National Autism Awareness Month. According to the CDC 1 in 150 children have an autism spectrum disorder. Find out more at the Autism Society of America.

Books on autism and autism spectrum disorders can be found upstairs in non-fiction & in the Family Focus Center under the following call numbers:

• 616.85
• 616.89
• 616.8982
• 618.92
• 618.9289

March 25th is the 20th Annual American Diabetes Alert Day. Find out more information from the American Diabtes Association.

Find books at the Library:

616.4

616.462

641.563 (cooking & recipes)

March is National Nutrition Month^®. Find out more information on healthy eating from the American Dietetic Association. Crandall Public Library has many of the books listed in their Good Nutrition Reading List. Click here for the titles available at the Library.

Tips for savvy medical Web surfing. Interesting article on cnn.com today with good advice & links to great health websites. Unfortuanately, it was also a missed opportunity to promote the services that public librarians provide for FREE!

“not lucky enough to have access to a professional research librarian”?! Ugh- “librarians” have graduate degrees- we are ”professionals”.  Finding a “professional” is as easy as going to your local library!

End of rant.

Healthy Holiday sing-a-long from the CDC…

 OK. I’m sick of winter already & technically it’s not even winter yet…

Here are some cold weather tips from the CDC and general winter storm info from the National Weather Service. The EPA also offers tips to keep you and your family safe during the long winter months.

So, if you’re like me: bundle up, stay inside, have a nice cup of hot tea and surf the net! Check out these wikipedia articles on winter and on the winter solstice. Or try option #2: curl up with a warm cat and read! Search our online catalog  for a good read- you can check the best seller lists & see what’s new in the collection. You can check your account and even renew & request books online!

Or if you’re the more intrepid type, check out the Winter Activities  page from the Warren County Tourism Department. You can also get local ski conditions at SnoCountry.com.

Enjoy the winter…I think it’s going to be a long one!

Thursday, November 15 is the Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society!

For information on local resources available to help you quit, contact the Tobacco Cessation & Education Services at Glens Falls Hospital. Call (518)926-5909 or Toll Free at 1-866-765-1565. You can also send an email to tces@glensfallshosp.org. 

For a FREE Stop Smoking Kit call the New York State Smokers’ Quitline at 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487)

The following books are available at the library:

• 616.86 Rut
  Quit before you know it: the stress-free, guilt free way to stop smoking - by planning your relapses. Rutter, Sandra. (2006)
• 616.86 Pra
  Stop smoking for good: forget the patch, the gum, and the excuses with Dr. Prasad’s proven program to permanent smoking cessation. Prasad, Balasa. (2005)
• 613.84 Kic
  Kicking butts: quit smoking and take charge of your health. American Cancer Society. (2002)
• 613.85 Fis
  American Lung Association 7 steps to a smoke-free life. Fisher, Edwin B. (199
• 613.85 Geb
  The enlightened smoker’s guide to quitting. Gebhardt, B. Jack. (199
• 613.85 Geb
  Help your smoker quit: a radically happy strategy for nonsmoking parents, kids, spouses, and friends. Gebhardt, B. Jack. (199
• 613.85 Emb
  A woman’s way: the stop-smoking book for women. Embree, Mary. (1995)

Last week (10/11/07) NPR ran a story about the public using the Intenet to find health information. The studies that they quoted all seemed to imply that the information is there, but people are having difficulty finding quality websites as well as evaluating the quality of the information that they find.

Hmmm…. sounds like my job. I find quality health information for people. I help people to find the right sources that fit their needs. I can help people make sense of the information overload. I put together lists of links to help people navigate the Internet.

The article was interesting. I just wish they mentioned that there is someplace where people can go; someone that people can turn to… And that is their local library and their local Medical Librarian! 

The NYLA Conference is almost here- October 17-20 in Buffalo, NY. I just uploaded a copy the presentation that I will be doing to the Librarian Resources page!

 Looking for answers?

Your Medical Librarian can help you find the answers to your consumer health questions!

So what exactly can the Medical Librarian do for you?

I can put together a packet of information for you on a specific disease or condition, medication, treatment, surgery or physician. If you can’t make it to the library, I can mail the information to you.

I can help you use the online databases available at the library if you would like to do the research yourself.

If we don’t own the item or if you need the full text of a medical journal article, I can request articles from other libraries to be sent here.

This service is FREE & CONFIDENTIAL and is available to anyone living within the Southern Adirondack Library System.

I am available Monday-Friday 9-5. For more information stop by the Reference Desk or call 792-6508 ext. 120.