National Medical Librarians Month
South Central Region Featured Projects 2011
Senior CHAT (Consumer Health Awareness Training)
Institutions: Southeastern Louisiana University and Sims Memorial Library/Baton Rouge Nursing Library
Project Director: Mary Lou Strong
Key Staff: Ladonna Guillot and Jean Caswell
Senior CHAT provided basic computer training and instruction in accessing and evaluating online consumer health information to residents of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, served by the Tangipahoa Voluntary Council on Aging (TVCOA). NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus websites were emphasized during the training. The objective of the project was to improve health information literacy and promote better health outcomes among elderly residents of Tangipahoa Parish. Instruction took place at three TVCOA sites. Hands-on classes to address needs identified by the local medical community following Hurricane Katrina were offered. Participants also had the opportunity to create a portable personal health profile on a flash drive. To ensure the program continues to reach the community, TVCOA staff members from five senior centers were trained to use NIHSeniorHealth and MedlinePlus to assist clients with searches.
Digitization of the Aristides Agramonte Collection on Yellow Fever
Institution: Louisiana State University Health Science Center Library - New Orleans
Project Directors: Deborah H. Sibley, Maureen (Molly) Knapp
The Aristides Agramonte Collection on Yellow Fever is housed in the Old and Rare Book Room of the John P. Ische Library at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA (LSUHSC). His collection of books and pamphlets were digitized and cataloged. The scanned materials are now permanently housed in LSUHSC's digital archives which are available to the general public through the LOUISiana Digital Library, a state-wide digital library consortium that provides an online library of digitized materials documenting Louisiana's history and culture. Researchers interested in the history of medicine, yellow fever epidemics, tropical medicine and the development of the first scientific theory used to trace and find a cure for a communicable disease will find a special interest in this collection. The collection is full text searchable and includes items in English, Spanish, French and German.
Early Medical Journalism of Louisiana: A pilot project for the preservation and sharing of nineteenth-century medical publications of Louisiana
Institution: Rudolph Matas Library of the Health Sciences, Tulane University
Project Director: Mary Holt
Key Staff: Barbara Volo and Neville Prendergast
This project allowed the Rudolph Matas Library to start digitizing the Report of the Board of Administrators of the Charity Hospital, to the General Assembly of Louisiana (also known as Charity Hospital Reports) beginning with those publications published in 1842. These reports were published in Louisiana as state government reports and seem to be unique to the Matas Library collection. The reports contain morbidity and mortality information for New Orleans, including the yellow fever epidemics, venereal disease statistics along with physician information. The collection is full-text searchable and made widely available through the LOUISiana Digital Library.
Dallas Medical History, 1890-1975: A Digital Collection
Institution: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Library
Project Director: Matthew Zimmerman
This project digitized unique photographic holdings of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Library's Historical Archives and History of Medicine Collection to create two publicly-accessible collections. The first collection, Dallas Medical Images, 1890-1975, (http://utswlibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/) is a repository of 500-plus images illustrating the history of medicine in Dallas. The second collection, Medical Care Milestones in Dallas, 1890-1975, (http://utswlibrary.omeka.net/) is a more specialized web exhibit of 50-plus high-interest images (most of which are a subset of the above Dallas Medical Images repository) illustrating highlights of the development of medical care in Dallas, including the opening of Parkland and St. Paul hospitals in the mid 1890s, the development of both Baylor and Southwestern medical schools, care of the sick during the influenza epidemic of 1918 and later polio epidemics, and the heroic efforts to save the life of President Kennedy at Parkland Hospital on November 22, 1963.
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