You know how sometimes all you need is a snack rather than a whole meal? Well, sometimes this true for learning opportunities, too! Want to learn some tips, tricks and skills, but don’t have enough time to attend an hour long workshop? Then, Hirsh Library’s “Quick Bites” series will satisfy your cravings!
“Quick Bites” are 20 minute(-ish) mini-workshops held on Mondays at 12noon in Sackler 510. No registration required – just bring your lunch and yourself!
Topics to be featured include:
- Find it @Tufts/JumboSearch
- Point-of-care tools (DynaMed, BMJ Best Practice)
- Mobile App Resources
- PubMed in a Flash
- Protocols and methods
- Faculty of 1000
- Publons
Be on the lookout for “Quick Bites” schedule, which is coming soon!

R Logo is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Resolve to learn something new this year and attend an Open Workshop!
We kick off a new semester of Hirsh Open Workshops with a two part workshop on R, an open source programming language used to manipulate, analyze, and visualize data.
Workshops will be held in Sackler 510 on Tuesdays from 9-10am and repeated on Wednesdays from 3-4pm
Introduction to R
Register: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 – 9:00am – 10:00am
Register: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 – 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Description: R is an open source programming language used to manipulate, analyze, and visualize data. Researchers and health professionals can use it to convey complex information in a manner that is easy to understand. The flexibility of R allows large amounts of data to be processed and represented in ways that spreadsheet programs cannot. This introductory, hands-on workshop provides a brief overview of how R works and what it is capable of. No prior experience with R or programming languages is required.
Visualizing Data with R
Register: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 – 9:00am – 10:00am
Register: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 – 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Description: In this hands-on workshop, users will be introduced to R packages used for data visualization. This session includes data visualization exercises utilizing a sample data set. Prior experience with R or completion of the Hirsh Library’s “Introduction to “R” open workshop is recommended.
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Hirsh Health Sciences Library will have shortened hours on Monday, January 15th. We will be open 12 pm to 7 pm.
We will be open regular hours on Sunday and again on Tuesday.
We hope you have a great weekend!
Springer Nature Experiments is a new platform that searches four protocol and method resources simultaneously: Springer Protocols, Nature Protocols, Nature Methods, and Protocol Exchange, providing easy access to more than 50,000 protocols and methods.
Unique indexing means that you can quickly find protocols and methods for a particular organism, common and emerging techniques, or videos.
The summary page for each protocol and method provides an abstract, version history, figures and videos from the article, and the number of citations the article has received. This information helps you choose the best protocol or method for your work without scanning multiple articles on different sites. When you find one that works, then you can click through to the full text, available through Tufts Libraries.
Post contributed by Laura Pavlech
From all of us here at the Hirsh Health Sciences Library, we wish you a safe and happy New Year. See you in 2018!
Looking for New Years Eve activities? Give some of these a try:

https://www.facebook.com/octoforapreemieus/photos/a.1422909461086767.1073741828.1422837321093981/1467163623328017/?type=3&theater
Do you knit or crochet? Are you looking for a way to give back this year? Join crafters around the word in the Octo Project.
Originating in a hospital in Denmark by the Danish Octo Project, the Octo Project provides crochet/knit octopuses for preemies. Started back in 2013, Nurses that the Danish Project work with say that the tentacles resemble the umbilical cord that they are used to holding on to in utero. When a preemie sized crocheted octopus is put with these tiny infants they are calmer, their oxygen level stabilizes and they are less likely to pull out their various tubes and monitors.
These items have been approved all over the world (with strict guidelines). So pick up some hyper allergenic cotton yarn, grab your hook or needles and get to it!
The knit pattern can be found here. The crochet pattern can be found here and this pattern has tutorial information. English not your first language? Check out this page to see patterns in different languages.
Join the US Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/octoforapreemieus/ or email octoforapreemieus@gmail.com for more information.
We’ll be closed for a few days next week due to the holidays! Here’s a refresher on our upcoming hours:
* Holiday Leisure Reading *
The holiday season is the perfect time for some leisure reading. Whether you need something to read on the plane, train or bus ride home, or if you get to stay in town and rest, there’s plenty here at Hirsh for you to choose from. Make sure to stop by our newly expanded leisure reading section the next time you’re on the 4th floor of the Sackler building. Below are the latest titles to be added to our collection:
FICTION
- In the Midst of Winter : A Novel by Isabel Allende
- Seven Days of Us : A Novel by Francesca Hornak
-
The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
-
The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve
- Wonder Valley by Ivy Pochoda
- The Locals : A Novel by Jonathan Dee
- Fresh Complaint : Stories by Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash
NON-FICTION
- Code girls : The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy
- Hostage by Guy Delisle
- It’s Not Yet Dark by Simon Fitzmaurice
- Where the Past Begins : A Writer’s Memoir by Amy Tan
As always, if there’s a book we don’t have that you think we should own, please do let us know by recommending a purchase.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/photo-2603564/
Winter break is upon us, and Hirsh’s library hours will be changing a bit for the next two weeks. The abbreviated list is below, but you can find a full schedule right here on our site. We resume normal hours on January 2nd.
Beginning this weekend (12/16 & 12/17), the schedule will be:
Weekends: Closed
Weekdays: 8am – 5pm*
* We will be closed on the following weekdays: December 25th, December 26th, December 29th, & January 1st
We hope you all have a relaxing break, and we will see you again in January!
Look, we know it’s a BEAR of a time right now…exams, assignments, travel, holidays!

Image taken from page 54 of ‘The Frozen Crew of the Ice-bound Ship; or, the Terrors of the arctic regions. A romance of the wild and wonderful. With illustrations’ is made available by the British Library and has no known copyright restrictions.
Remember, when you’re busy, we’re busy. Don’t get shut out in the cold, PLAN AHEAD!
Leave plenty of time to snag the books and other resources you need to study for exams (and don’t forget to bring them back on time and avoid The Block!).
If you’d like to work with a librarian, you are always welcome to stop by the Service Desk on Sackler 4, but to avoid lines and waiting, why don’t you schedule an appointment with your liaison librarian? Check out the librarian dedicated to your school or program here: https://hirshlibrary.tufts.edu/research/liaison-program, and book an appointment by clicking on a librarian’s name and then clicking the “Schedule Appointment” button.
Need an appointment in a hurry? Fill out the Schedule a Consultation form and we’ll be in touch ASAP. Appointments are available Monday -Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, as schedules permit.
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