New GMR Office Opens Today

Posted by Darlene Kaskie on May 2nd, 2016 Posted in: General

The new National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Greater Midwest Region (GMR) office opens today at Hardin Library for the Health Sciences on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City, Iowa. Through this office, we hope to support the mission of the Network to provide health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improve the public’s access to information to enable them to make informed health care decisions.

We plan to meet our goals through partnerships with our network members, like you, and to strengthen the network through the recruitment of new members. We’re excited about moving forward with our proposal, which includes ten primary aims for our region:

1. Establishing a regional office
2. Improve communications between NN/LM and National Library of Medicine (NLM) and with network members and the community
3. Expand and manage the network to continue to meet the NN/LM’s mission through a distributed network
4. Strengthen the Network National Emergency Preparedness Response Plan
5. Increase the number of network members actively and effectively participating in NLM programs and services
6. Provide a Data Management Education Center (DMEC) for network members to increase the number of network librarians skilled in supporting data management
7. Implement outreach and education programs with a focus on underserved health communities and health professionals that work in these communities
8. Ensure that network members have the opportunity to keep current on health sciences information topics and NLM resources
9. Increase the number of public health professionals who have skill in accessing and searching health information through online educational opportunities
10. Improve consumer’s understanding of quality health information resources available

Throughout the first year of this cooperative agreement, we hope to assess communication and programming in order to get a sense of how to best serve the network and our region.

As we get our office established, you’ll find updates and additional information on our website, through our listserv, Facebook and Twitter accounts. You are also encouraged to contact us directly with any questions you have.

Please join us for our first webinar, to be held on Thursday, May 26^th at 1pm CST for an introduction to our staff and more information on our plans and hopes for the next five years! Registration information for this event will be distributed later this month.

To contact our staff directly, please see our directory.

We’re looking forward to partnering with you and supporting you throughout the next five years!

ABOUT Darlene Kaskie
Darlene Kaskie, M.L.S. is Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist for Region 6 of the Network of the National Library of Medicine. She connects communities to training, engagement, and funding to improve access to health information and NLM Resources such as MedlinePlus. Advancing health literacy and digital skills training helps people make informed decisions about their health. She earned her Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) from the Medical Library Association.

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