Time Keeps on Slipping: Learning Goals for 2019

Image via Pixabay.

Time keeps on slipping into the future, but I don’t want to fly like an eagle…I just want to become more knowledgeable about systematic review best practices and maybe join AHIP this year.  It’s hard to believe I’ve been using this blog for almost two years to chronicle my professional development activities, explore digital collections and databases, learn about the career paths of other librarians, and obsess about cats.

Looking over my learning goals from last year, I’ve been relatively successful in improving my understanding of research data management resources and best practices (thanks largely to an online course from NYU Health Sciences Library).  On the other hand, I didn’t do so well with the goal of learning to code with R.  I’m starting to think that R is my personal white whale, but hopefully one day I’ll find the time to take the Introduction to R for Data Science from edX course.  I’ve mostly put R on the backburner though, since it’s not quite as applicable to my current position.  One very positive continuing education experience I had in 2018 was taking the NNLM Bioinformatics and Biology Essentials For Librarians online course, where I learned a lot about NCBI genomics and bioinformatics resources.

Moving on to my professional development goals for 2019…

• • Regularly Check RSS Feeds of Library News: I really want to become more diligent about regularly checking the library news resources I follow, so I tried to make checking the headlines easier through use of an RSS reader. I decided on Feedly, since there’s a free version, and I can set up the app on my phone.
  • Learn More about Systematic Review Best Practices: I’m hoping during the next few months to create some systematic review training resources at my current position, so I’d like to learn more about the systematic review process and best practices.  My best bet will probably be to watch the series of recorded webinars (or watch the current round of webinars) for The Pieces of Systematic Review with Margaret Foster Webinar Series from NNLM.  I may also try reading Assembling the Pieces of a Systematic Review: A Guide for Librarians (Medical Library Association Books Series).
  • Apply to Join AHIP: I’ve taken enough online courses and attended enough webinars hosted by NNLM that I think I can apply to join the Academy of Health Information Professionals at the Member level. Joining AHIP will be a great way to encourage myself to continue participating in professional development activities and track my participation.

Of course, I’ll probably continue to mostly use this blog to explore random databases and post cat pictures, but I still always have continuing education lurking in the back of my mind, urging me to improve my librarian skills!

 

 

New Year, New Learning Goals

Image from Pixabay.

I started this blog a little less than a year ago, mainly to track professional development activities, but I’ve also found a space to explore other library-related interests like open access digital resources and intellectual property.  I’ve also occasionally gone a bit off topic with cats in libraries and my obsession with the Internet Archive digital collections.

So to get back on topic a bit, I want to take a look back at what professional development goals I’ve met this year and list a few new learning goals for 2018.  I’m happy to say that I’ve met a number of my learning goals I set for 2017:

• I earned the Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) level 2 from the Medical Library Association (all through free classes from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, NNLM).
• I created a few practice visualizations using Tableau.
• I took the free course Big Data in Healthcare: Emerging Roles through NNLM, where I learned about how health science librarians can get involved in Big Data.

The one learning goal I didn’t make much progress on was learning to code with R.  I’ve done a bit of practice with creating very basic graphs using the ggplot2 package, but I’d like to complete an actual online course about using R.

So there’s my first learning goal for 2018 – complete an online course that offers an introduction to R.  I’m thinking I’ll probably try to take the course Introduction to R for Data Science from edX (which is free but costs $99 for a certificate).

My other main goal for 2018 is to learn more about research data management (RDM) strategies for health science libraries.  I hope to take one of the courses or workshops recommended by NNLM to learn more about RDM strategies and tools.  I may start with the Research Data Management for Health Sciences Librarians training developed by librarians at the NYU Health Science Library.

I’ve got a few goals for 2018 in place…I guess I better start learning!

 

Online Health Resources in Amharic

I recently took the class Health and Wellness @ the Library: The Essentials of Providing Consumer Health Services, a free online course available through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM), and the final project provided the option to create a “pathfinder” of online health information for a specific audience.  I decided to create a pathfinder to help local library staff, healthcare professionals, and community leaders locate reliable health resources for community members who primarily speak Amharic in Silver Spring, Maryland.  There is a large Ethiopian American community living in the Silver Spring area, many of whom speak Amharic, so I thought this pathfinder would be particularly relevant to my local community.

Amharic-Language Consumer Health Materials (Located through English-Language Websites)

EthnoMed Amharic Resources (https://ethnomed.org/patient-education/amharic): A website from Harborview Medical Center linking to health and cultural information related to immigrant and refugee groups. Browse through a list of Amharic patient education materials, organized alphabetically by title. Linked materials include both documents and videos.  Topics cover a range of chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, HIV, and hepatitis, as well as general wellness, women’s health, healthcare communication, and medication safety information.

Health Navigator Amharic Health Information (https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/languages/a/amharic/): A website overseen by the Health Navigator Charitable Trust in New Zealand.  Resources are listed under an alphabetical list of health topics, including important common topics like children’s health, women’s health, mental health, sexual health, oral health, immunizations, accessing healthcare, asthma, diabetes, heart health, and more.  Formats include PDFs and HTML websites.

Health Translations Amharic Resources (http://www.healthtranslations.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcht.nsf/PresentMultilingualResource?Open&x=&s=Amharic): An online directory created by the Victorian Government of Australia to provide consumer health information in multiple languages. Browse through an alphabetical list of health topics to view Amharic health resources related to each topic.  Most resources seem to be in PDF format. Topics with large collections of resources include cancer, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, infections, mental health, and parenting.

HealthReach Amharic Resources (https://healthreach.nlm.nih.gov/searchresults?keywords=&btnsearch=Search&category=1&country=&population=&language=Amharic&format=&user=&records=10): A database of health information in multiple languages from the US National Library of Medicine. Browse through over 60 results, including document, video, and audio resources.  Enter search terms to narrow results by topic.  Resources from toolkits covering a wide range of refugee and immigrant health topics (including “Safe, Smart and Healthy – Keys to Success in Your New Home” series and “Health and Wellbeing” series) are available, as well as patient materials related to bed bugs, women’s health, children’s health, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and a Zika fact sheet.

Video about medical care and health insurance in Amharic, located through HealthReach.

King County Information translated in Amharic (http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/languages/amharic.aspx): Translated health materials from King County, WA.  Download videos, posters, handouts, and comic strips in Amharic, organized under topics related to children’s health, communicable diseases, emergency preparedness, and environmental health.

MedlinePlus Health Information in Amharic (amarunya) (https://medlineplus.gov/languages/amharic.html): Consumer health portal from the National Library of Medicine. Browse a list of Amharic resource links (mostly in PDF format) organized under an alphabetical list of health topics, including emergency preparedness, diabetes, tuberculosis, and more.

Minnesota Department of Health Amharic Translated Materials (http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/translation/amharic.html):  Translated health information from the Minnesota Department of Health.  Browse Amharic handouts (available as PDFs) on topics including emergency preparedness, flu, immunizations, prenatal/postpartum depression, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis.

Multicultural Health Communication Amharic Resources (http://www.mhcs.health.nsw.gov.au/publicationsandresources/pdf/language-1/amharic#b_start=0): Database of multilingual health resources from the New South Wales (Australia) Ministry of Health. Browse resources available in Amharic and filter by health topic or resource type (including PDFs, audio, video, or website).  Health topics include women’s health, children’s health, nutrition, and common infectious diseases.

Local Resources

Ethiopian Community Center in Maryland (http://ethioccmd.org/):  An organization located in Silver Spring which provides health information, seminars, workshops, health screenings, and medical referrals to the local Ethiopian community.

Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center (http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/gilchrist/): Find links and referrals for immigrants in Montgomery County, including healthcare-related referrals.

Learning Goals!

My main goal in starting this blog is to chronicle my continuing education efforts, especially my work learning about consumer health, data analysis and visualization.  Here’s a quick list of my current learning goals:

• Earn the Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) from the Medical Library Association.
• Learn to use a variety of data visualization and analysis software, such as Tableau.
• Take free data visualization/big data online courses.
• Learn how to code and create visualizations with R.

I’ve started working towards the CHIS by taking free online courses available through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. Learn about free upcoming classes under the Professional Development section of their website.