April 13, 2007

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. Last year we highlighted some major web resources on autism.

This year, let's look at some resources about dental exams and autistic patients. These articles describe both the practical aspects of providing care to children with autism spectrum disorders as well as describing what the experience feels like to the patient and why it is troubling for them.

Autism Research Institute: Dental Anesthesia for the Autistic Child (Richard John Novak, MD, Stanford): http://www.autismwebsite.com/ARI/info/dental.htm

Neurodiversity.com: Medical & Dental Procedures & Autism: http://www.neurodiversity.com/medical_dental.html

Friedlander AH, Yagiela JA, Paterno VI, Mahler ME.
The neuropathology, medical management and dental implications of autism.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2006 Nov;137(11):1517-27. Review.
PMID: 17082277
http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/137/11/1517

Chew LC, King NM, O'Donnell D.
Autism: the aetiology, management and implications for treatment modalities from the dental perspective.
Dent Update. 2006 Mar;33(2):70-2, 74-6, 78-80 passim. Review.
PMID: 16610261

Posted by pfa at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2007

Let's Face It, AboutFace USA, & SlideShare

Many thanks to Marita Inglehart for inviting us to speak as part of the Multicultural Affairs Committee series on disabilities and dentistry. The presentation slides are available on SlideShare.

Let's Face It Comes to Michigan: Lessons Learned about Web Sites for Persons with Facial Difference: http://www.slideshare.net/umhealthscienceslibraries/lets-face-it-comes-to-michigan-lessons-learned-about-web-sites-for-persons-with-facial-difference/

In SlideShare, there are other presentations about persons with facial difference and how to support them. Highlighted here are those from AboutFace USA, in particular a presentation to the UNLV School of Dentistry that includes information about clinician-patient communication with persons with facial difference.

AboutFace USA: http://www.aboutfaceusa.org/

SlideShare: AboutFace USA: http://www.slideshare.net/aboutfaceusa

SlideShare: AboutFace USA: AFUSA UNLV Presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/aboutfaceusa/afusa-unlv-presentation

Posted by pfa at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2007

Consumer Health Information in Many Languages

A new entry at the Health Sciences Libraries blog highlights a number of excellent resources for finding high quality patient information in many languages. Check it out!

HSL Blog: Consumer Health Information in Many Languages: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/hsl/archives/2007/02/consumer_health.html

Posted by pfa at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2007

Diversity in Dentistry, MLK Day Updates

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, you might want to be aware of these innovations in dental education and leadership in the area of diversity and multicultural awareness.

* FROM ADEA

ADEA strategies to enhance diversity 2005-2006: www.adea.org/ced/Docs/Strategies_ADEA.pdf

* FROM ACHIEVING DIVERSITY IN DENTISTRY AND MEDICINE (ADDM):

ADDM: ETHNOGERIATRICS CURRICULUM

ADDM is currently pilot testing an ethnogeriatrics curriculum in five medical schools and one dental school. AMSA is providing technical assistance and limited funding to the schools and is working with each school on program development and evaluation. Note that UMMS is one of the schools! The schools are Midwestern University; East Carolina University; University of Iowa College of Dentistry; Stanford University School of Medicine; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; University of Michigan Medical School.

Overview: http://www.amsa.org/addm/
PDF: http://www.amsa.org/addm/ECRFP.pdf#zoom=120

ADDM: CULTURAL COMPETENCY CURRICULUM

ADDM is currently pilot testing a cultural competency curriculum in eight medical and three dental schools. AMSA is providing technical assistance and limited funding to the schools and is working with each school on program development and evaluation. The schools are UMDNJ; Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences; Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center; Brown Medical School; Eastern Virginia Medical School; Midwestern University; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Nebraska College of Dentistry; University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine; University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston.

Overview: http://www.amsa.org/addm/
PDF: http://www.amsa.org/addm/CCRFP.pdf#zoom=120
ADDM Recommended Culture and Diversity Resources: http://www.amsa.org/programs/diversityres.cfm

Posted by pfa at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2007

African-American Dentists in the Military

I just discovered this marvelous free online book documenting just a few of the challenges and achievements of early efforts to promote diversity in the US Dental Corps. Along with this, please also note recent news articles highlighting the achievements of specific African American dentists in their local communities.

(1)
Hyson, John M. African-American Dental Surgeons and the U.S. Army Dental Corps, a Struggle for Acceptance, 1901-1919
http://history.amedd.army.mil/ameddcorp/African-AmericanDentalSurgeons/default.html

"The author began collecting any data he found on African-American dental officers as a matter of policy. The material sat dormant until 1992 when a planning grant proposal for a museum exhibition on African-American dentistry was under consideration at the University of Maryland. With a mad rush, the author dug into his files for the material collected on black dentists, thus was spawned the present manuscript."

(2)
Dr. William Morgan was a Tuskegee airman. Star Tribune January 10, 2007. http://www.startribune.com/466/story/929067.html

"The dentist, who was a pioneering black fighter pilot during World War II, moved from a Pittsburgh practice to Wanamingo, Minn., in the 1960s."

(3)
Bibb's 1st black BOE member dead at 69
By Phillip Ramati
Macon Telegraph Thu, Jan. 11, 2007
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/16431776.htm

Posted by pfa at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)

December 06, 2006

Neanderthal's Molars, Future Genius, Scientific Fraud, & Diagnosis in Diversity: Article Highlights from Science Journals

Interesting articles selected from new issues of Nature and Science. NOTE: You must be a UM patron to have access to these. If you are a UM patron and have trouble accessing the articles linked below, try using on on-campus computer, or accessing the articles from the Electronic Journals page.

(1)
Scientific American: Oral and Whole Body Health:
http://www.dentalcare.com/soap/products/promotion_sa.htm

"It's a first step on the journey as we work together to uncover the most important and factual information there is regarding the important role good oral health can play in achieving whole body wellness."

(2)
How Neanderthal molar teeth grew
Roberto Macchiarelli et al.
Abstract: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7120/abs/nature05314.html

"Here we show that the timing of molar crown and root completion in Neanderthals matches those known for modern humans but that a more complex enamel–dentine junction morphology and a late peak in root extension rate sets them apart."

(3)
Futures: Awakening the genius within, Revolution in the head.
Daniel Gregory
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7120/full/444788a.html

"Teetering on the knife-edge, the humans struggled against the Inspiron and the talent that it could give them."

(4)
The right tools can save lives
Effective diagnosis, paired with treatment, for developing-world
diseases can have far-reaching impacts, says the Global Health
Diagnostics Forum.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7120/full/444681a.html

"The Forum has defined the need and impact of diagnostics for six devastating disease groups. Now we challenge scientists, technology developers, funding agencies, policy-makers, international governmental and aid organizations, investors and diagnostic companies to work together to take this forward. A coordinated approach is needed so that appropriate diagnostics can achieve the promised impact."


(5)
Donald Kennedy
Responding to Fraud
Science 1 December 2006
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/314/5804/1353

"The committee was asked to make a thorough and unsparing analysis of Science's handling of both papers and to make recommendations for changes in procedure that might protect both the journal and the scientific community from further unfortunate outcomes of this kind.

The report, and a short response from Science, are available at www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5804/1353/DC1."

Posted by pfa at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2006

AIDS Day Posters

World AIDS Day is a time for awareness of how this disease has changed all of our lives, whether we know someone with AIDS, someone who died of AIDS or not.

Today's highlight is a collection of public health posters from the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library from UCLA.

UCLA: Darling Biomedical Library: AIDS Posters: http://digital.library.ucla.edu/aidsposters/

Here are some other interesting resources from libraries about AIDS & HIV.

UCSF Library: Galen: AIDS History Project: http://www.library.ucsf.edu/collres/archives/ahp/

BUMC Medical Library: Boston AIDS Information Outreach Project: Finding HIV/AIDS Information on the Web Tutorial: http://med-libwww.bu.edu/library/tutorial/index.html

Posted by pfa at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2006

Scientific Professions & Diversity

There is an interesting new issue of the online journal The Scientist focusing on diversity as an issue of interest in scientific professions and education.

The Scientist: Special Issue: Diversity: Some Myths, and the Realities
http://www.the-scientist.com/newsletter/etoc/20061101_diversity.html

In this issue, there is a call to scientists to apply the scientific thought process to the issues and concerns of diversity and planning for diversity; concerns about the impacts of reverse-discrimination lawsuits; a toolkit highlight NIH resources for measuring the success of diversity programs; and much more. A very interesting read.

Posted by pfa at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2006

Oxford African American Studies Center

The Core Electronic Resources Team announces the availability of the Oxford African American Studies Center. This databases combines more than 7,500 articles by scholars drawn from reference works. It includes the complete text of Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, The Encyclopedia of African American History, Black Women in America, African American National Biography, and The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature, plus selected articles from many other reference works published by Oxford University Press. Also includes over 1,000 images, maps, charts, tables, and primary sources with specially written commentaries.

For more details see the Oxford website at: http://www.oup.com/online/africanamerican/

This database is accessible through Search Tools and through Mirlyn.

Posted by pfa at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2006

More Cultural Competency Resources

Training healthcare professionals to work effectively with all types of patients represented in their practice is widely acknowledged to be a good thing. Likewise, recruiting diverse types of practitioners is another route toward providing equitable care to all. Here are some resources of note to support these goals.

AAMC: Tool for Assessing Cultural Competence Training (TACCT):
http://www.aamc.org/meded/tacct/start.htm
Also: http://www.aamc.org/diversity/initiatives.htm

British Medical Association: Equality and diversity: Improving the working lives of doctors, April 2006: http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/equalitydiversity

California Department of Health Services: Office of Multicultural Health: http://www.dhs.ca.gov/director/omh/

Colorado Foundation for Medical Care (CFMC): Physician Office's Guide to Culturally Competent Care: http://www.cfmc.org/office/office_cultural-competency.htm

Cross Cultural Health Care Program: http://www.xculture.org/

Dental Pipeline Projects: Community-Based Dental Education: Cultural Competency Resources: http://www.dentalpipeline.org/home/697/25001/25067

Diversity Health institute (Australia): http://www.dhi.gov.au/

DiversityRx: http://www.diversityrx.org/

Michigan Surgeon General’s Prescription for a Healthier Michigan [PDF 304KB]: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mirx5404_90138_7.pdf

National Center for Cultural Healing: http://www.culturalhealing.com/

University of Michigan Health System: Program for Multicultural Health: Cultural Competency Division: http://www.med.umich.edu/multicultural/ccp/index.htm
Also: Cultural Competency Web Resources (which includes a section specifically on dentistry):
http://www.med.umich.edu/multicultural/ccp/culcomp.htm

US: Office of Minority Health: http://www.omhrc.gov/

US: HRSA: Bureau of Health Professions: Diversity:
http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/diversity/

Posted by pfa at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2006

Free Bilingual Children's Book from Crest

This press release announces a book by actress and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres published with the partnership of Proctor and Gamble and endorsed by the Hispanic Dental Association.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060523/cltu041.html?.v=51

Dayanara Torres Co-Authors Children's Book Exclusively for Crest Healthy Smiles Program: Bi-lingual Book Delivers Positive Oral Health Message and is Available To Consumers for Free for a Limited Time

"The book, written in English and Spanish, chronicles the experiences of a brother and sister as they take their first trip to the dentist. It will be released in limited quantity for free beginning May 23, 2006 through July 29th, just in time for summer reading. Consumers can order their free copy by calling toll-free 1-866-989-9968 or by logging onto www.cresthealthysmiles.com for details."

Posted by pfa at 06:52 AM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2006

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April 2006 is the National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The UM School of Dentistry has highlighted this issue with its own local research by D2 student, John Thomas.

The White House proclamation on this shows that the importance of this topic is recognized nationwide.

More information on this topic is available from various government agencies.

Where to report suspected abuse for Michigan dentists:

Posted by pfa at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2006

Autism Awareness Month 2006

In honor of Autism Awareness Month, we would like to draw your attention to the following resources on oral health and autism spectrum disorders.

More about Autism-Spectrum Disorders and Autism Awareness Month.

Posted by pfa at 03:14 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2006

World Health Day 2006: Working Together for Health

Today is World Health Day, an annual event sponsored primarily by the World Health Organization. This year, the event focuses on a celebration of the health care workers and professionals throughout the world and an acknowledgment of a lack of much needed professional expertise and health care workers in many parts of the world.

World Health Organization (WHO): World Health Day: Working Together for Health: http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2006/en/

"Health workers - the people who provide health care to those who need it - are the heart of health systems. But around the world, the health workforce is in crisis - a crisis to which no country is entirely immune. The results are evident: clinics with no health workers, hospitals that cannot recruit or keep key staff."

Related links from WHO:

Posted by pfa at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2006

Women Leaders in Health Care: Changing the Face of Medicine

The National Library of Medicine's online exhibit, Changing the Face of Medicine, highlights the contributions of women physicians to healthcare. This marvelous exhibit include biographies, photos, personal statements, and interviews with many those several hundred women physicians who are highlighted. The interviews describe their inspirations and mentors, and make for fascinating reading.

National Library of Medicine (with the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women's Health and the American Medical Women's Association): Changing the Face of Medicine: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/

"Discover the many ways that women have influenced and enhanced the practice of medicine. The individuals featured here provide an intriguing glimpse of the broader community of women doctors who are making a difference. The National Library of Medicine is pleased to present this exhibition honoring the lives and accomplishments of these women in the hope of inspiring a new generation of medical pioneers."

Highlighted from Michigan are:

Posted by pfa at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2006

APA Tools for Removing Bias in Language

The American Psychological Association (APA) has made available a variety of masterful resources for helping authors with identifying unintentionally problematic language in their publications and written communications.

Guidelines for Non-Handicapping Language in APA Journals /
Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology: http://www.apastyle.org/disabilities.html

Avoiding Heterosexual Bias in Language / Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concern: http://www.apastyle.org/sexuality.html

Guidelines for Avoiding Racial/Ethnic Bias in Language / Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs and Publications and Communications Board: http://www.apastyle.org/race.html

Posted by pfa at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

MMWR Special Issue on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

The newest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) focuses on public health issues and response connected to the hurricanes of 2005.

MMWR Weekly March 10, 2006 / Vol. 55 / No. 9: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_wk.html

In addition to the articles, they also announce a forthcoming satellite conference and webcast on March 31, 2006; 2pm:

Notice to Readers: Satellite Broadcast: Learning from Katrina: http://www.publichealthgrandrounds.unc.edu/

Posted by pfa at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 25, 2006

Impact of Katrina on African-American Dentists

The following news article describes the impact, plans, and conditions of life for several of the New Orleans dentists who were leaders in the local African American community.

Cass, Julia. Notable Mardi Gras Abscences Reflect Loss of Black Middle Class (Saturday, 25 February 2006): http://www.amhersttimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=841&Itemid=27

EXCERPT:
----------
"The impression is that just poor people were displaced, but Katrina has had a devastating effect on the black middle class, too," said Willard Dumas, a dentist who serves as the Bunch Club's recording secretary and now lives in Baton Rouge. "You spend 45 years building a life and then it's gone. Your home was flooded; your business was flooded. And this happened not only to you but to practically everyone you know, so your patients or clients are gone, your friends are scattered, and your relatives are somewhere else." ... Those black professionals are scattered across the South, finding new jobs, establishing new medical and legal practices and businesses. The longer they are gone, the greater the worry that they will not come back -- leaving New Orleans, a majority-black city before Katrina, without a core of African American leadership.
----------

For more information on this topic, please see:

National Dental Association (NDA): Katrina State of Emergency : NDA Disaster Relief Efforts: http://www.ndaonline.org/katrinainfo.asp

Posted by pfa at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2006

SPIRAL: Selected Patient Information in Asian Languages

SPIRAL is a resource developed jointly by the South Cove Community Health Center and Tufts University Hirsh Health Sciences Library. It includes patient information in Cambodian/Khmer, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese. It includes information for patients on many diseases or areas of the body, including dental health. The types of guides available for Asian patients in the area of dental health range from hygiene, diseases, treatments, pregnancy, anatomy, infant oral health care, and concerns about dental bills or insurance.

SPIRAL: Selected Patient Information in Asian Languages: http://spiral.tufts.edu/

Posted by pfa at 05:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2006

The Dentist of Auschwitz

Looking for a good read?

The book, The Dentist of Auschwitz, is available in the library at call number D 804.3 .J321 1995. It is also available online, with free fulltext.

The Dentisty of Auschwitz, by Benjamin Jacobs: http://www.nizkor.org/features/dentist/

The book begins:

"On the morning of May 5, 1941, three ancient trucks labored along a Polish country road, carrying 167 Jews from Dobra, a village in the Warthegau region of Poland, to a destination known only to their captors. It was spring, but the fields, which were full of colorful budding flowers, seemed lifeless on that gloomy morning. The songbirds, whose melodies usually filled the country air in May, were strangely quiet.

This was a dark day in our village. The Jewish Council, by decree of Herr Schweikert, the Nazi governor of the region, had delivered for deportation to a labor camp all Jewish men between the ages of sixteen and sixty, with the exception of one male per family. My father wanted to leave, and I volunteered to go with him, since my older brother was susceptible to ailments. So my brother stayed with my mother and my sister in the ghetto. My father and I were each allowed to take two bundles. My mother insisted that I take the few dental tools I had from my first year of dental training, along with my necessities. Little did I know then that those tools would save my life."

Posted by pfa at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2006

National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center

National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC),
Georgetown University:
http://www.mchoralhealth.org/

Released just in time for Children's Dental Health Month in February, OHRC's newest resource collection is for the public.

OHRC: Knowledge Path: Oral Health and Children and Adolescents: http://www.mchoralhealth.org/knwpathoralhealth.html

Knowledge Path contains a wide variety of critically selected links for consumer health information for parents and families. Also for families, their Bright Futures Toolbox contains more links and includes materials in languages other than English.

OHRC: Bright Futures Toolbox: http://www.mchoralhealth.org/Toolbox/families.html

Also of interest would be the resources for health professionals, including sections for medical clinicians who encounter dental concerns in their patients, distance learning resources, and a dental clinic manual.

Posted by pfa at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

Hispanic Culture and Contributions in Dentistry

In keeping with our tradition of diversity-themed exhibits during February and March, the Dentistry Library is pleased to announce our newest exhibit:

     Hispanic Culture and Contributions in Dentistry

Find out more about dentists in the Cuban Ladder Conspiracy, the Brazilian dentist with his own national holiday, traditions of dental modifications then and now, and much more.

The exhibit is currently available in the Dentistry Library, and will be available through the end of April. The companion website will be available by the end of February at this URL:

http://www.lib.umich.edu/dentlib/about/exhibits/hispanic/

Currently available online, we have a PDF of the exhibit guide:

http://www.lib.umich.edu/dentlib/about/exhibits/hispanic/HispanicDentistryGd.pdf

Posted by pfa at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2006

Diversity in Dentistry

Yesterday's entry highlighted resources about diversity in the general healthcare workforce. Today's entry lists resources relating specifically to what is happening regarding the same issues specifically in dentistry, from the association level to the voices of individual dentists with a passion for diversity.

Organizational Activity:

ADA.org: Institute for Diversity in Leadership (application deadline May 1, 2006):
http://www.ada.org/prof/events/featured/diversity.asp

ADEA: Strategies to Enhance Diversity (2005-2006): http://www.adea.org/ced/Docs/Strategies_ADEA.pdf

ADEA: Center for Equity and Diversity: http://www.adea.org/ced/

AMSA: Achieving Diversity in Dentistry and Medicine (ADDM):
http://www.amsa.org/addm/

Articles:

Dental Pipeline: Increase Student Diversity to Close Oral Health Gap:
http://www.dentalpipeline.org/home/670/student_recruitment-increase

A Dentist Views Diversity, by Lionel Traubman. Mercury (San Francisco Dental Society), February 1996:
http://traubman.igc.org/diversty.htmDiversity in Dentistry, by Jennifer Garvin. AGD Impact June 2004:
http://www.agd.org/library/2004/june/garvin.asp

Posted by pfa at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2006

Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce

Two years ago this week, the Institute of Medicine released its highly regarded report on diversity in the healthcare workforce.

In the Nation's Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health Care Workforce
Committee on Institutional and Policy-Level Strategies for Increasing the Diversity of the U.S. Healthcare Workforce
http://darwin.nap.edu/books/030909125X/html
Dentistry Library: R 745 .I51 2004

The IOM report was a good beginning, but much has happened since then. Here are some examples of more recent work that has followed.

Kaiser Family Foundation: Minority Health: http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/index.cfm

Includes reports on changes in drug benefits and their impact on special populations, a report on Hurricane Katrina refugees, and much more.

The Commonwealth Fund: Underserved Populations: Latest Publications:
http://www.cmwf.org/topics/topics.htm?attrib_id=12024

Includes reports on how to collect racial and ethnic data, and cultural competence in health care education, as well as reports on Medicaid reform.

Additional useful resources on healthcare workforce diversity initiatives and good practices:

Sullivan Commission: http://admissions.duhs.duke.edu/sullivancommission/index.cfm

National Business Group on Health: Health Disparities Initiative:
http://www.wbgh.org/prevention/disparities.cfm

National Center for Cultural Competence
http://gucchd.georgetown.edu//nccc/

Posted by pfa at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2006

Genetics and Craniofacial Disorder Resources

Today we're highlighting a few of the very fine online resources available on these topics. The Genetics Home Reference is a masterful resource made available free by the National Library of Medicine.

NLM: Genetics Home Reference: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/

Among their newest topics on conditions, you'll find Dentinogenesis Imperfecta and Amelogenesis Imperfecta. Among their new pages on specific genes, you'll find amelogenin (amelogenesis imperfecta 1, X-linked), dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP), enamelin, and matrix metallopeptidase 20 (MMP20 or enamelysin).

Highly recommended.

Another recommended resource (classic rather than current) is Jablonski's Multiple Congenital Anomaly/Mental Retardation. The information provided is core diagnositic features and a chromosome summary.

Less technical and a useful resource for patients and seeking core bibliographies on a topic is the website and database for NORD. Print copies of the book are in Reference [RC 48.8 .N3851]. The website has free content and paid content. Persons currently affiliated with the University of Michigan can get both through MIRLYN. The link below goes only to the free content.

National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc. (NORD): http://www.rarediseases.org/

NORD usually provides links to quality patient information and public websites on the specific disorders. There are a few excellent overview sites, such as FACES: The National Craniofacial Association, Let's Face It, and World Craniofacial Foundation.

Posted by pfa at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2006

Diversity Blog

Chuck Ransom of the University Libraries has created a blog to inform people of "activities relating to diversity in southeast Michigan." It is a wonderful resource -- check it out!

http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/Diversitynews/

Posted by pfa at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

Disaster Preparedness Resources (Lessons from Katrina)

If you weren't able to make it to yesterday's videoconference, Lessons from Katrina, Improving Emergency Preparedness Plans, a lot of the information is available in other formats. The items from LSU closely support the content presented in the presentations, including a free online book. Additional links were recommended by the conference organizers. Notice the UM connection?

LSU Media Tip Sheet and Other Hurricane Experts and Resources:
http://www.lsu.edu/pa/mediacenter/tipsheets/hurricane.html

Louisiana State University (LSU): Office of Public Affairs: LSU in the Eye of the Storm (online book, pdf [1.41.MB]):
http://www.lsu.edu/pa/book/ or
http://www.lsu.edu/pa/book/EYEofTheSTORMtxt.pdf

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Mitigation Division: Disaster Resistant Universities Page
http://www.fema.gov/fima/dru.shtm

Society for College and University Planning: Higher Ed Crisis/Emergency Management Planning - News & Plans (It is managed by University of Michigan undergraduate student, Steve DiDomenico):
http://scup.backpackit.com/pub/322790

How Prepared Are America's Colleges and Universities for Major Crises / Ian I. Mitroff, Michael A. Diamond, and C. Murat Alpaslan:
(With permission from the authors; article originally appeared in the
January-February 2006 issue of Change magazine):
http://www.scup.org/knowledge/crisis_planning/diamond.html

Posted by pfa at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)