Just in time for National Archives Month, we are proud to announce that the Library has exhibits again!
The mini exhibits include artifacts from the various collections that are housed at the UT Southwestern Special Collections Library and Archives. This first round of materials includes travel surgery kits, microscopes, a medical book from Dr. Edward H. Cary, and more.
In addition to the new items in the display cases, we are redoing the permanent exhibit on St. Paul Hospital. Stop back for more on that soon!
Are you feeling anxious about AI and ChatGPT? You are not alone!
Currently, there is a paralysis taking hold regarding artificial intelligence (AI) tools including ChatGPT. Your librarians recognize this and are diligently working to provide information, education, and guidance about this topic. The primary challenge we are encountering is the rapid rate of changes occurring while developing supportive content for our users. In attempting to meet the education needs about AI, we quickly find that our content is outdated before we can get close to completion.
However, with the enormous efforts by the Library's AI/ChatGPT Work Group, we are excited to announce the newly published Artificial Intelligence Guide. We do want to express our thanks to the University of South Florida Libraries for allowing use of their content, as well as the many librarians on staff at UTSW who reviewed and edited the guide.
Several of our library leaders and librarians attended a joint meeting of the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association (SCC/MLA) and the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association (SC/MLA) in New Orleans on September 21-26, 2023. During the meeting, it became clear we are not the only ones struggling to address the topic of AI and AI tools like ChatGPT.
Recognizing the scope of the needs surrounding AI, a new collaborative effort has been formed, which is called the AI Response Coalition (AIRC) and is led by RaeAnna Jeffers, RN, BSN, MS-IS, Services & Partnerships Unit, UT Southwestern Health Sciences Digital Library. The group is soliciting multidisciplinary participation from professionals with expertise in many domains of knowledge and aims to reduce duplication of efforts contributing to waste of resources, create educational content, and organize a collective response to AI development and implementation.
The AIRC welcomes your participation and expertise as we work toward better solutions. If you are interested in joining, please provide your contact information on the AIRC Contact List. You may also email airesponsecoalition@gmail.com for more information.
As educational content is developed, offerings from our librarians will appear in the Library Events and Classes Calendarand cross-posted in other communications. Thank you for your patience.
In-person service by Library staff resumes October 2
Effective October 2, 2023, the Library's Services & Partnership Unit resumes in-person service from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). We are excited to return to the physical space now that we are in a post-COVID environment and construction of the new O’Donnell School of Public Health is complete.
Your “Librarian on Duty” consult area is in room E2.304 located across from the O’Donnell School of Public Health’s Dean Suite. Directional signage will appear soon, and a librarian will circulate through the physical space throughout the day to connect with all our users.
As always, you can request assistance or services in the following other ways:
Searching though the vast educational support offerings contained in our Subject Guides.
Your librarians appreciate and support the work you do with our community and each other! Thank you!
October is American Archives Month!
We are celebrating all parts of the archive and invite you to join us this month!
October 11th is a special day set aside to answer all your burning questions about the archives. Like what is an archive? What do you collect? How many of the cool travel surgery kits do you have?
On this day you can use #AskAnArchivistDay and tag the UTSW Archives on Facebook, X, or Instagram and we will answer any burning questions you have about what we do. We hope to get lots of questions from you!
National Medical Librarians Month highlights
"The Medical Library Association has declared October as National Medical Librarians Month", said Kelly Gonzalez, MSIS, MBA, Assistant Vice President for Library Services. This year’s theme is "Yes, we do that! Need help finding that crucial piece of information? Your Library can help!”
Throughout the month, the Library’s website will highlight the key services and resources provided by the different Library Units. The general schedule is as follows:
Week of October 2 – The Library Leadership team will provide information about the Library's strategic initiatives.
Week of October 9 – The Special Collection Library and Archives unit manages the University’s collection of archival manuscripts, artifacts, photographs, audiovisual materials, rare books, and more.
Week of October 16 – The Administration and Document Services unit provides support for the day-to-day operations of the Library, customer service, accounting and billing, staff support, facilities management, document services. The Digital Services and Technology Planning unit manages the Library's technology infrastructure, collection management, including website maintenance and seamless access to thousands of electronic journals, electronic books, databases (such as PubMed, UpToDate), and related troubleshooting.
Week of October 23 – The Services & Partnership unit works directly with UT Southwestern clients to provide education and instruction and comprehensive literature searches to support the Campus’ education, research, clinical care, and outreach activities.
Test your knowledge about the UT Southwestern Library by completing the online survey by October 31st! Winners in the "know" will be notified. Prizes will be sent via InterCampus mail!
Collecting UTSW’s historical records, in digital or physical format, ensures that they can be preserved and made accessible to researchers in the future. If you or your department has items that might be related to the history of UTSW, please reach out to archives@utsouthwestern.edu.
