MAHSLIN Network NewsSpring 2005—Volume 25, Number 2 |
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Dear MAHSLIN Members,
The reviews are in! "The Time is Now" MAHSLIN's 2005 Annual Meeting was held on April 28th at the Mass. Medical Society headquarters in Waltham. Judy Messerle's keynote speech entitled "Up the Down Staircase" was stimulating and thought provoking. Her presentation had audience members thinking about the future of medical libraries and medical librarianship long after they left the auditorium. I'm sure that the conversation, comments and thoughts resulting from this presentation will evolve into an opportunity for us to pursue.
Annmarie Baldisserrotto's presentation on "Leading and Motivating" was very practical and many of us have already put to good use the tips that Annmarie shared with us.
Audience members donned their clown noses for the afternoon program "You've Got to Be Kidding: The Challenge of Building a Humor Program in the Oncology Setting." There were many good ideas shared as well as a few smiles.
To sum up the day, great information, great food and great networking!
Watch this site over the coming months to see the details of next year's meeting. Margo Coletti is already putting together her planning committee.
Anne Fladger
MAHSLIN President
We extend a warm welcome to our newest MAHSLIN members!
New Members from the Holyoke Consumer Health Library, Sandy Ward and Jennifer Hartely
Join the 2006 Planning Team! As the new president-elect of MAHSLIN, I am welcoming all who are interested to join me in planning next year's Annual Meeting. Most planning meetings will be held at the Mass. Medical Society (site of the 2005 meeting) and food WILL be involved! Take a few hours off and join me this summer in an "eating meeting" at MMS so we can get started. Date and time to be determined by members' availability. Contact me at: mcoletti@bidmc.harvard.edu
Margo Coletti
In just the last few months, we have seen numerous changes in PubMed’s interface and features, so it was time to get updated! Special thanks go to Donna Berryman (once again) for enabling us to offer a timely refresher! Participants received 3 MLA CE credits, and this time we offered 2 venues: Monday, June 6, 2005, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Library at Children's Hospital in Boston and Tuesday, June 7, 2005, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Computer Lab (first floor) at Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School.
Stay tuned for an exciting series of programs in the fall. An upcoming program will feature information about RSS feeds and blogging. As more and more information exchange is done electronically, it is ever more important for us to be current in our knowledge of copyright issues. To this end, our committee is planning a “Copyright Education Day” for fall, 2005.
Finally, don’t forget to consult our new Educational Opportunity Calendar, which covers numerous educational presentations and can be found at http://mahslin.org/june.html
Please send your comments to Nathan Norris (nnorris@bidmc.harvard.edu) or Alison Clapp (Alison.clapp@childrens.harvard.edu). We’d love to hear from you on this or any of your educational needs!
Thank you for your input and continued support!
By Alison Clapp and Nathan Norris
Co-chairs MASHLIN Education Committee
For over fifteen years, MAHSLIN has been the only state health library network in New England to gather annual inter-library loan statistics. Again this year, the Board asked members to supply a tally of their ILL activity. In 2004, 48 libraries sent in their stats. This year only 45 libraries participated. Some areas of the state, through their consortia, have formally decided not to supply their numbers to the state group.
Perhaps the annual gathering of ILL stats has "outlived their usefulness" to quote Chris Bell, one of the original advocates of the process. Years ago, when we started collecting the statistics, many libraries used the numbers to illustrate our value in being able to supply resources beyond our own collections. Today, we have other tools, such as the MLA benchmarking data to use for comparison and demonstration of what we do.
In spite of the dwindling numbers of libraries supplying their tallies the last few years have demonstrated a slight increase in both "Borrowing" and "Lending" with the majority of our activity amongst our own members. Other interesting trends are the ever-increasing percentages of materials that are being sent electronically, with e-mail now surpassing FAX delivery. This year over half of all lending was by e-mail delivery.
Gathering these statistics would be a more meaningful exercise if more of our members participated, giving us a more valid basis for comparison between years. The Board has been questioning the usefulness of our yearly task and would like your input in their decision to continue or discontinue the process.
Please send your comments to: jvander-pyl@capecodhealth.org.
-Jeanie Vander Pyl
Congratulations to Jennifer Lanouette, the new Medical Librarian at Charlton Memorial Hospital Medical Library in Fall River. Jennifer received her MLIS from the University of Rhode Island in 2003. She was employed at the St. Lukes Hospital Library for the past four years. She is already serving on several NN/LM, NER committees.
Donna Beales, co-editor of the research column of the Journal of Hospital Librarianship is seeking articles form colleagues on hospital library topics of interest.
If you are interested in getting published in the Journal of Hospital Librarianship, please contact Donna at dbeales@lowellgeneral.org.
To see previous Table of Contents of the Journal of Hospital Librarianship, http://www.hawthornpress.com/web/JHSPL/
Molly Foley, Former MAHSLIN Treasurer and former librarian at the Faulkner Hospital, gave birth to twin girls.
Anna is on the left. Vivienne is on the right.
Congratulations to Molly from your MAHSLIN colleagues!
An interactive educational program for kids and parents sponsored by the Frankin Medical Center, Greenfield, MA held at the local public library
Photos contributed by Lauri Kolakoski
The National Association of Underwriters (NAHU) launched a new web site that provides "state-by-state information on health coverage options for those who for whatever reason do not have coverage."
The database contains information about private and public health insurance coverage, and qualification criteria, compare state health care coverage reforms, investigate state and federal health care programs, and contact information for enrollment or more information. To access the database: www.nahu.org/consumer/healthcare.
Send your news to Michelle Eberle, MAHSLIN Newsletter Editor, at michelle.eberle@umassmed.edu.
Thanks to all of our contributors for their articles!
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