Classes
Classes about information retrieval and management are offered monthly in the Library and Learning Resource Center (L&LRC). We currently offer the following classes:
The schedule of classes and registration information are listed below, in the bimonthly L&LRC Newsletter, on the department's notice boards, and at the main desk. If you have questions, please contact Marjorie Jackson at mjackson@heart.thi.tmc.edu.
Accessing Electronic Journals
This class shows users how to register for and use remote access to search and access full-text electronic journals available through our affiliation with the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center (HAM-TMC) Library. Participants learn how to navigate a variety of publisher database interfaces, manipulate the different formats for printing, and use various search techniques for locating specific articles. This class explores PubMed Central and other databases available through the HAM-TMC Library, which offers access to free, full-text articles. Finally, the class introduces some publishers' websites, which also provide online access to free, full-text articles.
PubMed Navigation
This introductory class focuses on manipulating various features of the PubMed interface to facilitate effective searching. In addition to learning how to perform basic searches, participants learn how to use the history feature to combine searches and the limits feature to narrow results. Efficient ways to store, e-mail, print, and update citations are also covered. Other topics for discussion include the preview/index features, the clinical queries filter, the journals database, and the citation matcher feature.
PubMed Search Strategies
In this class, participants learn how to search more effectively using a variety of advanced techniques and strategies. Topics include using Boolean operators to combine search terms, building on past searches by using the history feature, and focusing results by using the limits feature. Truncating search terms, searching phrases, and using search tags as a means of limiting a search are also covered. This class also demonstrates the use of medical subject headings (MeSH) terms, the controlled vocabulary used for indexing articles and effectively determining the focus of a search.
Basics of Library Use
This class is designed as a one-on-one session that introduces users to the resources, services, and policies of the L&LRC. Users learn to locate books, journals, and audiovisual materials in the collection using SydneyPLUS, the department's online catalog.
Beginning PowerPoint
This class is designed for beginning PowerPoint users or for students who have minimum exposure to the program. Participants learn about the PowerPoint interface, including toolbars and menus, and are taught how to create new presentations using the Texas Heart Institute template. Opening existing presentations, saving files, and deleting, moving, and printing slides are also covered in this beginner's class.
Intermediate PowerPoint
Participants in this class should have taken the Beginning PowerPoint class or have a good, working knowledge of PowerPoint. In addition to learning how to create tables and graphs, students learn how to insert pictures, objects, and video clips into their presentations. Applying animation and special effects is also covered.
EndNote
Participants learn how to create EndNote libraries and populate them by importing references directly from Medline using the PubMed and OVID interfaces. The EndNote menus and toolbars are described, and participants learn how to organize and search references within libraries. The class uses Microsoft Word to demonstrate how to insert and manage bibliographic citations within manuscripts.
OmniPage Pro
This class is designed for users new to OmniPage Pro. The OmniPage Pro interface is described in detail. Participants learn how to produce editable text from scanned documents, create editable images from printed material, convert data to PDF, and create audio files from scanned text documents.
