Author Archives: Library News Editor

Surgery kits highlighted in new Library exhibit

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The Library’s Special Collection & Archives team has recently put together several exhibits that are now on display in the main library space. These displays may be viewed at any time by anyone interested in learning more about medical history and the University. Some of the items are the Goulding and the Hernstein families’ surgery kits pictured here.

To properly date these items, our University Archivist used the names stamped on the boxes and on the surgery tools. This technique allowed her to narrow down the make to only a few years, rather than decades, when different partnerships and business ventures were active. 

While researching these items, the University Archivist also discovered a scandal in the Hernstein’s history over the origins of their materials. Because of this, the company was transferred into Esther Hernstein’s name until several years passed and Albert could again be the face of the company. To learn more about this event and the other items in the exhibit, you can visit the Archives and request the old catalogs and histories of surgical kits.

Visit https://utsouthwestern.libguides.com/sca/about to learn more. If you have any questions or would like to request an appointment, email archives@utsouthwestern.edu.

“The Bias Inside Us” Smithsonian Poster Exhibit now at the Library

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The Smithsonian Institution, which is committed to leading and encouraging civil dialogue on important issues facing our nation and the world, is leading a community engagement project called The Bias Inside Us. Their goal is to help people understand and counter implicit biases and build capacity in communities to convene dialogue that will increase empathy and create more inclusive schools, communities, and workplaces. The 10-piece poster exhibit is now on display at the South Campus Library until January 2024.

CORRECTION: In-person service by Library staff resumes November 1

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Effective November 1, 2023, the Library’s Services & Partnership Unit resumes in-person service from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). We are excited to return to the physical space now that we are in a post-COVID environment and construction of the new O’Donnell School of Public Health is complete.

Your “Librarian on Duty” consult area is in room E2.304 located across from the O’Donnell School of Public Health’s Dean Suite. Directional signage will appear soon, and a librarian will circulate through the physical space throughout the day to connect with all our users.

As always, you can request assistance or services in the following other ways:
– The Ask Us link.
– Looking up common questions in our FAQs.
– Calling 214-648-2001.
– Searching though the vast educational support offerings contained in our Subject
Guides. 

Your librarians appreciate and support the work you do with our community and each other! Thank you!

New Artifacts on Display at the Library

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Just in time for National Archives Month, we are proud to tell our community that the Library has exhibits again! The mini exhibits consist of artifacts from the various collections that are housed at the UT Southwestern Special Collections Library and Archives. This first round of materials includes travel surgery kits, microscopes, a medical book from Dr. Edward H. Cary, and more. In addition to the new items in the display cases, we are redoing the permanent exhibit on St. Paul Hospital. Stop back for more on that soon!  

Are you feeling anxious about AI and ChatGPT? You are not alone!

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Currently, there is a paralysis taking hold regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools including ChatGPT. Your librarians recognize this and are diligently working to provide information, education, and guidance about this topic. The primary challenge we are encountering is the rapid rate of changes occurring while developing supportive content for our users. In attempting to meet the education needs about AI, we quickly find that our content is outdated before we can get close to completion.

However, with the enormous efforts by the Library’s AI/Chat GPT Work Group, we are excited to announce the newly published Artificial Intelligence Guide. Additional thanks are directed to University of South Florida Libraries for allowing use of their content, as well as the many librarians on staff at UTSW who reviewed and edited the guide.

Several of our library leaders and librarians attended the South Central Chapter, South Chapter, and Medical Librarian Association Joint Meeting in New Orleans on September 21-26, 2023. During the meeting, it became clear we are not the only ones struggling to address the topic of AI and AI tools like ChatGPT. Recognizing the scope of the needs surrounding AI, a new collaborative effort formed called the AI Response Coalition (AIRC). This group is led by RaeAnna Jeffers, RN, BSN, MS-IS, Services & Partnerships Unit, UT Southwestern Health Sciences Digital Library.

Rae is soliciting multidisciplinary participation in AIRC from professionals with expertise in many domains of knowledge. The aim is to reduce duplication of efforts contributing to waste of resources, creation of educational content, and to organize a collective response to AI development and implementation. The AIRC welcomes your participation and expertise as we work toward better solutions. Those who are interested can provide their contact information on the AIRC Contact List. Questions can be directed to: airesponsecoalition@gmail.com

As educational content is developed, offerings from our librarians will appear in the Library Events and Classes Calendar and cross-posted in other communications. Thank you for your patience.

Upcoming Wiley educational sessions for early-career scholarly authors

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Wiley is presenting a variety of workshop topics for early career scholarly authors. These include:

These sessions are also listed here among other Wiley educational presentations at the Wiley Webinars and Events page.

Free self-directed grantwriting courses available through UTSW Clinical Researcher Academy

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The Office of Clinical Research and the UTSW Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program have contracted with Meg Bouvier, Ph.D., to offer all UTSW researchers free, unlimited access to her library of self-directed virtual training resources. Dr. Bouvier received her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and is a full-time NIH grant writer. To access the resources, registration is required using your UTSW email address.

Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP) and the University of Texas System reach new transformative agreement

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The transformative agreement (TA) between IOPP and the University of Texas System allows affiliated researchers to publish unlimited OA articles in IOPP’s journals and most partner journals with the costs to publish already covered for a 3-year contract. TAs are key to making publicly funded research openly accessible to all on publication, in line with The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) policy.

More information about the agreement may be found on the Institute of Physics page on the Library’s APC Guide.

The UT Southwestern Library actively investigates other TA agreements with publishers as they become available, and the primary concern in these negotiations is evaluating whether supporting OA publishing may be accommodated by or applied to the usual annual price increases for subscription renewals. These efforts are being handled by Jon Crossno, Collection Management Librarian, and Kelly Gonzalez, Assistant Vice President of Library Services. Gonzalez also serves as chair of TLCUA, the organization who successfully negotiated the Elsevier negotiations.

The Library’s Ejournals A to Z: new and improved!

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The Library’s Ejournals A to Z has a new user interface! Search or browse the Library’s online collection of more than 23,000 electronic journals by title, subject, or database.

Now you can limit your search results by:

  • Peer review journals
  • Resource type (e.g., journal, book, report, newsletter, etc.)
  • Subject
  • Database

Note: EBSCO defines peer reviewed as follows:

  • Blind Peer Reviewed (or Double Blind Peer Reviewed)
  • Editorial Board Peer Review
  • Expert Peer Review

To make it easier for users to find articles on a given subject, EBSCO has developed its own thesaurus: EBSCO’s Comprehensive Subject Index (CSI). Each article indexed by EBSCO is assigned two or more subject headings from this thesaurus to describe the article’s content.

To view a PowerPoint tutorial featuring the updated user interface, please see Publication Finder – Overview Tutorial.

UTSW Special Collections and Archives Oral History Project

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The University Archives has begun an oral history project with alumni of the university and current faculty members.

The goal of this project is to record the stories of the people who chose to attend the university and those who chose to work for it. Each individual has a unique story based upon their experiences, and through these interviews the viewer learns how UTSW played a part in their own stories.

If you would like to share your experiences and stories or would like to learn more, contact the University Archives at archives@utsouthwestern.edu.