NLM Launches “Digital Collections,” a Repository for Access to and Preservation of Digitized Biomedical Resources

From the Web site

The National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest medical library and a component of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a new digital repository, Digital Collections, at http://collections.nlm.nih.gov. This new resource is complementary to the PubMed Central digital archive of electronic journal articles (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/). The repository allows rich searching, browsing and retrieval of monographs and films from NLM’s History of Medicine Division. Additional content and other format types will be added over time. Users can perform full-text and keyword searching within each collection or across the entire repository.

“The new Digital Collections repository will allow NLM to provide permanent, robust access to an even broader range of biomedical information,” said Betsy Humphreys, Deputy Director, NLM.

Accessing the Collections

This first release of Digital Collections includes a newly expanded set of Cholera Online monographs, a portion of which NLM first published online in PDF format in 2007. The version of Cholera Online now available via Digital Collections includes 518 books (dating from 1817 to 1900) about cholera pandemics of that period. More information about the selection of the books and the subject of cholera may be found on the original Cholera Online Web page at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cholera/. Each book was scanned into high-quality TIFF images, which underwent optical character recognition to generate corresponding text files. Finally, a JPEG2000 derivative was created for each page for presentation through the integrated book viewer, which includes a Flash-based zooming feature for resizing and rotating a page on demand.

Adding Recess to the Workday Gains Backers

Programs to get adults up and moving may have business as well as personal rewards

Excerpt

TUESDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) — Think recess, and you’ll probably smile. What wasn’t to like about a break in the school day set aside for running and playing, for friends and fun?

Now fast-forward to your adult life. What if your workplace started offering recess on the job?

Some medical experts think it’s not only a good idea but possibly one of the most solid tactics dreamed up for getting an increasingly out-of-shape America up and moving.

Adult recess would involve a 10-minute break in the workday, when employees would be led through a series of fun routines involving dance and sports-like moves.

The idea may be catching on. Employer-sponsored exercise is a big part of the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan, a cooperative effort by a number of health and fitness organizations to promote physical activity in public settings such as businesses, schools and churches. Partners include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Heart Association, the YMCA and the AARP.

“When we can build physical activity into an easy, achievable part of our day, it’s a lot less daunting for people,” said Allison Kleinfelter, a consultant with the National Physical Activity Plan. The program, she said, “is looking at changing places where we live and work to support physical activity.”

The benefit of adult recess hinges on physical activity guidelines put out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which recommend that all adults receive at least 150 minutes of exercise each week, Kleinfelter said.

But a person doesn’t need to stack up those minutes during just a few sessions, according to the guidelines, because moderate or vigorous effort will benefit overall health even if each session is as short as 10 minutes.

One work site where adult recess has been implemented is Latino Health Access, a nonprofit group in Santa Ana, Calif. Many of the 55 workers there participate in a 20-minute walk every other day and daily 15-minute aerobics classes, said Alejandro Espinoza, the group’s chronic disease program coordinator.

The benefits have been terrific, he said. Workers feel more energetic and focused and are less likely to feel lethargic in the afternoon.

“They look forward to it,” he said. “I’m one of the exercise team leaders. They come and tell me, ‘Alex, it’s time to do our exercise.’ “

Tips For Treating Viruses, Fungi, and Parasites

Click here for the full article by the American Academy of Pediatricians.

It is  good overview of types of treatment for these three types of diseaseses.

ebrary Offers Free Breast Cancer Searchable Information Center

From an ebrary news announcement (via a Resource Shelf item)

September 29, 2010 12:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time

PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ebrary®, a leading provider of digital content products and technologies, today announced it has collaborated with librarians from other organizations to create an open access database of breast cancer publications. The site is available today at http://site.ebrary.com/lib/breastcancer.

“Breast cancer strikes over 1.3 million women around the globe each year and is the leading cause of cancer death in women, according to the American Cancer Society”

ebrary’s Breast Cancer Searchable Information Center features a range of authoritative fact sheets, posters, and other materials from government agencies such as the National Cancer Institute, National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, United States Food and Drug Administration, Office of Women’s Health, and other authoritative sources.

“Breast cancer strikes over 1.3 million women around the globe each year and is the leading cause of cancer death in women, according to the American Cancer Society,” said Christopher Warnock, CEO of ebrary. “We hope that by using our technology to make some of the most important information contained within government documents more discoverable, and by making DASH! available to others who wish to contribute relevant materials, we can provide a helpful resource for anyone who needs information on this prevalent disease.”

ebrary’s Breast Cancer Searchable Information Center is just one of a growing number of open access collections created by ebrary staff and customers. For a listing of additional databases visit http://www.ebrary.com/corp/accessCollections.jsp.

All ebrary products and services include powerful tools for making the research process quick and efficient including:

• Available anytime through any web enabled device including the iPad — no cumbersome downloads.
• Multiple options for searching, navigating, and browsing.
• ebrary InfoTools™, which turns every word into a portal to additional information on the web.
• Notes and highlights that are automatically stored on a personal bookshelf.
• Ability to copy/paste and print text with automatic citations and URL hyperlinks back to the source.
• Personal bookshelves with moveable folders that can be shared with others.
• Much more!