If you missed the 3D Printing Expo that took place at the Carmel Clay Public Library on Saturday, March 4th, 2023, don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. Cassandra Jones, Nexus Manager and her assistant, Amanda Papandreou of the Ruth Lilly Medical Library (RLML) Makerspace attended this exciting event to share how 3D prints are being used by students, faculty, and staff at the IU School of Medicine. From creating anatomical 3D prints to aid in studying human anatomy, to creating 3D models to aid in research such as dissection tools and microscope parts, attendees learned the many uses of 3D printing.

Over 1,200 attendees aged 5 and up attended the 3D print expo, and they were wowed by the amazing 3D print display. Attendees were able to see 3D prints of skulls, pelvises, spines, a femur, a frog dissection model, and articulated models. They were also able to witness live 3D printing demonstrations, and the Makerspace’s Lulzbot Mini 2 printed a pelvis model during the expo.

Attendees learned about everything from how to find 3D printable files to how to create a 3D model from scratch. Cassandra and Amanda explained how to prepare a 3D model for 3D printing, how a 3D printer works, and the difference between FDM (fused deposition modeling) printing, which involves using a type of plastic filament as the material, and SLA (stereolithography) 3D printing, which involves using liquid resin as the material. Attendees were educated on how to post-process 3D prints to achieve the best results.

Cassandra and Amanda demonstrated using a 3D printed mold for silicone casting. In the process, silicone is poured into the 3D printed mold to create a flexible product such as a suture pad. Silicone can also be used to create a mold from a 3D printed item, for example, a 3D printed brain model. The silicone mold can then be used to create multiple resin copies of the model; the basic technique is often used for rapid prototyping. Silicone molding and casting training is available at no cost to IUSM students, faculty, and staff at the RLML Makerspace.

Overall, the 3D Printing Expo at the Carmel Clay Public Library was an exciting educational event that showcased the amazing possibilities of 3D printing. Stop by the Makerspace M-F from 10-4 on the second floor of the Ruth Lilly Medical Library (IB202) to learn about 3D Printing and Discover a New Way to Learn.

» Visit the Makerspace

Beth Whipple, MLS, AHIP, Assistant Director for Research and Translational Sciences at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library has been honored with the Estelle Brodman Award for the Academic Health Sciences Librarian of the Year from the Medical Library Association (MLA). One of the Association’s most prestigious awards, the Brodman Award recognizes an academic health sciences librarian at mid-career level who demonstrates significant achievement, leadership, and continuing excellence.

Recognized early on as a leader, Whipple began her career in the highly competitive National Library of Medicine’s Associate Fellowship program. She joined the Ruth Lilly Medical Library faculty in 2007 and in 2009, was chosen to complete the IUSM Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP). She later participated in the national HERS Leadership Training Institute for Women in Higher Education. Currently, she is a fellow in the international NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program. The Leadership Fellows Program is for emerging leaders in health sciences libraries; each fellow is paired with a mentor who is a health sciences library director.

During her career, Ms. Whipple received two rounds of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Administrative Supplements for Informationist Services Awards, which integrated her into the research processes of two different research groups at the institution (one basic science and one clinical) where she contributed to improving their workflows and the quality of their research. Ms. Whipple has co-authored 37 publications including eight systematic reviews, and twelve publications utilizing bibliometric analyses to track publishing trends across medical journals as it relates to gender. The bibliometric analyses publications bring visibility to bias in academic medicine, and how that bias affects the publication of papers authored by women.

Ms. Whipple’s service to the Medical Library Association (MLA) has been exemplary, most notably Chair of the Medical Informatics Section (now Caucus) and as a member of the Nominating Committee. Ms. Whipple is a three-time recipient of the MLA President’s Award for contributions enhancing the profession and furthering the association’s objectives. Her work on the Futures Task Force, Communities Strategic Goal Task Force, and Communities Transition Team transformed the fundamental structure of the association.

Her nominators for the Brodman Award summarize Ms. Whipple’s many accomplishments as an impactful leader: “She is a compassionate, positive, and highly skilled connector with an uncanny ability to foster relationships and inspire the best in others” and  “Our School, students and faculty, benefit each day from having Beth as a leader on our campus.”

Congratulations Beth!

On March 1, 2023, IU Health’s Jane Hartsock, JD, MA, and the IU Center for Bioethics’ Colin Halverson, PhD, gave a fascinating lecture on “The First English Translation of the Ebers Papyrus” as part of the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society’s Spring 2023 Lecture Series.

In this talk, Hartsock and Halverson examined the convoluted and dramatic history of the Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest and most complete contemporary perspectives on ancient Egyptian healing practices. They also discussed its “rediscovery” by Edwin Smith and the dramatic societal- and personal-scale forces that thwarted Dr. Carl H. von Klein and Edith Zitelmann’s efforts to translate it.

To watch a recording of the lecture, visit: https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/media/019s06b61s

To find out more about the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society, visit: https://library.mednet.iu.edu/history-of-medicine/history-of-medicine-society/

Now is the best time to create Valentine’s Day cards using the Cricut, our smart cutting machine, along with gentle guidance from the Makerspace’s experienced staff members, Cassandra Jones and Amanda Papandreou. Edit existing projects to create white coat and scrubs cards like Cassandra or design your own cards like Amanda with her lace heart and brain Valentines. In only 30 minutes, you can take a study break, explore the Makerspace, or even make your own custom Valentine’s Day card – all necessary materials including cardstock, glue, and pens are available for use at no cost in the RLML Makerspace located in the Ruth Lilly Medical Library on the second floor in room IB202.

Celebrate the season of love with the RLML Makerspace by making a card for someone special!

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In case you missed it, last month the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society, together with the IU School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, IUPUI Medical Humanities and Health Studies Program, IUSM History of Medicine Student Interest Group, and the Ruth Lilly Medical Library hosted a virtual event titled “A Conversation with Mary Roach: Making Science and Medical History Fun”.

It was a delightful conversation between Bill Sullivan, IU School of Medicine’s own Interim Chair and Showalter Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and the author of Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces That Make Us Who We Are, and special guest, Mary Roach, who has been called “America’s funniest science writer” and has written six New York Times bestsellers including Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, and Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal.

Mary shared adventurous behind-the-scenes tales of places she went, things she encountered, and people she met while researching her books. From bizarre to fascinating, the things she uncovered about medical history during her research and writing projects are both informative and entertaining.

Watch the Recording Now

To be invited to future John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society events, please consider subscribing to the listserv by emailing johnshawbillings-l-subscribe@iu.edu from the email you wish to subscribe, leaving the subject and body of the message blank. You will then receive an automated message from the listserv that includes a confirmation link. Follow the link to confirm your subscription.

Or visit online at https://library.mednet.iu.edu/history-of-medicine/history-of-medicine-society/

The Ruth Lilly Medical Library seeks a dynamic, collaborative, and talented Assistant Director for Education and Access Services to assist in planning, coordination, and promotion of instruction, reference, and circulation services that support the needs of students, residents, faculty, researchers, and staff of the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Full job description can be found at: https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/15860

Join our team!

Professor Dina Peterson, Director of the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Diagnostic Sonography Program, PoCUS manager, and Clinical Radiology professor, didn’t originally think of 3D printing when she visited the Ruth Lilly Medical Library’s Makerspace. In fact, her original intention was to use the Makerspace’s button maker to create buttons for her students to wear, indicating they’d successfully completed a course. While creating the buttons with the help of Makerspace Lab Manager, Cassandra Jones, and Assistant Lab Manager, Amanda Papandreou, Professor Peterson noticed the 3D printer available – and got an idea. She asked if it was possible to create a 3D-printed liver that could be divided into its 8 segments and assembled using magnets. When teaching about the liver, students sometimes struggle with understanding the segments. A segmented 3D model would be a fantastic teaching aid.

Cassandra and Amanda went straight to work looking for a model that would work for Professor Peterson. Within five minutes, a suitable 3D model was found on Thingiverse.com, a popular 3d model repository with over 1 million free 3D models. The model was approved by Professor Peterson and two weeks later, it was a physical reality. When Professor Peterson arrived to see the 3D-printed liver for the first time in person, Amanda assisted her in gluing in the magnets. The magnet insertion process took roughly an hour and a half and later that day, after the glue had fully dried, Professor Peterson was able to take the segmented liver model back to her office with her.

The segmented liver was printed on one of the RLML Makerspace’s seven 3D printers, the Raise3D Pro 2 (fondly nicknamed Edna), using Orange PLA supplied by Professor Peterson for the purpose of this project. PLA (polylactic acid) is a thermoplastic made from sugars and it is the most used 3D printing material currently available. The total amount of material used for this project was 561 grams of filament – plus the magnets which Professor Peterson supplied. Total print time was 62 hours 40 minutes (2 days 14 hours and 40 minutes).

Today, Professor Peterson is happy with the results, “Liver segmentation can be difficult for the learner to visualize because they often learn these segments from a 2D picture. This 3D segmented liver model helps students understand and visualize the segments and their anatomic relationship to each other.”

For more information about resources in the Ruth Lilly Medical Library’s second-floor Technology Corridor – including the Nexus Lab, 3D printers, Virtual Reality headsets, and more – visit https://library.mednet.iu.edu/makerspace/.

The Ruth Lilly Medical Library welcomed Jennifer Watson to the RLML Content Management Team in May of 2022. She received her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a minor in History from the University of Northern Colorado in 2012, and her master’s degree in Museum Studies from IUPUI in 2015. She previously worked at the Indiana War Memorial Museum. Jenny is November’s Employee Spotlight.

What is your position at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library?

My title is Content Management Assistant and I do Interlibrary Loans and some acquisitions. On average, I’d say our team gets 30 or so Interlibrary Loan requests per day during the regular academic year. It’s a little less busy in the summer. For the acquisitions side of it, I mostly do books vs. journals or series, which other members of my team handle, and we each do borrowing and lending.

How long have you been working at the library?  

I started at the library in May of this year (2022). It’s already been about 6 months but it seems like less!

What do you like most about your job or the library?

What I really like most about working here, in general, is the people I work with. My co-workers are really nice.

What is your favorite food/favorite place to eat?

I love bakeries and all things baked goods… so Amelia’s or the Gallery Pastry Shop, places like that! Sometimes my friends and I go on bakery crawls, spending a good portion of a day visiting multiple bakeries.

Where is your favorite place to travel?

Locally, I would say I frequent places like Cincinnati, I go there a lot. Less locally, Great Britain! I studied Anthropology abroad there for 5 months in 2012. We took a lot of fun field trips, we had a field trip to Ireland once. I was mostly in Chester and Liverpool, but I didn’t visit any Beatles spots. I did visit some Harry Potter landmarks though – we saw King’s Cross Station and we went to the Elephant Café in Edinburgh, which is where J.K. Rowling wrote a lot.

If you could witness any historical event, what would it be and why?

I would want to see one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. The Pyramids at the time they were being built, for instance. Seeing who did it, and how – solving the mysteries surrounding it.  I think the pyramids would be the top, of the 7.

Do you know all 7?

Let’s see… I know there is the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and I can’t remember the other two?  But the reason I know those off the top of my head is because I like the board game, 7 Wonders!

What is one item on your bucket list?

To see the Northern Lights. I’d like to go to Norway to see them, and since seeing them is on my mom’s bucket list too, I’d love it if we could do that together.

If you were to write a book about yourself, what would the title be?

An Ordinary Life – in tribute to my grandma, who once told me that would be the title of the book of her life.

Beth Whipple, MLS, AHIP, Assistant Director for Research and Translational Sciences, has been selected as a fellow in the 2022-2023 NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries.

The Leadership Fellows Program prepares emerging leaders for director positions in academic health sciences libraries through a year-long mentoring relationship with a director of another library and a curriculum focused on developing leadership knowledge critical to enhancing the value of libraries in their institutions. In this highly competitive program, Beth will be one of ten fellows and mentors from academic health sciences libraries across the U.S. who will begin their work together in November. Since the program began in 2002, over 52% of all fellow graduates have assumed director positions.