Welcome to the Go Local Nebraska Project Blog

Go Local Nebraska Comes to a Close

2010-02-23T12:35:00.002-06:00

It is a sad post to share that Go Local Nebraska will be coming to a close. The National Library of Medicine has lost its funding to continue to maintain the necessary software. They said it best in their recent email sent out on February 18.

We thank all of you who attended today’s teleconference, and want to share this with those of you not on the call. As Sheldon Kotzin, Associate Director for Library Operations, emphasized, we are grateful for all the work you and your colleagues have contributed to making Go Local a quality product. Whether you were an early Go Local pioneer or have just begun your work, we know you bring high quality standards to your Go Local contributions. As we reviewed in the teleconference, however, today there are many comparable resources to an internet health services directory such as Go Local and NLM has decided to end its support for the MedlinePlus Go Local program.

Internet search engines that people use daily, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, bring health services listings to users. These sites list provider-level directory information and can collect user reviews that Go Local can’t. Today’s health insurance sites give insured users local practice details, such as hours, languages, parking and quality ratings based on provider or facility performance measures that would require too much labor-intensive manual collection for Go Local to provide, but that our Go Local users have said they want in a health services site. Lastly, those who do visit Go Local choose not to return, share with a friend, or bookmark Go Local as a resource. Resources are tight throughout our profession and as the internet has moved forward, it no longer makes sense to use your scarce resources to duplicate the work of machine-based indexing used by the search engines.

As we said in the teleconference, we will be working with each of you as you make decisions as to the direction your project will take, whether to cease the project, move your data to a new platform, or continue other health services information partnerships you have found effective. NLM will continue to support the Go Local input system and web sites for the time necessary for this transition.

We have certainly enjoyed working with you, recognize and commend your commitment to your communities, and remain committed to providing you with the services and information you need during this transition.

Discussions will take place in the near future on what we can do with all the data that currently makes up Go Local Nebraska. NLM has shared that the data will be there for us to capture and use in any manner we choose.

Thank you goes out to those members who worked hard on this project and to thank the members of our Advisory Committee who helped with the initial launch of Go Local Nebraska program.

2010 Annual Assessment

2010-02-23T12:31:00.002-06:00

A special thank you goes out to Kari Stavneak for her help in pulling together the annual Go Local Nebraska 2010 annual assessment. The annual report along with the recent quarterly report are all posted on the Go Local Libguide linked from http://unmc.libguides.com/golocal Simply click on the "Reports" tab to view all the reports.

2009 Wrap-Up

2009-12-31T20:41:00.002-06:00

Go Local Nebraska has had a good year. The team at McGoogan Library was kept busy updating records and adding new health facilities and organizations to the database. The display went out to Nebraska sites several times. And the calendar year rounded off nicely at the Nebraska Library Association annual meeting with personal visits at our booth with Nebraska public and school librarians .
We look forward to serving you and your community with up to date contact information on self-help groups, health organizations and facilities in your area and across the state of Nebraska, If you wish to partner with us on updating your community's information, please email golocal@unmc.edu, and we will show you how to proceed.
Happy New Year! from the Go Local Nebraska/CHIRS team.

Go Local Nebraska presented at Creighton Student Health Fair

2009-11-03T08:11:00.002-06:00

Thanks to the outreach efforts of Jeanne Burke, Education Coordinator at the Creighton University Health Sciences Library, Creighton University students learned about Go Local Nebraska and how the resource works with MedlinePlus.gov. On October 28th, Ms. Burke presented the information resources to 132 individuals. "Most individuals were extremely impressed with “Go Local”!", reported Ms. Burke.

The Go Local Nebraska team thanks Jeanne Burke for her stellar outreach efforts. If your library has recently conducted outreach that has included presenting information on Go Local Nebraska or CHIRS, please let us know. We would like to recognize your hard work here, and make sure it is included in the quarterly project reports that are submitted to the National Library of Medicine.

Go Local Nebraska will be at the Nebraska Library Association meeting

2009-10-28T11:36:00.002-06:00

Please stop by the NNLM-MCR booth at the Nebraska Library Association meeting in La Vista tomorrow afternoon, and learn more about the Go Local Nebraska initiative. Here is a link to the wonderful program of events they have planned for Nebraska librarians: http://www.nebraskalibraries.org/conference/2009/program.html . See you there!

Join us at the Making Healthy Happen fair in Omaha

2009-10-09T12:55:00.002-06:00

Please drop by and take a look at the health fair tomorrow (October 10, 2009), if you find yourself out by the Village Pointe Medical Center at 175th and Burke Street between 10am and 2pm. McGoogan Library will be there, exhibiting CHIRS and Go Local Nebraska services. Here is more information about the free fair (which includes prizes!):
http://www.unmcphysicians.com/ttg-uma/public/v2/images/users/10/Making%20Healthy%20Happen.pdf

Friends of the McGoogan Library event

2009-09-16T14:01:00.003-06:00

Go Local Nebraska, as a part of the Consumer Health Information Resource Service, will be presented to the Friends of the McGoogan Library Annual Meeting this evening. Information about the event will be posted later tonight.

CHIRS/Go Local Display is available for your next event

2009-08-03T10:24:00.002-06:00

The CHIRS/Go Local Nebraska Display is back and ready for your next event. You can reserve a display by going to this page: http://app1.unmc.edu/forms/library/displayform.cfm .

The most recent library that had the display was the Plattsmouth Public Library in July. They used it in a community health fair to exhibit their library's consumer health information services. If you have an event coming up in your community - a blood drive, a volunteer fire fundraiser, parent's night at school - register the date at the link above, and we will mail out the display via FedEx. We always include return postage, so your library will not incure ANY charges for having the display.

Recent Go Local Nebraska exhibits

2009-06-17T10:53:00.003-06:00

The Go Local Nebraska promotional exhibit has been traveling this spring. In addition to its appearance at the Cattlemen's Ball in Doniphan, NE on June 6, it was viewed in Wahoo at the community health fair on June 6, and at the Eastern Library System Annual Meeting at the University of Nebraska-Omaha campus on June 12.
If you have an opportunity to exhibit the information resources available through Go Local Nebraska (http://medlineplus.gov/nebraska), you can request a free traveling display by filling out the form at this page:
http://app1.unmc.edu/forms/library/displayform.cfm

See you at the Cattlemen's Ball!

2009-06-02T08:31:00.002-06:00

Summer always brings many exhibit opportunities for the Go Local Nebraska outreach team, and this year is no exception. The Cattlemen's Ball is one that takes place near Doniphan, Nebraska this weekend - June 5th & 6th. The team attended last year's event, and found it an excellent opportunity to get the word out about Go Local Nebraska and the valuable information it contains. Stop by the Health Screening tent if you are attending the Ball. More information on the event is at the Give Cancer the Boot site: http://cattlemensball.com/

Go Local Nebraska display and promotion materials

2009-04-27T09:25:00.002-06:00

The Go Local Nebraska/CHIRS display has been viewed in the following community libraries around the state this month: Crete, Fairbury, Omaha Public (Millard branch), and Hastings. Promotional materials (brochures, baseball cards, and other items) have been sent out to a site in Albion.
If you would like to receive either the tri-fold display, or promotional materials, all at no charge to your organization, please make your request at this page:
http://app1.unmc.edu/forms/library/chirs_order.cfm

or call toll-free 1-866-800-5209. Reserve the display as early as possible - we are already receiving requests for Fall 2009.

Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS included in conference handouts

2009-04-22T12:45:00.002-06:00

The Olson Center for Women's Health at UNMC is hosting "Women's Watch: Timely information on Depression, Anxiety, Weight, & Pain Management" tomorrow night. They are expecting over 200 women to attend, and will be packing information bags for them to take away. Tucked into each bag will be a CHIRS/Go Local Nebraska brochure, so the attendees will know where they can call for expert health information resources. An additional 50 brochures were dropped off for the Olson Center's new Resource Room.
If you know of a resource center in your community, or an upcoming health event, please email golocal@unmc.edu or go to http://app1.unmc.edu/forms/library/chirs_order.cfm and request brochures. If there is space at the event, you can request a free display to exhibit the consumer health resources.

Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS - Your local information resources for health-related issues

2009-03-30T09:08:00.002-06:00

Thanks to the support and technical leadership of the Nebraska Library Commission, a recorded presentation on Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS is up on NCompass Live:
http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/scripts/training/eventshow.asp?ProgID=8982

The presentation, given March 18, 2009, is designed to inform libraries in Nebraska about these two valuable information resources, and how they can be used to support library patrons and communities. A key piece of information given in the presentation applies to any state or region with a Go Local directory service: local libraries need to check their community's health services listings, and send updates/additions to their Go Local for inclusion. By doing so, each Go Local directory will improve and grow richer with up-to-date local information.

If you are a Nebraska library and would like to update your community's health listings, please contact golocal@unmc.edu and let us know you would like to help.

Nebraska Legislative Day - February 10

2009-02-11T12:34:00.002-06:00

Teri Hartman made the rounds visiting 13 of the 15 offices of the new senators during Legislative Day. She also visited with the specialists in the Legislative Research Office. The staff members seemed eager to hear about the McGoogan Library of Medicine services to professionals and consumers in the state, and all promised to share the promotional materials with their senator including a Go Local Nebraska magnet, McGoogan baseball card, CHIRS/GoLocal Nebraska brochure, and the 2009 McGoogan Library of Medicine fact sheet. Email is the preferred method of corresponding with the senators and their office staff. It was a productive morning with Teri making some excellent contacts.

CHIRS and Go Local Nebraska promoted at the Baright Public Library

2009-01-22T11:33:00.004-06:00

Thanks to an invitation from the head of the Baright Public Library in Ralston, NE, CHIRS and Go Local Nebraska were promoted during yesterday's Lunch and Learn. 9 citizens attended the event, which is held monthly at the library. The library's wireless network stretched into the meeting area, so live demonstrations of Go Local Nebraska could be conducted. It was a pleasure to promote these great services in such a relaxed atmosphere, while reinforcing the consumer health information network collaboration between the local public library and McGoogan Library of Medicine. In addition to this presentation, the Baright Public Library has had the loan of one of the displays, placing it out in their high-traffic area in the library. If your library would like to request a display to use to promote Go Local Nebraska, please fill out this web form: http://app1.unmc.edu/forms/library/displayform.cfm . It will be delivered to you with return postage paid.

The Baright Public Library has made their Lunch and Learn series a successful outreach tool. They offer a free drink (coffee, tea, water) and dessert (brownies & carrot cake), and encourage attendees to bring their lunch to eat during the presentation. They have everyone drop their name in a basket, and at the end the speaker draws out a winner, who gets a prize bag of goodies (including library promotional items). Signs are up at the entrance to the meeting room, announcing the next Lunch and Learn's date and topic. Citizens attend, learn something new, and reacquaint themselves with their local library, making everyone involved a winner.

The Go Local Nebraska team wishes you a bright holiday season!

2008-12-23T07:39:00.002-06:00

Happy holidays! As 2008 winds down, the team is busy updating the database with the change of addresses of health care professionals and facilities. We want to thank you for your support throughout the past year, and look forward to serving your information needs in 2009 on Nebraska health care professionals, facilities, and organizations. Please continue to let us know when the database lacks information, as well as when we are "doing it right".

New records added to Go Local Nebraska

2008-12-15T08:37:00.002-06:00

Over 190 chiropractors have been added to the database, and letters requesting information updates have been sent out to the same group of names. We have received positive feedback from the chiropractors, many of whom have linked to the Go Local Nebraska database on their own websites.
If you know of another group of Nebraska healthcare professionals that should be listed or updated in Go Local Nebraska [ http://medlineplus.gov/nebraska ], just let us know by emailing golocal@unmc.edu .

Interested in contacting Go Local projects in other states?

2008-10-22T08:31:00.002-06:00

The Go Local Nebraska blog gets visitors from many other areas in the nation. If you are one - welcome! If you are a health care consumer, professional, student, or librarian, you have a lot to offer the Go Local initiative in the United States, and should get in touch with Go Local contacts in your own state or region to see what information resources are available, and find out the best way you can assist the team.

Here is the link to the page that lists all of the Go Local projects, along with contact information:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/golocal/contacts.html

Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS in La Vista

2008-10-20T09:27:00.003-06:00

The Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS booth was well attended at the La Vista Annual Health Fair on October 17, 2008. 55 people stopped by the booth and received information on how to access health care organizations, support groups and professionals through Go Local Nebraska, and how to use the CHIRS health information service offered free to all Nebraskans. MedlinePlus information in English and Spanish was also distributed.

The health fair attendees caught a double dose of information - the La Vista Public Library had a booth at the fair, and also presented information on CHIRS and Go Local Nebraska!

If you know of a health fair in your Nebraska community, please request a free booth display by emailing golocal@unmc.edu, or calling 1-866-800-5209.

Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS will be at the 2008 Nebraska Library Association conference

2008-10-14T07:39:00.003-06:00

The theme for this year's Nebraska Library Association/Nebraska Educational Media Association Conference is: "Nebraska Libraries: Vision for the Information Age". Go Local Nebraska and the Consumer Health Information Resource Service (CHIRS) fit that theme well, particularly when partnered with the Nebraska public libraries.
Brochures, baseball cards, and even magnets will be available to the conference attendees, thanks to Marty Magee, Nebraska/Education Liaison for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine-MidContinental Region.
If you know of any conferences where Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS promotion materials would be useful, please let us know by emailing your request to golocal@unmc.edu .

Promoting Go Local Nebraska to Nebraska hospitals

2008-09-18T14:43:00.004-06:00

Go Local Nebraska, CHIRS, and MedlinePlus were promoted to an exhibit of health care organization recruiters at UNMC on September 18th. The event was coordinated by MINK Midwest MD http://www.mink-midwest.org/index.php . Teri Hartman, member of the Go Local Nebraska committee, gave Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS information to the following Nebraska organizations: Alegent (Omaha Metro), Methodist (Omaha Metro), Gordon Memorial Health Services (Gordon, NE), Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center (Beatrice, NE), Sentinel Health Care (Kearney, NE), and North Platte. Hartman encouraged all recipients to send their feedback on how their Go Local Nebraska listing appeared in the database. Marty Magee, NN/LM-MCR Education/Nebraska Liaison, gave MedlinePlus and other National Library of Medicine information resource information to exhibitors from all four states - Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas. It was wonderful to reach so many communities and not even leave campus!

If there are events such as this taking place in your community, please consider attending and take CHIRS/Go Local Nebraska/MedlinePlus/your library brochures, baseball cards, and magnets. Let both the exhibitors and the attendees know the great health information services that exist solely to fill their information needs. Let us know if you need additional promotional materials by filling out the free form: http://app1.unmc.edu/forms/library/chirs_order.cfm .

CHIRS in the news

2008-09-17T10:16:00.002-06:00

CHIRS - Consumer Health Information Resource Service - includes Go Local Nebraska resources. The service was highlighted in The Gateway, the student paper of the University of Nebraska-Omaha campus. The article, written by Karen Collins, appeared in the September 5, 2008 issue: Tap Into Your Free Health Care Info.

Please let us know if you have the chance to promote CHIRS and Go Local Nebraska through newsletters, newspapers, or other media outlets. We are glad to supply any text you may need to promote these services.

Latest Go Local Nebraska press release

2008-08-19T13:55:00.001-06:00

The McGoogan Library of Medicine has written a new news release that is available at the University of Nebraska Medical Center archives: http://app1.unmc.edu/publicaffairs/newsarchive/view_art.cfm?article_id=1742.

You can use this latest press release to promote CHIRS and Go Local Nebraska in your community newspaper, radio station, neighborhood and library newsletters. Please let us know if you promote Go Local Nebraska and CHIRS - we want to recognize all efforts that work toward our common goal of improving the health of fellow Nebraskans.

Announcing The Nebraska Notebook for Consumer Health

2008-08-11T09:41:00.003-06:00

What is it? - A free online presentation covering:
MedlinePlus.gov - Will direct you to information to help answer health questions. It includes information about drugs, a medical encyclopedia, interactive tutorials, and more .
Go Local Nebraska – A service for finding local resources for health-related issues in your Nebraska county or city.
Consumer Health Information Resource Service (CHIRS) – Provides a tailored package of information on your health condition at your request.
Evaluation of Web Sites – What you should know about web sites.

Who can use it? – Anyone!
Does not require Power Point or other software to access
Access it at: http://www.tinyurl.com/nebraskanotebook. (No user name or password needed)
Use it to study yourself or to give a presentation!
We are eager to hear your feedback - please answer four short questions about this product at: http://www.tinyurl.com/nenotebook.

The Nebraska Notebook for Consumer Health is a joint project of the National Network/Libraries of Medicine MidContinental Region and the University of Nebraska Medical Center , McGoogan Library of Medicine, with assistance from Michael Straatman, MLS student, University of Missouri.

Congratulations to Dr. David Palm, Go Local Nebraska Advisory Committee member

2008-06-24T07:33:00.003-06:00

Dr. David Palm received the Chancellor Robert D. Sparks, M.D. Award in Public Health and Preventive Medicine from UNMC's College of Public Health on May 1, 2008.

From the University of Nebraska Medical Center Public Affairs story: "Dr. Palm has more than 30 years of experience in working on various health planning and policy issues for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services including serving as administrator of the Office of Community Health Development in the Division of Public Health since 2000. " A link to the entire news story: http://app1.unmc.edu/PublicAffairs/TodaySite/sitefiles/today_full.cfm?match=4611

Congratulations, Dr. Palm, and we are so glad you serve on the Go Local Nebraska Advisory Committee!