April/May 2005 (Vol. XII, No. 4)

• Jump-start your research with MegaSearch
• UT Southwestern hosts teleconference with International Space Station
• Open access policy from the National Institutes of Health
• Medical Education Auditorium offers high-tech space for groups up to 175
• Data analysis courses offered by CBCS
• Locating full-text articles from PubMed
• PestPatrol fights spyware, adware, improves workstation performance
• SAGE KE: New Resource on Aging

Rather than put a trademark symbol at every occurrence of trademark names, we state that we are using the names only in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringements of the trademark.

Jump-start your research with MegaSearch

Have you ever needed articles on a topic, but didn't know which library database to search? To help eliminate this confusion, the UT Southwestern Library has developed "MegaSearch," a resource discovery tool that searches multiple library resources simultaneously.

For example, to find books and journal articles on "depression in the elderly," a user could search all the resources in MegaSearch's "Social Sciences Databases" collection. Or select and search five specific databases: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Psychology Collection, Social Science Citation Index, and the library's online catalog.

Results display in order of relevance and may be viewed either from the individual databases or in a combined list. Links to available full-text are provided, and selected records can be saved, emailed, printed or downloaded to a file.

MegaSearch is available from the Library's home page (http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library). Just click on the MegaSearch link under "Search Databases."

Use of MegaSearch is limited to the Campus Wide-Area Network (CWAN) or through Virtual Private Networking (VPN) software. Publishers' licensing agreements restrict the use of most electronic resources to faculty, staff, students, residents, and fellows of UT Southwestern Medical Center.

After trying MegaSearch, users are invited to provide feedback by participating in the library's surveys and focus groups.  Those who wish to participate may complete the form at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library/feedback/surveySignupForm.cfm.

UT Southwestern hosts teleconference with International Space Station

Whether you need to do a simple PowerPoint presentation for a small group, have a group of surgeons collaborate with peers across town or in another state, or make a group videoconference call to a family member who just happens to be an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (see photo at right), you can do it from the Southwestern Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery (SCMIS) Multi-Modality Education and Videoconference Center in Room E6.200.  Media Technology and Medical Television collaborate to facilitate events in this venue.

The facility holds up to 47 people, each with a Digital Congress participation control console. When the current user "yields the floor," the user who has requested it next automatically becomes active. That means a red light glows, the microphone turns on, and one of three cameras automatically focuses on the new user and "goes live." The control consoles also have multiple choice response capability, and "smart-card" readers to identify known users and retrieve their profiles.

If you'd like to override this automatic switching, control capabilities abound. The speaker at the lectern can control who "has the floor," as well as the lighting in the room, all cameras, microphones, display screens, computers, and communications to the next room or the next planet! Alternatively, these functions can be controlled from the engineering room behind the display screens (see photo at right).

Clients who wish to use the facility may contact SCMIS at 214-648-5043. Depending on the specific requirements, either or both of two Information Resources divisions may be involved. For simple presentations to groups in the room, Media Technology provides routine audiovisual equipment and services. If communications to another location or more elaborate video production is needed, Medical Television provides "state-of-the-art" equipment and expertise, together with extensive experience with all kinds of projects. Connectivity is provided through the Internet, Internet2 or ISDN, or by wireless modes, including satellite.

More about Medical Television (MTV)

The division is organized into two functional areas:

• Production, which creates promotional programming for UT Southwestern, videos for medical companies, educational programs, live surgical events, the President's Lecture Series, and of course the Senior Video. Recorded programming is produced using DVCAM tape format and Avid non-linear editing equipment.
• Engineering, which maintains all of MTV's analog and digital television and communications equipment, performs operations functions for live and recorded events and facilitates videoconferencing for distance education, teleresearch, telemedicine and continuing education programs, including Masters of Public Health classes with other UT medical institutions, the Alliance for Cellular Signaling, the Denton State School, Internal Medicine Grand Rounds and the University Lecture Series.

MTV has a production studio and engineering facilities on the 1st floor of the E Building and can support remote events elsewhere on campus or at other locations as needed. To find out more about how MTV can support and enhance your event, contact them at 214-648-3692.

Open access policy from the National Institutes of Health

Beginning May 2, 2005, investigators who are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be asked to submit voluntarily their final manuscripts about research — supported in whole or in part with direct costs from NIH — upon acceptance for publication to PubMed Central (http://pubmedcentral.nih.gov/). PubMed Central is the NIH digital repository of full-text, peer-reviewed biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research journals. It is a publicly accessible, permanent, and searchable electronic archive available on the Internet.

Information on NIH's Open Access Policy, including an FAQ, the text of the final policy, background information, and news releases can be located at http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm.

Medical Education Auditorium offers high-tech space for groups up to 175

The new NG Building, officially called the Medical Education & Conference Center, adds several new meeting spaces to the UT Southwestern campus.  Ranging from small conference rooms for six to 10 people up to the Medical Education Auditorium (shown at right), which seats 175, these spaces will serve UT Southwestern's Continuing Education Department and others with the latest audiovisual equipment.  Presentations delivered here can be shown in multiple rooms anywhere on campus or streamed to remote points via the Internet.  Up to 225 wireless audience response devices can be used for testing or voting, and resulting statistics can be shown immediately. 

More about Audience Response System (ARS)

Media Technology has purchased an Audience Response System that will be used primarily in the Medical Education & Conference Center; however, it is a portable system and therefore is also available for rent at conferences throughout the campus and at special off-campus events.

The audience response system enables presenters either to poll the audience for their understanding of a topic or to actually use the system for an exam.  The response system requires that the questions be pre-determined along with either true/false or multiple-choice answers.  Each participant is then given a wireless answer pad to record their responses.  This testing method has proven to be a very effective tool for evaluating the effectiveness of a presentation or lecture and is becoming more and more popular.

The rental price for the ARS per half day is $900, plus a $150 minimum preparation charge.  This includes preparation of the questions and answers and up to 225 wireless pads.  A minimum three-day lead time is required to allow Media Technology staff to input the questions and answers and to allow the presenter to approve the data.  The Audience Response System is not available for checkout.  A technician must accompany the device, and normal labor charges will apply.

To rent the ARS or to make arrangements for Media Technology to support your needs for other audiovisual services in the NG building and other campus locations, contact the Media Technology staff through the IR Call Center at 214-648-7600, option 3.

Data analysis courses offered by CBCS

The Center for Biostatistics and Clinical Science (CBCS) announces several courses for SAS (Statistical Analysis Software) and SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) in the upcoming months. These courses are designed to assist campus researchers in gaining expertise in performing data analysis for scientific studies. Following are brief descriptions of the upcoming courses.

• SAS, Part I: The SAS software program for Microsoft Windows is the most commonly used statistical analysis tool used for scientific research around the world. However, it is not easy to use without first getting some instruction. This course introduces you to techniques for data management and for performing common statistical procedures. A number of hands-on examples are used in the two class sessions, which last three hours each. Statistical techniques covered in this course include t-tests, analysis of variance, correlation, regression, graphics and non-parametrics. Some computing experience and a basic knowledge of statistics is assumed.
• SAS, Part II: This new course is a much requested follow-up for the Introduction to SAS that has been taught at the school for a number of years. Topics covered include data cleaning and verification techniques, reading data though the DDE procedures, creating SAS data sets from procedure output, Do Loops, arrays, lookup tables, combining, interleaving, stacking, and transposing data sets, creating HTML and PDF output using ODS, and introduction to SAS macros. Statistical procedures discussed include advanced ANOVA models, logistic regression, survival analysis, sample size estimation and other topics.  You should have taken the Introduction to SAS or be familiar with programming in SAS to take this course.
• Introduction to SPSS: The SPSS statistical data analysis software program for Microsoft Windows is popular with a number of researchers. It is also a highly recognized and referenced statistics tool. SPSS is primarily a menu driven system. It contains most of the statistical tools researchers need to analyze results from scientific studies. The SPSS course introduces users to SPSS data entry and manipulation and basic statistical data analysis. Participants in this course leave with the expertise to enter and import data into SPSS and to perform commonly used statistical data analysis techniques on that data. Statistical techniques covered in this course include t-tests, analysis of variance, correlation, regression, graphics and non-parametrics. Some computing experience and a basic knowledge of statistics is assumed.

All classes are held in room E1.304. The schedule for these upcoming courses is as follows:

Occasionally, other classes are scheduled as the need arises. To register for these courses, please call CBCS at 214-648-3681. Each course costs $200 and is payable to CBCS by either check or inter-departmental requisition (IDR).

In addition to offering these courses, CBCS offers a site license for both the SAS and SPSS programs. This allows users to obtain a license for these programs at a highly discounted rate. The SAS yearly license is $200, and the SPSS yearly license is $240. Please call CBCS at 214-648-3681 for additional information.

CBCS also offers individualized consulting on statistical data analysis. For more information on courses or to arrange for a consultation, please contact the Center for Biostatistics and Clinical Science at 214-648-3681. All consulting services are offered on a fee basis. CBCS is located in E1.401.

Locating full-text articles from PubMed

The UT Southwestern Library has improved the linking service that provides online full-text articles from PubMed. The new "Linking Options" provides access to more full-text articles through the library's connection to PubMed.

A major benefit of this improved service is the ability to try alternative links to locate an article if no full-text link is provided initially. These alternative links include:

• The library's complete list of electronic journals
• Its online catalog to determine if print copies are available
• The interlibrary loan request form (via ILLiad) if the library does not own the journal
• Online help with locating journals
• Feedback regarding this service

The previous service, LinkOut, did not provide alternative methods to obtain an article if the full text is not available online. Because these additional links are available through the library's Linking Options service, the "Find It! @ UT Southwestern" icon will appear with all citations in PubMed.

These options also appear within other electronic library resources, such as Web of Science and Ovid.

To learn more about the Linking Options service, please visit the Linking Options FAQ page at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library/webHelp/LinkOptions/linkOpt.cfm.

For questions or concerns regarding this service, please visit the Ask a Reference Question page at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library/reference/referenceRequest.cfm.

PestPatrol fights spyware, adware, improves workstation performance

Nonviral malicious programs such as spyware are a fast-growing threat that represents a major risk to security and privacy.  Some spyware is simply an annoyance, causing increased spam or unwanted pop-ups, while other spyware can threaten your security.

Spyware and related pests can perform activities ranging from nuisances such as tracking Web-surfing habits and displaying unsolicited advertisements to potentially devastating actions such as reconfiguring operating systems and applications, monitoring email, logging keystrokes (including passwords), and transmitting confidential data.  Spyware can do more than steal your personal information, it also can rob your PC of its speed, stability and Internet access efficiency.

PestPatrol proactively scans your PC for nonviral malicious threats including spyware, adware, Trojan horses, Denial-of-Service attack agents and other back door, Web-based threats that can expose confidential information and diminish PC performance.  It can remove these nonviral threats and protect you from new ones.

Information Resources has obtained a license from Computer Associates for 14,000 copies of eTrust PestPatrol 2005 r5.02.  The application will be made available at no charge throughout the extended UT Southwestern campus, and up to 4,000 copies will be provided to the UT community for home use for the cost of the media and duplication, $5.00 per copy.

To obtain a copy for home use, call the IR Call Center at 214-648-7600, option 0, and tell the analyst you want PestPatrol.  The analyst will explain the payment options and will email an order confirmation to you.  Print the order confirmation.  If you are paying by cash or check, pay the UT Cashier (in the B Building).  To pick up the PestPatrol CD, present your order confirmation along with the cashier's receipt at Information Resources's Dell Service Center (in Room D1.204) Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

If you are paying by inter-departmental requisition (IDR), you may simply bring your IDR to the Dell Service Center with your order confirmation to pick up the CD.

SAGE KE: New Resource on Aging

Science's SAGE KE (Science of Aging Knowledge Environment) is geared toward researchers in the field of aging. This "knowledge environment" offers information in the field of aging and related disciplines, provides tools for searching and information retrieval, and creates a community where researchers can discuss and share data.

SAGE KE is divided into four main sections:

• Literature & News
• Community
• Resources
• Highlights

The "Resources" section includes funding sources, lab resources, listings of meetings, and events.

To access SAGE KE, go to http://sageke.sciencemag.org/. You also can locate SAGE KE using the search box on the Library's home page or in the Subjects list under "Geriatrics."

Please note you must be an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) member to access a few portions of SAGE KE, such as the directory profiles.