Environmental Factor, June 2007, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Library Holds Open House and InfoFest

By Eddy Ball
June 2007

Ewa Marczak, Ph.D., learned about the ways Scopus could facilitate the literature searches she needs to perform in her work with the Medicinal Chemistry Group. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

Unlike the stereotypical libraries of the past, Knowledge Centers are places where people can talk - and even laugh. In this photo, IRTA Fellow Huiming Gao, Ph.D., enjoys a vendor's anecdote. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

Pathologist Ron Herbert, D.V.M., Ph.D., checked out Web of Science. In his work with National Toxicology Program Technical Reports, Herbert needs to perform exhaustive searches of previous studies of nominated compounds. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

For the NIEHS scientists who took advantage of the NIEHS Library's Open House and InfoFest on May 24, the time was well spent. Representatives from Web of Knowledge, Scopus, ExPub, and Quosa were there to give hands-on demonstrations on how to more effectively retrieve relevant and comprehensive literature search results. The Library also demonstrated its new NIEHS AllSearch tool, which allows users to search across multiple databases at one time.

On-hand to answer questions were Librarian and Information Services Chief Dav Robertson, M.S.L.S., and Biomedical Science Librarians Stephanie Holmgren, M.S.L.S., and Larry Wright, M.S.L.S., Ph.D. The library was also showcasing a National Library of Medicine (NLM) poster display of Medieval Medical Manuscripts(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/medieval/medievalhome.html and a display commemorating the centennial anniversary of the birth of author Rachel Carson. Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring is widely credited with energizing the nascent environmental movement of the 1950s.

The event also gave employees an opportunity to see firsthand how the conventional library, a repository of hard copies of books and periodicals, is evolving into what Robertson describes as a knowledge center(http://library.niehs.nih.gov/vision.pdf. "In light of the Internet revolution, we're making the library more relevant to the information needs of today's--and tomorrow's--scientists," Robertson observed. "We're following the New Vision we announced last fall as we implement three initiatives: moving even further towards a digital library, embedding our reference professionals with research and clinical teams, and developing consultation expertise in bioinformatics."

The library took advantage of space made available by its new mobile shelving system to display the NLM Medieval Manuscript Display, which made its first stop at a library outside Bethesda here at NIEHS. (Photo by Eddy Ball)

Patron Alicia Moore (left), a biologist in the Laboratory of Experimental Pathology posed with Employee Services Manager Dona McNeill and Robertson. The NIEHS Library prides itself on its accessibility, and Robertson had invited Moore and McNeill, members of the Disability Advocacy Committee, to distribute a survey at the Open House soliciting suggestions about any necessary improvements. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)

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