Blogs

Grant Wood’s American Gothic Repurposed and Several Anti-Smoking Acquisitions on view now at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library. “American Gothic” is one of the best known works by an American artist. Iowa native Grant Wood was inspired by the small town Iowan home in Gothic Revival style and asked his sister and his dentist to pose for the painting as father and daughter residents of the well kept property.   To many viewers of “American Gothic” the scene was, and is, interpreted as a satire on rural life, but Wood avowed that the painting portrayed traditional American values, pointing out the residents’ resilience, fortitude and pride. The painting was first exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930 where it won a prize of $300. It remains on view at the Art Institute.   Currently on display in the medical library hallway leading to the rotunda are:   Bruce McGillivray's Recycling, An Iowa Way of Life, Iowa Recycling Association, 1988. Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2018   Marcia Cooper's We Can Live Without Nuclear Power, 1979. Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2018   S. Cooper's Crop Rotation Pays, no date. Screen print. Copyright Compass Points, Memphis, Tenn. Purchased through the Lucia Fulton Fund 2016   About our collection This year, sixty-seven posters were acquired for the Historical Medical Poster Collection, a few of which are currently on display in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library. The library regularly acquires posters, prints, drawings, instruments, manuscripts, rare books, and other objects and materials of interest in the understanding of medical and public health issues over time.  The library’s special collections holdings are available for use in classes and for study. To use these materials, contact the Historical Library or your departmental librarian.

PyMOL:  PyMOL is an open source molecular visualization system created by Warren Lyford DeLano '93 Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.   PyMOL 2.3 is installed on all medical library iMacs within the Information Commons and 24/7 Computer space. PyMOL can be run via the terminal with the 'pymol' command.      

Katie Hart was awarded FLY's (Future Leaders of Yale) first 'Visionary' award on June 17, 2019 in a ceremony recognizing early career professionals at Yale. Katie, CWML's Senior Administrative Assistant, was nominated by Bob Hughes for her exceptional leadership and foresight, especially during this past year's renovation.  Well before the start of construction, Katie took the initiative to develop a plan for relocating all of the library’s furniture. She compiled a list of every item that could be impacted by the project and categorized them. She then oversaw all of the move. As the Library’s point person, she coordinated with staff, patrons, and construction crew both directly and through online communications. To quote her nominator, “This was, by far, the medical library’s largest construction project in many, many years, and it all went without a hitch because Katie had the foresight to develop her game plan well ahead of time.” Read the full story and learn more about the award here: https://fly.yale.edu/news/fly-recognizes-early-career-professionals-first-awards-ceremony. Big congratulations to Katie and, seriously, thank you for all that you do!!

Please join us for food and drinks on Thursday, June 20th from 3:00 – 5:00 PM to celebrate the unveiling of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library's newly renovated spaces. Among other uses, these spaces will be the new home for many classes which comprise the first 18 months of the YSM curriculum. Explore the new classrooms, experience the new Information Commons, and discover all the library has to offer!  In the meantime, learn about the space and enjoy some recent behind-the-scenes pictures below! FAQ Who can use the space? Anyone! The library is open to all who visit. If you are coming from outside Yale or YNHH, you can sign in at the front desk in the School of Medicine. For borrowing and access privileges, please visit this page. Can I reserve a classroom? Anyone with a Yale NetID may reserve a classroom. If you are a member of YNHH, please see the circulation or information desk for help reserving a classroom. How do I get there? The Medical Library is located just off the central rotunda in the Yale University School of Medicine Building, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510 (see Google map). For more detailed directions, including where to park, please visit this page. Where are the computers? The library has 24 computer workstations located in the Information Commons (1 floor down from the main level) and 6 bring-your-own-device stations equipped with monitors. Additionally, there are 4 computer workstations located in the library lobby. When is the library open? The library is open 7 days a week. For a full list of library hours, including exceptions, please visit this page. The 24/7 computer & study space is always open and accessible through an after-hours entrance when the library is closed. Why did you renovate this space? There is a national trend of libraries reimagining and repurposing how their space is used. With the shift to electronic publishing, online journals and digital books, libraries no longer need as much shelving stacks for bound journals. This changed landscape facilitated the opportunity to enhance existing library spaces, and created new possibilities for medical education. Placing classroom space within the library will enhance learning opportunities, and connect even more people with the library’s valuable human resources and collections. Moreover, the planned changes provide flexible spaces that can be used for a range of purposes by a variety of users and groups. Progress Pictures  

Welcome to Resource Spotlight! The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library provides access to an incredible array of databases, e-book collections, software and more. In this series of posts, we’ll be showcasing highlights from our collection. Choosing where to publish can be a difficult decision. Who writes in certain journals? Are they being read? Fortunately, Journal Citation Reports can help answer some of these questions. Published by Clarivate, the company that runs Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports (JCR) has information on more than 11,000 journals from around the world. Leveraging the depth of Web of Science’s collection, the JCR tracks which articles, and therefore journals, are being cited in new literature and distills that information into easily digestible Journal Impact Factor metrics.  Each journal in the report has a profile page that outlines its research impact metrics over time, puts the metrics into context within subject categories, and highlights top-performing articles. You can also see the geographic distribution of authors for that journal, as well as a list of organizations that have written the most content.  Since ‘good’ research impact indicators and publishing frequency vary widely by field, the “Browse by Category” function on the homepage can give you insight into what the publishing landscape looks like in a particular discipline. You can see how many journals there are in that field, how often they publish, how many articles come out per year, and the median journal impact.   Journal Citation Reports can be accessed directly or by opening up the Web of Science and selecting JCR at the top.  Feel free to contact the library with any JCR or research impact questions, and keep an eye out for our Research Impact Basics class.