News Release

Health Sciences Library to host
free classes about health, podcasting

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Health Sciences Library will offer free public classes on popular technologies such as RSS feeds and podcasting as part of a series of events running April 3 through 6.

More than 10 classes and events will be featured throughout the week. Visit www.hsl.unc.edu/partners/schedule.cfm or call (919) 966-1047 for more information. Registration is required for some events. Following are some of the week’s events:

"Keeping Up-to-Date with RSS," a class geared toward people who regularly read blogs and news Web sites, will be held at 10 a.m. April 4 in library room 307. The session will give an overview of RSS feeds and cover ways that RSS can be used to keep up-to-date on news and trends.

"Finding and Evaluating Health Information on the Internet" will focus on online medical information hunting at 10 a.m. April 5 in library room 307. Participants will learn where to go to find credible sources of health information and how to evaluate health-related Web sites.

"Podcasts 101: Listening on the Go" will focus on the details of podcasting at 10 a.m. April 6 in library room 307. The session will give an overview of podcasting (a way of distributing audio and video files over the Internet) and will cover ways to find podcasts and listen to them on a computer or MP3 player.

The overall Health Sciences Library series is titled "Partners in Education: Putting the Health Sciences Library to Work for You." It highlights the work of librarians in providing students and instructors educational experiences that take advantage of the library’s expertise and technology. The series also demonstrates the library’s role in educating the public about health information.

The week is sponsored in part by a grant from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, a program of the National Library of Medicine, which is a component of the National Institutes of Health.

"The Health Sciences Library is poised to take on new roles as an essential partner in achieving the university’s health-care missions," said Carol Jenkins, the library’s director. " ‘Partners in Education’ shows the active role librarians play in helping train tomorrow’s health-care providers in promoting access to health information for everyone that can improve the quality of our lives."

The library reopened last year after two years of redesign and renovation. It features wired and wireless high-speed Internet access. The building also has two media kitchens, complete with specialized software and equipment that can produce educational materials for online courses, and other technology and library services to encourage collaboration among scientists and educators on campus and beyond.

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Related link: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar05/hsl030705.html

Health Sciences Library contact: Kelly Wooten, (919) 966-1047 or wootenk@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu