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For those of you not already familiar, MeSH or Medical Subject Headings are the standard terms used to describe biomedical topics in PubMed. Basically, a staff person at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) tags each article with the appropriate MeSH based on what the article is about. The great thing is you don’t have to worry about spelling variations, conjugation, or even synonyms with MeSH. If the article is about the concept, the NLM staffer will tag it with the right MeSH, even if the exact words used in the text are different.
So what made the list of new MeSH for 2016? Well, a few were surprising, such as the term Grandparents. How was that not already in there? Considering Antelope has been a MeSH since 1991, why did it take this long to add Giraffe? And, is it really that often that Legendary Creatures comes up in the biomedical literature that it deserves its own heading?
Well, check the list out yourself. Just keep in mind, these MeSH are brand-spanking new, so don’t expect to get a lot of articles tagged with them just yet–most are not retroactive.
Post contributed by Judy Rabinowitz
All of us at the Hirsh Health Sciences Library would like to wish everyone good cheer and relaxation as this term and year come to a close. Happy Holidays!
In case you’ve been buried under exams and course work, Halloween is this Saturday! And as an added bonus, Sunday, November 1st marks the end of Daylight Savings, which means an extra hour to sleep!
So, what are you doing this Halloween? Are you dressing up? Giving out treats? Partying? Have a date with the living dead (aka, a fellow grad student 🙂 )?
Well, however you choose to celebrate, the Hirsh Library wishes you a spooky and safe Halloween!
For a treat, check out these awesome videos from the American Dental Association. And oh yeah –BOO!
At some point this week we are celebrating National Ask a Stupid Question Day- I can’t tell you when, because reports differ as to whether the Day in question is September 28 or the last school day in September.
According to this article in the Telegraph, the point of the day is to encourage students to ask questions they might otherwise be embarrassed or too shy to ask.
Here at the Hirsh Health Sciences Library, we are all about answering your questions. Ask us anything! Step right up, don’t be shy. We will never tell you that you’ve asked a stupid question or give you a stupid answer!
You know what is kind of stupid? Shaving a baby. Or letting a baby shave himself. Don’t ask us about that.
Gillette Safety Razor Co. (Courtesy Miami University Library Digital Collections: http://digital.lib.muohio.edu/cdm/ref/collection/tradecards/id/1172)
Aside from questions about baby-shaving, the ONLY stupid question is the one that goes unasked!
September 21st – 25th is National Postdoc Appreciation Week.
You may be wondering, ‘what exactly is a postdoc?’ According to the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), a postdoc is: “…an individual holding a doctoral degree who is engaged in a temporary period of mentored research and/or scholarly training for the purpose of acquiring the professional skills needed to pursue a career path of his or her choosing.”
Postdocs work in academic, government, private nonprofit, and industry laboratories.
According to the most recent (2013) Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Sciences and Engineering survey, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, 564 academic institutions in the United States reported a total of 61,942 postdocs in science, engineering and health. In this survey, Tufts reported 149 postdocs in these fields.
So, wish the postdocs you know a happy Postdoc Appreciation Week!
For more information on postdocs, check out:
National Postdoctoral Association
The Postdoc Series: Insights, Options, Careers (NatureJobs Blog)
The Future of the Postdoc (Nature News Feature)
Post contributed by Laura Pavlech
…the Jewish New Year, that is!
This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sunday September 13 and runs through nightfall on September 15. Among the customs associated with Rosh Hashanah is sounding the shofar (an instrument traditionally made from a ram’s horn), which you may have been hearing already, as a shofar blast typically accompanies the end of morning services for the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah. Below is a photo of a Chaplain with the United States Army Forces in the Middle East sounding the shofar during Rosh Hashanah services in 1942.
Captain Joseph H. Freedman Hq, USAFIME, is shown blowing the Shofar (Courtesy American Jewish Historical Society: access.cjh.org/210349
For many, Rosh Hashanah is a time to get together with family and friends, and to enjoy sweet treats to symbolize a sweet year ahead. A traditional indulgence is apples dipped in honey, or any variety of delicious baked goods incorporating either or both ingredients. While my personal favorite method of getting apples and honey into my mouth is with a sweet and savory apple/honey/grilled cheese sandwich, there are a variety of spectacular desserts out there utilizing apples, with recipes both traditional and new. One of my favorite apple desserts is these Apple Brownies, from Amy Traverso’s wonderful The Apple Lover’s Cookbook. Deceptively simple, quick and easy to make, these fantastic “brownies” have no cocoa in them, but have a toothsome, dare I say fudgy texture that guarantees you won’t miss the chocolate.
So, hit the farmers’ market, scare up some local honey, some early-season apples, and some sweet thoughts for the year ahead.
Shanah Tovah!
We would like to highlight that August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM)! This was established to encourage people of all ages to protect their health by being vaccinated against infectious diseases. The CDC offers information and Toolkits to help you out. You can also check out this full 2015 Toolkit put out by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion!
June 23 marks the anniversary of two events of great cultural and political significance to the United States and, in particular, American women.
A Modern Mandala (Nancy L Stockdale) | CC-By-NC-ND 2.0
In 1960, the FDA formally approved Enovid for use as an oral contraceptive, making it the first approved birth control pill in the world. Enovid had been prescribed since 1957 as a treatment for menstrual disorders, but the FDA’s official recognition and approval of its contraceptive properties ushered in a new era of freedom and debate about reproductive rights. You can read more about the development of The Pill in Jonathan Eig’s The Birth of the Pill and about its impact on American society in America and the Pill by Elaine Tyler May; we have both in our collection.
Representative Patsy Mink, a co-author of Title IX. The law was renamed after her in 2002 as the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act
Twelve years later, on June 23, 1972, Congress passed Title IX as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It stated, in part that:
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance”
By banning sex discrimination in schools, Title IX has helped to expand educational and athletic opportunities to women. For Title IX’s 40th anniversary in 2012, The National Women’s Law Center collected a series of stories to honor the breadth its impact. Perspectives come from those who grew up before Title IX, like Alexa Canady, the first African-American woman neurosurgeon, as well as after, like Shree Bose, a prodigious teenage cancer researcher.
You can find the rest of the stories at “Faces of Title IX”.
We spoke too soon! It would seem that chilly weather is back for a bit. But there’s one benefit to this unwelcome temperature drop: fresh baked goods hot out of the oven are appealing again. And conveniently, there’s a holiday on June 6th that encourages enjoying just that: National Applesauce Cake Day.
Applesauce Cake (Tania Ho)| CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0
Not familiar with it? Neither were we, but it seems that The Internet is. While the origins of National Applesauce Cake Day are unknown, it is agreed that June 6th is the day to celebrate it. The consensus seems to be that it’s a celebration of the humble and delicious Applesauce Cake, which was lauded as a patriotic dessert during World War I and the Depression. It could be easily made at home and was more economical than other types of cakes, since applesauce reduces the amount of butter, sugar, and eggs needed in a recipe.
Easy and cheap? Sounds perfect for a busy student on a budget. Applesauce is also a healthier alternative to oil in a recipe or a vegan-friendly replacement for eggs and butter.
Intrigued? CNN has a brief discussion of the holiday and some tips for homemade applesauce and National Day Calendar has some recipe suggestions.
Let us know if you have any recipe suggestions or know of another wacky food-related holiday!
Stress(Bernard Goldbach| CC BY 2.0 )
Ahhhhh!
It’s National Stress Awareness Month!
Take a moment to breathe deep, go for a stroll, do some stretches, or play a game (don’t forget, we have some at the Library Service Desk!).
You could also do this, but we don’t recommend it:
Stress Reduction(Eamon Curry| CC BY 2.0 )
Here at Hirsh Library, we’ll have some activities throughout the month to help you de-stress, so stay tuned! In the meantime, check out some of the stress-reduction and relaxation tools up on the Tufts’ Counseling & Mental Health Services website.
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