Spring Highlights

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Spring 2026 edition of HLSP News. It's been a cold and snowy Winter and we're finally at the beginning of Spring. 😁

We continue looking for glimmers and now that we're more than a week into Spring, the weather is warming and we're starting to see flowers and even green grass. In the above image of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), we see the trees are in bloom which is a beautiful glimmer. And we can celebrate the fact that NLM is still open and continues to provide us services which is a nice glimmer given the current federal government environment.

In this edition of HLSP News, we share information about the reimagined Bibliographic and Referral Center (BARC) service that we provide to all members. BARC has returned to an inhouse ILL service and began operations in February of this year. As you likely know, we use DOCLINE to fill medical article requests. If you are in need of an item other than medical articles and you either don't have an ILL network or you exhaust your ILL network, we will be happy to help locate it for you.

You can also find information about our electronic resources, an update on the HLSP Grant Program, information from NNLM Region 7, and upcoming continuing education opportunities from SCRLC, NNLM and MLA.

Please reach out with any questions and glimmers you might have about this edition or any services SCRLC provides to you as well as for health information to our entire membership.

All the Best,

Christine Brown

Outreach Services Librarian/HLSP Coordinator

Field Visits

Field visits for the 2025-2026 year are now nearly complete and here is what I've learned from the visits.

Everyone is concerned about retaining nurses. Doing so reduces costs related to traveling nurses and also improves morale. Efforts to retain nurses includes working on Magnet designation, Pathways to Excellence, and community building activities. We will look for ways we can assist our librarians and library contacts with the efforts to improve nurse retention.

If there is anything specific you want to meet with me to discuss, please let me know. I want to work with you to help you meet the information needs of your providers.

Electronic Resources

All HLSP members have access to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), NEHM Evidence, STAT!Ref reference titles, and Doody's Core Titles. We also offer 5 Ovid journals to HLSP members on a cost share basis. Please reach out to me if you are interested in joining that subscription.

We are working to renew the STAT!Ref subscription (it runs from July 1 through June 30), and this is the time to change titles if there is interest in making any changes. In the past few years, we have removed titles that weren't being used and added titles we thought might be of interest.

Doody's Core Titles is a new addition this year and I'm planning for a demonstration for members to learn more about the service and how it can benefit them. Stay tuned for information about that demonstration.

HLSP Grant Program

If you haven't already done so, please use your grant funds ASAP. It's important to note that this year's grant funds must be expended during the 2025/2026 fiscal year (7/1/25 to 6/30/26).

It can sometimes be a challenge to select resources to develop your hospital's library collection. This year, we subscribed to Doody's Core Titles which can assist in collection development for medical and healthcare libraries. More information about Doody's Core Titles can be found on their website. And I'm arranging for a demonstration of the website for all HLSP members. I'll be in touch with you soon with details.

As a reminder, the purpose of the HLSP grant program is to provide funds that allow each member hospital library to purchase resources that will improve patient care. The funds are not intended to supplement the resources of any individual.

If you have any questions about whether a specific item or service is allowable, you can check the guidelines or reach out to me for information and a discussion. You can also check the Niche Academy tutorial on the grant program.

Interlibrary Loan with SCRLC's BARC

As you probably know, when you need an article from a journal that is not part of your library's collection, you can request the article through DOCLINE which is an interlibrary loan (ILL) service operated by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). All HLSP members should have access to DOCLINE, and if you don't, please reach out to me so we can work with NLM to make sure you have access.

SCRLC provides all members, including HLSP members, an ILL service with its Bibliographic and Referral Center which is also known as BARC. It's been a service that we have contracted out in recent years and this past Fall and early Winter, we worked to bring it back in house. The new in-house BARC has been operating since February of this year. If you or one of your providers needs a book or other non-article item and your library doesn't include that item in its collection, please feel free to use BARC to request it.

To use BARC, you will need to watch the BARC Training that was recorded in February and request BARC Credentials using ResourceSharing@SCRLC.org

Please let me know if you have any questions about our BARC service.

NNLM Region 7 Update

On April 29th, 2026, NNLM will feature two public libraries for the Region 7 Presents: Funded Project Report Back on Indoor Air Quality Resources. You can see the partners from the Public Library of Brookline and the Hamden Public Library discuss how they introduced Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Kits into their circulating collection. In this presentation, panelists will discuss why they pursued these air quality programs, how they catalogued the kits and introduced them to their communities, and also lessons they learned in the process. NNLM Region 7 also provides resources for indoor air quality and ventilation systems. This is an important health concern.

NNLM also shared that NIH is collecting public comment on its new Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan outlines a vision for biomedical research direction, capacity and stewardship by articulating high level priorities for the next 5 years. Additional information about the Strategic Plan and how the public can comment on their website. There is also a webinar on the Strategic Plan scheduled for April 8th and anyone can register on that page.

Continuing Education

Upcoming Webinars

SCRLC's Health, Wellness, and Hospital Libraries Lunch and Learn series.

Coming up on April 8 is the following webinar:

Crises Management and Emergency Planning

We also have the following programs coming up this month:

Digital Accessibility for Everyone: An Overview of Accessibility Tools - April 16 at 2:00

Web Accessibility Learning Circle - April 23 at 10:00

The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) is offering the following FREE CE classes this Spring:

When the Computer Sounds Confident - AI Literacy for Nurses and Health Professionals -April 8, 11:00 to 12:00

Introduction to SciENcv - April 28, 1:00 to 2:00

Keep in mind that if the day/time for the program doesn't fit your schedule, you can usually register and receive a link to the recording after the program unless it isn't recorded.

The Medical Library Association (MLA) is offering the following CE classes this Spring:

The Emergence of AI Pedagogy: Exploring Resources and Enhancing Engagement for Medical Librarians and Information Professionals - Recorded Webinar

Critical Conversations: Building Workplace Communication Skills - Self Paced

And SCRLC covered the cost to attend an MLA webinar offered in February titled "Micro Changes that Matter: Strategic Responses for Shifting Medical Library Environments" and we still have "seats" available for any HLSP member. If you are interested, please reach out to me and I can provide you a link to the recording.

For a complete listing of MLA CE classes, check out their website.

NOTE: There is a charge for most MLA CE classes with a discounted price for members. SCRLC may be able to pay for your registration for MLA programs so keep that option in mind for these or any other courses on the MLA website.

Recently Recorded Webinars:

SCRLC's Lunch & Learn Series:

• Lunch and Learn: AI in Medicine
• Lunch and Learn: Libraries as Key Players in Publishing
• Lunch and Learn: Medical Librarians Supporting Pharmacists
• "It's an Art, Not a Science:" How to Build a Practice of Slow Librarianship
• Mosquito-borne Infections in New York State
• Fall Vaccine Update (Covid & Flu)
• Vaccine Hesitance and How to Address It
• All About Ticks

We still have seats available for an NLM webinar on Trauma-Informed Librarianship. Let me know if you would like to access to this webinar at no charge.

NNLM held a webinar on DOCLINE and FREESHARE in August 2024 and it was recorded.

MedlinePlus Tutorial for Librarians & Health Educators - self-paced. This interactive, narrated tutorial provides a tour of the MedlinePlus website and explains why MedlinePlus is a trusted reference when answering health information questions.

This tutorial takes about 1 hour to complete. (1 CE credit)

Recordings of past webinars can be found here.