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11/20/2025
profile-icon Daniel Delmonaco
Decorative banner for Transgender Awareness Week

The Mount Sinai Health System acknowledges Transgender Awareness Week as an opportunity to increase visibility of transgender and other gender diverse people and their experiences. The week culminates with Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, as a day to honor the memory of transgender and gender diverse individuals lost to acts of violence. The oppression and violence faced by transgender people directly impacts their health and well-being and their access to safe and trans-inclusive healthcare. To address some of the health information needs of transgender and gender diverse patients and their healthcare providers, we want to highlight several resources available through the Levy Library guide LGBTQIA+ Resources for Health Professionals 

The Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Diverse Health page has general resources for providers and patients including:

  • TransAtlas – a digital directory and resource map for people of transgender, non-binary, and/or intersex experience living in NYC
  • Trans Health Insurance Guide – a guide from Out 2 Enroll for navigating health insurance related to trans health needs and information about enrollment assisters for additional support
  • “Transgender Medicine for General Medical Providers” Online Course – this free and asynchronous Coursera course from Mount Sinai contains 10 modules for providers to learn about care strategies for trans patients and how to advise on gender affirming care

The Mount Sinai and NYC Resources page also has more localized health information for transgender and gender-diverse patients and their providers including:

These are just some of the trans and gender diverse health resources available through this guide and the Levy Library. Supporting the health information needs of transgender and gender diverse individuals and their providers is vital to upholding Mount Sinai’s commitment to advance health equity and provide compassionate, inclusive care for all - not only during Transgender Awareness Week but throughout the entire year. 

11/04/2025
Levy Library Press Banner - iCORE Program Advances Student Scholarship in partnership with Journal of Scientific Innovation in Medicine

We invite you to explore the special issue of the Levy Library Press's Journal of Scientific Innovation and Medicine (JSIM) highlighting student research from the 2025 Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research (iCORE) Training Program. 

About the Special Issue

Special Issue Cover - Journal of Scientific Innovation in Medicine

This special issue represents an important milestone for the iCORE Training Program and its participants. It features 22 abstracts and highlights the diversity of topics explored by participating students, including research and other systematic inquiry such as quality improvement, operations, evidence-based practice, and community health projects.

For many participants, this publication marks their first opportunity to engage in scholarly communication and contribute to academic literature. The issue demonstrates the program’s commitment to translating experiential learning into tangible academic outcomes, fostering research integrity, and promoting collaborative scholarship across disciplines.

Developed with the support of iCORE Program Director Dr. Kimberly Souffront, Associate Dean of Libraries and Information Sciences Dr. Kris Alpi, and the JSIM editorial team, this publication underscores the value of mentorship, structured guidance, and interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing both student learning and research excellence.

Explore the iCORE Training Program Special Issue in JSIM

 

About the iCORE Training Program

The Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research (iCORE) Training Program is a partnership between the Department of Emergency Medicine (EM), the Institute for Health Equity Research (IHER), and the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation (CNRI). The iCORE Program is led by founding director Dr. Kimberly Souffront, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Equity Science, and Associate Director of the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation. The iCORE Program is strengthened by the leadership of Ms. Cindy Clesca, Senior Program Manager (EM and IHER), and Ms. Kavita Rampertaap, CNRI Senior Program Director

Designed as a summer research experience for students across learning levels and disciplines, the iCORE Program provides a structured learning experience combining classroom instruction, hands-on research immersion, and clinical skills workshops. Participants—who this year represented institutions across the United States and Puerto Rico—engage in mentored research or other systematic inquiry, such as quality improvement, operations, and evidence-based practice, for 16 hours each week. In addition, students participate in four hours of weekly didactic sessions led by faculty and research team members, covering research methodology, research integrity, and peer review. Hands-on clinical skills workshops, including simulation, suturing, and ultrasound, further enrich the program, giving the students a well-rounded clinician-scientist experience

The program’s bidirectional design ensures that both mentors and mentees benefit: mentors gain research support and enhance their productivity, while mentees build essential skills in research design, collaboration, and professional development. Levy Library librarians support mentees in discovering scholarly literature that informs their research. Learn more about the iCORE Training Program.


About the Journal of Scientific Innovation and Medicine 

The Journal of Scientific Innovation and Medicine (JSIM) is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal that showcases transformative discoveries from the lab to clinical and community settings. It welcomes work from students, trainees, and faculty that advances the understanding, prevention, and treatment of human disease. Supported by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Levy Library, JSIM provides a mentored, fee-free publishing experience accessible to authors and readers worldwide.  Learn more at: journalofscientificinnovationinmedicine.org

About Levy Library Press 

The Levy Library Press supports open and equitable access to scholarship within Mount Sinai and beyond. It offers a platform where students, trainees, faculty, and librarians collaborate across all stages of publishing. Through this interprofessional environment, the Press fosters learning, innovation, and sustainable scholarly communication. Learn more at: levylibrarypress.org

Decorative Banner that says Dynamic Health is replacing Nursing Reference Center Plus on October 15

Beginning October 15, 2025, the Mount Sinai Health System will transition from Nursing Reference Center Plus (NRC+) to Dynamic Health CDS + Skills—an innovative, evidence-based resource designed to help nurses and health professionals strengthen learning, critical thinking, and confidence at the point of care.

Dynamic Health builds on the trusted foundation of NRC+ with a more interactive design, expanded clinical coverage, and enhanced tools for professional growth. The platform offers continuing education modules, patient education handouts, care plans, leadership and management topics, quick lessons, videos, cultural competence resources, and test and lab summaries—all in one place.

To learn more about how Dynamic Health supports nursing and allied health practice, visit our earlier post:
👉 Supporting Nursing and Allied Health Practice with Dynamic Health

You can also read the official announcement on Mount Sinai Daily.

For a quick overview, download our information sheet:
📄 Get to Know Dynamic Health (PDF)

Key Transition Details

  • Effective Date: October 15, 2025
  • New Platform: Dynamic Health CDS + Skills (by EBSCO Clinical Decisions)
  • Replacing: Nursing Reference Center Plus (NRC+)
  • Continuing Education: Certificates earned in NRC+ remain available at ceu.cinahl.com
    New CE credits can be earned by creating a personal account in Dynamic Health.

Visit our guide for access and training resources:
🔗 libguides.mssm.edu/dynamichealth

Need help getting started?
📧 library@mssm.edu

📞 212-241-7793
💬 askalibrarian.mssm.edu

09/11/2025
profile-icon Carrie Levinson

Wondering where to go for answers to quick clinical nursing questions since Nursing Reference Center Plus is being discontinued? We suggest using Dynamic Health, a database made by nurses, for nurses and allied health professionals. Designed to support evidence-based practice and clinical decision-making, it includes many of the great features of Nursing Reference Center Plus with some new additions. You can see our previous blog post introducing Dynamic Health here (https://libguides.mssm.edu/blog/Dynamic-Health), but in this post, we’ll look more closely at a few of its features.

How to Access Dynamic Health

First, how do you get there? There are a few ways!  

Access Dynamic Health on the Levy Library website under Databases: https://libguides.mssm.edu/dynamichealth; by clicking on the Dynamic Health: Nursing Resources icon on the Mount Sinai launcher, which replaces the Nursing Reference Center Plus icon;

dynamic health icon on mount sinai desktop launcher box

or by going to the Nursing Resources Guide (https://libguides.mssm.edu/nursing):

dynamic health link and description on guide

All of the features discussed below can be found either on the top ribbon or under the Explore Resources section in the middle of the main Dynamic Health page. You can browse the categories or utilize the search bar at the top if you have a specific topic in mind.

Patient Handouts 

Patient handouts have four categories: Diseases & Conditions, Procedures & Tests, Health & Wellness, and Discharge Instructions. If you’d like to browse them, handouts are arranged alphabetically (with a find feature at the top to easily filter down) and are available to print out in English and Spanish. Many have accompanying images. There are two options for saving as a PDF or printing; when choosing the print icon, you can choose which of these sections you’d like to include in the handout if you do not want to include them all.  

Examples of patient handout topics include:

  • Acute Pancreatitis
  • Intubation and Mechanical Ventilation
  • Diabetes and Footcare 
  • How to Care for a Surgical Wound

Skills

dynamic health nursing skills menu

Skills guides have several categories as well: Nursing Skills, Health Profession Skills, Clinical Assistant Skills, Cultural Care Skills, and Patient Instruction Skills. These range from basic to specialty-specific skills, and also include information for allied health professions. A useful feature of these summaries is that they have accompanying checklists, which can be printed out and used for evaluation. When printing, you can choose to select all steps: Preprocedure, Procedure, and Postprocedure Steps, or just one or two.

Examples of skills guides include:

  • Assessing False Labor Braxton Hicks Contractions 
  • Preventing Pressure Injuries in Adults
  • Culturally Sensitive Care for Patients of Cuban Heritage With Mental Health Concerns
  • Educating About Asthma in Pediatric Patients
  • Performing Point-of-Care HbA1c Testing in Ambulatory Care: Clinical Assistant

Cultural Overviews

dynamic health cultural overviews faith and heritage menus

Cultural Overviews provide information on providing care to diverse faith and heritage groups. Guides go into special health considerations, communication dietary practices, decision-making with regard to relationships, and traditional health beliefs and medicines. Related Skills content is also linked on the right side of the page.

Examples of cultural overviews:

  • Amish Faith Overview
  • Buddhist Faith Overview 
  • American Indian and Alaska Native Heritages Overview 
  • Black American Heritage Overview 
  • Indian Heritage Overview

Earning CE Credit  

dynamic health continuing education credit box

Dynamic Health does offer continuing education credits, but in a different way than Nursing Reference Center Plus did (to access your previous credits from Nursing Reference Center Plus, please go to this link: https://ceu.cinahl.com/login). To obtain contact hours in Dynamic Health, register for a personal account (pictured). When you answer a knowledge-based question on the topic and another on the topic’s applicability to your practice, you earn 0.1 contact hours. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is the approving credentialing organization for the professional development offered in Dynamic Health.

There are several other categories available through Dynamic Health, ranging from leadership topics to drug monographs from Davis’s Drug Guide for Nurses. You can view an introductory video to Dynamic Health here:  https://www.ebsco.com/resources/dynamic-health-practice and a user guide here: https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/Dynamic-Health-User-Guide?language=en_US.  

If you’d like to share links from Dynamic Health with other Mount Sinai colleagues, please add this prefix in front of the link you’re sharing so they authenticate on the way into the resource: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/mssm.edu?url=

Questions?  Contact us: RefDesk@mssm.edu 

08/14/2025
profile-icon Katherine Santana

We’re excited to share that EndNote 2025 is now available for download through the Levy Library website! Whether you’re drafting a term paper, dissertation, or your next journal submission, you’ll find that EndNote 2025 offers all the powerful features you know and love plus a suite of smart, time-saving enhancements. 

What’s New in EndNote 2025? 

  • AI Key Takeaways – Instantly generate summaries from PDF articles with a single click 

  • Find a Journal (FaJ) – Get journal recommendations as you write in Google Docs or Word Online 

  • Cite from PDF – Insert highlighted quotes with citation directly to your manuscript

  • Improved “Find Full Text” and “Find Reference Updates” – Enhanced citation accuracy and find full-text more easily 

  • Web of Science Integration – Easily view articles that cite your references and find related research 

  • Redesigned Summary Panel – Review reference details more clearly  

To get the latest copy of EndNote please visit our EndNote guide. Have any questions? Simply email us at refdesk@mssm.edu for assistance.  

08/06/2025
profile-icon Katherine Santana
decorative-image

We are happy to announce that our Fall 2025 library workshops are now open for registration!  

Join us via Zoom as our experienced librarians and medical illustrators discuss a wide range of topics, including conducting a literature review, staying organized with reference management tools, evaluating patient education resources, selecting journal submission targets, and more! 

We are also excited to announce new workshops this semester! These include a session discussing the differences between systematic and scoping reviews; an overview of Dynamic Health, a great evidence-based resource for nurses that includes topics from nursing skills to patient education; and drop-in open hours for learning about Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.  

How do I register? 

For a full list of our Fall 2025 library workshops, please visit our Library Events and Workshops page.  

Can’t make it to one of our scheduled live sessions?  

We’ve got you covered! Simply visit the Levy Library YouTube Channel to watch our recorded sessions anytime.  

For more information about library workshops, please contact us at refdesk@mssm.edu. 

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Welcome to the Levy Library!

We are glad you joined us here at Mount Sinai and found your way to the Library Blog!  

The Levy Library is a resource for you from the start--providing access to online books and journal articles for your course readings--to the finish with your thesis, dissertation or culminating scholarly project

We have resources and services for all the learning in between. Need to find a mentor or collaborator?  Want to organize your references?  Increase your skills with writing prompts for generative AI?  Take a look at our Scholarly Publishing and Visualization Hub to get ideas and learn about supportive services. 

We want to get to know you and help you grow your skills and succeed.  Get to know us by connecting with Ask a Librarian, hanging out in spaces designed for you like the Levy Library Student Commons, share your ideas with us--in person, via email or through your representatives on the Student Council Subcommittee on Technology and Libraries. 

We can't wait to meet you!

Kris Alpi, Associate Dean of Libraries and Information Sciences

04/09/2025
profile-icon Kerry McKee
decorative-image

Happy Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week Month! At the Levy Library, we want to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the dedication, resilience, and passion you bring to your work each day. Whether you’re diving into research, tackling complex coursework, or contributing to groundbreaking discoveries, your efforts inspire us all. 

As your library team, we're here to be your equitable partner every step of the way—whether you need access to essential resources, research support, a quiet study space, or just a helpful hand. Here's how we can help you thrive throughout your academic journey: 

1. Your Partner in Scholarly Research 
Need help with your research? Whether it’s refining your research question, conducting a literature review, navigating complex databases or managing your citations, our Education & Research Services team offers personalized consultations to help you develop research strategies that save time and get results.  Don’t forget to explore the Scholarly Publishing and Visualization Hub, our new portal for support in reference management, the publishing and promotion process, metrics, and visualizations—an invaluable resource for taking your scholarly research and work to the next level.

2. Powerful Tools and Resources 

Access our robust collection of scholarly tools and materials including literature databases like PubMed, point of care tools like UpToDate, e-books, scholarly articles, and reference management tools like EndNote and Zotero to streamline your workflow. Not sure if we have access to something? Contact our Ask a Librarian service, and we will be more than happy to help you find what you need.

3. Workshops and Classes 
Our Library Classes & Workshops are designed to build your confidence and skills, whether you’re just starting your research or diving deep into data management. We offer a wide range of workshops including introductions to EndNote and Zotero, conducting literature reviews, publishing, and artificial intelligence.  

4. Study Spaces That Work for You 
We know that both focus and downtime are essential to your success. That’s why the Levy Library offers a range of study environments—from quiet zones to collaborative workspaces and tech-equipped rooms—so you can choose what works best for you. Need a more private spot? Our reservable rooms are perfect for virtual meetings, interviews, or solo study sessions. And don’t forget to check out your brand-new Levy Library Student Commons, a dedicated space just for graduate and medical students—designed with your needs in mind. 

5. Tech Support and Equipment Loans 
Need a charger, stand, or laptop? We’ve got you covered. Our equipment loan service helps you stay connected and productive, especially when you’re moving between classes, labs, and work. Simply walk to our User Services desk and borrow away! 

6. Support for Your Well-being 
We know success goes beyond academics. Whether you need a quiet space to focus, a friendly face, or just a moment to recharge, we’re here for you. Our spaces, resources, services, and team are always ready to support you—not just during Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week Month, but every day of the year. 

 

From all of us at the Levy Library—thank you for your incredible work, your curiosity, and your commitment to making a difference. We see you, we appreciate you, and we’re always here for you. 

Happy Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week Month!

SPV Banner with Icons of People's faces

In celebration of National Library Week (April 6–12), we’re excited to introduce a new reason to be drawn to the library: the launch of the Scholarly Publishing and Visualization Hub — bringing together services and resources that inspire and empower Mount Sinai researchers, clinicians, and students to create and share new knowledge. 

At a time when libraries continue to spark imagination, foster connection, and help users connect the dots across ideas, disciplines, and discoveries, the Scholarly Publishing and Visualization Hub (SPV Hub) introduces ways to connect students, faculty, and staff with  tools and services that enable innovation and the dissemination of Mount Sinai’s scholarly activity within and beyond our community. 

Whether you're exploring the work of fellow Mount Sinai researchers, seeking collaborators, or developing your own project, Library support at every stage is easy to identify on the SPV Hub. Discover research happening across the institution, connect with potential partners, and bring your ideas to life with expert guidance on visualizations, scholarly research and writing, and reference management.  

As part of our commitment to equity in access and innovation, the SPV Hub showcases partnerships by which we offer digital platforms such as the Levy Library Press and the Icahn School of Medicine Scholars Portal, and expert guidance to help you share your work, explore open access options, and select journals to reach your intended audiences. To help amplify your impact, we offer support with author profiles, visibility tools, and research metrics. The SPV Hub also serves as a online portal to come together with colleagues through events and workshops that foster community and shared learning. 

As we mark 50 years of fueling discovery and scholarship at the Levy Library, the launch of this SPV Hub stands as a powerful reflection of that legacy while staying true to our long-standing commitment to be your equitable and inclusive partner in learning. We invite you to explore the Scholarly Publishing and Visualization Hub — a virtual space designed to inspire and support every stage of your scholarly journey — and connect with the Library team with your ideas and questions

For more information and to get started, please visit the Scholarly Publishing and Visualization webpage at: libguides.mssm.edu/spv-hub 

03/31/2025
profile-icon Becca Neel

The Levy Library is happy to announce that Mount Sinai's subscription to resources from BMJ offers new benefits for our community. 

For publishing:

Mount Sinai corresponding authors can publish for no-cost in BMJ Open Quality for their articles accepted between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2028.

BMJ Open Quality accepts original research, local, national, and international quality improvement projects, value-based healthcare initiatives, and educational improvement work.

To submit an article to BMJ Open Quality:

We are continuing our agreement for no-cost traditional publishing in BMJ Case Reports.  

For journal and database access:

We now have full text access to all BMJ Journals and our BMJ Best Practice tool now includes the Comorbidities Manager (learn more on the BMJ website) 

 

Field is required.
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