Come one, Come all – it’s time to register for the MAHSLIN annual meeting!

Here are my top ten reasons to attend the meeting.

1.     Listen and learn from a national expert on disaster medicine.

2.     Learn about the free resources from the National Library of Medicine’s Disaster Information Management  Research Center.

3.     Lunch is included in the registration!

4.     The meeting is centrally located, right off Route 95/128 in Waltham.

5.     There are great afternoon snacks!

6.     Meet other librarians from New England.

7.     What other way can you celebrate the Ides of March.

8.     Learn what to do with a tourniquet.

9.     MA Health Science Librarians are fun!

10.  Become inspired to learn something new.

Here is the link to the meeting web site.

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MAHSLIN 2018 Annual Meeting: March 16, 2018

Jessica LaBrie

Information, Innovation & You

The MAHSLIN Annual Meeting comes early this year and is right around the corner! If you have not already done so, please register. Early registration is still just $65.00 for MAHSLIN members. As MAHSLIN works to focus on you, our members, the Board has decided that all regular paid attendees of this year’s Annual Meeting will receive free MAHSLIN memberships next year.

As we speed through an age in which more information is communicated more rapidly than ever before, and innovators swiftly devise new ways to reflect contemporary trends and promote continued progress, the relentless pace of change and innovation can feel overwhelming. However, librarians, too, are necessarily innovators, particularly in today’s dynamic world. Not only do we innovate to improve library services and to respond to changes around us, but when significant shifts occur in the education, work, or information habits of our user populations, we creatively adapt to ensure that we continue to serve our patrons effectively.

This year’s program presents a slate of speakers addressing our roles and our opportunities in the context of rapid innovation — innovation in libraries, innovation in health sciences, and how you can effectively become an integral part of continuing innovation.

Callan Bignoli, Assistant Library Director (Technology) for the Public Libraries of Brookline, will deliver a presentation on content strategy for librarians. Ivan Oransky, MD, Distinguished Writer In Residence at NYU’s Carter Journalism Institute and co-founder of Retraction Watch, will discuss the reasons for the dramatic growth of retractions, whether fraud is on the rise, the growth of post-publication peer review, and other related trends. Finally, Jane Blumenthal, Associate University Librarian & Director, Taubman Health Sciences Library at University of Michigan, will speak about how health sciences librarians can respond to a changing landscape by developing creative and innovative ways to meet our users’ information needs, taking the challenges of change and reframing them as opportunities to take advantage of.

We hope to see you on March 16!

Jessica LaBrie
MAHSLIN President-Elect 2017-2018
MAHSLIN 2018 Program Chair

Hats Off to CAHSL

Submitted by Cara Marcus

An email sent through the MAHSLIN listserv caught my eye – our neighbor CAHSL sent MAHSLIN members a friendly invitation to their holiday luncheon. Dr. Dayne Laskey from the University of St. Joseph School of Pharmacy was the speaker, and the topic sounded fascinating: the history of plants and medicine.  Not only is history one of my favorite subjects, I recently began teaching adult education herbal cookery.  In addition, my newly graduated daughter just studied herbal medicine, and the topic would be of interest to her as well.  So off we went for an afternoon in Connecticut!

The presentation was superb.  No standard PowerPoint here; Dr. Laskey whirled images on the screen of plants and medicines, many from his hospital’s own medicinal garden, while surprising the group with a live aloe plant, and an astounding demonstration of how black light makes quinine (from tree bark) glow in regular bottles of tonic.  Quinine-enhanced tonic was given to early sailors to help them stay healthy on-board.  One of the most surprising things we learned was that about 79% of herbal supplements sold today do not actually contain the herb listed on the label (Dr. Laskey also talked about regulatory efforts attempting to control this issue).  Of course, with an audience of librarians, he discussed the evidence base for herbal medicine, and left the group with much food for thought for their own reference work in alternative medicine.

Besides a great lecture, the meeting was fun!  The CAHSL group was very congenial, the setting was lovely for the holidays, and the lunch included make-your-own Caesar salad and mac-and-cheese bars with lots of fixings. Another highlight of the afternoon was a Yankee Book Swap.  Everyone brought a wrapped, new book and went home with a new great book to read.  So – many thanks to CAHSL and happy holidays to all!

 

Message from the President

A Message from the President

Meredith Solomon, MAHSLIN President

Hello MAHSLIN members!

Since I did not send out a message in early Fall this message will encompass Fall as well as upcoming events.  We have dried out from Hermine and now it is time to get ready to see what Winter has in store for us.  In this edition I would like to share what has been happening over the summer months with MAHSLIN.

Professional Development

MAHSLIN’s first professional development award was given to Nathan Norris (BIDMC) to attend one day of the New England Science Boot Camp in Dartmouth, MA.  To read more about Nathan’s experience go to the MAHSLIN Blog.  Be on the lookout for a call for applications in early 2017.

Membership

Over the summer we gained a new member from the Center on Media and Child Health, Jill Kavanaugh.  You can read more about Jill on the MAHSLIN Libguide.

Jill was also the winner of our Jay Daly Information Technology Grant.  Jill is working on purchasing the necessary technologies to redesign the CMCH Database of Research. Jill will submit a post on her progress in Spring of 2017.

Jay Daly Information Technology Grant

Do you have a technology-related project you would like to get started on? This grant is available on a rolling basis for:

• Attendance at technology-related educational programs or courses and are applicable only to registration fees (hotel/meals/travel expenses are not included).
• Purchase of emerging technology-related hardware or software excluding basic office equipment or electronic subscriptions previously purchased. Funds cannot be used for professional memberships or to compensate staff time.

For more information, please visit the MAHSLIN web site.

MAHSLIN Communications

MAHSLIN is moving away from sending you a PDF each quarter.  Jane Natches, Publicity Chair and Andrew Calo, Newsletter Editor are working on streamlining MAHSLIN electronic communications through our LibGuide, Facebook page and Twitter account.

If you have not already done so, please like us on Facebook, follow us and tweet about us on Twitter.  If you would like write a column about a cool technology tool, be the Member Spotlight or have information you want to share with the MAHSLIN membership, please email Jane Natches or Andrew Calo.

MAHSLIN 2017

Save the Date! Friday April 7, 2017.

Dan McCloskey, MAHSLIN president-elect and his committee are in the midst of planning.  More information to come.

We are always looking for content.  If you have a new tool, product, website you are using and would like to share your experience please let us know.  If you have changed jobs, were promoted or have something about the profession you would like to share, contact Andrew Calo or Jane Natches.

Thank you

Medical Libraries Matter – MAHSLIN Annual Meeting on April 11, 2014

You plan, manage, direct, supervise, collect, acquire, process, catalog, index, abstract, research, search, write, review, link, teach, instruct, present, blog, tweet, email, film, embed, disseminate, create, innovate, arrange, design, prepare, administer, train, educate, oversee, purchase, buy, classify, copy, print, sort, coordinate, tag, list, file, summarize, extract, evaluate, connect, tutor, lecture, show, demonstrate, distribute, circulate, publish, organize, weed, inform, alert, procure, categorize, inventory, record, condense, abridge, obtain, help, assist, greet, explain, operate, deliver

Your library provides, gathers, amasses, showcases, displays, bonds, exhibits, unites, welcomes

because of you . . .

Your patrons read, review, research, study, search, research, write, present, administer, treat, teach, instruct, manage, supervise, direct, strategize, train, investigate, seek, create, analyze, evaluate, examine, lecture, publish, practice, govern, inform, report, address, edit, achieve

because of your library . . .

Your institution functions, invents, guides, creates, initiates, plans, proposes, focuses, enlightens, proves, facilitates, leads

because of your library . . .   

The world becomes healthier, improves, benefits, thrives

because of your library . . .

 

MEDICAL LIBRARIES MATTER!!!

Come to the MAHSLIN Annual Meeting on April 11 to find out more and join the discussion

Click here to register

 

Innovation on a Shoestring: A Lot to Learn and Much to Think About

Contributed by Olga Lyczmanenko, Library Director, New England Baptist Hospital

There was a lot to learn and much to think about at the most recent BBLC/MAHSLIN -sponsored Meeting – “Innovation on a Shoestring: High Impact Ideas for a Limited Budget”. 

Brandy King, owner of Knowledge Linking and independent consultant, guided the audience into the world of social media and very ably demonstrated the possibilities.  She showed that the power of Facebook, Linked-in and Twitter can be tapped successfully to promote library services – in ways many of us had not considered.  Connecting to thought leaders, adding professional groups to our contacts, and promoting information resources can all be accomplished with these social apps. 

Kate Donovan, currently at Children’s Hospital and a former Apple “genius”, introduced a number of free, easy to use, dynamic I-Pad apps.  Want to create an e-book? Just use IBooks Author www.apple.com/ibooks-author ).  Similarly, use Flipboard   (flipboard.com)  to create a personalized magazine.  Thinglink (www.thinglink.com) allows video creation with step-by-step instructions.  With a little creativity and with the help of these friendly apps, pushing out library news or patient education will never be the same again. 

3D Printing and its intricacies were very expertly explained via a webcast featuring  Patricia Anderson , Emerging Technologies Librarian from the University of Michigan, and Kimberly Barker, Manager for Technology Education & Computing at University of Virginia’s Moore Health Science Libraries.  Patricia, focused mainly on the explosive growth of 3D printing and its dramatic use in many areas, especially in anatomy and orthopedics; Kimberly addressed her library’s experience with its 3D printer, about funding and general public response to the printer.  

Quite coincidentally, just a few days after this presentation, an NPR story aired that highlighted a successful  windpipe implant fashioned from a 3 D printer.  Link to the NPR story

As always, this meeting was well organized, well attended and provided much to think about.

Thank you to everyone who made it possible.

 

Olga

 

 

And… ACTION!

This post was written by Sally Gore, MAHSLIN President.

Do you have a project or two that keeps getting pushed down the “to do” list? Are you having trouble staying on track getting that article written, that report or flyer finished, or that presentation presentable? Then join us for our first MAHSLIN ACTION DAY on Friday, October 14th.

Those of you who attended the 2010 annual meeting might recall our keynote speaker, Stever Robbins, telling us about the power and usefulness of Action Days. I’ve been wanting to coordinate one ever since, both for my own benefit and for my colleagues in need of the same help. You can find background and details on the idea from Stever’s “Get it Done Guy” podcast, but in general, here’s how it works:

1. Identify a project/task or two that you want to focus on for a day.
2. Share this with others via a conference call.
3. Check in every hour to share your progress.

It’s really that simple. We help each other be accountable and get those stubborn, “procrastinatable” projects done!

I’ll be working out the arrangements over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned to the blog and listserv for updates. For now, if you’re interested in taking part, mark your calendars and get ready to Get it Done!

P.S. Your task can be just about anything, even cleaning out your desk drawers or getting “thank you” notes written. And feel free to pass this along to anyone you think will find it interesting and/or helpful. The more, the merrier!

Picture This

I turned the page on my calendar last week, welcoming April and thus one month closer to the Annual Meeting! I must confess that despite the eustress (that’s healthy stress, you know) that comes with putting the meeting together, I’m really very excited for the day to arrive. I can’t wait to visit with so many colleagues, listen to the descriptions of so many projects and “outside the box” ideas people have been doing over the past year or so. Also, the more I correspond with our keynote speaker, Suzy Becker, the more intrigued I become over the thought-provoking and engaging activities she is going to lead us through. Remember how much fun Stever was last year? He raised the bar awfully high, but I think Suzy is up for the challenge.

I grew up not too far from Williamsburg, VA. I was put in the stocks often as a child.

Along those lines, she’s asked me to ask you to bring a couple of things with you on the day of the Meeting. One of these is an empty pill or a similar type of small bottle. If you have an extra or two, you might want to toss them in your bag too, just in case some folks forget. I plan to do that. The other thing is a picture of you as a child. Again, I’m not sure what she’s going to have us do with these things, but I look forward to finding out. I imagine they will be good props to help us engage our creative sides and think about new ways to work in our ever-changing profession.

Registration is open and early bird prices run through April 22^nd! We also have discounted rates for students and first-time attendees. Invite a friend, introduce a new person to our professional organization, encourage a colleague to give MAHSLIN a try. Satisfaction guaranteed.

~ Sally Gore, 2011 MAHSLIN Program Chair

Branding Busted

Like the month itself, March Madness is winding down. As I do each year, I filled out my NCAA tournament brackets a few weeks back. Of the four teams I picked to make it to the final games – men’s and women’s – only one remains. My men’s bracket was busted early when both Syracuse (my alma mater for library school) and Pittsburgh lost. My women’s bracket cracked last night when my favorite Tennessee Lady Vols were upset by Notre Dame. Now I’m cheering full-force for Virginia Commonwealth University’s men’s team. Being from the Richmond area, the Rams are my team for the next week. And then… well, we’ll move on to Opening Day! 🙂

What does any of this have to do with MAHSLIN’s Annual Meeting? Well for one thing, if the tournament is nearing an end and baseball season is about to start, it means spring is here! There’s only a little more than a month left before this year’s Annual Meeting. Secondly, busted brackets remind me of breaking out of our own stereotypes and trappings. A great thing about the basketball tournaments is any team can surprise another at any time. You always know what the outcome is supposed to be, but a lot of times a little ol’ team jumps up and plays like no one imagined they could, knocking off a powerhouse program with a grand reputation. And afterward, you almost always hear the coach and the players say, “We knew we could do it!”

I read a blog posting yesterday about a nice, handy app for smart phones that cuts down on shelf reading time. The headline read, “Awesome Augmented Reality App Could Save Librarians Hours“. Not to say we don’t still have to spend some time keeping our resources in order, particularly if we work in single-person libraries, but personally, I found the title to be driving home, yet again, the stereotype of the librarian as nothing more than a keeper of books. As we all know, the more we fail to bust this idea to smithereens, the more insecure our future becomes. Particularly in medical and health sciences librarianship.

This year’s meeting is about demonstrating to ourselves – and inspiring one another with – our “busting the brackets” mentality. We know we are different than that stereotype. We know we do so much more than check in serials and check out books. A number of MAHSLIN members have stepped up to take part in this year’s meeting, to show off their programs, their ideas, and their “out of the box” thinking that helps their patrons know just how valuable the services and the people of their library are. Join the excitement and register to attend the Annual Meeting TODAY! When the cameras are rolling, you don’t want to miss saying, “We knew we could do it all along!”

Hope to see you there! ~ Sally Gore, MAHSLIN Vice President and Program Chair

Super!

This post was written by Sally Gore, MAHSLIN Vice President & Program Chair.

Did you see that Super Moon the other night? I found myself scanning the horizon for a good hour before it ever rose. I kept thinking, “It’s dark already, where IS that Super Moon?!” But then, just when I was about to give up, I saw a very bright glow between a couple of buildings towards downtown (Worcester, that is). Sure enough, it was right on time. 7:39 pm. And as I watched it come up, it really was SUPER!

In our ever changing profession, sometimes it may feel like we’re all scanning a dark sky, looking for something special. Looking for something that might give us a clue to where we’re heading as medical and health sciences librarians. For me, that’s what the theme of this year’s annual meeting is all about. Last year, we began looking. We began thinking about the ways in which we are and can be the change in our organizations and institutions. Through the presentation of the different speakers, we began to catch a glimpse of the glow on the horizon. This year, that super moon – the super stories of our peers and colleagues – is going to shine brightly on everyone there!

Now, as if it’s even possible you need more enticement and/or persuasion to register for the meeting besides my describing it akin to rare and extraordinary astronomical events, let me introduce you to a couple of our speakers. (I’ll do this once-a-week or so over the time leading up to the conference, just so you’ll be as excited as I am about it.) Let me tell you of one project we’ll hear about during the morning session, a project that demonstrates really well how we’re “Thinking Outside of the Box”, expanding our roles and being the change that health sciences librarians can be.

Lisa Palmer, MLIS and Kathleen Biebel, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, are going to share about their collaboration to produce an online eJournal, Psychiatry Issue Briefs. Once a newsletter produced within the department, printed out, and stored in someone’s file folders (real and virtual), the Psychiatry Departments newsletter was in need of a professional face lift. As a clinician, Dr. Biebel knew the content she wanted to easily share with others. As a cataloger, institutional repository librarian, and metadata thinker, Lisa had the skills and knowledge to meed Dr. Beibel’s needs. Together, they sat down and came up with what has been a very successful, well-received solution.

This is just one of a dozen and more stories you’re going to hear at this year’s Annual Meeting. You will learn how we’re stretching our skills and knowledge towards new endeavors, how we’re re-purposing some of our expertise so that we can help our patrons to see the many different ways we can serve them. The goal is to share and to learn, to inspire one another, to build networks of support, and to come away ready to reach for the moon! [Couldn’t resist – :)]

So mark those calendars and register today! All the information you need is on the MAHSLIN website.

Hope to see you there!

~ Sally Gore, VP & 2011 Program Chair