Lorette Weldon, Research Director, Weldon Researchers
It wasn't all bad, one of the audience mentioned Microsoft BDC, which can be used as an online catalog for a small library. Perhaps useful for Mark's Targacept project?
The Speaker posted this article afterward
The Odd Couple: SharePoint and Librarians
By Lorette S.J. Weldon, Published on April 14, 2010
Overview
The session held at Computers in Libraries 2010 on April 13, 2010 that I presented was called "SharePoint and Info Pros: A Good Fit". I examined how SharePoint was used within the library environment. I discussed the coordination of collaboration, capturing and organizing "corporate" knowledge, and organizing digital content. I reviewed the results from my survey, "SharePoint Usage in the Library" which demonstrated how librarians could program their department's SharePoint site without code.
Before you begin trying to create a SharePoint site, you should be acquainted with the following terms when dealing with SharePoint:
•Portal: A webpage with information that you want to alert your staff to; Dashboard is embedded to show schedules, reference statistics, etc.
•Website: Portal with linking workspaces.
•Workspace: A webpage with links to widgets
•Widgets: Small programs designed for one task, for example, a calendar, wiki, web parts to display external websites.
•Templates: Specific layout for your portal and/or workspaces. Your customizations to your website could be saved as a template for your department or organization to follow.
•Tacit Knowledge: Skills from experience; "know-how"; Not written down
•Explicit Knowledge: Written in your collection, for example, a document on how to write a Conflict of interest Policy
Information Management Challenge
How many of us go to work with stories to tell our co-workers? You wanted to talk about a recent decision you had to make. A co-worker could want to complain about the poor management of a project. Usually, co-workers gather around the "water cooler" during breaks to "cool-off" and share recent experiences with fellow employees. It could be productive thoughts on assignments and projects that the organization is working on. SharePoint can help "capture" these ideas by becoming a vehicle to allow staff to share what they think about certain projects or actions that the organization or staff has participated in. The Web 2.0 features of Windows Shared Services 3.0 (WSS) and SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) allow your co-workers to feel comfortable with tools that they would use while on the Internet. Wikis, Surveys, Discussion Boards and Dashboards can bring your organization together in discussions that would help each staff member learn from successes, mistakes and challenges which would transfer information and knowledge to and from internal and external stakeholders.
SharePoint was originally created back in 1997 as four platforms: web content management; collaboration; document management; nuggets that display external websites. Through MOSS or WSS, Microsoft has tried to harness what we know of social media sites and mixed it together with our library management practices.
In the beginning, SharePoint was an IT- only application but now it requires input from two groups: the installers and the users. They have to work together to figure out what they want their SharePoint site to do for their organization. I mentioned organization because SharePoint is an enterprise management platform meant to be used by the whole organization. The departments of the organization would gain access to whatever the whole organization agreed on for the functions of SharePoint. SharePoint helps with the accountability of the knowledge collected.
What is SharePoint?
Microsoft SharePoint is being used in Government, private, public and association offices throughout the United States. SharePoint was meant to increase accountability for projects within a team environment. How could SharePoint help increase accountability in information management?
Microsoft SharePoint allows information professionals in an organization to easily create and manage their own Web 2.0 environment. SharePoint is not a specific product but several aspects of Web 2.0 solutions. Two versions you may encounter in the office: Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007. WSS is the basic compilation of applications. Special features to add on to your SharePoint would be called MOSS.
SharePoint can help the individual manage their assignments. It can help a team share thoughts and work on documents. It would also work for several teams in a division and spread out to the whole ENTERPRISE, your organization through your Intranet at headquarters to your Extranet to all offices within the organization nation or world-wide. You can define a website or portal that your patrons, customers or members see through the Internet.
SharePoint helps you to manage the prime real estate on your organization's server or organization's hosted space. Look at SharePoint as a home improver and your organization's server as a house. SharePoint could help you organize the storage space so that you could collect corporate knowledge and manage your library collection. Out of the box SharePoint will help you format your server into various modules or rooms. These rooms would be recognizable Web 2.0 tools, such as, Blogs, Wikis, Document Libraries, and Discussion Boards. SharePoint would also provide you with amenities for your house, for example, Announcements, RSS feed, E-Alerts and Web Parts (similar to widgets or gadgets). SharePoint also houses a database (SQL Server 2005 Express) to help it remember how you want everything to function and to store any documents from your library collection (Microsoft 2010).
Cataloging
On Nova's Season 37, Episode 11 - "Riddles of the Sphinx," a group of archaeologists were gathered together in order to find out who built the Sphinx. Archaeologists figured out that there could be three resource types to use to answer this question: Project Team Profiles, Written Reports and Tool Usage ("know-how" experience).
Resource types would be carefully defined SharePoint content types. A content type would specify its own template, so that all Project Team Profiles would share a common format. A content type is a group of reusable settings that describe the shared traits for a specific type of content. Content types allow organizations to manage this type of information in a consistent way across a site collection. You can view them by describing what types of items that you have in your library/special collection.
In conclusion to the episode, Sphinx project reports from the Project Team Profiles could not be obtained because the project team was long dead. Written Reports (Hieroglyphics) had spoken of a restoration effort of the Sphinx but not the actual building of it. Tool Usage was also lost when the project team died in Ancient Egypt. It was never collected. Perhaps, SharePoint could have captured this missing knowledge of how tools were used to build the Sphinx. This information would still not answer the question of "Who built the Sphinx?"
Through Properties feature within Word and Excel, you can provide keywords and categories (subject areas) that would define the individual items in your collection. The Properties feature would open the record for that particular document that you were cataloging. Microsoft Office 2007 allows more fields to be defined within your document's record.
The taxonomy structure can have levels defined through a specified folder structure. The levels could also be represented through the Category and Sub-category sections within the Properties feature.
SharePoint Usage in the Library Survey
Using SharePoint would be managing the "know-how" and explicit knowledge of the organization. From a survey, based on anecdotal information from open-ended questions, that I administered from 3/8/2010 to 4/7/2010, I found that the usage of SharePoint, was underutilized within library-type environments in Government Agencies (State and Federal government), Educational Institutions (University Libraries), Associations (Non-profit/Profit), Private Organizations (Hospitals, Law Firms, Financial Services, Museums). This report summarizes the data and examines trends for SharePoint usage within these environments.
The response rate was 34% based on the states that had returned the survey, which was sent to all of the United States. Three countries had also participated. Surveys were sent to members of the Special Libraries Association of Maryland and District of Columbia, Society of American Archivists, Association of Independent Information Professionals and American Libraries Association.
This table analyzes the results of the survey under five categories: Type of Organization; Location; Who Set It Up; Usage; Version of SharePoint; Customization; Mandated in organization; Widget Usage
SharePoint was found to be used by the library or special collection in order to:
•Support the generation and maintenance of library artifacts
•Facilitate communication and feedback
•Monitor library activities
•Control collection changes
•Analyze and forecast collection's needs, staff performance and patrons' needs
Association Survey Participants manually entered in links to sources like Nexis, Factiva and the association's online catalog. Associations manually scanned periodicals for related subject areas of the library/special collection. RSS Feeds were not used. SharePoint's search engine was used to find news stories, pictures or documents on assorted topics. The majority of the participants did not have Extended Search Services enabled which led to a lot of impatient staff not being able to find documents that they knew were on the server.
Private Institution Survey Participants emphasized a strong need to have a Chief Information Officer onsite who understood what skills librarians possessed. With this knowledge, the Chief Information Officer would be able to translate librarian needs in IT department project management methods and principles. Widgets were created for Grant progress tracking and copyright permission management.
Education Institution Survey Participants were found to need centralized content on procedures and policies for staff to have access to in an intranet-type environment. Through SharePoint, different library departments had created multiple SharePoint Workspaces without any relationship to each of them. Different silos of information multiplied like rabbits on the university server. SharePoint was chosen for the different library departments because it was already used by the university and hosted on the university's server. It also provided accessibility for staff to see the latest announcements, reference statistics, and tasks that needed to be completed.
The survey found that Government Agencies had a struggle between the IT department and the library/special collections in converting project management principles/methods, which SharePoint is teeming with, into information management principles/methods. Survey participants all agreed that the government agencies provide basic SharePoint training but not specific enough to meet the information professionals' needs. Through a dashboard, everyone could see the library's acquisition and cataloging schedules, budgets and overall performance of subject areas covered by reference requests.
Conclusion
Through the survey, the requirements for information professionals to work with and use SharePoint would be technical skills, communication needs of the library and accountability to maintain the library's SharePoint Workspace.
The Technical skill requirement consists of knowledge about: database management and structure; Microsoft Windows; Microsoft Office; Web browsing. In order to communicate needs of the library, the library staff would need to map out the library's needs and correlate them to the features of SharePoint. The result would be a Feature Mapping document that would help you and the IT Department, create a SharePoint workspace that would meet your needs. Once the IT Department assigns user permissions, then you would be able to update content on your site, define account privileges and maintain a document repository.
SharePoint Training for Information Professionals without Coding
If you have more questions on how SharePoint can be used in the library, please come to my online seminar, "Introduction to MS SharePoint without Coding". This online seminar will be presented through WebEx. Registration is now open for the following dates:
•Saturday, June 19, 2010 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Eastern Time)
•Saturday, June 26, 2010 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Eastern Time)
Read more about it
Dahl, D. J., interview by Lorette S.J. Weldon. Albert S. Cook Library's Reference Dept. at Towson University's Reference Portal (October 5, 2009).
Joining Dots Ltd. SharePoint History. August 28, 2006. http://www.joiningdots.net/blog/2006/08/sharepoint-history.html (accessed March 12, 2010).
Microsoft. "Determine Hardware and Software Requirements." Technet. 2009. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx (accessed March 12, 2010).
--. Introduction to document management. 2010. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/HA102413991033.aspx (accessed March 12, 2012).
Reinhart, M. Plague: Folders in SharePoint Document Libraries? . April 13, 2005. http://blogs.officezealot.com/reinhart/archive/2005/04/13/4533.aspx (accessed March 12, 2010).
Sy, D.R. SharePoint for Project Management. Cambridge: O'Reilly, 2009.
VSPUG - Virtual SharePoint User Group. The Importance of MetaData in SharePoint. November 1, 2007. http://vspug.com/fortheuser/2007/11/01/the-importance-of-metadata/ (accessed March 12, 2012).
Weldon, L.S.J. "5 Question Survey on Social Media Usage for Professional Learning Communities within Businesses." Survey Analysis, 2009.
--. How are you using SharePoint in your library survey. March 2010. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PJ7NHQR (accessed March 14, 2010).
Weldon, L.S.J. "My Virtual Assistant Saves the Day." Computers in the Libraries (Information Today), November 2007: 18-23.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
CIL2010: Crafting Online Personas
Craig Anderson, Kean University
& JP Porcaro, Virtual Services Librarian, New Jersey City University
Most librarians don't want to reveal themselves on Facebook, but it actually humanizes them and let's the students know their not robots. He has a slightly different Craig for different audiences: family & work have different filters, but they both have filters. You don't have to create a pseudonym, just show a facet of yourself. Brought up The Annoyed Librarian (if you don't know, it's very controversial and lots of theories on who it is).
Privacy settings can help a lot, but consider keeping some of your more "eccentric" interests to yourself. You are playing a role in the community, but you are not necessarily representing your institution. There's a balance there. Many people are putting their Fb and Twitter handles in their signature file, and it is becoming the norm - the way you put your phone number there.
This all rolls up into the concept of Digital Citizenship, and for the most part librarians are the head of the curve, at least compared to other academics.
Stephen Abram mentioned that he's worked for three of the largest employers of librarians (vendors like OCLC and Sirsi) and they build a profile of possible job candidates from their online personas, and if there is NO online persona, they think twice about that person's online savviness.
Stephen recommends setting up a google search of your own name/institution and have it send you alerts when you're mentioned.
see also Murphy and Moulaison’s paper “Social Networking Literacy Competencies for Librarians,” the fundamental necessary social networking skills for librarians are addressed along with strategies for helping library staff feel comfortable presenting a digital face to their patrons, employers, and colleagues online.
& JP Porcaro, Virtual Services Librarian, New Jersey City University
Most librarians don't want to reveal themselves on Facebook, but it actually humanizes them and let's the students know their not robots. He has a slightly different Craig for different audiences: family & work have different filters, but they both have filters. You don't have to create a pseudonym, just show a facet of yourself. Brought up The Annoyed Librarian (if you don't know, it's very controversial and lots of theories on who it is).
Privacy settings can help a lot, but consider keeping some of your more "eccentric" interests to yourself. You are playing a role in the community, but you are not necessarily representing your institution. There's a balance there. Many people are putting their Fb and Twitter handles in their signature file, and it is becoming the norm - the way you put your phone number there.
This all rolls up into the concept of Digital Citizenship, and for the most part librarians are the head of the curve, at least compared to other academics.
Stephen Abram mentioned that he's worked for three of the largest employers of librarians (vendors like OCLC and Sirsi) and they build a profile of possible job candidates from their online personas, and if there is NO online persona, they think twice about that person's online savviness.
Stephen recommends setting up a google search of your own name/institution and have it send you alerts when you're mentioned.
see also Murphy and Moulaison’s paper “Social Networking Literacy Competencies for Librarians,” the fundamental necessary social networking skills for librarians are addressed along with strategies for helping library staff feel comfortable presenting a digital face to their patrons, employers, and colleagues online.
CIL2010: LibGuides
I really want to try out the user interface for LibGuides - apparently we have access through ZSR? It would be particularly beneficial for first-years. Anatomy, to start?
http://libguides.ashland.edu/CIL2010 for the powerpoint
http://libguides.ashland.edu/ to browse their actual guides the Nursing one is a good example for us.
http://libguides.ashland.edu/CIL2010 for the powerpoint
http://libguides.ashland.edu/ to browse their actual guides the Nursing one is a good example for us.
Monday, April 12, 2010
CIL2010: Organization 2.0
Meredith Farkas, Head, Instructional Initiatives, Norwich University
Most libraries are not currently structured to successfully embrace Web 2.0, which requires rapid user-centered change, experimentation, and radical trust.
Techno-lust is an issue, our colleagues get sick of us :)
A lot of us are going where our users are, without actually being USEFUL - stop trying to be cool, we are not cool, accept your nerdiness.
Why do so many 2.0 initiatives fail? It's not like free beer, but more like free kittens. Requires WORK. And yes, you have to do this on top of all the rest of your duties. This situation is normal these days. Once the excitement dies down, it can seem like drudgery. Sooo many library blogs and twitter feeds die a slow death, and reflects badly on the library.
Can't be one person's pet project, must strategize to motivate other staff and make time for it. Abandon the culture of perfect. Look outside the library world for applications, opportunities, and inspiration.
Create new partnerships, the perfect way to stay alive.
See McMaster Univ. wiki for first year students http://libwiki.mcmaster.ca/fye/
Very relevant to first-year med students too!
Most libraries are not currently structured to successfully embrace Web 2.0, which requires rapid user-centered change, experimentation, and radical trust.
Techno-lust is an issue, our colleagues get sick of us :)
A lot of us are going where our users are, without actually being USEFUL - stop trying to be cool, we are not cool, accept your nerdiness.
Why do so many 2.0 initiatives fail? It's not like free beer, but more like free kittens. Requires WORK. And yes, you have to do this on top of all the rest of your duties. This situation is normal these days. Once the excitement dies down, it can seem like drudgery. Sooo many library blogs and twitter feeds die a slow death, and reflects badly on the library.
Can't be one person's pet project, must strategize to motivate other staff and make time for it. Abandon the culture of perfect. Look outside the library world for applications, opportunities, and inspiration.
- Professional development is NOT just for the MLSs. All staff need time and support to learn.
- Use your new people - fresh eyes - ask them what seems wrong.
- Integrate 2.0 into your technology plan to further the mission and goals of the library.
- RSS feeds of new books by subject are particularly useful.
- Link your digital collections in Wikipedia
- Flickr, etc with comments OPEN
- Improve internal knowledge sharing (haha like this blog). Much better than post-it notes.
Create new partnerships, the perfect way to stay alive.
See McMaster Univ. wiki for first year students http://libwiki.mcmaster.ca/fye/
Very relevant to first-year med students too!
CIL2010: Digital Commons: Building Digital Communities Using Digital Collections
Jim DelRosso, Web & Digital Projects Manager, Cornell University
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/
Librarians can build online communities around their digital collections in the same way they build physical communities around their physical collections. Makes the Library SUSTAINABLE!
Interest leads to a sense of ownership - it's theirs on some psychological level, helps people have to have an investment in the Library.
Interest: what users want AND what they need. What do we do when these two things differ?
Larger scale reference interview = Assessment. Turn outcome-based assessment into successful marketing.
Use Google Analytics to dig deeper into how user audience interact with collections.
Allow for user-created content - really creates a sense of ownership. Also user-sponsored content, and user-organized content. More than a traditional repository. Faculty pubs is user-created content!
River Campus Libraries - browse new titles (http://www.library.rochester.edu/ scroll down)
Develop a sense of investment - creates superusers that interact directly with the collection. Will also interact more directly with librarians, and with each other. Investment starts to look a lot like community.
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/
Librarians can build online communities around their digital collections in the same way they build physical communities around their physical collections. Makes the Library SUSTAINABLE!
Interest leads to a sense of ownership - it's theirs on some psychological level, helps people have to have an investment in the Library.
Interest: what users want AND what they need. What do we do when these two things differ?
Larger scale reference interview = Assessment. Turn outcome-based assessment into successful marketing.
Use Google Analytics to dig deeper into how user audience interact with collections.
Allow for user-created content - really creates a sense of ownership. Also user-sponsored content, and user-organized content. More than a traditional repository. Faculty pubs is user-created content!
River Campus Libraries - browse new titles (http://www.library.rochester.edu/ scroll down)
Develop a sense of investment - creates superusers that interact directly with the collection. Will also interact more directly with librarians, and with each other. Investment starts to look a lot like community.
CIL2010: Keynote
Keynote Speaker: Lee Rainie, Director of Pew Internet & American Life Project http://www.pewinternet.org/
Produce reports on Americans' online activities. He has a new book coming out: Networked, the New Information Operating System
Pew is not a think tank, but a Fact Tank. They don't advocate a particular agenda, but generate a lot of information. Lee considers himself an Internet Archeologist - he examines the remains, but does not pass judgment. (I have used their data to support many grant proposals and technology project plans.)
NEW WORD: Tweckle: to abuse (heckle) a speaker via Twitter while he is speaking
Internet is the change agent, then and now. Dawn of the project in 2000 compared to today:
In 2000, less than half of adults used internet
5% had broadband at home
50% owned cellphone
Today 75% of adults
62% have broadband at home
80% have cellphones
Life Logging - ~30% share photos, personal creations, ratings and rankings of about purchases, services, etc.
15% have a personal website
15% are content remixers
There's a fine line between blogging and social networks. It's hard to measure how many people READ blogs, now that so many orgs are using blog platforms as their website platform (like ZSR).
Networked Creators democratize the voices in media, has challenged traditional gatekeepers. Inserted themselves in "expert" affairs. Once you start blogging about something, you become a stakeholder and are more involved in the process. About a FIFTH have contributed health content!! They are reshaping the relationship between providers (doctors) and the consumers (patients). Online patient communities are helping people navigate the system in a new way.
MacArthur Foundation has a new site: macfound.org - digital literacy program
13 elements of new literacy enumerated
New Community-Building activities
Crowdsourcing wisdom, especially among "strangers" who share a common purpose.
Particularly being seen in healthcare - example of Karen Parles librarian with lung cancer who founded lungcanceronline.org. An online support group gave her SO much support that she created a space and it's still going strong after her death. It's still having an impact on others being diagnosed. Just-in-time information provided by someone in their same situation, ad hoc and on-the-fly. Communities of "rare species".
Libraries can be nodes in their social networks, as people seek information to help them solve their problems and meet their needs. They need friends like us!!
We can teach new literacies: screen (graphics and symbols), navigation, connections, context, skepticism, creating content, ethical behavior.
Produce reports on Americans' online activities. He has a new book coming out: Networked, the New Information Operating System
Pew is not a think tank, but a Fact Tank. They don't advocate a particular agenda, but generate a lot of information. Lee considers himself an Internet Archeologist - he examines the remains, but does not pass judgment. (I have used their data to support many grant proposals and technology project plans.)
NEW WORD: Tweckle: to abuse (heckle) a speaker via Twitter while he is speaking
Internet is the change agent, then and now. Dawn of the project in 2000 compared to today:
In 2000, less than half of adults used internet
5% had broadband at home
50% owned cellphone
Today 75% of adults
62% have broadband at home
80% have cellphones
Life Logging - ~30% share photos, personal creations, ratings and rankings of about purchases, services, etc.
15% have a personal website
15% are content remixers
There's a fine line between blogging and social networks. It's hard to measure how many people READ blogs, now that so many orgs are using blog platforms as their website platform (like ZSR).
Networked Creators democratize the voices in media, has challenged traditional gatekeepers. Inserted themselves in "expert" affairs. Once you start blogging about something, you become a stakeholder and are more involved in the process. About a FIFTH have contributed health content!! They are reshaping the relationship between providers (doctors) and the consumers (patients). Online patient communities are helping people navigate the system in a new way.
MacArthur Foundation has a new site: macfound.org - digital literacy program
13 elements of new literacy enumerated
New Community-Building activities
Crowdsourcing wisdom, especially among "strangers" who share a common purpose.
Particularly being seen in healthcare - example of Karen Parles librarian with lung cancer who founded lungcanceronline.org. An online support group gave her SO much support that she created a space and it's still going strong after her death. It's still having an impact on others being diagnosed. Just-in-time information provided by someone in their same situation, ad hoc and on-the-fly. Communities of "rare species".
Libraries can be nodes in their social networks, as people seek information to help them solve their problems and meet their needs. They need friends like us!!
We can teach new literacies: screen (graphics and symbols), navigation, connections, context, skepticism, creating content, ethical behavior.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Hearts
Employees of Carpenter Library found themselves exercising during the Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 tour of the Heart Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Starting in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab on the fourth floor of Ardmore (Brenner's) Tower, tourists learned that these are the "plumbers" for heart patients. Heart Center physicians and staff are assessing the heart by inserting catheters into the heart and injecting dye to acquire images of the coronary arteries as well as the chambers of the heart. Depending upon the findings, the physicians may then insert a stent to open up the coronary artery blockage. Many of these stents are coated with special medications designed to help keep the blockage open.
Rich Lundy, Director of the Heart Center, said since they started using medicated stents, the percentage of patients coming back to WFUBMC for revision of their stent within the first year has decreased from nearly 25% to less than 5%. A stent is a mesh-like scaffolding mounted over a tiny balloon that expands once inserted into the coronary artery. The stent is expanded into place, the balloon is withdrawn allowing for improved blood flow to the heart and better pump function. There are four adult catheterization labs and one pediatric catheterization lab. The pediatric lab is a bi-plane lab which means the equipment has two cameras on it, allowing for more angles/photos of the heart and less radiation exposure for the patient. WFUBMC was the first in the country to purchase this particular bi-plane equipment from Siemens, a German company.
Still walking but now from Ardmore to the Ground floor of Reynolds Tower where the Cardiac Ultrasound/Stress Testing lab is located. This lab houses the echocardiogram equipment which uses sound waves to produce images of the heart, including 3-D images. Clinical staff and physicians look for heart abnormalities and determine the effectiveness of the beating heart. Some patients are put under cardiac stress via exercising on a treadmill, stationary bicycle, or with drugs. Images of the heart are acquired at rest and at peak exercise and analyzed for abnormalities.
The next stop is at the Electrophysiology (EP) Lab and Heart Station. EP physicians are often referred to as the “electricians” focusing on diagnosis and correction of abnormal heart rhythms. The Implantable pacemakers, defibrillators, and cardiac rhythm devices of all sizes are located here as well as portable EKG machines. Patients of this area return often during the long-term treatment to have EKG or pacemakers checked or for therapy, including advice about their different medicines. Mr. Lundy helped partner with Pharmacy and Cardiology to set up an anticoagulation clinic for patients who need frequent monitoring and adjustment of their anticoagulation medications. Pharmacists provide point of care lab testing and can give patients immediate feedback and adjust medications as needed.
Making way through various hallways and up to the first floor of Reynolds Tower to the Cardiovascular Imaging Center where MRI's are taken of the heart. Of the several areas of the entire Heart Center, this is probably the least busiest with six to eight patients per day, compared to the 110 patients per day in the Cardiac Ultrasound/ECHO lab. Physicians though are able to read multiple types of tests (ECHO, Cardiac MRI, Cardiac CT) in two separate areas, one in each lab. There is also a live-feed into the stress echo testing rooms allowing quick physician consultation with the echo staff during procedures. Like in the ECHO lab, patients are put under stress via a treadmill or drugs and then the MRI is performed.
The final trek is to the Sticht Center where Mr. Lundy showed the tourists the Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehabilitation department. Once again, treadmills and stationary bicycles lined the long, rectangular room with oxygen tanks and accessories along the walls. The rehabilitation of hearts was started over 30 years ago as a joint project between the Bowman Gray campus and Reynolda campus. It was the first in the country. Cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation patients participate in a 12-week program that teaches them about lifestyle changes after experiencing heart or lung problems.
Not seen by the tourists were the several nursing units for heart patients, the outpatient clinics and the cardiothoracic surgery area. As administrative/business director for the Heart Center, Mr. Lundy works closely with all the nursing units, clinics and surgical departments. He serves on the Heart Transplant evaluation team which meets every Tuesday to determine if someone meets the criteria for a heart transplant. WFUBMC does about 10 heart transplants per year and there are 16 people waiting for a transplant.
While the Heart Center is physically scattered, the employees of all the areas are definitely the opposite - always working as a team, which was a heart-warming sight to fellow coworkers here at WFUBMC.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Laundry and Linens
Five Carpenter Library employees were seeing blue, green, yellow, white and hearing lots of numbers on 2SB (sub-basement) of Reynolds Tower during their tour of the Laundry and Linen Distribution departments on Wednesday, September 30, 2009.
Associate Director Dennis Robinson shared his vast knowledge and time during the hour-long tour. He rattled off lots of numbers, like:
Laundry and Linen started in a space of 9,000 square feet in 1923 when the hospital opened. Employees handled five million pounds per year. Now, still in its 9,000 square feet, employees have handled up to 14 million pounds of laundry per year.
The department is responsible for 13 scrub dispensers and 11 scrub receivers. The 4,000 users of the scrub machines have encoded cards for acquiring a set of scrubs and for returning a set of scrubs. Before the machines were installed in 1996, laundry employees were taking 1,900 sets of scrubs per day just to the operating rooms.
Between the many numbers, colors and different odors, Library employees left 2SB feeling appreciative for the work of their coworkers here at WFUBMC.
Associate Director Dennis Robinson shared his vast knowledge and time during the hour-long tour. He rattled off lots of numbers, like:
- 1,200 flat white bed sheets are ironed in one hour
- 9,000 barrier gowns are used per day
- 400 carts of linens and laundry is picked up/delivered per day
- 6,000 washcloths are used per day
- 1,800 - 1,900 thermal blankets are used per day
- 4,000 underpads are used per day
- 165 pounds of towels can be held in one sling hanging from the ceiling
- 205 pounds of flat sheets can be held in one sling
- 35-40,000 pounds of soiled linen are handled per day
Laundry and Linen started in a space of 9,000 square feet in 1923 when the hospital opened. Employees handled five million pounds per year. Now, still in its 9,000 square feet, employees have handled up to 14 million pounds of laundry per year.
The department is responsible for 13 scrub dispensers and 11 scrub receivers. The 4,000 users of the scrub machines have encoded cards for acquiring a set of scrubs and for returning a set of scrubs. Before the machines were installed in 1996, laundry employees were taking 1,900 sets of scrubs per day just to the operating rooms.
Between the many numbers, colors and different odors, Library employees left 2SB feeling appreciative for the work of their coworkers here at WFUBMC.
Monday, September 21, 2009
TRP - Totally Responsible Person
All-day workshop given by Organizational Development at Piedmont Plaza. Presenters were Susan Hathcock, who is a Nurse Educator, and Jennifer Evans, who works for Org Dev. My expectations were fairly low, but I left the day feeling energized and empowered.
The gist of TRP is to stay positive, productive, and effective - no matter what the circumstances! Many, many elements of our day are not under our control, but our reactions are. Taking personal responsibility for our emotions and attitudes can make a huge difference.
#1 is eliminating the victim mentality - they gave us 200+ statements like
Instead of Stimulus -> Reaction
try
Stimulus -> Choice -> Response
With practice, we can become aware of those times and situations when we enter into the victim mentality. Awareness empowers us to turn a reaction into a response.
Victim mentality thinks the other person is the problem - and the solution. Any thought, statement, or action that indicates an abdication of responsibility for one's emotional state and behavior reveals "victim".
Elements of TRP:
One aspect that surprised me was associating a "victim mentality" to actions like gathering around the water cooler to complain, criticize, and commiserate. Spreading negativity and discontent incites others to feel victimized! Criticism and gossip are separative, lower morale, wastes time, and usually comes back to you. How to handle another's criticism of an absent third person? Perhaps say, "How can we help that person?"
They recommended conducting a nightly review, noting critical conversations and thoughts. Note whether our approach to people is generally kindly or critical. Do we attempt to see the good in others, or do we focus on their weaknesses and failings? Also note how we criticize ourselves - that internal dialogue can infect our relationships with others as well.
This is boiling down seven hours of workshop to a few key points, but they're especially helpful with the new medctr administration.
The "Ten Commitments for Effective Group Work" can relate to dept, section, workgroup, team, and even family. They are posted outside my cube if you're interested.
The family aspect is especially interesting to me; because often family members (as well as co-workers) will unintentionally encourage victim behaviors by Rescuing and Enabling.
Rescuing: Taking care of others so that they do not have to be responsible for their behavior or emotional state.
Enabling: Encouraging the victim mentality by letting others know their victim behavior and negative emotional state are justified and acceptable.
"It may seem harsh, inflexible, or unloving to be TRP, especially with loved ones. But we must ask ourselves, 'Will my actions further the growth and development of the other person? Will they help build character?' . . . Not rescuing or enabling may be the best, and most compassionate gift we can ever give another person."
Quite a few parents in the group had trouble with this part. Jen and Susan both have kids, and were able to speak from many years of experience!
We started running out of time toward the end, but I particularly learned from the part called
The Gift of Feedback
Feedback is information that we use to make corrections in our thoughts and behavior to become more responsible, effective, productive, creative, and successful - at work, at home, and in life generally. Feedback is essential for learning and growing, and teaches us how we affect the world around us.
When we are being a victim, feedback appears to be criticism. When we are TRP, the same feedback is seen as useful, welcome information. Thus our rejection of - or openness to - feedback reveals our state of mind. Even if the other person has a personal agenda, or is unskilled in giving feedback, we can always search for the "kernel of truth" that exists in the feedback.
Be aware of LANGUAGE - it is a powerful indicator of our emotional state. Particularly the phrase, "makes me" - as in,
In working with OTHER people who exhibit the victim mentality, we can help them move toward a "higher" and more reasoned way of thinking. Once we start noticing these behaviors, don't feed them! For example, some people are so accustomed to complaining that it seems like the natural thing to do, but it reinforces the victimhood. When we are in these situations, we can be silent, change the subject, or propose solutions rather than jump into the wallowing.
Know the difference between sympathy and empathy - saying something like, "you poor thing" does not help the person. Don't take on their pain as your pain, that just continues their suffering. Misery loves company. Don't provide it. Changing the subject does wonders. Optimism is contagious! Move to the future, and focus on solutions. Use the word "think" rather than the word "feel" - that can help them move from an emotional state (feeling) to a problem-solving state.
Adversity, or feeling like a victim, is a test of our character - and a way to develop key character traits. Our success in every area of life is directly related to our ability to handle adversity. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can choose our response. Everything is an opportunity for learning and growth.
The gist of TRP is to stay positive, productive, and effective - no matter what the circumstances! Many, many elements of our day are not under our control, but our reactions are. Taking personal responsibility for our emotions and attitudes can make a huge difference.
#1 is eliminating the victim mentality - they gave us 200+ statements like
- That's not fair
- I'm sick and tired of . . .
- He/she/they should . . .
- If you can't do your part, I'm not going to do mine
- It's the system
- That makes me so mad
- I'm overwhelmed
Instead of Stimulus -> Reaction
try
Stimulus -> Choice -> Response
With practice, we can become aware of those times and situations when we enter into the victim mentality. Awareness empowers us to turn a reaction into a response.
Victim mentality thinks the other person is the problem - and the solution. Any thought, statement, or action that indicates an abdication of responsibility for one's emotional state and behavior reveals "victim".
Elements of TRP:
- Everything that happens to me provides me with opportunities for learning and growth.
- No one else can be blamed for any negativity my emotional nature experiences.
- I shall seek no exceptions to this belief, even when I'm not at fault.
One aspect that surprised me was associating a "victim mentality" to actions like gathering around the water cooler to complain, criticize, and commiserate. Spreading negativity and discontent incites others to feel victimized! Criticism and gossip are separative, lower morale, wastes time, and usually comes back to you. How to handle another's criticism of an absent third person? Perhaps say, "How can we help that person?"
They recommended conducting a nightly review, noting critical conversations and thoughts. Note whether our approach to people is generally kindly or critical. Do we attempt to see the good in others, or do we focus on their weaknesses and failings? Also note how we criticize ourselves - that internal dialogue can infect our relationships with others as well.
This is boiling down seven hours of workshop to a few key points, but they're especially helpful with the new medctr administration.
"Create an 'organizational culture' in our workplace and home where victim mentality is simply an inappropriate way of behaving - the kind of environment where it is simply seen as unproductive or even old-fashioned. This environment will be supportive of those people who are in the process of becoming more responsible. This environment first has to 'start with me'. We need to set the example for others."We also talked about "Group Victims", like School vs Hospital, admin vs worker bees, clinical vs non-clinical, techie vs non-techie, men vs women, Christians vs non-, white vs. non-, rural vs city, smoker vs non-, professional vs blue-collar.
The "Ten Commitments for Effective Group Work" can relate to dept, section, workgroup, team, and even family. They are posted outside my cube if you're interested.
The family aspect is especially interesting to me; because often family members (as well as co-workers) will unintentionally encourage victim behaviors by Rescuing and Enabling.
Rescuing: Taking care of others so that they do not have to be responsible for their behavior or emotional state.
Enabling: Encouraging the victim mentality by letting others know their victim behavior and negative emotional state are justified and acceptable.
"It may seem harsh, inflexible, or unloving to be TRP, especially with loved ones. But we must ask ourselves, 'Will my actions further the growth and development of the other person? Will they help build character?' . . . Not rescuing or enabling may be the best, and most compassionate gift we can ever give another person."
Quite a few parents in the group had trouble with this part. Jen and Susan both have kids, and were able to speak from many years of experience!
We started running out of time toward the end, but I particularly learned from the part called
The Gift of Feedback
Feedback is information that we use to make corrections in our thoughts and behavior to become more responsible, effective, productive, creative, and successful - at work, at home, and in life generally. Feedback is essential for learning and growing, and teaches us how we affect the world around us.
When we are being a victim, feedback appears to be criticism. When we are TRP, the same feedback is seen as useful, welcome information. Thus our rejection of - or openness to - feedback reveals our state of mind. Even if the other person has a personal agenda, or is unskilled in giving feedback, we can always search for the "kernel of truth" that exists in the feedback.
Be aware of LANGUAGE - it is a powerful indicator of our emotional state. Particularly the phrase, "makes me" - as in,
- that makes me angry
- s/he makes me happy
- naughty jokes make me feel embarrassed
- icy roads make me nervous
- sunshine makes me happy
In working with OTHER people who exhibit the victim mentality, we can help them move toward a "higher" and more reasoned way of thinking. Once we start noticing these behaviors, don't feed them! For example, some people are so accustomed to complaining that it seems like the natural thing to do, but it reinforces the victimhood. When we are in these situations, we can be silent, change the subject, or propose solutions rather than jump into the wallowing.
Know the difference between sympathy and empathy - saying something like, "you poor thing" does not help the person. Don't take on their pain as your pain, that just continues their suffering. Misery loves company. Don't provide it. Changing the subject does wonders. Optimism is contagious! Move to the future, and focus on solutions. Use the word "think" rather than the word "feel" - that can help them move from an emotional state (feeling) to a problem-solving state.
Adversity, or feeling like a victim, is a test of our character - and a way to develop key character traits. Our success in every area of life is directly related to our ability to handle adversity. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can choose our response. Everything is an opportunity for learning and growth.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity
Six Carpenter Library employees enjoyed learning about the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity on Tuesday, August 25, 2009.
Dr. Ronny Bell serves as the director of the seven-year-old Center. The Center, one of 11 at WFUSM, promotes research, faculty and student development and outreach. A dream of Dr. Richard Dean, the Center was awarded start-up grants from The Winston-Salem Foundation and Duke Endowment in late 2001-2002 to begin operation.
The Center moved to Watlington Hall in September 2008 where it shares space and some employees with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
While the Center has 14 employees, Dr. Bell explained the relationship that the Center has with WFUBMC committees and departments. The 36 faculty affiliates that participate in Center activities have a main appointment in another department. For example, Dr. Bell was hired to work for the Division of Public Health Sciences/Epidemiology & Prevention. He splits his time between there and the Center. Other faculty of the Center, such as Dr. David Mount who serves as director of community outreach, has an appointment in General Internal Medicine. There is also a Diversity Council at the Medical Center which works closely with the Maya Angelou Center.
The Maya Angelou Center isn't the only type of Center in the state - there are five more. Dr. Bell hopes to eventually create a health equity consortium for these centers to work together. Meanwhile, WFUBMC employees continue to work together to provide health care for all types of populations and cultures.
Dr. Ronny Bell serves as the director of the seven-year-old Center. The Center, one of 11 at WFUSM, promotes research, faculty and student development and outreach. A dream of Dr. Richard Dean, the Center was awarded start-up grants from The Winston-Salem Foundation and Duke Endowment in late 2001-2002 to begin operation.
The Center moved to Watlington Hall in September 2008 where it shares space and some employees with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
While the Center has 14 employees, Dr. Bell explained the relationship that the Center has with WFUBMC committees and departments. The 36 faculty affiliates that participate in Center activities have a main appointment in another department. For example, Dr. Bell was hired to work for the Division of Public Health Sciences/Epidemiology & Prevention. He splits his time between there and the Center. Other faculty of the Center, such as Dr. David Mount who serves as director of community outreach, has an appointment in General Internal Medicine. There is also a Diversity Council at the Medical Center which works closely with the Maya Angelou Center.
The Maya Angelou Center isn't the only type of Center in the state - there are five more. Dr. Bell hopes to eventually create a health equity consortium for these centers to work together. Meanwhile, WFUBMC employees continue to work together to provide health care for all types of populations and cultures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)