Director’s Corner Summer 2015

Library staff group photo

On Monday June 29^th the Touro College libraries held their semi-annual staff meeting at the newly refurbished Kings Highway library. Library staff members from New York Medical College,  Middletown, and New York College of Osteopathic Medicine participated in the conference.

Guest Post: What do you think of when you hear the word graduation?

photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreTouro/photos

For many graduation signifies the end of an educational journey. It’s the end of classes, study groups, and tests. However, it does not have to be the end of your relationship with Touro. Graduation is not only about no longer being a student; it’s about transitioning into an alumnus. That new title comes with certain perks that go beyond just the occasional reunion.

Let’s Meet at the Science Cafe!

https://flic.kr/p/7iaeGM

I was reading Librarian Sally Gore’s recent blog post, and she mentioned attending a Science Café in Worcester, Mass.  I was intrigued by this idea, so I looked around for more information.  Have you ever heard of Science Cafés?  If you like the idea of learning about science in a relaxed, fun atmosphere then Science Cafés may be for you. 

Point of Care Tool – Access Medicine App

The popular Access Medicine Database now has an app for mobile devices!  This app represents a portable, concise, easily searchable, version of the Access Medicine Database, making it an essential point of care tool and quick reference guide!

The App is organized into four distinct sections that provide speedy access to information:

Going through changes: NLM seeks new director

image courtesy of http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/imagespage.html

After more than 30 years serving as the Director of the National Library of Medicine, Dr. Donald Lindberg is leaving his post.  The National Library of Medicine is about to start their search for a new director but any candidate sure has big shoes to fill!

Research Guides: More than just books

Scholar in study, 1700, by Johann Michael Bretschneider (National Museum of Wrocław)

The Lander College for Women has been one of our most enthusiastic adopters of our Research Guides available through LibGuides. A blog post in 2014 linked 10 of the unique power points available on these guides, but there’s even more great information available.

Most libraries around the world post library guides or pathfinders on their websites that contain the standard gathering of relevant websites, particularly helpful specialized databases, bibliographies of related books, and links to chat or email reference. However what makes Touro’s library guides unique are not only the tailor-made PowerPoint presentations for classes offered at LCW, but the narrative introductions and unique informative essays, charts, outlines and exercises included on our large collection of Jewish studies guides.

Lynda.com – Free online training from your public library

Lynda.com is an online learning company that helps users “learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals.” They offer video-based online courses in a variety of professional skills – a valuable resource for anybody looking to land a job, move up in their career, excel in the position they have, or just explore an area of interest. There’s something for just about everyone – I just finished a course on Instructional Design that I really enjoyed, but even if that sounds a little dry to you, there’s plenty of other options. 

The Power of Hashtags

Twitter gave new meaning to the pound sign, enabling people across the globe to easily engage in conversations on the topic of their choice.

We use the pound or number sign (#) for numbers, on phones, or when we play tic, tac, toe. But the pound sign was not considered an important symbol in our lives until Chris Messina decided to use it as a way for groups of people to discuss topics without getting lost in the chaos of messages. That was in 2007. Soon after, Twitter adopted the hashtag system and turned the pound sign into a code so that any word prepended with a hash automatically becomes hyperlinked¹. The newly coined “hashtag” quickly caught on and has since been implemented by Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest and many other social networks. You can even Google a hashtag to see posts across different social media platforms.

Over One Million Hits

Over 1 million page views for Touro’s Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel

Four years ago Touro College Libraries debuted its digitization of David Tidhar’s 19-volume Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel, which can be found at www.tidhar.tourolib.org. This valuable resource is used by scholars and historians worldwide as well as by the Touro community. Recently, the Encyclopedia reached 1 million hits, and the views continue to grow.

Guest Post: Met Museum & The Museum Mile

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 82nd & 5th (photo by Rosa Ghiam)

The Museum Mile Festival takes place on Tuesday June 9. From 6-9pm all of the museums along Museum Mile offer free admission to the public. Fifth Avenue will be closed to traffic, and there will be live music and other attractions. For full details, visit the festival website. In honor of this upcoming event, Touro College of Pharmacy student Rosa Ghiam shares her experience visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has magnificent collections of art and antiquities. My mother and I used to take frequent trips to many museums, especially this one. It had been a long time since we had been there, but on her recent trip to New York, we decided that we should go. Reminiscent of days past when I was a little girl, we held hands and walked up the steps and turned to look at the park. The museum is located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan’s Museum Mile. It is by area one of the world’s largest art galleries.