PowerPoint Alternatives — New HSL Class!

PowerPoint Alternatives

Monday, May 17
11:00 – 12:00
Library Rm. 109
Instructor: Jovy Rosario

The Health Sciences Library Presents:

Are you tired of PowerPoint and its bullet points? Do you want to try something new with your presentations? This class will demonstrate free, web-based alternatives to PowerPoint followed by hands-on exercises. Instructor: Jovy Rosario

To register: Click on the following link: http://library.nymc.edu/calendar/index.cfm?calendar_id=432 and enter your barcode & password.

Questions? Call the Reference Desk at 914-594-4210 or respond to this email

HSL Class: Useful Web Gizmos – Slide Sharing Sites

Next in the Useful Web Gizmos series…

this week’s topic is:

“Slide Sharing Sites”

Thursday May 13, 11:00 – 11:30
Library Rm. 109
Instructor: Marie Ascher

This 30-minute session will introduce participants to sites on the web which allow users to upload, share, and search slides and slide presentations.

Potential uses for slide sharing in education and research will be described and discussed.

To register — Click on the link: http://library.nymc.edu/calendar/index.cfm?calendar_id=421 and enter in your barcode & password.

Questions? Respond to this email or call the Reference Desk at 914-594-4210.

Share Your References with Colleagues and Students Using RefShare

If you use  RefWorks you already know that it is a great tool for creating a database of references. You know that from that database you can develop bibliographies and format citations in your papers. But did you know that you can share your folders or even your entire database with your colleagues, collaborators, classmates, students, residents, or anyone, regardless of their affiliation? RefShare could be used for sharing with co-authors, for a shared lab library, for distributing electronic course reading lists with links to full-text, for resident education — the possibilities are endless.

RefShare provides:

• A URL which is accessible by anyone even non-NYMC or non-Refworks users. This URL can be emailed to your colleagues or posted on a page like in DCDB or Moodle.
• Users with the ability to export, print, comment or create bibliographies from your shared citations depending on how you select your sharing options.
• Real estate in the NYMC  Shared Folder Area for others to discover (optional – see below).
• RSS feeds which alert subscribers when new items are added to the folder or database.
• Statistics on number of views of your shared citations.

Please note that RefShare does not allow collaborators to edit the database or folder. If you want to do that you can create a shared account with a shared username and password.

Here’s how to add a folder to RefShare:

Under the “Folders” menu you will find an option to “Share Folders.”

You have the option to either share your entire database or individual folder(s).

You then have options:

• URL – You can cut and paste the URL into an email or onto a web page to share, or have RefWorks send an email for you, as indicated by the arrow (1).
• Print, export, Bibliography, RSS options — these options determine what your collaborators will be able to do with your references. Again, remember, they can not edit your references so allowing all of these poses no danger to the integrity of your database.
• OpenURL refers to the NYMC ArticleLinker which links citations to the library’s licensed full text. Select the “Site Defined” option to have these links appear in your database.
• Output styles are the bibliographic formats that will be available to users. Recommendation: give them as many options as possible.
• Title and Information help viewers identify your database in the Shared Area (2), which you can opt out of and just share with select people if you choose.

The Shared Area is a publicly accessible bank of shared RefWorks databases. Placing your databases and folders in the shared area will allow anyone who visits the shared area to browse your references.

RefShare is a powerful tool for collaboration. If you have questions about its use or would like to discuss further, please either comment here, speak with a User Support librarian 914-594-4210, take one of our RefWorks classes, or schedule a consultation.

The next RefWorks class is Monday, May 10 at 2 PM. To register: http://library.nymc.edu/calendar/index.cfm?calendar_id=420

We look forward to working with you.

Webinar: Overview of Electronic Resources, Tuesday 4/20, 11AM – 12PM

Join us for a Webinar on April 20!

Overview of Electronic Resources
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
Instructor: Jovy Rosario

Free to all members of the NYMC community.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/527188680

Description: The Health Sciences Library offers a wide variety of electronic resources containing textbooks, journal articles, and newspaper articles, as well as links to electronic journals. The class provides an overview of these resources, describing format, content, location, and off-campus access, and then explores several of the resources in greater detail.

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Webinar: Survey Monkey Basics,Thursday 4/15, 10:30-12

Join us for a Webinar on April 15, 10:30 – 12:00
Instructor: Deborah Crooke

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/938854001

Would you like to conduct survey research online? Using web-based SurveyMonkey software, this hands-on session will take you through the basics of designing a survey, collecting responses and downloading results for analysis. Includes instruction related to asking good survey questions, selecting the appropriate question type, applying “skip logic,” setting up a collector for disseminating the survey, and more. No prerequisites

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

How to share and send large files (without crashing your email account)

If you are anything like me, you find that your NYMC email account fills up faster than you can manage all of the email you receive. Part of that is due to the sending of large attachments like PowerPoint presentations, image files, and other documents. Sometimes the same document is sent repeatedly by multiple people making small edits. Or you want to email yourself a file so you can work on it at home. One solution I have come up with is to create an additional gmail account specifically to receive any emails with attachments sent to my NYMC Outlook account. To accomplish this I have set up a rule. This way when I need to clean up my inbox I can do it quickly knowing that all of those messages with attachments are safely tucked away in gmail.

Another way to deal with this is to utilize non-email strategies for sending and sharing files. I’ve long been a supporter of collaborative tools like Google Docs for team editing documents. This helps avoid multiple attachment-laden messages and duplicate copies of documents. We teach a class on using Google Docs and Zoho as part of our “Topics in Web 2.0″ series. To register for an April 23 (1PM) “Web Collaboration Tools” class: http://library.nymc.edu/calendar/index.cfm?calendar_id=387 These tools are powerful for their editorial features but can’t necessarily handle the largest files and require setting up an account in order to use.

So this brings us to file transfer tools. These tools allow you to transfer large files without the file size restrictions of email. There are several of these tools. Notably, New York Medical College contracted with SendThisFile to provide easy file transfer service for the NYMC community. You can access this service at http://www.sendthisfile.com/nymc . It is entirely free to anyone with a valid NYMC email address, does not require a login or an install, handles very large files (“unlimited” they say but your browser might have restrictions), and keeps your file for pickup for 14 days.

There are other free file transfer tools you can use, most of which have premium options (see table below) as well. These include Dropsend.com, FileXpressit, Sizable Send, and WeTransfer, plus the free version of SendThisFile. These all basically work the same. Some require login, or have different maximum upload limitations and expiry times. The usual maximum file size is 2GB which is generally the same limitation that your browser might impose.

There are two other types of tools which could be used for this purpose:  one I will refer to as web “drops” and the other are “cloud drives.”

Web “drops” - tools like Drop.io and FileDropper are file hosting sites allow you to create a web home for your document for download by anyone who has the URL that is generated. FileDropper in particular provides generous storage space and no expiration on files (forever, as long as it continues to be downloaded, they say).

Cloud drives allow you to house files and folders in storage space on the web. Additionally, they allow you to share files, and in some cases entire folders which whomever you choose. And in many cases they allow you to install a utility which allows you to synchronize with your desktop or multiple computers or devices.  These “virtual drives” are provided by ADrive, DropBox, and Humyo and also, not listed in the table Windows Live Synch.

Take the time to decide which option works for you.  And stop crashing your inbox.

Click on the table below to access the downloadable pdf.

Further reading: Josh Lowensohn. How to save and share ridiculously large files. http://bit.ly/aP7NPv

New “Useful Web Gizmos” Series at the Library

The Health Sciences Library is launching a new series of classes designed to introduce the NYMC community to practical tools on the web.  The Useful Web Gizmos series is meant to be a quick and informal introduction to web-based tools which the librarians select to assist with presentations, productivity and organization. We will hold a monthly “lunch & learn” format session, about a half hour in length where we present a selected tool or type of tool and the ways in which they can be used in academia and life.

The first session, this Thursday at 11:00 AM is titled, “Sending Large Files (without crashing your email account).”

Class description: Most email accounts have limited storage capacity or a limit on the size of files you can send or receive. This session will introduce several web-based tools that you can use to bypass the sending of attachments via email. An emphasis will be placed on free tools you can use to transfer PowerPoint presentations or any other large files.

To register, click on the following link http://library.nymc.edu/calendar/index.cfm?calendar_id=407 and enter your barcode and password. We recommend registering at least 24 hours in advance.

Send us a comment if you have a suggestion for a future “Useful Web Gizmos” session.

Refworks Updates

For those in the NYMC community who are avid users of  RefWorks, here are some tidbits of information that might interest you:

• For as long as the HSL subscribes to RefWorks, NYMC alumni will now have life-long access to their personal RefWorks database. All the more reason to store those references in one place!
• If you have a mobile phone and want to access your RefWorks database wherever you are, you are now able to do so through RefMobile.  To access RefMobile, you will need a group code which can be found in the Journal Password List and a RefWorks login and password.
• RefWorks will be launching a new design called RefWorks 2.0 in the upcoming months. The library is participating in beta testing RefWorks 2.0.  Not to worry though, you will still have the option to toggle back to the old familiar design.

In the meantime, Deborah Crooke will be teaching a RefWorks Fundamentals webinar on March 24, 2010.  Spaces are limited so register asap!  To register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/487136041

Using EndNote Web Class — 3/18/2010

Using EndNote Web – Thursday March 18, 2:00 – 3:00                        Instructor: Shawn Manning
Location: Library Rm. 109

Available freely on the Web to the entire NYMC community, EndNote is a management program that allows a user to create a bibliographic database. The class covers how to retrieve records from a database (such as MEDLINE), organize and edit records after downloading them to a personal computer, and generate a bibliography. To register:http://library.nymc.edu/calendar/index.cfm?calendar_id=378.  For more information call the Reference Desk at 914-594-4210.

New: Webinars at the HSL!

Let the Library Come to You! The Library now offers webinars!

Learn new library skills in the comfort of your own office or home. The Health Sciences Library now offers the following Webinar classes: _______________________________________________________________________________________
RefWorks Fundamentals
Wednesday March 24, 11:00
Instructor: Deborah Crooke
Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/487136041

RefWorks is a bibliographic management program that allows you to build your own library of articles and references. The class focuses on how to download citations from library databases; search downloaded citations to build a customized reference list for papers; and insert references into a paper to generate and format a bibliography. PLEASE REGISTER FOR A REFWORKS ACCOUNT PRIOR TO ATTENDING THE CLASS. If you need assistance, see the following page: http://library.nymc.edu/TipSheets/refworks2.cfm or call the Reference Desk at 914-594-4210.

_______________________________________________________________________________________
Searching PubMed
Thursday March 25, 11:00
Instructor: Jovy Rosario
Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/242106841

This class covers the features and search techniques available for searching NLM’s web-based version of MEDLINE, PubMed. Included are the unique search features, how to perform simple and complex searches, how to use limits to narrow a search, as well as how to save and print a search strategy. Also discussed is the use of PubMed Linkout which allows users to link from the search results to full-text articles. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Evidence-Based Healthcare Resources
Monday March 29, 11:00
Instructor: Marie Ascher
Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/556721112

This class covers the basic principles of evidence-based healthcare and focuses on the array of information resources available at the Health Sciences Library specifically geared toward finding the best evidence in the literature to answer clinical questions. Resources covered include: The Cochrane Library, Clinical Evidence, DynaMed and special Internet resources, as well as special PubMed techniques used to locate evidence-based studies.