First held in 2015, E.A.R. Day was organized by ATSU-ASHS alumna Lisa Bell, AuD, ’16, after Bell received a HEAR (Humanitarian, Education, and Awareness Resources) grant from the National Student Academy of Audiology (SAA).
This year’s festivities included laser tag, face painting, pumpkin coloring, bracelet making, and more, as well as an educational component where children labeled and colored the parts of a hearing aid and cochlear implant. Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program students and Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program students also joined in the fun this year, organizing an obstacle course and activities.
Parents participated in a dedicated session focused on advocacy strategies and experienced a hands-on activity using earplugs to simulate hearing loss, offering insight into what students with hearing differences may experience in a classroom setting.
Guest speakers included Tracie LeBlanc, speech-language pathologist at Desert Voices; Najwa Ghattas, cochlear implant coordinator at Phoenix Children’s Hospital; and Brianne Fink, educational audiologist with the Paradise Valley School District, who led an advocacy panel.
Additionally, Kelly Hernandez of Advanced Bionics and Tricia Dabrowski, AuD, associate professor of audiology, facilitated an informative device workshop, giving attendees hands-on learning opportunities and insight into hearing technology.
“Bringing together children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, their families, and our University community reaffirmed the power of inclusion, education, and celebration,” said Alyssa Richards, ’27, chair of this year’s event. “From lively games and creative crafts to hands-on educational activities and meaningful parent sessions, every moment underscored our shared commitment to empowering children and their families.”
The fall was full of exciting activity as the Arizona campus library celebrated National Medical Librarians Month in October with several engaging contests and prizes. We are particularly pleased to announce a new name for our 3D printer! After a campus-wide vote by our residential students, it will officially be known as 3DP0.
We’d also like to extend a warm congratulations to all our contest winners: Sumitra Miriyala, Rajendra Angara, and Hannah Fine successfully conquered our open-access trivia contest, while Ricardo “Ric” Dozier made the winning guess in our festive Halloween candy-guessing game.
The winning spirit continues! We are currently seeking your valuable feedback to help us improve our library website. We invite you to take 10-15 minutes to fill out our website evaluation survey. As a token of our appreciation, simply email Hal (hbright@atsu.edu) once you’ve completed the evaluation, and we will happily send a library-themed Bucky sticker (shown above) to you via interoffice mail!
If you haven’t visited us recently, you’ll notice some wonderful physical upgrades to our space. The back of the library now features a fresh coat of paint with calming blue accents, as well as brand-new carpet. Furthermore, we have equipped our Ficus study room with a new 60″ touchscreen monitor, perfect for interactive group collaboration and individual study by both students and faculty. We encourage you to stop by to take a look and book the room here!
Finally, we are excited to personally invite the entire campus community to our upcoming art reception during lunchtime (12:00–1:00 p.m.) on Tuesday, November 19, in the library (Building 5850). This special event will feature our new student library art exhibit as well as creative works by our talented first-year Physical Therapy students created in their Education Theory course. We truly look forward to seeing you there and celebrating our students’ creativity.
California Campus Library Updates
Peter-John Van Beurden and Omar Ramirez, both of CCPA CO2026, submitted art for the student art display in the California library. These will be up for viewing for the CCPA academic year. Van Beurden submitted two images inspired by the PA and the Farmworker image, and Ramirez submitted a beautiful picture of a classic car with the ocean in the background.
The CA Library celebrated National Medical Library Month and Halloween with a “name the torso” contest and candy guessing game. The library received 6 name submissions and the candy guessing box was full! Name submissions included Emperor Biocletian, Ben Abody, Gastro Greg, Bod E. McScience, the Great Gutsby and the Greater Gutsby, with our winner being “The Great Gutsby” submitted by Alana Curtis! Kayla Montoya was the lucky winner of a jar full of candy with the closest guess. Thanks to all for your participation!
Over the last six months, the library has added various new databases and resources to enhance your research and learning. Check out what’s now on offer!
The library has acquired a new clinical resource specifically designed for primary care physicians (PCPs) and other healthcare professionals who manage common musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. MSK for PCP is a fantastic resource for our DO and PA students, especially, offering targeted, practical information.
The Nursing & Allied Health Reference Source is a brand new resource specifically designed for those students studying nursing, allied health, occupational therapy, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and other related disciplines. This source provides a wide array of materials essential for practice and study, including evidence-based care sheets, clinical reviews, exercise sheets, quick lessons, and research instruments. Furthermore, it enhances learning with detailed skills guides that feature in-context images and videos.
Ditki offers unlimited access to nearly 40 medical and health science courses—including anatomy, clinical medicine, and nursing—for ATSU students and educators. Developed by practicing neurologist Dr. Adam Fisch, the Ditki approach is based on a rigorous, instructive format that flows logically to simplify comprehension and memorization.
Ditki provides concise, clear tutorials that utilize a step-wise approach, making medical science easier to learn and retain. The platform includes interactive exercises, drills, quizzes, and downloadable flashcards to reinforce learning. Students preparing for exams like the USMLE, COMLEX, and PA Exams can benefit from over 1,000 board review questions. Furthermore, Ditki offers administrator and instructor tools to guide and assess student learning, and it features seamless LMS integration.
If you have any questions or issues, please contact your liaison librarian or email libaz@atsu.edu.
The A.T. Still Memorial Library is embarking on several key initiatives for 2025-2026, and we wanted to share more detail about what these goals mean for you. Each one is a deliberate step in our strategic plan, designed to directly support the university’s core themes of “Innovative Education” and “Mission-Focused Scholarship.”
A New Front Door: Website Redesign
Our priority is a complete redesign of the library’s homepage. This project goes far beyond a new look; it’s a functional overhaul focused on task-based navigation and universal accessibility. The goal is to reduce the number of clicks it takes to find a database, request an article, or contact your liaison. This supports “Innovative Education” by ensuring all users, regardless of ability or device, have an equitable and efficient path to information. There is still time to fill out our Library Website Use Survey by the end of November and receive our new Bucky Library sticker!
Enhancing Our Tech: New Tools for You
You will soon see new tools integrated into our services, including but not limited to LibAnswers and LibWizard. For you and your students, this means immediate access to help via a 24/7 searchable FAQ database (LibAnswers) for common questions and easier-to-use forms and tutorials (LibWizard). This investment supports “Agile Resource Management” by allowing us to answer your questions more efficiently and at your point of need.
Growing Engagement: A Two-Way Conversation
We are making a concerted effort to grow our library engagement and awareness. This means using our newsletter and social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and Threads) to not only share library news but also to spotlight publications, research, and departmental events. We will also be gathering more direct feedback through targeted surveys and listening sessions to ensure our services, spaces, and collections are truly aligned with your evolving needs, fostering an “Engaged, diverse University community.”
Deepening Partnerships: Your Embedded Liaison
We are formalizing our commitment to “Beneficial Partnerships” by having each library liaison develop specific, measurable goals for their assigned schools and programs. In practice, this could look like a liaison partnering with a department to co-design a research assignment, attending faculty meetings to provide targeted resource updates, or developing a custom resource guide for a new program. Our goal is to be a proactive and integrated member of your academic team.
Fostering Research: A Seamless Support System
To advance “Mission-Focused Scholarship,” we are creating an internal library research group. This team will map out the entire research lifecycle at ATSU—from initial idea to final publication—to identify gaps and streamline support. The goal is to create a “no-wrong-door” service model, making it easier for faculty and students to navigate everything from complex literature reviews and data management plans to author rights and publishing support.
Integrating AI: Navigating the Future Together
The library is committed to being a key partner in the university-wide conversation on AI use. Our staff will be actively involved in initiatives and engagements to explore this technology. For you, this will translate into practical support, such as workshops on using AI tools for literature discovery, guidance on the ethical use of AI in scholarly writing, and contributing to policies that uphold academic integrity.
We are excited to work with faculty, students, and staff on these initiatives. These goals are not just a library checklist; they are a renewal of our commitment to supporting your work and ensuring the library is an essential partner in the success of A.T. Still University.
Hal Bright, MIRLS University Library Director
October has come to a close, and what an exciting month it has been for the Library! As we wrap up National Medical Librarians Month (NMLM), we want to thank everyone who joined us, both in-person and online, to celebrate the vital role of medical librarians and explore the fantastic resources we offer. Your participation made this year’s celebration a massive success!
Across all our campuses, the spirit of friendly competition was alive and well!
The Candy Guessing Games were a huge hit, with many of you testing your estimation skills for a chance to win a sweet prize. Congratulations to all our candy connoisseurs on the Missouri, Arizona, and California campuses who walked away with the grand prize!
We had a couple naming contests going on in Mesa and Santa Maria. On the Arizona Campus, our new 3D printer finally got its official Star Wars-themed moniker: “3DPO”! Over on the California Campus, our “Name the Torso contest” brought in many imaginative entries, and we’re excited for “The Great Gutsby” to help with your studies.
A major highlight of the month was our Open Access Week, with the thought-provoking theme, “Who Owns Our Knowledge?”
From October 20th to 24th, through daily emails, we spotlighted different facets of open access—from Open Education Resources (OERs) to the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in scholarly communication. The week culminated in a fun and challenging Trivia session that tested everyone’s newfound knowledge. To read more about our Open Access Week, check out the recap here.
Our celebrations extended far beyond the campus walls:
We received some great responses to our Library Website Survey! Your invaluable feedback will guide us as we update and improve your online experience. If you have yet to fill out the survey, you still have time as it will remain open through November. And remember to stop by to pick up your brand-new Library Bucky Sticker as a thank you for participating. If you are remote, please contact libaz@atsu.edu.
The Social Media Giveaway was a fun way to connect and we were overwhelmed by the participation! We are thrilled to award some cool ATSU swag to our lucky winners.
Thank you once again for helping us celebrate our amazing medical librarians and the essential resources they provide. We hope you discovered something new about the library this month!
The Kirksville Campus Library has been busy since August. Take a look at the goings-on in Missouri below.
Lunch & Learn: Exploring the Future of Healthcare: 3D Printing and Digital Imaging
The Library and ATSU-MOSDOH hosted a Lunch and Learn event titled “Planning, Practice, A New Language: The Future of Healthcare in 3D Printing and Digital Imaging.” The session featured Trish Weber, Assistant Director of Radiography/Medical imaging and advanced technology and Becky Dickenson from Clarkson College Radiography and Medical Imaging. This engaging discussion explored how 3D printing and digital imaging are transforming medical education, research, and patient care.
The recording of this event can be obtained by emailing Debra Loguda-Summers, manager, 3D print services, at dsummers@atsu.edu.
Library Spaces
We’ve added two new interactive TV screen panels downstairs! These panels make it easier than ever to explore digital resources, collaborate on projects, and engage with library content in dynamic ways. Stop by and give them a try!
We care about the well-being of our students! Visit our Relaxation Center — a cozy spot featuring fidgets, puzzles, board games, and leisure reading collection to help you unwind and recharge. Take a moment to breathe, stretch, or simply enjoy a quiet break between classes.
As winter settles in, remember that the library offers more than just books. You can check out: · SAD lamps to brighten your study space · OMT tables for comfortable positioning and practice
Ask at the information desk to learn what’s available for checkout!
Research Services
DoNOT Worry About Your Research Day was a sweet success! Staff welcomed students on Halloween, offering delicious treats and a great chance to chat with librarians, helping everyone discover the valuable research and resources the library has to offer.
Research Help & Consultations Need help with your research? Your librarian is here for one-on-one consultations! Learn how to locate scholarly resources, refine your topic, or navigate databases with expert guidance. Book a session anytime to boost your confidence in research and writing.
In the following matchups, the PT team defeated ATSU-ASHS Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, and Audiology (OSA) students 21-0, while the second-year SOMA students topped the first-year team 32-0 to earn their spot in the finals.
The first-year ATSU-SOMA student team was awarded the coveted Spirit Stick, which is presented to the team that demonstrates the strongest spirit and good sportsmanship.
Check out more photos from the championship game below!
The library successfully celebrated International Open Access (OA) Week from Oct. 21-27, under the theme “Who Owns Our Knowledge?” The week explored the core mission of Open Access—ensuring free, immediate, and unrestricted online availability of research—while examining how the movement is shaped by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies. OA is a commitment to equitable knowledge sharing, crucial for accelerating discovery, especially in healthcare, by removing financial paywalls.
Key Focus Areas and Highlights
The library focused on four main areas throughout the week, offering both foundational understanding and actionable steps:
AI and Open Access Together: Charting a Course for Ethical Sharing
Addressing the ethics of knowledge creation in the age of AI, Open Access is a powerful ally to AI in the pursuit of faster, more inclusive research dissemination. Thoughtfully integrated, AI and OA can:
Enhance Discoverability: AI-powered indexing makes open research more visible.
Expand Reach: AI enables multilingual translations and accessibility features.
Improve Efficiency: It helps publishers manage costs and accelerate dissemination.
However, there are challenges, including the risk of AI-generated content lowering quality and the potential for misuse of copyrighted material. The key takeaway was that the success of combining OA and AI hinges on the guiding principles of transparency, inclusivity, and integrity.
Thinking About Publishing with Cureus: A Zero-Cost OA Option
For researchers looking for an open publishing avenue, the library featured Cureus, an open access, peer-reviewed medical journal published by Springer Nature. It offers significant practical benefits:
Zero Publication Fees: It provides an invaluable zero-cost pathway to immediate Open Access for quality articles.
Rigorous Process: It maintains a comprehensive, transparent, multi-phase peer-review process.
Global Exposure: Indexing in major databases like PubMed and Google Scholar ensures maximum visibility.
Cureus’s mission to make medical knowledge freely accessible aligns perfectly with the Open Access ethos.
Discover Research from Around the World with SciELO: Global Perspectives
To encourage broader research discovery, the library introduced the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). This powerful open access platform is a vital resource for scientific journals produced across Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. SciELO’s objective is to ensure the universal visibility and accessibility of scholarly literature from developing countries. The platform includes resources like:
SciELO Data: A repository for research data.
SciELO Books: A hybrid collection of scholarly eBooks.
SciELO Preprints: A space for sharing manuscripts pre-acceptance.
Exploring SciELO encourages engagement with diverse global research perspectives, reinforcing the international nature of knowledge.
Explore Open Educational Resources (OER) for your Classroom
The final focus turned to instruction, highlighting Open Educational Resources (OER)—freely and publicly available teaching and learning materials (textbooks, syllabi, media) that can be freely used, adapted, and redistributed. OER integration offers major advantages:
Removes Cost Barriers: It eliminates the expense of course materials for students, promoting equity.
Enhances Learning: It supports flexible learning and can incorporate diverse voices.
Freedom in Teaching: Open licenses allow faculty to adapt and localize materials to fit unique curricula.
Faculty were encouraged to explore resources like OpenStax and MERLOT to enrich their teaching and support affordable medical education.
In conclusion, Open Access Week 2025 was a successful opportunity to not only celebrate the principle of open knowledge but also to provide the community with practical tools and resources for engaging with the future of scholarly communication. The A.T. Still Memorial Library remains a dedicated partner, ready to assist in navigating publishing decisions, locating open resources, and continuing the critical conversation about how to ensure knowledge is open, equitable, and responsibly shared.
The Dreamline Pathways program is a forward-thinking initiative designed to spark interest and provide a clear trajectory for K-12 students considering a career in the health professions. By forming powerful alliances with local school districts and community groups, this program offers crucial experiential learning opportunities that take students beyond the classroom. The goal is simple but profound: to introduce young people to the diverse world of healthcare and nurture their potential through direct engagement with campus life and graduate students.
At the heart of this collaborative effort, the library plays a crucial part, offering resources, knowledge, and a welcoming space to help these future medical leaders explore their dreams and plot their educational journey. Find out below how each of our campuses have been involved in this program.
California: Since the introduction of Dreamline Pathways to ATSU’s College for Healthy Communities in May 2024, A.T. Still Memorial Library has participated in all five events. Within the library, students have explored the anatomical posters and models, in addition to assembling 3D printed puzzle brains.
Dot Winslow, MFA, CAPF-S, library assistant, also put together a mental health activity using printouts from the NLM website on teen health. Students colored and folded their own “fortune tellers” to help teach them about taking care of their mental health.
Arizona: Our inaugural participation in the Dreamline Pathways program on the Arizona campus took place in Fall 2024. We structured the session into two distinct components designed to enhance student digital literacy and career exploration. We leveraged Mentimeter to facilitate engaging interaction and to assess the students’ ability to navigate and utilize the instructional websites effectively.
The first segment focused on MedlinePlus, introducing it as a premier, reliable resource for consumer health information and a critical reference for students considering a future in medicine. Integral to this instruction was a comprehensive review of the CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) as a foundational framework for critically evaluating the credibility of online health and medical information.
The second segment introduced the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). We highlighted this free, valuable tool from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for researching diverse career paths, including typical duties, required education, median salaries, and projected job outlook.
Missouri: The Missouri library has partnered with Dreamline Pathways for several years, hosting students in our 3D printing lab and library during the summer months, sharing the history of ATSU, and creating 3D-printed hearts, coins, and skeletons for classroom kits distributed to community schools.
We’re excited to announce several new and updated library guides designed to make your academic journey smoother and more successful! Whether you’re working on a systematic review or just starting your first research project, we’ve got you covered.
Covidence is a web-based platform that streamlines the systematic or scoping review process. Use it to manage and screen citations, deduplicate search results, collaborate with your team, perform data extraction, and automatically populate the PRISMA flow diagram. It saves time and enhances the rigor of your evidence synthesis. Check out our guide on getting set up in Covidence and how to use it throughout your project.
The library in Kirksville includes a great collection of leisure reading materials, which are deemed as our “Whole Person Collection”. Take a look at this guide organized into various categories to learn what is in the collection.
Updated Research Hub Guides
The ATSU Library Research Hub is your central online starting point for all types of research projects, linking you to curated resources, databases, and more. Not only has our Research Hub guide been updated, but so have a number of our review guides:
Scoping Reviews: A comprehensive step-by-step guide to the methodology for conducting a scoping review, which systematically maps the available evidence on a broad topic. It covers key stages from defining the research question (often using PCC) to charting and reporting the results.
Systematic Reviews: A step-by-step guide of resources for undertaking a rigorous systematic review, including detailed guidance on developing a protocol, conducting an exhaustive search, screening studies, and appraising study quality. A number of these steps link to the new Covidence guide.
Literature Reviews: Essential guidance for writing a high-quality traditional literature review, covering everything step-by-step from topic selection and effective searching to synthesis and writing the review narrative.
Grey Literature: Practical advice and sources for identifying and utilizing grey literature—non-conventional, non-peer-reviewed materials like government reports, conference proceedings, and dissertations—crucial for comprehensive evidence synthesis.
Library Image Sources:Provides access to image collections within our databases, lists of free image sources by topic, and tools for open free image search, while also offering crucial guidance on copyright and image attribution. Use this guide to quickly locate high-quality, legally compliant images for your research and projects.
OT Toolkit: A new addition to the Occupational Therapy Toolkit is a page on exam prep including StatPearls, Case Files, and more.
New and Updated Research Tutorials
Did you know that the library has a number of research tutorials for students? Below are some of our most recently created tutorials as well as some that have received updates.
Research Question Development with PCC & Advanced Search: A tutorial focused on structuring scoping review questions using the PCC framework (Population, Concept, Context) and applying advanced search techniques for broad evidence mapping.
Creating a Comprehensive Search String: Step-by-step instruction on building a complex and exhaustive search strategy within PubMed, incorporating synonyms, controlled vocabulary (MeSH terms), and truncation for maximum recall in a scoping review.
Database Translation: Learn the crucial skill of translating a complex search string from one database (e.g., PubMed) to another (e.g., CINAHL or Scopus), accounting for differences in controlled vocabulary and syntax.
