Submitted by Pam Rees, Chapter Council Representative
State Library of Iowa, Des Moines, IA
Exclusive Free MLA '09 Content Available for MLA Members
If you are a member of MLA and were not able to attend the annual 2009 MLA Conference in May, you can access some of the video/audio content and slides of MLA plenary sessions (plus the National Library of Medicine Update). The following sessions are available:
- Plenary I: Welcome and President's Address
- Plenary II: The John P. McGovern Lecture with Adam Bosworth: "Practicing Medicine in the 21st Century"
- Business I: Including In Memoriam, member recognition, and election results
- Plenary III: The Janet Doe Lecture with J. Michael Homan, AHIP, FMLA: "Eyes on the Prize: Reflections on the Impact of the Evolving Digital Ecology on the Librarian as Expert Intermediary and Knowledge Coach, 1969-2009"
- National Library of Medicine Update with Dr. Donald A. B. Lindberg, Stacey J. Arnesen, and Sheldon Kotzin, FMLA
- Business II: Including the presidential inaugural address by Connie M. Schardt, AHIP, and your invitation to MLA '10 in Washington, DC
- Plenary IV: The Joseph Leiter NLM/MLA Lecture with Ben Young: "The Impact of Diseases on Hawai`i's Medical History"
- Plenary V: Terry Shintani: "Reverse Disease with Less Medication"
Details for accessing this information are in the July 9, 2009, issue of MLA Focus. You'll need your MLA ID and password for access.
Did you know that MLA has an MLA's job ads page that is updated every Wednesday? You can access it here. This site is available to individuals seeking employment and to institutions seeking qualified individuals to fill vacant positions.
MLA Chapter Council Highlights
As MLA expected, attendance for the 2009 meeting was lower than normal with approximately 730 registered attendees not including vendors or guests. This is in contrast to attendance at the Chicago meeting in 2008 where there were approximately 1,300 registrants not including vendors or guests.
Chapter Council members held their first online elections to elect six nominees to the MLA Nominating Committee from the 13 chapters and to elect a new Chair-Elect for Chapter Council. Julia Shaw-Kokot, Mid-Atlantic Chapter, will serve as Chair-Elect under Paula Raimondo, the current Chapter Council Chair.
AHIP Credentialing Update
AHIP is MLA's peer-reviewed professional development and career recognition program. For more information, visit this site. Out of more than 1,200 institutions and 3,800 professionals in the health information field, 1,130 MLA members are AHIP members. There have been changes made in some of the AHIP points structures that take effect this summer. You can now earn twenty points for being a blog/wiki administrator. The blog or wiki must be sponsored by a library association, section or chapter to be eligible for points. MLANet page editors used to get 15 points, but that was reduced to 1 point per year because the person is an editor and not a contributor. A new MLA membership database will soon be implemented that will allow members to track their association activities to build their AHIP portfolio. That portfolio can then be printed and submitted for renewing AHIP membership.
Chapter Sharing Roundtables Event
The Chapter Council Roundtables Committee reported that 156 people participated in the Roundtable event at MLA. The Midwest Chapter provided four scholarships to this event.
Pittsburgh/MAC Chapters Merge
Chapter Council voted to approve the merger of Pittsburgh Chapter with the Mid-Atlantic Chapter (MAC). The Pittsburgh Chapter has suffered declining membership for several years due to closure of hospital libraries in the area. The Chapter has struggled to meet the disparate needs of librarians in both very small and very large health sciences libraries. They had discussed the possibility of merging with another chapter since 1991.
Virtual Board Meetings
The MLA Board is currently experimenting with Virtual Meeting software using megameeting.com. MLA saved more than $10,000 on the February board meeting because they met virtually. The board plans to hold two meetings a year this way so that two of the four face-to-face meetings will be eliminated.
Nominate a Hospital Librarian for Colaianni Award
We all know or work with someone who is a dynamic and exceptional hospital librarian, someone who is a visionary that deserves to be recognized for his or her outstanding service in hospital librarianship. Now is the time to nominate them for the Lois Ann Colaianni Award for Excellence and Achievement in Hospital Librarianship. Self-nominations are welcome, too. Visit the MLA website for further information or to download an application. The application deadline is November 1. If you have questions, please email Deb Miller, Jury Chair, at drmiller at summithealth dot org.