William F. Garrity

Dartmouth College Web Strategy Advisory Committee.  I am appointed to this group as the professional schools' representative.  "WebSAC" thinks about and makes recommendations for strategic use of Dartmouth College's web presence.  Other members of the group include leaders from the offices of the Dean of the College, Development, HR, Admissions and Financial Aid, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Computing, Alumni Relations, and Finance and Administration.  Currently, we're still ruminating about what "the web" means for Dartmouth. 

DMS Strategic Planning.  I am part of a small group (six people, currently) steering the development of the Medical School's strategic plan.  I'll post more information once an official announcement gets made and the group get going. 

Next-Gen Library Systems Taskforce.  I am a member of a small, ad hoc group to help the College Library articulate how it needs our "finding systems" to behave and interact in order to navigate the physical and digital information resources to which the Dartmouth communities have access.  (Think: should we replace "the catalog" with something else?) 

CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award).   Clinical research--also known as "translational research," and "bench-to-practice-to-community health"--is the current emphasis in NIH-funded biomedical research.  It's where the NIH is directing more of its funding and where DMS/DHMC and other medical schools/academic medical centers are trying to position ourselves.  See this June 12, 2008, feature issue of Nature on translational research. 

"Bench-to-practice-to-community health" actually captures the concept pretty well:

• "bench-to-practice," or "T1:" translating basic research from the laboratory to the care of actual patients.
• "practice-to-community health," or "T2:" extending the care of individual patients to the health and wellness of the community.
• "community health-to-bench," or "T3:" completing the circle by using community health and wellness status to inform basic research priorities. 

I'm working with folks from across the university and medical center to craft a grant proposal for a Clinical and Translational Science Award from NIH. Specifically, I'm on the team writing about biomedical informatics, with Andy Gettinger (Anesthesiology, and Medical Director for Informatics) and Jason Moore, (Genetics, and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource in DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center).   

Helmut Schumann Lecture.  The Hitchcock Foundation's Helmut Schumann Lecture since its inception in 1983 has focused on "studies in healthful living" for an informed lay audience.  Speakers are nationally known and the lecture typically attracts hundreds of attendees.  I chair the selection committee. 

The purpose of the Hitchcock Foundation, as stated in the bylaws, is "to aid and advance the study and investigation of human ailments and injuries, and the causes, prevention, relief, and cure thereof, and the study and investigation of problems of hygiene, health and public welfare, and the promotion of medical, surgical and scientific learning, skill, education and investigation, and to engage in and conduct and to aid and assist in medical, surgical and scientific research in the broadest sense." 

Stay tuned!  We have identified the lecturer, and will make an announcement soon. 

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.  Effective August 2007, the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences split from the Medical School and was renamed the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice  (DIHPCP, or, more commonly, TDI).  I am collaborating with TDI's and DMS's leaderships to re-define support of and opportunities for library and information resources and services. 

Quality Literature Program.  An effort led by Paul Batalden (Pediatrics, and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of Healthcare Improvement Leadership, TDI), Frank Davidoff (Editor Emeritus of Annals of Internal Medicine), and David Stevens (Vice President of the Association of American Medical Colleges and Editor-in-Chief of BMJ's Quality and Safety in Healthcare) seeks to change standards for quality improvement publication.  See this article.  The Biomedical Libraries are supporting the effort by reviewing draft publication guidelines and are developing a proposal for a regular "library column" in Quality and Safety in Healthcare about finding good evidence.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Information Systems Steering Committee.  I am a member of the Information Systems Steering Committee (ISSC) for Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H).  This committee reports to the D-H Board of Governors and sets direction, budget, priorities, resource allocation, and polices for and provides oversight of information systems at D-H.  The ISSC's current principal focus is replacing our home-grown clinical information system with a market-place solution (the two finalists being Cerner and Epic). 

The steering committee has also cleaved ourselves into multiple subcommittees; I chair the "Messaging, Collaboration, and ICT Support" subcommittee ("MCIS"), and am working there in collaboration with Bill Weyrick, Senior Manager of User Support for DHMC Information Systems.  I'm also a member of the "communication" subcommittee.   Our first big job is replacing D-H's email system and making sure it integrates with our calendar. 

Track the ISSC's work on the DHMC intranet here. 

The Dartmouth Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Psychiatry and Mental Health.  2008's institute, our third annual, is August 7-9.  The course uses small-group sessions with hands-on, case-based training to introduce the evidence-based process using topics in various areas of mental health.  The audience is mental health professionals, including residents, trainees, and training directors, and medical librarians.  The institute's ultimate goal is for patients to benefit from the most effective services and care.

In 2006 and 2007, the institute's directors were Bob Drake (Director, Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center), Matt Merrens (Co-Director, Dartmouth Evidence-Based Practices Center), and myself.  Institute faculty have included Pamela Bagley, Heather Blunt, and Karen Odato, each a Research and Education Librarian in the Biomedical Libraries, and Cindy Stewart, Associate Director/Health Sciences Library.  In 2008, Karen, Matt, and Steve Bartels (Psychiatry), will be institute directors, while Bob Drake, Alan Green (Chair of Psychiatry), and myself will be institute sponsors.

Supporting Clinical Care: An Institute in Evidence-Based Practice for Medical Librarians.  With a lot of inspiration (and perspiration!) coming from our work with the Summer Institutes in Evidence-Based Psychiatry and Mental Health, we (the Biomedical Libraries) are offering an annual institute specifically focusing on the librarians' role in evidence-based healthcare.  The first institute is July 28-30, 2008.  See here for more information. 

Evidence-Based Information.  Clinicians at DHMC and we in the Biomedical Libraries know about the need to better and more seamlessly integrate information to the point of health practice, to the point of care, and in patient information.  The Biomedical Libraries and DHMC Information Systems collaborated on a project to integrate evidence-based information/clinical decision support tools in the current and likely successor clinical information systems.  We reviewed potential solutions and have provisionally identified Zynx Health as the best.  A D-H wide "Evidence Based Order Sets" team (EBOS), which includes librarians, is assessing the feasibility of taking this interim step with Zynx, with an initial focus on mapping current DHMC order sets to best-practice orderset templates available from Zynx.  The Libraries' specific work is developing nomenclature and taxonomy for new ordersets. 

The Biomedical Libraries will also participate in an NIH-funded project, "the Librarian Information Tailoring Environment (LITE)," whose co-investigators are James Cimino; Chief, Laboratory for Informatics Development, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center; and Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University; and Noémie Elhadad, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University.  LITE will provide an IT infrastructure to allow health and life sciences libraries to customize "infobuttons" as web links between clinical information systems to digital biomedical information resources, including the multiple evidence-based resources already provided by the Biomedical Libraries, but not hard-wired to clinical systems.  Integrating the Libraries and CIS would add value to the healthcare enterprise--and certainly further the Libraries' mission, as well.

Science-in-Sight.  The to-be-constructed Life Sciences Center is planned to have a "virtual life sciences presence," likely via interactive, multi-media displays.  I'm helping facilitate the planning process, along with Mark McPeek (Biological Sciences) and Steve Campbell (Office of Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction). 

Fiscal.  The Dartmouth Medical School has some fairly significant fiscal challenges, in part due to contracting research funding from NIH.  The Biomedical Libraries will have to make some economies, including not filling the Associate Director/Research and Education Services position.  For FY09, I particularly have to identify a new model for managing our education program, and watch operating expenses.  On the other hand, information resources have been protected status quo--given inflation in the cost of journals and databases, an awarded increase avoids net cancellations. 

Fundraising.  A director/chair/etc. should always have a list in his/her pocket a list of projects and priorities for development prospects.  I've got to update my list. 

Library Space.  Any library's space should be continually assessed and re-engineered to meet the needs of its clients.  The less-than-optimal condition and ambiance of the Dana Library continue to be major concerns.  The principal minor renovations that are still possible to make are installing a new service counter on the first floor (circulation and reference) and reconfiguring the Access Services staff area.  The Medical School and Arts and Sciences have agreed that the facility will be needed for at least the next fifteen years.  The two entities need to commit to improvements and put a process in place to fully describe them, prioritize them, and fund the work. 

Medical Informatics.  I'm working with Andy Gettinger (Anesthesiology, and Medical Director for Informatics), Jason Moore, (Genetics, and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource in DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center), and Jenica Nelan (manager of DHMC's informatics program) to heighten Dartmouth's awareness of the utility of an institutional medical informatics program.  One of our prominent efforts is a monthly or bi-monthly speaker series.  Our first speaker was John Halamka, of Harvard, on April 11.  Our second speaker was Jim Cimino, of the NIH, on May 16.  DHMC is also launching a multi-faceted medical informatics program; I'm collaborating with Andy, Jason, and Jenica in this. 

DMS and Tuck.   Many universities are fostering, or would like to foster, heightened collaboration between their schools of business and medicine.  Dartmouth itself sees synergy between DMS and the Tuck School of Business, and the Biomedical Libraries and Feldberg are ramping up our collaboration to support joint programs. 

We are also collaborating with the Tuck's executive education division and DHMC's clinical leadership to launch a "mini-MBA" program for section chiefs and practice managers.  The first class is in June 2008. 

AAHLS's Future Leadership Task Force.  I'm responsible for the "workforce trends" effort, which seeks to quantify and characterize impending director retirements and recent director recruitments.  We've done a survey, and I'm parsing the data. I'll report here and elsewhere.

October Conferences.  See here for information about 2008's conference--"Space 2.0: Small-Scale Library Redesign Projects." 

Dartmouth College Web Strategy Advisory Committee.  I have just been appointed to this group as the professional schools' representative.  "WebSAC" thinks about and makes recommendations for strategic use of Dartmouth College's web presence.  Other members of the group include leaders from the offices of the Dean of the College, Development, HR, Admissions and Financial Aid, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Computing, Alumni Relations, and Finance and Administration. 

DMS Strategic Planning.  I have also just been asked by the Dean to be part of a small group (four people, currently) to craft the Medical School's strategic plan.  I'll post more information as we get going. 

Next-Gen Library Systems Taskforce.  I am a member of a small, ad hoc group to help the College Library articulate how it needs our "finding systems" to behave and interact in order to navigate the physical and digital information resources to which we have access.  (Think: should we replace "the catalog" with something else?) 

CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award).   Clinical research--also known as "translational research," and "bench-to-practice-to-community health"--is the current emphasis in NIH-funded biomedical research.  It's where the NIH is directing more of its funding and where DMS/DHMC and other medical schools/academic medical centers are trying to position ourselves. 

"Bench-to-practice-to-community health" actually captures the concept pretty well:

• "bench-to-practice," or "T1:" translating basic research from the laboratory to the care of actual patients.
• "practice-to-community health," or "T2:" extending the care of individual patients to the health and wellness of the community.
• "community health-to-bench," or "T3:" completing the circle by using community health and wellness status to inform basic research priorities. 

I'm working with folks from across the university and medical center to craft a grant proposal for a Clinical and Translational Science Award from NIH. Specifically, I'm on the team writing about biomedical informatics, with Andy Gettinger (Anesthesiology, and Medical Director for Informatics) and Jason Moore, (Genetics, and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource in DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center).   

Helmut Schumann Lecture.  The Hitchcock Foundation's Helmut Schumann Lecture since its inception in 1983 has focused on "studies in healthful living" for an informed lay audience.  Speakers are nationally known and the lecture typically attracts hundreds of attendees.  I chair the selection committee. 

The purpose of the Hitchcock Foundation, as stated in the bylaws, is "to aid and advance the study and investigation of human ailments and injuries, and the causes, prevention, relief, and cure thereof, and the study and investigation of problems of hygiene, health and public welfare, and the promotion of medical, surgical and scientific learning, skill, education and investigation, and to engage in and conduct and to aid and assist in medical, surgical and scientific research in the broadest sense." 

Stay tuned! 

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.  Effective August 1, 2007, the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences split from the Medical School and was renamed the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice  (DIHPCP, or, more commonly, TDI).  I am collaborating with TDI's and DMS's leaderships to re-define support of library and information resources and services. 

Quality Literature Program.  An effort led by Paul Batalden (Pediatrics, and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of Healthcare Improvement Leadership, TDI), Frank Davidoff (Editor Emeritus of Annals of Internal Medicine), and David Stevens (Vice President of the Association of American Medical Colleges and Editor-in-Chief of BMJ's Quality and Safety in Healthcare) seeks to change standards for quality improvement publication.  See this article.  The Biomedical Libraries are supporting the effort by reviewing draft publication guidelines and are developing a proposal for a regular "library column" in Quality and Safety in Healthcare about finding good evidence.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Information Systems Steering Committee.  I am a member of the Information Systems Steering Committee (ISSC) for Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H).  This committee reports to the D-H Board of Governors and sets direction, budget, priorities, resource allocation, and polices for and provides oversight of information systems at D-H.  The ISSC's current principal focus is replacing our home-grown clinical information system with a market-place solution (the two finalists being Cerner and Epic). 

The steering committee has also cleaved ourselves into multiple subcommittees; I chair the "Messaging, Collaboration, and ICT Support" subcommittee ("MCIS"), and am working there in collaboration with Bill Weyrick, Senior Manager of User Support for DHMC Information Systems.  I'm also a member of the "communication" subcommittee.   Our first big job is replacing D-H's email system. 

Track the ISSC's work on the DHMC intranet here. 

The Dartmouth Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Psychiatry and Mental Health.  2008's institute, our third annual, is August 7-9.  The course uses small-group sessions with hands-on, case-based training to introduce the evidence-based process using topics in various areas of mental health.  The audience is mental health professionals, including residents, trainees, and training directors, and medical librarians.  The institute's ultimate goal is for patients to benefit from the most effective services and care.

In 2006 and 2007, the institute's directors were Bob Drake (Director, Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center), Matt Merrens (Co-Director, Dartmouth Evidence-Based Practices Center), and myself.  Institute faculty have included Pamela Bagley, Heather Blunt, and Karen Odato, each a Research and Education Librarian in the Biomedical Libraries, and Cindy Stewart, Associate Director/Health Sciences Library.  In 2008, Karen, Matt, and Steve Bartels (Psychiatry), will be institute directors, while Bob Drake, Alan Green (Chair of Psychiatry), and myself will be institute sponsors.

Supporting Clinical Care: An Institute in Evidence-Based Practice for Medical Librarians.  With a lot of inspiration (and perspiration!) coming from our work with the Summer Institutes in Evidence-Based Psychiatry and Mental Health, we (the Biomedical Libraries) are offering an annual institute specifically focusing on the librarians' role in evidence-based healthcare.  The first institute is July 28-30, 2008.  See here for more information. 

Evidence-Based Information.  Clinicians at DHMC and we in the Biomedical Libraries know about the need to better and more seamlessly integrate information to the point of health practice, to the point of care, and in patient information.  The Biomedical Libraries and DHMC Information Systems collaborated on a project to integrate evidence-based information/clinical decision support tools in the current and likely successor clinical information systems.  We reviewed potential solutions and have provisionally identified Zynx Health as the best.  A D-H wide "Evidence Based Order Sets" team (EBOS), which includes librarians, is assessing the feasibility of taking this interim step with Zynx, with an initial focus on mapping current DHMC order sets to best-practice orderset templates available from Zynx.  The Libraries' specific work is developing nomenclature and taxonomy for new ordersets. 

The Biomedical Libraries will also participate in an NIH-funded project, "the Librarian Information Tailoring Environment (LITE)," whose co-investigators are James Cimino; Chief, Laboratory for Informatics Development, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center; and Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University; and Noémie Elhadad, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University.  LITE will provide an IT infrastructure to allow health and life sciences libraries to customize "infobuttons" as web links between clinical information systems to digital biomedical information resources, including the multiple evidence-based resources already provided by the Biomedical Libraries, but not hard-wired to clinical systems.  Integrating the Libraries and CIS would add value to the healthcare enterprise--and certainly further the Libraries' mission, as well.

Science-in-Sight.  The to-be-constructed Life Sciences Center is planned to have a "virtual life sciences presence," likely via interactive, multi-media displays.  I'm helping facilitate the planning process, along with Mark McPeek (Biological Sciences) and Steve Campbell (Office of Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction). 

Fiscal.  The Dartmouth Medical School has some fairly significant fiscal challenges, in part due to contracting research funding from NIH.  The Biomedical Libraries will have to make some economies, including not filling the Associate Director/Research and Education Services position.  For FY09, I particularly have to identify a new model for managing our education program, and watch operating expenses.  On the other hand, information resources have been protected status quo--given inflation in the cost of journals and databases, an awarded 8% increase avoids net cancellations. 

Fundraising.  A director/chair/etc. should always have a list in his/her pocket a list of projects and priorities for development prospects.  I've got to update my list. 

Library Space.  Any library's space should be continually assessed and re-engineered to meet the needs of its clients.  The poor condition and ambiance of the Dana Library continue to be major concerns.  The principal minor renovations that are still possible to make are installing a new service counter on the first floor (circulation and reference) and reconfiguring the Access Services staff area.  The Medical School and Arts and Sciences have agreed that the facility will be needed for at least the next fifteen years.  The two entities need to commit to improvements and put a process in place to fully describe them, prioritize them, and fund the work. 

Medical Informatics.  I'm working with Andy Gettinger (Anesthesiology, and Medical Director for Informatics), Jason Moore, (Genetics, and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource in DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center), and Jenica Nelan (manager of DHMC's informatics program) to heighten Dartmouth's awareness of the utility of an institutional medical informatics program.  One of our prominent efforts is a monthly or bi-monthly speaker series.  Our first speaker was John Halamka, of Harvard, on April 11.  Our second speaker was Jim Cimino, of the NIH, on May 16.  DHMC is also launching a multi-faceted medical informatics program; I'm collaborating with Andy, Jason, and Jenica in this. 

DMS and Tuck.   Many universities are fostering, or would like to foster, heightened collaboration between their schools of business and medicine.  Dartmouth itself sees synergy between DMS and the Tuck School of Business, and the Biomedical Libraries and Feldberg are ramping up our collaboration to support joint programs. 

We are also collaborating with the Tuck's executive education division and DHMC's clinical leadership to launch a "mini-MBA" program for section chiefs and practice managers.  The first class is in June 2008. 

AAHLS's Future Leadership Task Force.  I'm responsible for the "workforce trends" effort, which seeks to quantify and characterize impending director retirements and recent director recruitments.  We've done a survey, and I'm parsing the data. I'll report here and elsewhere.

October Conferences.  See here for information about 2008's conference--"Space 2.0: Small-Scale Library Redesign Projects." 

Web Strategy Advisory Committee.  I have just been appointed to this group as the professional schools' representative.  WebSAC thinks about and makes recommendations for strategic use of Dartmouth College's web presence.  Other members of the group include leaders from the offices of the Dean of the College, Development, HR, Admissions and Financial Aid, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Computing, Alumni Relations, and Finance and Administration. 

Next-Gen Library Systems Taskforce.  I have also just been appointed to a small workgroup to help the College Library articulate how it needs our "finding systems" to behave and interact in order to navigate the physical and digital information resources we have access to.  (Think: should we replace the catalog with something else?) 

CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award).   Clinical research--also known as "translational research," and "bench-to-bedside-to-practice"--is the current emphasis in NIH-funded biomedical research.  It's where the NIH is directing more of its funding and where DMS/DHMC and other medical schools/academic medical centers are trying to position ourselves. 

"Bench-to-bedside-to-practice" actually captures the concept pretty well:

• "bench-to-bedside:" translating basic research from the laboratory to the care of actual patients.
• "bedside-to-practice:" extending the care of individual patients to community and medical practice research; to the health and wellness of populations of patients.

I'm working with folks across DMS and DHMC to craft a grant proposal for a Clinical and Translational Science Award from NIH. Specifically, I'm on the team writing about biomedical informatics.   

Helmut Schumann Lecture.  The Hitchcock Foundation's Helmut Schumann Lecture since its inception in 1983 has focused on "studies in healthful living" for an informed lay audience.  Speakers are nationally known and the lecture typically attracts hundreds of attendees.  I chair the selection committee. 

The purpose of the Hitchcock Foundation, as stated in the bylaws, is "to aid and advance the study and investigation of human ailments and injuries, and the causes, prevention, relief, and cure thereof, and the study and investigation of problems of hygiene, health and public welfare, and the promotion of medical, surgical and scientific learning, skill, education and investigation, and to engage in and conduct and to aid and assist in medical, surgical and scientific research in the broadest sense." 

Our first pick for 2008's lecture was Bill McDonough to speak about sustainable living, but that didn't pan out.  We're now working on Plan B--Harvard's Daniel Gilbert.  Stay tuned! 

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.  Effective August 1, 2007, the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences split from the Medical School and was renamed the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice  (DIHPCP, or, more commonly, TDI).  I am collaborating with TDI's and DMS's leaderships to re-define support of library and information resources and services. 

Quality Literature Program.  An effort led by TDI's Paul Batalden, MD (Pediatrics and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of Healthcare Improvement Leadership, TDI), Frank Davidoff, MD (Editor Emeritus of Annals of Internal Medicine), and David Stevens, MD (Vice President of the Association of American Medical Colleges and Editor-in-Chief of BMJ's Quality and Safety in Healthcare) seeks to change standards for quality improvement publication.  See this article.  The Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries are supporting the effort by reviewing draft publication guidelines and are developing a proposal for a regular "library column" in Quality and Safety in Healthcare about finding good evidence.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Information Systems Steering Committee.  I am a member of the Information Systems Steering Committee (ISSC) for Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H).  This committee reports to the D-H Board of Governors and sets direction, budget, priorities, resource allocation, and polices for and provides oversight of information systems at D-H.  The ISSC's current principal focus is replacing our home-grown clinical information system with a market-place solution (the two finalists being Cerner and Epic). 

The steering committee has also cleaved ourselves into multiple subcommittees; I chair the "Messaging, Collaboration, and ICT Support" subcommittee ("MCIS"), and am working there in collaboration with Bill Weyrick, Senior Manager of User Support for DHMC Information Systems.  I'm also a member of the "communication" subcommittee.   

Track the ISSC's work on the DHMC intranet here. 

The Dartmouth Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Mental Health.  2008's institute, our third annual, is August 7-9.  The course uses small-group sessions with hands-on, case-based training to introduce the evidence-based process using topics in various areas of mental health.  The audience is mental health professionals, including residents, trainees, and training directors, and medical librarians.  The institute's ultimate goal is for patients to benefit from the most effective services and care.

In 2006 and 2007, the institute's directors were Robert E. Drake, MD, PhD (Director, Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center), Matthew R. Merrens, PhD (Co-Director, Dartmouth Evidence-Based Practices Center), and myself.  Institute faculty have included Pamela Bagley, Heather Blunt, and Karen Odato, each a Research and Education Librarian in the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries, and Cindy Stewart, Associate Director/Health Sciences for the Biomedical Libraries.  In 2008, Karen, Matt, and Steve Bartels, MD (Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School), will be institute directors, while Bob Drake, Alan I. Green, MD (Chair of Psychiatry), and myself will be institute sponsors.

In 2007, we also offered a fully-funded "librarian internship" as part of the institute, and will continue to do so in future institutes.  The goal here is to provide a (non-Dartmouth) librarian the opportunity to expand his or her evidence-based medicine instructional skills and knowledge.  After a competitive application process, in 2007 we selected Tagalie (Tag) Heister, MSLS, from the University of Kentucky Medical Center Library.  She is a medical librarian working directly in Kentucky's Department of Psychiatry.  Institute interns receive all instructional materials, participate in the small groups and exercises, assist institute faculty members, and socialize with the faculty and participants.

Institute in Evidence-Based Medicine for Librarians.  With a lot of inspiration (and perspiration!) coming from our work with the Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Mental Health, we (the Biomedical Libraries) are offering an annual institute specifically focusing on the librarians' role in evidence-based healthcare.  The first institute is July 28-30, 2008.  See here for more information. 

Science-in-Sight.  The to-be-constructed Life Sciences Center is planned to have a "virtual life sciences presence," likely via interactive, multi-media displays.  I'm helping facilitate the planning process, along with Mark McPeek (Biological Sciences) and Steve Campbell (Office of Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction). 

Fiscal.  The Dartmouth Medical School has some fairly significant fiscal challenges, in part due to contracting research funding from NIH.  The Biomedical Libraries will have to make some economies, including not filling the Associate Director/Research and Education Services position.  For FY09, I particularly have to watch operating expenses.  On the other hand, information resources have been protected status quo--given inflation in the cost of journals and databases, an 8% increase avoids net cancellations. 

Fundraising.  A director/chair/etc. should always have a list in his/her pocket of projects and priorities for development prospects.  I've got to update my list. 

Library space.  Any library's space should be continually assessed and re-engineered to meet the needs of its clients.  The Biomedical Libraries' Dana Library needs particular attention. 

• Dana Library space:
• outline the next round of possible improvements. 
• We've recently combined the reference/information desk and the circulation desk.  Side-by-side research librarians and circulation staff works very well at the Matthews-Fuller Library; we've been keen to emulate the model at Dana.  We're currently using the existing circulation furniture; since it's inadequate, we'll be specing a better layout. 
• The arts program has been launched.
• Matthews-Fuller Library space: with Cindy Stewart, thinking about changes to that space.
• Define long-term needs for health and life sciences/sciences library space on the Hanover campus.

Medical Informatics.  I'm working with Andy Gettinger, Jason Moore, (Director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource in DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Associate Professor of Genetics and of Community and Family Medicine), and Jenica Nelan (manager of DHMC informatics program) to heighten Dartmouth's awareness of the utility of an institutional medical informatics program.  One of our prominent efforts is a monthly or bi-monthly speaker series.  Our first speaker was John Halamka, of Harvard, on April 11.  Our second speaker is Jim Cimino, of the NIH, on May 16.  DHMC is also launching a multi-faceted medical informatics program; I'm collaborating with Andy, Jason, and Jenica in this. 

DMS and Tuck.   Many universities are fostering, or would like to foster, heightened collaboration between their schools of business and medicine.  Dartmouth itself sees synergy between DMS and the Tuck School of Business, and the Biomedical Libraries and Feldberg are ramping up our collaboration to support joint programs. 

AAHLS's Future Leadership Task Force.  I'm responsible for the "workforce trends" effort, which seeks to quantify and characterize impending director retirements and recent director recruitments.  We've done a survey, and I'm parsing the data. I'll report here and elsewhere.

October Conferences.  See here for information about 2008's conference--"Space 2.0: Small-Scale Library Redesign Projects." 

** Performance Evaluations.  What with the vacancy in the Biomedical Libraries' Associate Director/Research and Education Services position (see below), I have more interim direct reports than usual, and so more evaluations to do. 

** CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award).   Clinical research--also known as "translational research," and "bench-to-bedside-to-practice"--is the current emphasis in NIH-funded biomedical research.  It's where the NIH is directing more of its funding and where DMS/DHMC and other medical schools/academic medical centers are trying to position ourselves. 

"Bench-to-bedside-to-practice" actually captures the concept pretty well:

• "bench-to-bedside:" translating basic research from the laboratory to the care of actual patients.
• "bedside-to-practice:" extending the care of individual patients to community and medical practice research; to the health and wellness of populations of patients.

I'm working with folks across DMS and DHMC to craft a grant proposal for a Clinical and Translational Science Award from NIH. Specifically, I'm on the team writing about biomedical informatics.   

Helmut Schumann Lecture.  The Hitchcock Foundation's Helmut Schumann Lecture since its inception in 1983 has focused on "studies in healthful living" for an informed lay audience.  Speakers are nationally known and the lecture typically attracts hundreds of attendees.  I chair the selection committee. 

The purpose of the Hitchcock Foundation, as stated in the bylaws, is "to aid and advance the study and investigation of human ailments and injuries, and the causes, prevention, relief, and cure thereof, and the study and investigation of problems of hygiene, health and public welfare, and the promotion of medical, surgical and scientific learning, skill, education and investigation, and to engage in and conduct and to aid and assist in medical, surgical and scientific research in the broadest sense." 

Our first pick for 2008's lecture was Bill McDonough to speak about sustainable living, but that didn't pan out.  We're now working on Plan B--Harvard's Daniel Gilbert.  Stay tuned! 

** Associate Director/Research and Education Services.  (See the Biomedical Libraries' organization chart.)  This position is vacant, and recruitment has begun.  The search committee will review applications after May 1.  This is a key position for us; the person leads the Libraries' education programming and manages five Research and Education Librarians. 

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.  Effective August 1, 2007, the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences split from the Medical School and was renamed the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice  (DIHPCP, or, more commonly, TDI).  I am collaborating with TDI's and DMS's leaderships to re-define support of library and information resources and services. 

Quality Literature Program.  An effort led by TDI's Paul Batalden, MD (Pediatrics and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of Healthcare Improvement Leadership, TDI), Frank Davidoff, MD (Editor Emeritus of Annals of Internal Medicine), and David Stevens, MD (Vice President of the Association of American Medical Colleges and Editor-in-Chief of BMJ's Quality and Safety in Healthcare) seeks to change standards for quality improvement publication.  See this article.  The Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries are supporting the effort by reviewing draft publication guidelines and are developing a proposal for a regular "library column" in Quality and Safety in Healthcare about finding good evidence.

** Dartmouth-Hitchcock Information Systems Steering Committee.  I am a member of the Information Systems Steering Committee (ISSC) for Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H).  This committee reports to the D-H Board of Governors and sets direction, budget, priorities, resource allocation, and polices for and provides oversight of information systems at D-H.  The ISSC's current principal focus is replacing our home-grown clinical information system with a market-place solution (the two finalists being Cerner and Epic). 

The steering committee has also cleaved ourselves into multiple subcommittees; I chair the "Messaging, Collaboration, and ICT Support" subcommittee ("MCIS"), and am working there in collaboration with Bill Weyrick, Senior Manager of User Support for DHMC Information Systems.  I'm also a member of the "communication" subcommittee.   

Track the ISSC's work on the DHMC intranet here. 

The Dartmouth Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Mental Health.  2008's institute, our third annual, is August 7-9.  The course uses small-group sessions with hands-on, case-based training to introduce the evidence-based process using topics in various areas of mental health.  The audience is mental health professionals, including residents, trainees, and training directors, and medical librarians.  The institute's ultimate goal is for patients to benefit from the most effective services and care.

In 2006 and 2007, the institute's directors were Robert E. Drake, MD, PhD (Director, Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center), Matthew R. Merrens, PhD (Co-Director, Dartmouth Evidence-Based Practices Center), and myself.  Institute faculty have included Pamela Bagley, Heather Blunt, and Karen Odato, each a Research and Education Librarian in the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries, and Cindy Stewart, Associate Director/Health Sciences for the Biomedical Libraries.  In 2008, Karen, Matt, and Steve Bartels, MD (Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School), will be institute directors, while Bob Drake, Alan I. Green, MD (Chair of Psychiatry), and myself will be institute sponsors.

In 2007, we also offered a fully-funded "librarian internship" as part of the institute, and will continue to do so in future institutes.  The goal here is to provide a (non-Dartmouth) librarian the opportunity to expand his or her evidence-based medicine instructional skills and knowledge.  After a competitive application process, in 2007 we selected Tagalie (Tag) Heister, MSLS, from the University of Kentucky Medical Center Library.  She is a medical librarian working directly in Kentucky's Department of Psychiatry.  Institute interns receive all instructional materials, participate in the small groups and exercises, assist institute faculty members, and socialize with the faculty and participants.

Institute in Evidence-Based Medicine for Librarians.  With a lot of inspiration (and perspiration!) coming from our work with the Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Mental Health, we (the Biomedical Libraries) are offering an annual institute specifically focusing on the librarians' role in evidence-based healthcare.  The first institute is July 28-30, 2008.  See here for more information. 

Science-in-Sight.  The to-be-constructed Life Sciences Center is planned to have a "virtual life sciences presence," likely via interactive, multi-media displays.  I'm helping facilitate the planning process, along with Mark McPeek (Biological Sciences) and Steve Campbell (Office of Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction). 

Vietnam.  In March 2008, I went with a group of plastic and craniofacial surgeons, and with Pamela Bagley from the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries to consult with Hanoi-area hospitals about ICT and healthcare.  (The surgeons did clinics.)  (This was my second trip--I went there last in March 2007.) 

See elsewhere in this site for more information, including a travel journal.

** Fiscal.  We're tracking this year's (FY08) progress, generally, and continuing to get to know the new financial system (OASIS), in particular.  I'm managing the budget proposal for next year (FY09). 

Fundraising.  A director/chair/etc. should always have a list in his/her pocket of projects and priorities for development prospects.  I've got to update my list. 

** Library space.  Any library's space should be continually assessed and re-engineered to meet the needs of its clients.  The Biomedical Libraries' Dana Library needs particular attention. 

• Dana Library space:
• outline the next round of possible improvements. 
• We've recently combined the reference/information desk and the circulation desk.  Side-by-side research librarians and circulation staff works very well at the Matthews-Fuller Library; we've been keen to emulate the model at Dana.  We're currently using the existing circulation furniture; since it's inadequate, we'll be specing a better layout. 
• The arts program has been launched.
• Matthews-Fuller Library space: with Cindy Stewart, thinking about changes to that space.
• Define long-term needs for health and life sciences/sciences library space on the Hanover campus.

Medical Informatics.  I'm working with Andy Gettinger, Jason Moore, (Director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource in DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Associate Professor of Genetics and of Community and Family Medicine), and Jenica Nelan (manager of DHMC informatics program) to heighten Dartmouth's awareness of the utility of an institutional medical informatics program.  One of our prominent efforts is a monthly or bi-monthly speaker series.  Our first speaker was John Halamka, of Harvard, on April 11.  Our second speaker is Jim Cimino, of the NIH, on May 16.  DHMC is also launching a multi-faceted medical informatics program; I'm collaborating with Andy, Jason, and Jenica in this. 

DMS and Tuck.   Many universities are fostering, or would like to foster, heightened collaboration between their schools of business and medicine.  Dartmouth itself sees synergy between DMS and the Tuck School of Business, and the Biomedical Libraries and Feldberg are ramping up our collaboration to support joint programs. 

** AAHLS's Future Leadership Task Force.  I'm responsible for the "workforce trends" effort, which seeks to quantify and characterize impending director retirements and recent director recruitments.  We've done a survey, and I'm parsing the data. I'll report here and elsewhere.

October Conferences.  See here for information about 2008's conference--"Space 2.0: Small-Scale Library Redesign Projects." 

Performance appraisals.  What with the vacancy in the associate director position (see below), I have more interim direct reports than usual, and so more appraisals to do. 

** CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award).   Clinical research--also known as "translational research," and "bench-to-bedside-to-practice"--is the current emphasis in biomedical research.  It's where the NIH is directing more of its funding and where DMS/DHMC and other medical schools/medical centers are trying to position themselves. 

"Bench-to-bedside-to-practice" actually captures the concept:

• "bench-to-bedside:" translating basic research from the laboratory to the care of actual patients.
• "bedside-to-practice:" extending the care of individual patients to community and medical practice research; to the health and wellness of populations of patients.

I'm working with folks across DMS and DHMC to craft a grant proposal for a Clinical and Translational Science Award from NIH. Specifically, I'm on the team writing about biomedical informatics.   

Helmut Schumann Lecture.  The Hitchcock Foundation's Helmut Schumann Lecture since its inception in 1983 has focused on "studies in healthful living" for an informed lay audience.  Speakers are nationally known and the lecture typically attracts hundreds of attendees.  I chair the selection committee. 

The purpose of the Hitchcock Foundation, as stated in the bylaws, is "to aid and advance the study and investigation of human ailments and injuries, and the causes, prevention, relief, and cure thereof, and the study and investigation of problems of hygiene, health and public welfare, and the promotion of medical, surgical and scientific learning, skill, education and investigation, and to engage in and conduct and to aid and assist in medical, surgical and scientific research in the broadest sense." 

Our first pick for 2008's lecture was Bill McDonough to speak about sustainable living, but that didn't pan out.  We're now working on Plan B.  Stay tuned. 

** Associate Director/Research and Education Services.  (See our organization chart.)  This position is vacant, and recruitment has begun.  The search committee will review applications on or around May 1.  This is a key position for us; the person leads the Libraries' education programming and manages five Research and Education Librarians. 

Conflicts-of-interest.  The Dartmouth College Library system has heightened sensitivity to potential conflicts of interest in our dealings with business partners (publishers, systems vendors, book jobbers, etc.).  I'm taking part in a small group that is thinking about the issues and proposing guidelines. 

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.  Effective August 1, 2007, the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences split from the Medical School and was renamed the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice  (DIHPCP, or, more commonly, TDI).  I am collaborating with TDI's and DMS's leaderships to re-define support of library and information resources and services. 

Quality Literature Program.  An effort led by TDI's Paul Batalden, MD (Pediatrics and Community and Family Medicine, and Director of Healthcare Improvement Leadership, TDI), Frank Davidoff, MD (Editor Emeritus of Annals of Internal Medicine), and David Stevens, MD (Vice President of the Association of American Medical Colleges and Editor-in-Chief of BMJ's Quality and Safety in Healthcare) seeks to change standards for quality improvement publication.  See this article.  The Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries are supporting the effort by reviewing draft publication guidelines and are developing a proposal for a regular "library column" in Quality and Safety in Healthcare about finding good evidence.

** Dartmouth-Hitchcock Information Systems Steering Committee.  I am a member of the Information Systems Steering Committee (ISSC) for Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H).  This committee reports to the D-H Board of Governors and sets direction, budget, priorities, resource allocation, and polices for and provides oversight of information systems at D-H.  The ISSC's current focus is replacing our home-grown clinical information system with a market-place solution.  The steering committee is also cleaving ourselves into multiple sub-committees; I chair the "email and ICT support" subcommittee, and am working in collaboration with Bill Weyrick, Senior Manager of User Support for DHMC Information Systems.  I'm also a member of the "communication" subcommitee.   

The Dartmouth Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Mental Health.  2008's institute, our third annual, is August 7-9.  The course uses small-group sessions with hands-on, case-based training to introduce the evidence-based process using topics in various areas of mental health.  The audience is mental health professionals, including residents, trainees, and training directors, and medical librarians.  The institute's ultimate goal is for patients to benefit from the most effective services and care.

In 2006 and 2007, the institute's directors were Robert E. Drake, MD, PhD (Director, Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center), Matthew R. Merrens, PhD (Co-Director, Dartmouth Evidence-Based Practices Center), and myself.  Institute faculty have included Pamela Bagley, Heather Blunt, and Karen Odato, each a Research and Education Librarian in the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries, and Cindy Stewart, Associate Director/Health Sciences for the Biomedical Libraries.  In 2008, Karen, Matt, and Steve Bartels, MD (Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School), will be institute directors, while Bob Drake, Alan I. Green, MD (Chair of Psychiatry), and myself will be institute sponsors.

In 2007, we also offered a fully-funded "librarian internship" as part of the institute, and will continue to do so in future institutes.  The goal here is to provide a (non-Dartmouth) librarian the opportunity to expand his or her evidence-based medicine instructional skills and knowledge.  After a competitive application process, in 2007 we selected Tagalie (Tag) Heister, MSLS, from the University of Kentucky Medical Center Library.  She is a medical librarian working directly in Kentucky's Department of Psychiatry.  Institute interns receive all instructional materials, participate in the small groups and exercises, assist institute faculty members, and socialize with the faculty and participants.

Institute in Evidence-Based Medicine for Librarians.  With some inspiration coming from our work with the Summer Institute in Evidence-Based Mental Health, we (the Biomedical Libraries) are developing an annual institute specifically focusing on the librarians' role in evidence-based healthcare.  We're working to offer the first institute July 28-30, 2008. 

Science-in-Sight.  The to-be-constructed Life Sciences Centeris planned to have a "virtual life sciences presence," likely via interactive, multi-media displays.  I'm facilitating the planning process. 

Vietnam.  In March 2008, I went with a group of plastic and craniofacial surgeons, and with  Pamela Bagley from the Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries to consult with Hanoi-area hospitals about ICT and healthcare.  (The surgeons did clinics.)  (This was my second trip--I went there last in March 2007.) 

See elsewhere in this site for more information, including a travel journal.

** Fiscal.  We're tracking this year's (FY08) progress, generally, and continuing to get to know the new financial system (OASIS), in particular.  I'm putting putting the budget proposal together for next year (FY09). 

Fundraising.  A director/chair/etc. should always have a list in his/her pocket of projects and priorities for development prospects.  I'm updating my list. 

** Library space.  Any library's space should be continually assessed and re-engineered to meet the needs of its clients.  The Biomedical Libraries' Dana library needs particular attention. 

• Dana Library space:
• outline the next round of possible improvements. 
• We've recently combined the reference/information desk and the circulation desk.  Side-by-side research librarians and circulation staff works very well at the Matthews-Fuller Library; we've been keen to emulate the model at Dana.  We're currently using the existing circulation furniture; since it's inadequate, we'll be specing a better layout. 
• The arts program has been launched.
• Matthews-Fuller Library space: with Cindy Stewart, thinking about changes to that space.
• Define long-term needs for health and life sciences/sciences library space on the Hanover campus.

Medical Informatics.  I'm working with Andy Gettinger and Jason Moore, PhD (Director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource in DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Associate Professor of Genetics and of Community and Family Medicine), to heighten Dartmouth's awareness of the utility of an institutional medical informatics program.  Our first effort is a monthly or bi-monthly speaker series.  DHMC is also launching a multi-faceted medical informatics program; I'm collaborating with Andy in this. 

DMS and Tuck.   Many universities are fostering, or would like to foster, heightened collaboration between their schools of business and medicine.  Dartmouth itself sees synergy between DMS and the Tuck School of Business, and the Biomedical Libraries and Feldberg are ramping up our collaboration to support joint programs.  Right now, we're in the midst of assessing what is going on at other universities.  I'll report here and elsewhere on findings.

** AAHLS's Future Leadership Task Force.  I'm responsible for the "workforce trends" effort, which seeks to quantify and characterize impending director retirements and recent director recruitments.  We've done a survey, and I'm parsing the data. I'll report here and elsewhere.

October Conferences.  I made a commitment to write about it for the literature--to spread the word about what we're doing.