I recently attended my local consortium meeting where the formal education program was a very enlightening presentation on MLA’s Standards for Hospital Libraries. But, being a fairly informal group that day, the discussion eventually morphed into a lively round-table on some of our more pressing professional issues, including the somewhat difficult (given the budget constraints so many of us face) issue of collection development in this age of electronic vs. print.
This was a particularly timely topic for me as I am currently grappling with a situation recently thrust upon me as the result of institutional downsizing: the transitioning of two separate but connected hospital libraries into one, centralized, system-wide library.
My most pressing issue, right now, is how to provide access to information in the most efficient and effective manner as possible to as many people as possible across the system. The answer is obvious – electronically. And this is what I will do, as much as possible, given the budget that I have. Of course! But, because of budget, it will probably mean that my collection will continue to be a hybrid of electronic and print materials. That is simply the reality I am living with these days.
The benefits of technology are numerous and obvious. I often wonder (and some of you will relate to this, I’m sure) how I ever did my job before the advent of PubMed, EbscoHost, StatREF, and the World Wide Web. Before Docline and email, I can remember telling patrons that their journal articles would be available in a few days to a week. Unimaginable and unacceptable, today. And, my nursing students now carry at least half-a-dozen essential texts with them into clinical practice in the pockets of their lab coats, courtesy of their PDA’s. So, of course I fully appreciate and embrace the power of technology.
But, what of print? I’m not sorry to say that I still have an attachment to the print format, to books, especially. Not so much professionally, anymore, but personally. So, the question for me is, can I still be a “printophile” in this age of technology and not feel guilty? Must it be a matter of either/or (a la Cushing Academy)? And so, with apologies to Plato, I present here my own (albeit brief) Apologia (read Defense). And please remember, this is just a little reverie that I’m hoping you’ll enjoy.
Reading is experiential. I love the sensation of reading.There is just something about the totality of reading a book. It is holistic, involving all five senses in one way or another:
So, having said all this let me finish by saying that I embrace technology. Of course I do. We all should and do. But, maybe, just maybe, there’s still a little room left, when all is said and done, for paper and print too? Maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t have to be so much a matter of either/or, but rather the best of both.
Submitted by Terri Niland, MAHSLIN President
Fahey Library, Lawrence Memorial Hospital
Cut the Cord: Connecting to Our Mobile Users
November 18
Register now for the upcoming November 18 MLA webcast, Cut the Cord: Connecting to Our Mobile Users. We all probably have more mobile users than we know about—just think of the immense popularity of the IPhone and other phones with similar capabilities. This webcast will explain new ways for us to help our mobile users, discuss new mobile apps, and explore how we might fund mobile device projects.
The MAHSLIN Education Committee will host the webcast in the Enders Seminar Conference Room at Children’s Hospital in Boston from 1:30 to 5pm. We include a wraparound panel discussion with Scott Kehoe, a consultant and trainer for NMRLS. If your questions have not been answered by the webcast, Steve will address them.
By attending the entire program at Children’s you will earn 3.5 CE credits, but only 2 credits for just the webcast.
Register for the Children’s Hospital MLA webcast and wraparound by emailing Deb Almquist at dalmquist@partners.org.
Although the program costs $25 for nonmembers it is free to all MAHSLIN members.
The webcast will also be shown at UMass Medical School without the wraparound panel discussion. Please contact Penny Glassman (penny.glassman@massmed.edu) for more information.
Submitted by Florence Mercer
Director of Library Services
Anna Jacques Hospital
As we all know by now, the PubMed Redesign went live last month. Everyone has been getting used to the changes, but there have been some common questions relating to the location of some of the features. Here are a few basic tips:
NLM held a webcast on October 6th and 7th, the recording along with answers to questions can be found online.
If you have questions please feel free to contact Lauri Fennell at the NNLM-NERor contact NLM directly by using the Help Desk link at the bottom right of every PubMed page.
Submitted by Lauri Fennell
National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region
You may recall a query I sent to the MAHSLIN list asking for anyone who may be able to pick up entire runs of journals that were donated to my library which I could not use. Here are two helpful programs brought to light by MAHSLIN members:
Submitted by Cara Helfner
Director of Library Services
Faulkner Hospital
Date: December 11, 2009
Time: 11 AM - 12 PM
Register via the NN/LM NER website
National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region
Save the Date: April 7, 20102nd Annual
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The 2009 meeting of the North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries, Inc. was held October 25-27 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine. "What's Cooking? A Taste of the Future" was the meeting theme and the Conference Planning Committee donned their aprons and did an outstanding job of putting together a program filled with inspirational speakers and innovative ideas. The beautiful coast of Maine also surely didn't hurt in energizing participants for all of the challenging, but equally exciting, work that lies ahead in our field.
The Meeting began on Sunday with an offering of five different CE courses. Almost 60 people took advantage of classes on educational design, copyright, strategic planning, usage statistics and more. All of the classes were well received and participants gave high marks for all they learned. Plans are already underway for next year, so stay tuned!
Plenary speakers included Stuart Weibel, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, OCLC Programs and Research who gave an interesting talk entitled "Semantic Web Technologies: Changing Bibliographic Futures". Judith A. Blake, Ph.D., a researcher at The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME offered the scientist's point of view for the work being done in biomedical research today. Her talk, "Biomedical Literature in the Clouds: Ontologies, Data, and the Semantic Web", described the efforts of her group in the development of bioinformatics systems essential for functional genomics, genetics and phenotypic research. Finally, Peter Suber, Ph.D., J.D. and of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School presented on the topic of "Open access, medical research, and health science libraries". Dr. Suber is perhaps considered a "guru" of the open access movement and his address was most relevant for the world of academic health science libraries today.
Smaller meetings and breakout sessions provided lots of time for networking, sharing ideas, and learning about some effective, practical programs taking place in our libraries.
MAHSLIN member Mark Goldstein (left) was awarded the 2009 NAHSL Achievement Award for all of his service to the organization. Additionally, a new, Lifetime Achievement Award was established and presented, posthumously, to longtime MAHSLIN and NAHSL member, Jay Daly. Jay's daughter, Eowyn Daly, accepted the honor on her father's behalf. It was a touching tribute to such a wonderful contributor to our profession and friend to so many.
An opening reception at the Owls Head Transportation Museum, a wonderful cocktail party with live music and singing, and the annual banquet all served to round out a terrific conference. OH! And one simply cannot go without mentioning... there was ELVIS!
Several forms of electronic communication were introduced at this year's conference to help keep members current including guest bloggers (MAHSLIN's own, Margo Coletti, being one) and the use of Twitter. You can find an archive of the blog reflections and the tweets on the NAHSL Blog.
Submitted by Sally Gore
Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School
Congratulations to Liz Fitzpayne on her December 2009 retirement from the Boston Medical Library Branch Library at the Massachusetts Medical Society in Waltham. She will be much missed after working nearly 40 years as a Health Sciences Librarian with the last ten at the MMS. Her many friends and colleagues wish her well.
Congratulations to the Liz!
Submitted by Terri Niland
Fahey Library, Lawrence Memorial Hospital
Don't forget that MAHSLIN member can attend NELINET member courses for free. From Library 2.0 to mobile technologies, from searching tips to project management, from assessment and evaluation techniques to marketing your library - there are LOTS of opportunities to hone your skills. Visit the website for all of the details and registration information.
User name and Password must all be in CAPS, MAHSLIN, MAHSLIN.
The MAHSLIN Network News co-editors, Sally Gore and Cara Helfner, welcome your suggestions and submissions of news, updates and educational opportunities that you wish to share with the MAHSLIN community. The Winter edition will be Cara's to edit, so please contact her via email if you have anything you would like to contribute.
