Levy Library Blog

Today is National Library Workers Day, a day to highlight the contributions of all library workers. The Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library and the Mount Sinai Health System libraries are staffed by over twenty people serving on the following teams: Access Services, Education and Research Services, Instructional Technology, and Licensing and E-Resources. These teams work together to ensure the Mount Sinai libraries are accessible for studying and learning and that they are places where students, faculty, and staff can request and receive library support services. The following locations have dedicated library staff to serve the wider Mount Sinai community: Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing, Mount Sinai West, Mount Sinai Morningside, and Mount Sinai Beth Israel/Downton.

The mission of the Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library is to support the educational, research and patient care activities of the faculty, students and staff of the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Our vision is to be the leading provider of biomedical information for the Mount Sinai Medical Center, using innovative and emerging technologies to facilitate medical education, research and clinical practice. None of this would be possible without the dedication and expertise of our library workers. Today on National Library Workers Day, please join us in celebrating our amazing library team!

For more information about our library locations, services and staff, see the links below:

• Levy Library: https://libguides.mssm.edu/about_us/levy-library
• Phillips School of Nursing Information Commons: https://libguides.mssm.edu/PSON
• Mount Sinai West Medical Library: https://libguides.mssm.edu/MSW
• Mount Sinai Morningside Information Commons: https://libguides.mssm.edu/MSM
• Mount Sinai Beth Israel Library: https://libguides.mssm.edu/MSBI_Library/home

For more information about National Library Workers Day and National Library Week (April 23-29), check out these links:

• National Library Week: https://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek
• National Library Workers Day: https://ala-apa.org/nlwd/

Image Source: Animal Welfare and IACUC Resources guide

We are excited to announce a new guide to help you locate useful library resources!

The IACUC and Animal Welfare Resources Guide supports Mount Sinai's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and researchers with information resources about conducting, facilitating and overseeing the use of animals in research. This guide introduces books available through the library on animal research administration and care relevant to IACUC members and applicants. 

If you are a researcher, trainee or staff member involved or learning about the use of animals in research, this guide also walks you through a step by step process of how to conduct an effective search of the literature for alternatives. 

This guide links to the video recording from our recent workshop on how to conduct an alternatives literature search - "Searching and Applying Literature to Improve Animal Welfare and Fulfill IACUC Requirements" which is also on our YouTube channel along with other workshops relevant to the research community. 

We hope this guide is useful to IACUC members, researchers and anyone who is interested in laboratory animal medicine. 

This new addition comes as we continue our efforts to hear and amplify your information needs by delivering resources that are accessible to all. 

To learn more about the guide, please visit the IACUC and Animal Welfare Resources guide. 

If you have questions or want to schedule a consultation with a librarian for a literature search, please contact us via Ask-A-Librarian.
 

Your Levy Library is one of the many ISMMS resources supporting you during the residency application process. As you embark on this next phase of your medical career, we want to ensure that you have all the resources and assistance you need to succeed. 

We understand that crafting a compelling personal statement can be challenging. We are excited to share with you how to connect with our team who can provide confidential feedback and guidance on your personal statements. We recognize that as a rising 4th year medical student you also are balancing the job of residency applications with the rest of your clinical learning and practice, so we want to remind you about the clerkship resources we offer and some online articles about writing personal statements that may save you time or help you get started. 

Here's how we can help:

• ISMMS Writing Support Services
• Library Contacts for Residency Personal Statement Review
• Additional Library Resources

ISMMS Writing Support Services

One of the ways the Library can support you is through our Writing Support Services. Our writing support consultants are available to advise you as you craft compelling personal statements and other application materials. These consultations are confidential and non-judgmental, and our consultants are experienced in providing feedback and guidance tailored to writing personal statements for a wide range of situations. If you're looking for assistance with your writing, we encourage you to consider scheduling an appointment with one of our Writing Support Consultants. This service is open to all Mount Sinai students and trainees. 

To learn more about the writing support service and to schedule a consultation, please visit: https://libguides.mssm.edu/writingsupport 

Library Contacts for Residency Personal Statement Review

If your schedule does not work well with the ISMMS Writing Support Service appointment times or if you would prefer to work with someone at Mount Sinai, we offer meeting with a member of the Library team as an option.  We have completed advanced graduate education, are knowledgeable about residency and fellowship applications, and are available to provide feedback in consultations or via email on your personal statement drafts. We understand that this can be a time-sensitive process, and our team will work with you to accommodate your schedule as much as possible.

Additional Library Resources 

We can also recommend other resources that may be helpful. Our library guide Clerkship Resources provides a curated list of materials that can support your learning during your clinical rotations, including textbooks, online resources, and other references.  

• Clerkship Resources
• Online articles on writing personal statements for residency
• Be inspired by others who lived this experience. Note these are older resources and many things have changed--the guidance on personal statements is still useful:
  • [online, includes examples of personal statements] Le T, Bhushan V, Shenvi C. First Aid for the Match. 5th edition. McGraw-Hill Medical; 2011.
  • [print only] Eule B. Match Day : One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors. 1st ed. St. Martin’s Press; 2009.
  • [print only] Katta R, Desai SP, Desai SP. The Successful Match: 200 Rules to Succeed in the Residency Match. MD2B; 2009. 

The library is committed to supporting you throughout your 4th year and the residency application process. We are here to provide guidance, resources, and assistance--please reach out to us and let us know what you may need.

Your book suggestions welcome for grant-funded collection additions

The Levy Library is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) Region 7 Collection Equity Grant*. This grant provides $2,000 that we will use to purchase materials from emerging and historically marginalized voices and diverse viewpoints on a variety of topics that play a major role in health. 

With your help, we will enhance our Special Topics in Health and Medicine collection which currently offers topics from Graphic Medicine and LGBTQ+ Health, to Managing Mental Health and Women in Medicine.   

We invite you to share recommendations for books that you think should be available for the Mount Sinai community, especially books or topics that reflect your own interests and experiences. We are also seeking suggestions for books to help build three new themes in our collection:

• How medicine and health are portrayed in the arts
• The impact of environmental concerns on individual and collective health
• Growth of artificial intelligence and its impact on health care and outcomes.

Submit your suggestions through our online form or visit the Levy Library on Annenberg 11 to fill out the form in-person by April 30th.  We will review all suggestions and share back with the Mount Sinai community what we acquire for the Library. 

While this grant-funded opportunity invites specific recommendations with a deadline, suggestions to expand the Levy Library collection can be made at any time through our online suggest a purchase form. All suggestions are carefully reviewed considering vendor options and our available funding. 

We appreciate your participation in building your Levy Library’s collection and look forward to your suggestions.  

Thank you for engaging with your Levy Library. 

*NIH Grant Support and Disclaimer:

Developed resources reported in this communication are supported by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH) under cooperative agreement number UG4L M012347. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

It's National Public Health Week! We are highlighting all things public health and thanking our Mount Sinai colleagues for all you do to keep New York City healthy.  We are here to support your learning and information needs!

National Public Health Week is an initiative of the American Public Health Association.  This year's theme is "Centering and Celebrating Cultures in Health" and each day of the week focuses on specific topics:

NPHW 2023 Daily Themes

Community (Monday)

Violence Prevention (Tuesday)

Reproductive and Sexual Health (Wednesday)

Mental Health (Thursday)

Rural Health (Friday)

Accessibility (Saturday)

Food and Nutrition (Sunday)

Public Health Collections and Resources at the Levy Library

The Levy Library has a robust collection of public health resources such as electronic and print books, literature databases, and interactive tools. 

• Check out our collection of Public Health journals using BrowZine
• Library staff developed a public health library guide to direct our learners to public health resources such as textbooks and websites
• Explore our curated collections on special topics
  • LGBTQ+
  • Race, Bias, & Society
  • Statistics & Data Analysis
  • Technology & Social Justice, and more!
• Select databases with public health collections
  • AccessMedicine Public Health Collection 
  • JSTOR Public Health Topic
  • LLW Health Library Medical Education, Epidemiology Collection 
  • ProQuest Healthcare Administration Database
  • ProQuest Health & Medical Collection
  • ProQuest Public Health Database 
• Interactive resource
  • GIDEON - Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Network This link opens in a new window

    GIDEON is an interactive and frequently updated global infectious disease knowledge management tool that can be used for diagnosis and reference in the fields of tropical and infectious diseases, epidemiology, microbiology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy.

    

Public Health Expertise

Need assistance with searching the public health literature?  Visit the Library's Education & Research Services to submit a consultation request or submit a question via Ask A Librarian.  In addition to library databases, librarians can help to identify grey literature resources and find relevant public health topics in other subject databases (e.g. business, law, humanities).