In this Issue:

From the Desk of the Editor

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MAHSLIN Education Committee Report

Share the Vision

Reminder- Resource Sharing Survey

UMass awarded NCLIS Blue Ribbon

People & Places

MAHSLIN Education Committee Update

The Education Committee recently sponsored two programs:

1. New Models of Medicine in the Electronic Age on Wednesday, September 22, 2004. This program was jointly sponsored with the Mass. Medical Society and offered a full-day of presentations including the MLA Satellite broadcast entitled: “The art and practice of electronic journal, book, and database licenses”. Overall this satellite presentation, which was packed with lots of useful information about various aspects of managing library licenses, was an excellent overview. The beginning of the program provided a lot of good specifics about things to look for in a contract and contract language advice. For those of you unable to attend the program, the region will have copies available for loan. The morning program featured six different speakers and was geared toward the physicians in the audience, however the different topics and speakers gave librarians insight into the issues of concern to their patrons and institutions. As expected Laura Adams was an enthusiastic speaker who described the genesis and interim results of the Rhode Island Quality Initiative and how what they have done could be used in other states. It was interesting to hear how the Initiative was able to create a working group of parties who might otherwise not be inclined to work together.

2. PubMed Update on Thursday, October 21, 2004. Donna Berryman gave her yearly PubMed Update. To judge by the fact that the class was overbooked, this was a very popular offering. Donna focused on new PubMed features along with review of some of the advanced features. If you did not have an opportunity to attend this update, Donna is happy to provide similar classes for local consortia.

For the future:

The Committee is looking at possible opportunities for upcoming educational opportunities. On Thursday, March 24th we will be offering a workshop, “Creating Effective and Attractive Flyers/Newsletters for Your Library”. This workshop will cover:
• Effective use of language in brief communications
• Basics of desktop layout
• How to find and use images (clip art, photos)
• Overview of issues related to hard copy vs. web-based media
• Color schemes
• Font selection
• Page layout
• Formats (such as tri-fold)

We also are looking at other courses and are considering bringing an MLA course to Massachusetts. While we hear many good reviews of MLA courses offered at the Annual Meeting, many of us for whatever reason are not able to attend these courses. We need your input regarding what type of course would best fit your needs. One possibility is bringing the Mini-Med School course locally. This course will require a major commitment both in terms of time and financial considerations so we would like to gauge your interest before further pursuing this option. The reviews of this course have been excellent. I have even heard comments such as, “This was the best MLA course I have ever taken”. We would probably schedule the course for a Saturday and would like the membership to indicate their interest in this option. Please let us know which of the following courses would be of interest:

• Mini-Med School
• Well-Kept Secret: Health-related Government, Organization and Think-Tank Content
• Managing Electronic Resources: Beyond the Basics
• The Library & The Law: Patriot, Act, Confidentiality, Copyright
• Essentials of Library Law
• Copyright Basics for ILL
• Show Me the Money: Grant Writing for Librarians
• It’s About Time, It’s About Space: Time and File Management
• Successfully Presenting to the Adult & Professional Learner
• Writing for Peer-Reviewed Library Journals
• Molecular Biology and Genetics for Librarians
• Genomics, Proteonomics and Bioinformatics for Librarians
• Searching for Drug and Pharmaceutical Information Online
• Introduction to Molecular Biology Information Resources
• Super Searcher Course
• Evidence Based Nursing

If we have not hit upon a course which you need, please let us know your preference.

Another topic of interest expressed by several members is to have a “Virtual Journal Club”. If you would have any interest in joining such a group, please let us know.

Update on the Education Committee Website:

In addition to MAHSLIN sponsored courses, we will be adding links on the MAHSLIN website to additional courses which are offered locally. If you have suggestions of courses in your area which you feel would be helpful to other MAHSLIN members, please let us know.

We have added additional information to the Expert Searcher page and hope that you are finding some of the resources helpful.

Please let either Alison Clapp (Alison.clapp@childrens.harvard.edu) or Nathan Norris (nnorris@bidmc.harvard.edu) know what MLA course you would like us to bring to MAHSLIN or if you have additional suggestions for how the Education Committee can help you keep up with the rapid changes we all face..

MAHSLIN Network News

July 2004

Volume 24 (4)