Focusing on the many challenges surrounding preservation of electronic information, the speakers covered topics such as preservation of biomedical research information by government agencies; the importance of preserving digital information from the viewpoint of institutions supporting research and scholarship; an increasing need on the part of the home institution to store databases and datasets of original research; and current best practices for replication and authentication.

HAM-TMC Library is especially pleased to have its sister research libraries, Rice University's Fondren Library and The University of Houston Libraries, as conference co-sponsors. All educational and research institutions are faced with the same issues regarding preservation and management of electronic information, and it takes many players to solve the problems.

The University of Texas School of Nursing provided the host facility and also co-sponsored the conference. Generous support from the Brown Foundation was critical to the success of this year's conference. The Friends of the Texas Medical Center Library provided additional support. We are also grateful to Elsevier, Hollinger Corporation and MetalEdge, companies that paid registration costs for several students in information sciences degree programs.

It is the Library's hope that this conference helped awaken those who create information to the need for their own involvement in ongoing efforts to maintain and preserve their academic and research data locally. We will continue our commitment to help the TMC community save its research and course materials for the future, using avenues such as the Digital Commons. We will join with other libraries and archives wherever possible to make today's academic and research material available for future scholars and researchers. We believe this conference helped to forge a bond among all those whose mission is to create, impart and safeguard the scholarly record.

Since its original authorization by Congress in the 1965 Medical Library Assistance Act, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) has worked to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing health professionals and the general public with equal access to biomedical information. The goals of the 2006-2011 contracts are: to develop collaborations among Network members, community-based organizations and other institutions; to promote awareness of biomedical resources with a special emphasis on contributing to the Healthy People 2010 goal of eliminating health disparities; and to improve electronic access to health information for all U.S. citizens.

The NN/LM SCR office is working to make information on new initiatives and plans for the upcoming year of the new contract available to you.

Featured Stories:

Health Capsules:

Featured Website: NIH Research Matters

CINAHL: August 22

EndNote: July 25

Evidence-based Medicine Databases: August 17

Library Research for Office Assistants: July 17

Navigating Full-Text Journals: August 29

PubMed: July 19

SciFinder Scholar: July 26, August 24

TOXNET: July 25, August 22