Librarians

Dr. Adelita Cantu of the UT Health Science Center School of Nursing and colleagues from UTSA, the Texas Diabetes Institute, and The Libraries recently received funding from the Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science for a one-year pilot project on diabetes education. The purpose of the partnership is to learn more about how Mexican Americans with diabetes or at risk for diabetes use health information to make daily decisions about self care.

Investigators hope to determine whether participation in Salsa Caliente, a specially tailored curriculum, and enhanced education about accessing health information on the Internet will make a difference in diabetes awareness, management, and knowledge versus participation in Salsa Caliente alone.

Half of the participants in this project will receive a laptop computer to use at home and will be trained to use MedlinePlus, Healthy Texas and other reliable Internet sites. The other half of the participants will receive general education and will not have immediate access to a computer.   The project will end on April 30, 2011.

Linda Levy, Assistant Director for Branch Library and Database Services, retired on December 31 following 20 years of service to the Health Science Center.  Linda began working at the UT Health Science Center Library in 1991 as an Information Services Librarian.  She managed the library’s literature search services, including instruction in effective literature search techniques.  In 1998 she began managing the branch library at the Robert B. Green Campus, and in 2007 she became responsible for supervising the new branch library at the Laredo Regional Campus.  Linda was active in library outreach services in Laredo and San Antonio including managing several successful outreach grants. Linda also was a member of several campus committees including the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, the Institutional Review Board, the School of Nursing Committee on Graduate Studies (COGS), and the Program Committee of the annual Summer Institute on Evidence-Based Practice.  In 2010, Linda was named to the Health Science Center’s  Academy of Master Teachers.   She has served on several committees for the Medical Library Association and the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association and has presented at numerous professional meetings.  She is an emeritus member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP).

Linda plans to spend her retirement as an active volunteer for several organizations in San Antonio, and she plans to continue to enjoy her children (and hopefully grandchildren) in Chicago.  We wish Linda the best as she embarks on her well-deserved retirement and we express our gratitude for her many years of dedication to Health Science Center faculty, students and staff and the profession of librarianship.

Rajia Tobia, Executive Director of Libraries

Paula Maez, who will complete the second year of a National Library of Medicine Fellowship at the Briscoe Library in August, has accepted a position as Adult Services Librarian at the Pima County Public Library in Tucson, Arizona. 

As one of four fellows in the 2008-2009 NLM Fellowship program Paula focused on developing her outreach skills.   She worked with the Southeastern/Atlantic Region of the NLM’s National Network and also with the Specialized Information Services of NLM on exhibiting, as well as teaching NLM resources to local high school students and students from the NIH Youth Initiative.  She also worked with the Bibliographic Services Division developing a suite of ClinicalTrials.gov Quick Tour learning packages, and with Specialized Information Services, enhancing the circumpolar health topics section for the Arctic Health Web site. 

At the UT Health Science Center Libraries Paula has focused on the library’s outreach program to South Texas students, faculty, staff, and the community.  She has gained experience with multiple areas of  library operations including administration, information and access services, interlibrary loan, collection development, cataloging, and electronic resource management. 

Although we will miss Paula, we know she is very happy to be returning to her home town of Tucson.  Paula has been a valuable member of our staff during her fellowship, and we wish her all the best as she moves westward.

The Libraries are pleased to welcome Peg Seger as Interlibrary Loan/Outreach Services Librarian in the division of South Texas Regional Information Services. 

In her new position, Peg will manage  interlibrary loan and document delivery services, coordinate the library’s resource library outreach subcontract, and plan library outreach services for San Antonio and the South Texas  region.

Immediately prior to joining the staff of the Briscoe Library, Peg was employed as Reader’s Advisory Librarian for the Tulsa City-County Library in Tulsa, Oklahoma.   She worked as a library technician  at the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Library from 2006 to 2009. In that position she was responsible for processing all Docline and other medical document requests.

Peg received an MLIS from the University of Oklahoma at Norman in 2008.  She also has degrees in journalism and mass communication, fine arts and education. 

We welcome Peg to the staff of the Briscoe Library!

Penelope Borchers, Special Collections Librarian, will retire in August with thirteen years of service in the Briscoe Library. 

Over the years Pennie has held several positions and taken a leadership role in many library projects.  Her first position, in 1998, was as Collection Development/Technical Services Librarian.  In that position she provided cataloging services and managed course reserves, including ERes.  She was promoted to Special Collections Librarian in 2002, and since that time has coordinated activities of the Friends of the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library, answered reference questions, conducted oral histories, assisted with digitization projects, and researched and created fifteen major exhibits.   She has also participated in the library’s orientation and instruction programs, conducted tours of the Nixon Library, hosted two Art & Anatomy workshops and welcomed History of Anatomy students from San Antonio and from Italy. 

Pennie was instrumental in development of special programming in connection with three traveling exhibits created by the National Library of Medicine: 

• Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature (2003)
• Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians (2008)
• Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine (2010)

 Recently Pennie has focused on the creation of a print catalog of outstanding holdings of the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library, grouped by specialty.  This catalog will be an invaluable aid for future research. 

Pennie’s people skills, her creativity, and her enthusiasm for the history of medicine and other disciplines have contributed much to the development and promotion of the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library in recent years, and she will be missed.

Rajia Tobia
Executive Director of Libraries

Rajia Tobia, Executive Director of Libraries, recently renewed her credentials as a Distinguished Member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP).  AHIP is the Medical Library Association’s peer-reviewed professional development and career recognition program.  The academy recognizes the personal investment of time and effort required for exemplary professional performance and for contributions to the association and to the profession of health sciences librarianship.

Other UT Health Science Center librarians who are members of AHIP are:  Keith Cogdill, Director of South Texas Regional Information Services; Anne Comeaux, Assistant Library Director for Digital and Special Collections; Jonquil Feldman, Director for Briscoe Library Services; and Linda Levy, Assistant Library Director for Branch Library Services.