Information Services, a division of the Office of the CIO (OCIO), manages MUSC’s campus-wide data and voice communication network as well as other core infrastructure systems and applications. The campus data network provides 10BaseT and 100BaseT Ethernet connections to the desktop and Gig throughputs in the core. This is accomplished with a fiber optic backbone to the core switches/routers and fiber optic and copper cables connecting the access layer switches. Gig connections can be provided for users with a need for higher bandwidth requirements. Individual campus sub-networks are administered as an Internet Class B Network. Cisco routers provide high-speed connections between internal subnets and the Internet. A 50 meg connection is provided for the commercial Internet and a 75 meg connection for access to Internet 2. The South Carolina Light Rail is under development to join the state to the Southern Light Rail and National Lambda Rail research networks. Frame Relay, dial-up PPP service, DSL, and cable modems are used to extend the campus network to remote or rural locations. The campus voice communications network has more than 12,000 telephones and a voice mail system with more than 4,500 active mailboxes. Information Services also provides support for main infrastructure systems, including IMAP email, file storage (Homeroom), Web servers, calendar, network identification and account maintenance, network time protocol, domain name system, and directory services. Core applications supported by Information Services in the area of Academic and Research include the MUSC library system, OVID, WebCT, SYBYL (molecular modeling), and GCG (gene sequence research). Core campus-wide financial and administrative applications are also supported through Information Services, such as GL, AP, financial reporting, purchasing, payroll, and human resources. Infrastructure services and key applications are accessible to authorized users from any Windows, Macintosh, or Unix workstation with access to the campus network. The MUSC Web servers (http://www.musc.edu) provide a convenient campus-wide search and retrieval system for information. MUSC accesses the supercomputer at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC, and co-sponsors the Beowulf cluster at the College of Charleston. Additional research computing resources are available in the Department of Biometry, Biostatistics & Epidemiology.
Health Affairs Library (rev. date 10/07)
http://www.library.musc.edu/
The MUSC Library serves as a database and knowledge center, academic computing support unit, electronic education center, and leader in information planning. Online resources include the full catalog as well as major biomedical databases (e.g., MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SciFinder, and PubMED). Links include online catalogs of other libraries, drug information (MicroMedex, Mosby’s Drug Consult), consumer health (Hands on Health, MEDLINEPLUS, Health Reference Center), clinical decision support systems (eMedicine, UpToDate, InfoPOEMS), Clinical Practice Guidelines and alerts, reviews of clinical trials, evidence-based practice (Cochrane database, INFOPOEMS), government resources (Toxnet, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations), electronic books (MD Consult, Harrison's Online, Access Medicine) and e-journal packages with literature search capabilities (ScienceDirect, ejournals@MUSC, Journals@Ovid, American Chemical Society), statewide shared academic databases (Collegiate DISCUS, DISCUS), and other resources that provide a wealth of worldwide information. Service-oriented faculty and staff assist in the use of a variety of informational systems. An active program of individual, class, and group instruction supports teaching, clinical care, research and community outreach. The Library includes the Educational Technology Lab for web-based instruction and curriculum evaluation, and the Informatics Lab with more than 200 microcomputers and peripheral equipment. In addition to providing access to collections and information remote from its physical facility, the Library maintains a comprehensive collection of books, journals, slides, tapes, and videocassettes (>200,000 volumes), and subscribes to more than 14,000 electronic journals and 250 print journals that are not available electronically. The library serves as a resource library within the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and is a major health science resource library for the State of South Carolina and the Southeast.
The MUSC Library has received several prestigious awards from National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) for excellence in providing health information and promoting health awareness. In May 2006 the NCLIS Health Information Award for Libraries was awarded to MUSC’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010 Diabetes Coalition Library Partnership. Chosen from entries nationwide, the REACH 2010 program was judged as the best library program for encouraging healthy lifestyles and providing health information to citizens. The program is a collaborative effort of a library-community-campus partnership consisting of the MUSC College of Nursing, MUSC Library, county public libraries and other community-based organizations. In 2004 the Library received the NCLIS Blue Ribbon Consumer Health Information Recognition Award for Libraries recognizing the impact, innovativeness and replicability of its Hands on Health-South Carolina project. The NCLIS, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, has recognized outstanding libraries in 37 states for their contributions to health awareness and health education. Designed to serve the consumer and community health information needs of South Carolinians, Hands on Health – S.C. (www.handsonhealth-sc.org), a public web-site, pays special attention to health issues of particular importance in South Carolina, such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, disabilities, obesity, nutrition, family violence, and cancer.
The Office of Media Services and Digital Imaging within the Library provides services for illustration, design, and photography, including posters for scientific presentations and rapid production of slides from computer files. This service is very helpful to researchers when preparing abstracts and presentations for scientific meetings.