode (aggressive/moderate/relaxed), and when/if to receive progress reports.  Use Adaptive Practice mode to access questions based on your strengths and weaknesses, or create your own quiz.  Access includes one full-length practice test. Create free personal account

ExamMaster - thorough content coverage to basic science concepts in USMLE Step 1 plus detailed scoring feedback.  Tutor Mode emulates look/feel of exam or can focus on basic science subjects.  Timed Mode delivers practice exam then provides access My Stats for report of strengths and weaknesses by subject.  Create free personal account and access Exam Master from on-campus locations or while logged into VPN

Case Files Collection - interactive access to complete Case Files Series including Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, etc. Designed to support knowledge application via realistic patient cases.  Each case includes case history, knowledge review, pearls, and USMLE-style review questions.  For full-access, create free personal account.

If you have any questions, or would like to recommend resources, please contact Laura Abate (leabate@gwu.edu).

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Woman standing in front of a wall holding flowers.

The field of emergency medicine tends to attract outgoing individuals who enjoy engaging with their environment and don’t mind taking risks. This type of person is generally considered to be an extrovert. But this doesn’t mean that introverts don’t exist in the field of emergency medicine. GW faculty member Janice Blanchard, MD, Ph.D explores the importance of introverts in the field of emergency medicine in a reflection piece published in Academic Emergency Medicine. 

A key difference between introverts and extroverts is the source from which they get energy. Does being in a room filled with other people make you feel energized? Or are you exhausted and zapped of energy by the time you leave the room? Blanchard summarizes this difference by stating that “introverts thrive from the energy within, whereas extroverts are fueled from the spark of others.” 

Introverts recharge their internal battery with “me time” and extroverts recharge by being social. While attending a large emergency medicine conference recently where “frequent social interactions with colleagues was the norm,” Blanchard explains that “at the end of the day, I felt absolutely exhausted.”

While not much has been written about physicians and introversion, especially within the specialty of emergency medicine, Blanchard provides some insight that could help introverts thrive in the extroverted field of emergency medicine. Because introverts tend to be great listeners, their “leadership skills shine through the implementation of input gathered from each individual within that team.” 

Although there are differences in the way introverts and extroverts operate, both play vital roles in the world and within the field of emergency medicine. While the extrovert tends to be a dominant personality characteristic within emergency medicine, Blanchard reminds us that “there is room for both in our specialty.”

 

Blanchard J. (2019). Pardon Me for Being a Wallflower. Academic emergency medicine: official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, 10.1111/acem.13894.

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

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Himmelfarb Annual Book Sale posterOur Annual Book Sale will be held January 29th-31st in the first floor reference alcove of Himmelfarb. Sale is open 8:30am to midnight the first two days, wrapping up at noon on the 31st.

Textbooks, study guides, books of historical interest and more - get here early for best selection! $10 for hardback books, $5 for paperback, DVDs as low as $1. Cash or check only. 

#booksaleatthefarb

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