Community members turn to their public libraries for reliable health information. Public library staff must remain aware of the most relevant resources and services to refer their patrons to, though many libraries have limited resources to dedicate to staff continuing education on this topic. The National Network of Libraries of Medicine Pacific Northwest Region (NN/LM PNR) meets this need by providing free continuing education support regarding consumer health to public library staff and other information professionals in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington states. This project engaged public library staff in Idaho in focus groups and interviews to learn more about their current efforts, needs, and perceptions regarding community health information and services. An analysis of these findings led to recommendations for NN/LM PNR to strengthen their outreach to public libraries in Idaho and elsewhere, to enhance local library responsiveness to community health information priorities.

We are working with the School of Environment and Forest Science (SEFS) at University of Washington towards the mission of making environmental data accessible to Native American people. The researchers at SEFS have collected large data sets related to land cover, hydrology and precipitation to learn carbon emissions and absorption in that area. The challenge that they currently face is to make this scientific data available to the Native Americans in a format that they can relate with and interact. In order to facilitate this, we have integrated the existing environmental and ecological data and created data visualizations as a POC to ascertain that this process can be automated with the real time data. We have also prototyped user-friendly dashboard to present this information to the indigenous people in an intuitive way so that they can evaluate the health of their land and make better decisions about their environment.

With it becoming more difficult to treat acrophobia (fear of heights) through vivo (‘in life’) exposure therapy, how can we provide an exposure therapy treatment that utilizes virtual reality so that those suffering from acrophobia (fear of heights) can gradually overcome these fears in a safe, inexpensive, and practical manner? Everest has created a virtual reality experience that is geared towards those three traits. Powered by the Oculus Rift and other VR headsets, Everest separates exposure therapy treatment into 3 stages that will help gradually treat all levels of acrophobia. With this new way for exposure therapy treatment, acrophobia patients will no longer have to overcome their fears in real life situation that risk their health and wellbeing. Instead, this inexpensive virtual reality substitute will allow its users to overcome their fear at their own pace and in the safety of their own home.

In the realm of online content retrieval, understanding user intentions based on search behaviors is essential to connecting customers to the content they seek. Adobe Systems recently acquired Fotolia, a digital asset supplier, to more efficiently provide their customers with quality images and videos from inside their ecosystem. Working with Adobe Stock, we accessed all of their query and content engagement data collected to date. In this formative analysis, we applied natural language processing to search terms. Results were paired with multiple metrics of user interaction associated with Adobe’s content. These data were grouped, or clustered, to reveal hidden layers of similarity across queries. These clusters, representing similar user intentions, help identify Adobe’s underperforming segments of customer interests and behaviors. Once identified, treatments such as user interface modifications, search algorithm changes, or query refinement suggestions can be targeted to queries in the same cluster. This will enhance the Adobe Stock user experience¬ increasing customer retention, satisfaction, and spending.

Modern public libraries are a hub of innovation and information, but among all the valuable services libraries provide, research shows people still visit public libraries for one primary reason: To find books to read for pleasure. This project offers a new way to connect readers with books through an interactive quiz on the San Jose Public Library website. The quiz suggests books from the library’s collection that have been handpicked by library staff members. It can easily be reproduced to recommend books for a variety of genres and audiences, or even to suggest non-book items such as DVDs, eResources or library programs. By directing users to relevant and useful items within the library in their quiz results, this digital tool serves the community by providing expert recommendations and also helps market the library’s various collections and services. Finding your next favorite book has never been easier!

In many cultures, oral storytelling and folktales are an important tool for elders to share the intimate lore and cultural norms with future generations. Individuals and institutions are coming to the realization that generations of stories are being lost. Efforts to preserve these treasures have largely been dedicated to oral histories and personal narratives. Folk Mic is a publicly-accessible online repository for recordings of folktales. The project creates a framework for any storyteller, amateur to professional, to add their folktales and original stories. Furthermore, users are able to search for the stories using newly developed metadata and to develop more sophisticated metadata as the project grows in size. Folk Mic promotes the value of hearing and seeing a storyteller weave a tale rather than simply reading it. Now, future generations will have an online database where they can watch, hear, and record more storytellers.