12/29/2010

December 2010, No.114


President's Page

Greetings to one and all as we enter this season of peace and joy! I can scarcely believe that 2011 is just around the corner! I hope you find time to relax and enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends.

The Program Committee provided a wonderful opportunity for mingling with CAHSLA Colleagues on December 8, 2010 at the William Howard Taft National Historic Site on Auburn Avenue. The home was decorated in turn-of-the century Christmas décor – including a Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling on the bedroom of one of the Taft’s children. Our guide provided an entertaining look into the everyday life of the Taft family. Following the tour we enjoyed a variety of delicious hors d’oeuvres and desserts in the Taft Education Center.

Another CAHSLA tradition I enjoy and anticipate each year is looking at the children’s books our membership collects for a non-profit. This year we collected over 40 books! It is so much fun to look through the books to see what the members select. Many of the books are ones I enjoyed reading to my girls. It is inspiring to know that CAHSLA might be helping another generation fall in love with reading and adventure. The recipient of this year’s book collection is the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati. The IHN serves homeless families in our area with many needed services including education for the children of these families.

Treasurer and Membership Chair Cathy Constance reminds us that it is not too late to submit your membership dues to CAHSLA. I encourage you to join and to recruit someone from your library as a new member. You receive many networking and educational event opportunities throughout the year as a benefit of CAHSLA membership.

One of the interesting tidbits I learned during our tour was a quote attributed to William Howard Taft’s mother. She is said to have described President Taft’s family home in Cincinnati as his "inspiration to everything that was good." I hope that CAHSLA will continue to be our inspiration for achieving good in the local health sciences library community, as well as, to the larger Cincinnati community in the new year.

Many blessings to you this holiday season.

Regina Hartman, President



CAHSLA Membership Meeting
Findlay Market October 7, 2010 5:30-7PM

Attendees: Brigid Almaguer, Carole Baker, Cathy Constance, Emily Kean, Amy Gullen, Regina Hartman, Amy Koshoffer, Sandy Mason, Mary Piper, Val Purvis, Cecil Rahe, Emily Rahe, Edith Starbuck, Amy Stoneburner, Jane Thompson

The annual membership meeting was held at Cincinnati’s Historic Findlay Market. We met at the Farmer’s Shed where our tour guide, Cheryl Eagleson, described the history of the market including its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, its origin as a “public market”, and its rich 19th Since its renovations in 2004, Findlay Market has been managed by the private, non-profit Corporation of Findlay Market (CFFM) and is currently 100% merchant occupied. century architecture.

Our next stop was the pastry, sandwich & chocolates shop of Skirtz & Johnston for a delicious, catered assortment of hors d’oeuvres, drinks and desserts enjoyed by all – thank you Emily!!!

The business meeting was called to order at 6PM by President, Regina Hartman with an introduction of the officers for 2010/11. Next on the agenda was news from VP/Program Chair, Emily Kean who outlined the possibilities for this year’s upcoming meetings. A resurrection of COCLS was discussed as a platform to share information about emerging technologies. Meetings would be scheduled to occur in the months between CAHSLA meetings. Emily asked that any ideas for a Spring workshop or training be emailed to her.

Annual membership dues were paid to Cathy Constance, Treasurer who reported that the treasury currently holds $2797.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:30PM.

Respectfully Submitted, Brigid Almaguer, Secretary




Financial Report 2010-2011Year to Date


Checking Account Balance as of 6/17/2010 $ 179.62

Deposits
Dues (16 regular, 1 student) $248.00
Transfer from savings $200.00
Withdrawals
Shipping Meredith’s books $ 14.60
Findley Market Fund donation $ 75.00
Oct meeting – food $160.00
Balance as of 12/3/2010 $ 378.02

Savings Account
Balance as of 6/17/2010 $2581.43

Deposits
Interest – 5 mo. $ 1.29
Withdrawals
Transfer to checking $200.00
Balance as of 12/3/2010 $2382.72

Cash
Balance as of 6/17/2010 $ 35.52

Balance as of 12/3/2010 $ 35.52


Total Assets $2796.26

Paid members
Regular 16
Student 1
Life members 11
Total 28


Submitted by:
Cathy Constance, Treasurer
12/3/2010


Tis the season - to be part of CAHSLA

The season of holidays is here again and what better present to yourself than a membership in CAHSLA! OK, there are probably a few things better – a winning lottery ticket does come to mind; but, in terms of being part of a great library community, you can’t beat it. Please join us in networking, resource sharing, educational opportunities, and did I mention, fun and socializing. I’ll be glad to accept dues by mail. Membership $15; student membership $8.

Catherine Constance
Medical Librarian
VA Medical Center
3200 Vine St
Cincinnati OH 45220
513-475-6315



CAHSLA Holiday Party
December 8, 2010   5:30 – 8PM
William Howard Taft National Historic Site

Attendees:  Brigid Almaguer; Carole Baker; Cathy Constance; Donald Crews; Kathleen Dannemiller; Mike Douglas; Peggy Frondorf; Regina Hartman; Nonnie Klein; Amy Koshoffer; Lisa McCormick; Diana Osborne; Mary Piper; Val Purvis; Cecil Rahe; Emily Rahe; Edith Starbuck; Barb Slavinksi; Jane Thompson; Katie Wolf 

The annual holiday party was held at the William Howard Taft Education Center on Auburn Avenue.  The group enjoyed a guided tour of the Taft home which was decorated in Victorian style for the holidays, including a Christmas tree hanging over a bed upstairs.

Fruit punch, appetizers and desserts were provided by CAHSLA through Emily Kean and Regina Hartman.
Carole Baker entertained us with games of Christmas riddles, word scrambles and who’s who in holiday movies proving that most of us are not ready for Jeopardy anytime soon.  Holiday wrapped door prizes and game prizes were awarded to some lucky recipients by Carole Baker.

More than 40 children’s books were collected for the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati.

Respectfully Submitted, Brigid Almaguer, Secretary




Upcoming CAHSLA Programs

The next CAHSLA event will be the training session held in either February or March. As we’ve done in the past, we’re planning to have a vendor come to us for a training session and would like some input in selecting the product that would be of the most interest to the most CAHSLA members. Please watch your email for a short survey after the first of the year.

For the April business meeting, Lisa McCormick, Manager of The Jewish Hospital Health Sciences Library, will give a presentation about her trip to visit Jewish Hospital’s sister hospital in Netanya, Israel. The meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held at The Christ Hospital, but if anyone would like to volunteer their space, please let me know.

The Planning Committee is already looking ahead to summer as well. We’ve been discussing hosting the annual summer picnic at Drake Park since so many CAHSLA members enjoy the location. We are open to another location for the picnic; please let me know as soon as possible if you have a suggesion.

Many of you noticed that we slightly broke from tradition at the holiday party this year and had CAHSLA provide the food. We thought we’d switch things up a bit this year and have everyone bring a dish to the summer picnic instead. We’ll send more information as the June picnic date gets closer, but feel free to start thinking of your favorite summer side dish or sweet treat to share!

Emily Kean
Emily.kean@thechristhospital.com




Patient Centered Communication and Low Health Literacy: What is Ohio Doing to Advance Best Practice?

The Ohio Collaborative for Clear Health Communication is a statewide interest group for health professionals in public health, academia, and hospitals with the goal of bringing attention to the complex problem of low health literacy and promoting best practice for health care organizations to respond to the challenges this issues presents for preventive health and health care delivery. Currently, I am serving as OHSLA representative to the Collaborative. For those of us in hospitals, we have recently heard more about the impact of low health literacy as it relates to patient education and patient rights as part of the Joint Commissions new standards for 2012.

The Collaborative maintains a web page with links to important health literacy resources. The group is also looking at best practices in clear health communication throughout the country. One such model program that has been identified is Health Literacy Missouri which has been very successful in obtaining grant funding for their programs and initiatives.

The Collaborative presents an annual educational workshop related to developments and best practice in clear health communication/low health literacy. This year the all-day workshop was held at the newly opened Ohio State University Ohio Union. This magnificent building is the new “student union” for OSU, but it is like no student union I have ever seen! If you ever have the chance to visit, please do, so that you can enjoy the multi-story great hall with stone fireplaces, mosaic terrazzo floors, and cozy nests of seating. OSU President Gordon Gee took time from his schedule to personally welcome the attendees to the workshop.

The workshop covered many important aspects of health literacy with many excellent speakers. For this report, I will highlight a few of the topics and speakers. Dr. Sandy Cornett, Director of the OSU/AHEC Clear Health Communication Program at the OSU College of Medicine gave an overview of the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. Ryan Squire, BA, Program Manager, Communications & Marketing, OSU Medical Center spoke to the importance of social media in addressing health literacy. Mira Katz Ph.D., presented some remarkable results of the work she has done with Ohio’s Amish community. Some of the lessons she has learned in the Amish community may have value in working with other underserved populations. Dr Katz is Associate Professor, Health Behavior & Health Promotion, OSU College of Public Health. Diane Moyer RN, MS, Associate, Director, Patient Education, OSU Medical Center provided the audience with practical yet challenging information regarding how we might ensure that written materials and translated materials meet low health literacy standards. She also gave an overview of the Patient Centered Communication Standards that will become part of the Joint Commission Survey process in 2012.

In conclusion, if you have an interest in clear health communication/low health literacy, I invite you to become familiar with the Ohio Collaborative for Clear Health Communication. The Collaborative provides some valuable resources, including networking opportunities and continuing education. I will be sure to spread the word to CAHSLA when the workshop for 2011 is announced so that you can plan to attend.

Lisa McCormick


OHSLA Fall Meeting

On Oct 18th, I attended the Fall 20 10 OHSLA meeting in Dayton Ohio. The presenter Pat Wagner gave a seminar on Everyday Leadership. She had ambitious goals for her presentation and loads of informational handouts. She mentioned that she does not copyright her material and encourages sharing. Visit her website if you would like more information http://www.pattern.com/ or ask me for the handouts.

She started the presentation by talking about what leaders do, i.e. create compelling futures, model behavior, inspire others to do their best and to participate in creating futures, succeeds and leaders create leaders.
She discussed a model of leadership to help the participants understand where they are in the hierarchy and to see how leaders think and act in this model. The three tiers of the model were Task, Management and Leader. In this model, most people are at the task level and have a short outlook of a few months. Management tends to think in terms of months to a few years. Leaders think in terms of years 5 to 10 years. Pat described leaders as time travelers who try to visit the future and then create opportunity in the present to achieve their vision of the future. She mentioned that the task level has many attractions and that people are comfortable that this level. The work can feel like real work and gives immediate satisfaction. Remaining at this level did not push one out of their comfort zone. Pat discussed that leaders take risks and she discussed ways of improving risk tolerance. One way was to look at the best and worst case outcome for actions. She also discussed three steps to influence behavior: 1) build rapport 2) collect information to understand the big picture 3) take actions with understanding of choices. Pat encouraged all to become leaders to improve your work situation and to help move you up the ladder.

Pat also took a few minutes to talk about Strategic Planning.
She actually had a handout called The Five minute Strategic Plan. Let me know if you would like a copy.

There was also an OHSLA business meeting held during the lunch hour.
I am including a link to the minutes. http://www.ohslanet.org/voice/Minutes/fall2010draft.pdf. One item that came out of this meeting is that a survey is being created in hopes of determining how OHSLA can better serve Ohio Health Science Librarians and how to encourage higher meeting attendance. One member present talked about his feelings that the meetings do not have enough time for interaction between members. Holly Burt also attended and gave a GMR update http://nnlm.gov/gmr/about/gmrupdate.html.

There was much information to assimilate.
Pat told many great stories about her father and made the sessions entertaining so the day flew by very fast.

Amy Koshoffer



Upcoming SWON Events


Friends of PLCH Book Sale--Special Preview for SWON Libraries
January 12th, 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Friends of PLCH Warehouse
eBook 101!
January 13th, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
SWON At your desk--through the Online Classroom
Digital eBook Sites
January 20th, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
SWON At your desk--through the Online Classroom
LOC Newspaper Project
February 10th, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
SWON At your desk--through the Online Classroom

Governmental Resources
March 10th, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
SWON At your desk--through the Online Classroom
Book Repair Workshop
March 24th, REGISTRATION OPENING SOON
SWON At Wilmington Public Library
GMR Print Retention Project Update

The GMR has appointed a Print Retention Task Force to advise and assist us with planning for a print retention program to be put in place during the next 5-year contract. The current focus is on gathering data about legacy journal print collections in the region.

The group was tasked with analyzing the data obtained from a recent Resource Library (RL) survey, looking at SERHOLD data, interviewing RL Directors and others in the region to identify interests and scope, and recommending an action plan for the design and implementation of next steps. The goal is to produce a framework for further action by April 30, 2011 to hand over to a steering committee for further work in the next RML contract.

Additional information can be found in the GMR blog at:
http://nnlm.gov/gmr/blog/2010/12/14/gmr-print-retention-task-force-update/

If you are unable to access the blog through your institution and would prefer an alternate method to receive blog news, please contact the GMR blog editor:leskovec@uic.edu.

You will be hearing more from the GMR about this initiative in the months to come. Please be assured that we will be involving all health sciences libraries in this process as we move forward.

CAHSLA Colleagues


Welcome to New Members

Darlene Strain
Library Coordinator
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Edward L. Pratt Library

Joie Linser
Library Assistant
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Edward L. Pratt Library

Donald Crews
Boone County Public Library

Kristen Burgess
NLM, Associate Fellow 2010-2011
3424 Shaw Ave, Apt. 1
Cincinnati OH 45208
kristen.burgess@gmail.com

Life in Retirement Where the Livin' Is ... Busy!

Barbarie Hill writes "I have signed up to go with a Newcomers group to Washington, D.C. for a White House Christmas tour on December 7th. We have to be there at 7:00 a.m. so I'll be sleeping on the bus. It'll be a very long day, but I'm looking forward to it. I am now our Friends Meeting newsletter editor, and I joined the Charlottesville Women's Choir. Tom and I are regular attenders with the shape note singers (we did a demonstration for an Early American Music class at UVA last week), and I started my own book club, so I'm reading books for four different groups now. I made the Halloween costumes for the grandkids, and I've started several sewing projects for
Christmas along with making Christmas cards. I'm probably going to get involved in the Books Behind Bars project that sends books to prisoners around the country. It's great to be able to do all the fun things I want to do.

Sympathy

We extend our sympathy to Emily Kean (TCH) on the recent passing of her grandmother.

Kudos

The University of Cincinnati’s Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions has received a $100,000 grant from the John Hauck Foundation. The grant puts the University of Cincinnati Libraries beyond its total fundraising goal for the completion of the construction project critical to the preservation of Cincinnati’s rare and fragile medical collections. The new facility will specifically provide the following improvements to the Winkler Center’s ability to preserve fragile collections:

  • An environmentally controlled and secure facility for the Winkler Center’s rare, unique, and fragile collections by achieving temperature and relative humidity standards.
  • Monitoring capabilities to ensure security of the collections.
  • An additional exhibit gallery that will attract more visitors to view the center’s treasures.
  • Secure research room for visitors to use the Center’s materials.
  • An archival services area where staff will process new collections and curate and preserve existing collections such as the Albert B. Sabin archives.

    The final phase of the Winkler Center’s construction is expected to be completed by September 2011.
Library Opening

From Amy Stoneburner at Fortis College: We have a part-time opening here. We would like to have someone in place by the beginning of the year. They will be full-time during my maternity leave and then drop back down to part-time. If you have any questions, please contact Amy Stoneburner, Learning Resource Center Manager, Fortis College-Cincinnati -- AStoneburner@FortisCollege.edu


Season's Greetings from the GMR

We invite you to view our holiday greeting on the GMR blog, The Cornflower.
http://nnlm.gov/gmr/blog/2010/12/14/seasons-greetings-from-the-gmr-2010/

Thank you for supporting the mission of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. Happy Holidays!

The GMR Staff


In the Literature and on the Web

Books for Christmas?

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December 17, 2010
Tool Finds Trends in Google Books By Jane Seo, CRIMSON staff writer
Source:

A team of Harvard researchers has created a new tool that analyzes language patterns in published books to quantify cultural and historical trends from 1800 to 2000. The innovative research tool made its debut yesterday in an article titled “Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books,” which was published online in the journal Science and launched as a feature on Google. Dubbed “culturomics,” the tool enables the public to use the Google Books database as a “genome of culture,” according to Adrian Veres ’12, one of the article’s authors. “Fundamentally speaking, you can see what society is interested in by tracking the frequency of the word,” Veres said. “The more common the word, the more important it is.” Google’s launching of the online tool will allow users to type in a word or a phrase and see how their usage has changed over the past two centuries.

Google Books is a set of digitized texts that includes about 4 percent of all books ever printed. While more than 70 percent of the books are printed in English, the database also includes texts in French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Russian, and Hebrew. This publicly accessible database provides a “quantitative aspect to the social sciences and the humanities that has never been paralleled before,” said Veres, adding that he believes published books provide important historical insights, as they reveal traces of culture as perceived by people. “These books are a meaningful representation of what’s important at [a specific] time,” he said.

In addition to discussing how the tool was conceived, the article showcases the type of analysis it provides. For example, users can see how language and grammar have evolved, how lexicography and censorship have trended over time, and how individuals have garnered fame by elucidating the frequency
of their names in published works. Psychology Professor Steven Pinker, a co-author of the article, noted the academic significance of the tool, which will enable linguists to see how often and in what context certain words were used. “The tool revolutionizes the humanities by answering questions about the
influence of humans and ideas quantitatively,” said Pinker, who focused in the article on past tense and lexical ‘dark matter’—a term that describes infrequently used words that do not appear in standard dictionaries.

Led by two Harvard affiliates, Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman-Aiden, the team included researchers from Harvard, Google, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and the American Heritage Dictionary.

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Librarian's Annual List of "Top Quotes" Gets Lots of Attention

Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School, recently released his fifth annual list of the most notable quotations of the year. The original Yale Book of Quotations was published in 2006. Since then, Shapiro has released an annual list of the top 10 quotes. He said they will be incorporated into the next edition of the book. According to Shapiro, he picks quotes that are famous, important or revealing of the spirit of the times. The quotes aren't necessarily the most eloquent or admirable. This year there is a tie for first place.

1. (TIE) "I'm not a witch." - Christine O'Donnell, television advertisement, Oct. 4.

1. (TIE) "I'd like my life back." - Tony Hayward, comment to reporters, May 30.

3. "If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested." - Airline passenger John Tyner, remark to Transportation Security Administration worker at San Diego airport, Nov. 13.

4. "Don't retreat. Instead - reload!" - Palin, tweet, March 23.

5. "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le! Los mineros de Chile!" - Chant at Chilean mine rescue, Oct. 13.

6. "I hope that's not where we're going, but you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies. They're saying: My goodness, what can we do to turn this country around?" - Sharron Angle, radio interview in January.

7. "We have to pass the (health care) bill so you can find out what is in it." - Pelosi, speech to National Association of Counties, March 9.

8. "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach." - LeBron James, television broadcast, July 8.

9. "You're telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?" - Christine O'Donnell, Delaware senatorial debate, Oct. 19. (The Associated Press reported the quote: "So you're telling me that the separation of church and state, the phrase 'separation of church and state,' is in the First Amendment?")

10. "They should never have put me with that woman. ... She was just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to be Labor." - Gordon Brown, comments about a voter he met while campaigning ahead of the British general election, April 28.



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Let's not turn the page on picture books
By KAREN MACPHERSON Scripps Howard News Service
Source: http://www.cincyschoolzone.com/dpp/daycare/daycare_news/let%27s-not-turn-the-page-on-picture-books

For lovers of children's literature, the headline of a recent New York Times article came as a shock: "Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children."

In the article, author Julie Bosman noted that the picture book "has been fading," a victim of both the economic downturn (picture books are costly) and parental pressure to have kids reading chapter books at an earlier age.

But the article looked only at publishers and bookstores, leaving out the place where many parents and children connect with picture books -- the local public library. At the Takoma Park, Md., Library, where I work as a children's/teen librarian, picture books still account for one of our biggest circulation categories. Instead of paying up to $18 each for a picture book, parents are instead checking them out for free from the library.

Yet Bosman did, unfortunately, get it right when it comes to the issue of parents urging their kids to read chapter books at earlier ages. As the children's librarian, I increasingly encounter parents who want their 3- and 4-year-olds to read chapter-book series like "The Magic Tree House" instead of picture books, even those picture books that have won the prestigious Caldecott Medal, given annually by the American Library Association for the best-illustrated children's book.

Is this necessarily a bad thing? No, but it's not necessarily the best thing for kids and reading, either. As a public librarian, I firmly believe that it's up to parents to determine what their children read. Yet parents themselves often need and welcome guidance as to the best reading choices.

That's definitely the case with picture books, which make a wonderfully rich reading experience for children long after they've made the jump to chapter books. Ask any reading expert, and they'll tell you that the vocabulary in many picture books is generally much more sophisticated than that in beginning readers, early chapter books or series books.

But the text, of course, comprises only one-half of a picture book. The illustrations also are an integral part of the book and must be "read" as well. For the youngest readers, the illustrations usually are what they focus on when they snuggle up with you for family story time. And this is a good thing, as focusing on the illustrations gives young readers lots of practice in visual literacy -- a key skill in our highly visual world.

In the best picture books, the text and illustrations are inseparable, each of them carrying a part of the story. Picture-book illustrations shouldn't just show what's written in the text, but instead add detail, depth and color that stretch the story.

For example, in this year's Caldecott Medal winner, "The Lion and the Mouse," illustrator Jerry Pinkney sets the classic Aesop fable in the Serengetti and gives the mouse a family. With these artistic decisions, Pinkey's illustrations give the traditional tale an entirely new spin, enriching our understanding of Aesop's story.

It's also important for parents to know that picture books come in all types. Some, like those of Laura Vaccaro Seeger and Denise Fleming, are aimed at the very young. These books feature simple texts and bright illustrations, making them just right for toddlers and preschoolers.

Other picture books are best for older children. For example, several of the books by author/illustrator Patricia Polacco, such as "Pink and Say" and "The Butterfly," not only have lengthy texts, but they also deal with death and other difficult issues that are better understood by older readers and even adults.

At our library, we try to help guide parents and children by placing "For Older Readers" stickers on books that are focused on difficult issues, have lots of text or are based on previous knowledge. For example, both "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" by Jon Scieszka and "The Three Pigs" by David Wiesner require young readers to know the original story and to have at least a rudimentary understanding of satire.

Overall, children thrive on a varied diet of reading choices, including picture books. Just ask your local librarian if you need help finding the right mix for your child's reading pleasure.


If you've got a hankering to know more about children's literature, or just to read some great stories, head on over to the amazing new daily blog by children's-book expert Anita Silvey at http://childrensbookalmanac.com/.

Silvey, who started the blog in late October, promises to write about a different children's book each day for an entire year. In addition to telling how famous children's books came out, or giving brief biographies of famous authors or illustrators, Silvey also notes other children's-literature-related events for particular days.

Silvey eventually plans to turn the blog into a book. Meanwhile, checking out her blog is a wonderful addition to the day of any fan of children's literature.

(Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library, can be reached at Kam.Macpherson@gmail.com

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Chickens in Libraries
A chicken walks into the library. It goes up to the circulation desk and says: "book, bok, bok, boook".

The librarian hands the chicken a book. It tucks it under his wing and runs out. A while later, the chicken runs back in, throws the first book into the return bin and goes back to the librarian saying: "book, bok, bok, bok, boook". Again the librarian gives it a book, and the chicken runs out. The librarian shakes her head.

Within a few minutes, the chicken is back, returns the book and starts all over again: "boook, book, bok bok boook". The librarian gives him yet a third book, but this time as the chicken is running out the door, she follows it.
The chicken runs down the street, through the park and down to the riverbank. There, sitting on a lily pad is a big, green frog. The chicken holds up the book and shows it to the frog, saying: "Book, bok, bok, boook". The frog blinks, and croaks: "read-it, read-it, read-it".

That's what you get for trying to please a frog.


CAHSLA Calendar

Feb/Mar ?? CAHSLA training session
Apr ?? CAHSLA business meeting and presentation by Lisa McCormick on
trip to visit Jewish Hospital's sister hospital in Netanya, Israel
Jun ?? CAHSLA end of the year picnic
May 13-18 MLA annual meeting, Minneapolis, MN
Jun 12-15 SLA annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA
Oct 8-11 Midwest Chapter/MLA annual conference, Indianapolis, IN

9/21/2010

September 2010, No. 113

President’s Page

It seems that once again I find myself in a CAHSLA role that I’ve come to in a rather unorthodox fashion. A few years ago, we were unable to find someone to run for Vice President/President Elect. After some creative brainstorming, several of our members stepped up to the plate to take on the Program Committee duties of that office, and the following year, I stepped in as President. Then, you may recall, back in the summer of 2008 with the elimination of the Mercy libraries our organization was left without our President-Elect Carissa Thatcher, who lost her job. Again we were creative in maintaining our organizational structure, and I continued in the role of Program Chair in her absence. This year we have a somewhat similar situation since Meredith Orlowski gave birth to beautiful baby Marilyn and moved to Philly for her husband Bob’s residency. I’m happy to be back in this role, and I am struck by a couple of things: namely, that our organization has the flexibility to meet the challenges we face, and that our members want to see CAHSLA continue to be a vibrant organization.

Along those lines, during our recent transition meeting, the Executive Committee discussed ways to increase our membership. We’ve had several long-time members retire recently, and while many retired members continue to stay active in CAHSLA, it gives us an opportunity to reach out to others and invite them to join. I encourage you to personally invite your coworkers who may not be members. We plan to invite librarians from more local colleges that offer nursing and allied health programs and look forward to welcoming potential new members at the first meeting of our CAHSLA year, the Membership Meeting. Emily Kean and her committee have planned a wonderful kick-off meeting which includes a tour of the fabulous Findlay Market! See her article in this issue for more details on the meeting. The program committee also has plans to revive (at the very least the spirit of) COCLS - the Cincinnati Online Consortium for Life Sciences.

As I write this I am looking forward to a lovely fall-like evening in Cincinnati, though I hear we are not quite finished with summer weather just yet! Fall is my favorite time of the year -– I love those crisp cool evenings, fall color, and the fried-chicken-hayride-out-to-the-pumpkin-patch tradition that my family partakes in each year at Lobenstein’s Pumpkin Festival in St. Leon, Indiana! After the hectic end of the summer with kids going off to school and students returning to campus, it’s nice to settle down to a regular routine. I love evenings when I can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while curling up with a good book. Fall ushers in the season filled with lots of memories of warm hearths and family traditions. I hope this fall is a wonderful one for you, and I look forward to seeing you at the Membership Meeting on October 7th!

-- Regina Hartman


CAHSLA Executive Committee
Transition/Planning Meeting

Christ Hospital – James N. Gamble Library
September 3, 2010

Attendees: Brigid Almaguer, Regina Hartman, Emily Kean, Amy Koshoffer, Lisa McCormick

The meeting was called to order by Regina Hartman at 3PM.

Regina Hartman distributed the 2010/11 CAHSLA Executive Committee name and address list and had available a copy of the current Procedures Manual and Bylaws for anyone needing a copy. She will look into the revision schedule for both of these documents.

Minutes were reviewed from the End-of-Year Picnic held on June 14, 2010. There were no additions or corrections.

Emily Kean, Program Chair, discussed the goal of recruiting new members for CAHSLA. She recommends marketing the benefits of CAHSLA membership to nursing programs at four year colleges, community colleges, and for-profit nursing schools. Regina will contact former members about rejoining. Emily is also working on securing a venue for the fall membership meeting which will be held in late September or early October. Several places were mentioned; however they charge fees for the use of their facilities. Other ideas from the group included the William Howard Taft Home (last visited by CAHSLA in 1994); Spring Grove Cemetery; Harriet Beecher Stowe House on Gilbert Avenue, and the new Clifton library branch (if that planned relocation becomes a reality).

The Financial Report form Cathy Constance was distributed – current assets total $2797.62.

Lisa McCormick and Barbarie Hill will publish the Chronicle in September. Lisa announced the deadline for submission as September 16th.

There being no other business for the Executive Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 4:15PM.

Respectfully Submitted, Brigid Almaguer, Secretary


Notes from the Program Planning Committee

I’m joined on the Program Planning Committee this year by Carole Baker from St. Elizabeth and Stephanie Bricking from UC. We met over the summer to start planning CAHSLA’s programming year, and I hope you’ll be excited by what we have in store!

The annual membership meeting will take place this year at Findlay Market. According to their website, Findlay Market is “Ohio's oldest continuously operated public market” dating back to 1852, and I’m excited to learn more about the history of this vibrant Cincinnati landmark. We’ll end the tour and begin the meeting with hors d’oeuvres at one of Findlay’s newest additions – Skirtz & Johnston. As always, the membership meeting is a great opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with old friends and colleagues and introduce our organization to potential new members. Please spread the word about this meeting to anyone who may be interested. All are welcome!

I’m perhaps most excited this year to announce the return of COCLS. When I was first on the program planning committee several years ago, Val Purvis mentioned COCLS – “the organization that refused to die and instead went to lunch” – and with a tagline like that, how could I not be intrigued! Looking over Jane Thompson’s talk on CAHSLA history from 2004, a couple quotes about the objectives of COCLS stood out to me:

“to investigate innovations in and nuances of online systems” … “COCLS members are eager to maintain the educational and sharing aspects of the group” … “an agenda that focuses on technical aspects of our librarian lives”

The tentative plan is to schedule a monthly lunch or dinner COCLS meeting for months without CAHSLA meetings. The program committee is envisioning a very informal group setting where common ideas and concerns can be shared. Watch your e-mail for more information on this and future CAHSLA meetings!

-- Emily Kean
Please join Cincinnati Area Health Sciences Libraries Association for our annual membership meeting!


WHAT: Tour of Historic Findlay Market and hors d’oeuvres at Skirtz & Johnston

WHEN: Thursday, October 7th at 5:30 p.m.

We will be meeting by the Farmer’s Shed located by the large parking lot off of Findlay Street at 5:30 to begin our tour. Directions and parking information are attached.


Come learn about the exciting year CAHSLA has planned! Please forward this invitation to others who may be interested.

Please RSVP by September 30th to Emily Kean: Emily.Kean@TheChristHospital.com or 513-585-2778


Ohio Health Sciences Libraries Association

Pat Wagner will be in the Dayton, Ohio area October 18, 2010 presenting a 4 hour MLA CE course on “Everyday Leadership.” Pat Wagner has been a consultant and trainer to libraries since 1978 and more specifically a CE trainer for MLA classes for ten years. She is known for her good-humored and practical programs.

Please join the Ohio Health Sciences Library Association for this presentation, listed below is the information concerning the presentation and our fall meeting. http://www.ohslanet.org/events/registration.pdf We would love to have you join us! Cost for current members: $45 Cost for Non-Members: $60, registration deadline is October 12, 2010. A great deal for 4 hour MLA CEs and lunch! For more information, please contact Program Chair Stacy Gall at 614-566-9468 or sgall@ohiohealth.com

Ohio Health Sciences Library Association
Fall Meeting
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wright State University
Berry Room, Nutter Center
Dayton, Ohio

Agenda:

9:30 - 10:00am – Registration and Continental Breakfast
10:00am – Noon – “Everyday Leadership“ – Pat Wagner

Learn how to identify and improve your leadership skills, no matter what your current role is in your medical library or institution. Through a series of writing exercises and group discussions, you will discover how to better identify and overcome barriers to success with staff, colleagues, decision-makers, and your medical library’s users. Topics include the differences among leadership, management and professional points of view, the characteristics of everyday leadership, dealing with risk, understanding the big picture, creating and communicating vision, ethical influence, applying leadership in workplace situations, mistakes in leadership, and how to break through self-created glass walls and ceilings.

Noon - 1:00pm – Buffet Lunch and Business Meeting
1:00 – 3:00pm – “Everyday Leadership“
3:00 – 3:15pm – Wrap-Up and Evaluation

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2010

Additional Information:
Cost for Current Members: $45
Cost for Non-Members: $60
4.0 MLA CE credits

Directions, Parking, and Hotel Information: http://www.ohslanet.org/events/directions.html

For more information, contact Program Chair Stacy Gall at 614-566-9468 or sgall@ohiohealth.com.

Registration Form – OHSLA Fall 2010 Meeting:
http://www.ohslanet.org/events/registration.pdf


Southwest Ohio and Neighboring Libraries

As the summer starts to wind down, we thought it would be a good time to update you on happenings at SWON Libraries. There is some important information in the message. So please read it and pass it on to others in your organization. If you have any questions or suggestions, please reply. We love to hear from you!

I continue to serve as Interim Executive Director. In addition to regular activities, the staff has spent the past several weeks planning an office move. The lease on our current office ended and we found a much better deal just one mile from our current location. *As of August 27, our office will be located at 10901 Reed Hartman Highway, Suite 120, Blue Ash OH 45242. Please update your records.* Our phone numbers will remain the same, but our phones and website may be down around the 26th and 27th. We do not have a dedicated training space at our new office, but there is a seminar room and conference room directly across the
hall. So we will continue to hold some programs and meetings at our new space.

Vicky Sweeney, our Continuing Education Coordinator, has accepted a branch manager position at the Franklin-Springboro Public Library. Her last day as a full-time employee will be September 10. However, Vicky will continue to work one day per week for SWON Libraries. Her email address will continue to work, but most communications should be directed to Glen Horton. We wish Vicky the best of luck in her new position, but we are also happy that she will still be able to help with SWON Libraries events.

*At their August meeting, the Executive Board discussed the Executive Director and CE Coordinator vacancies. The group decided to begin the hiring process for an Executive Director with CE responsibilities.* A Search Committee has been formed and they plan to have the position posted by the end of August. We appreciate your patience over the next
few months while we work on restoring our staff.

Much is also happening with our other committees. The Strategic Planning Committee continues to work on a draft plan. A new Policy and Operations Committee has been formed and will hold their first meeting next week. Delivery service was suspended about a year ago, but a new Delivery Committee will soon evaluate and explore ways to restore the service. *These committees can still benefit from additional volunteers. So please reply if you are interested in serving.* You can find a list of all our committees at http://www.swonlibraries.org/groups

Finally, we want to make sure that you put our *Fall Membership Meeting on your calendar. SWON Libraries will hold its Fall Membership Meeting on November 12, 2010 at the Sharonville Convention Center. The venue is conveniently located north of Cincinnati just off Interstate 75. All library staff in the SWON Libraries region are welcome to attend. Contributing members are highly encouraged to send a representative to the meeting to find out the latest developments within the organization. Our speaker will be the new State Librarian of Ohio, Beverly Cain. You can register for the lunch and meeting or just for the meeting at
http://www.swonlibraries.org/viewevent?id=1987.

Again, we love to hear from you. So please contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions. Thank you!

Glen Horton, Interim Executive Director
SouthWest Ohio and Neighboring Libraries
http://www.swonlibraries.org/glen


Diagnosis: Reference Anxiety Disorder


State Farm Insurance Librarian Adam Bennington has a fun yet serious article in a recent issue of Searcher magazine titled A practical guide to coping with reference anxiety disorder. Bennington brings to light a little-discussed disorder: the secret shame of library and information professionals who can’t stop searching for “the” answer, named Reference Anxiety Disorder (RAD).


Many of us will reluctantly admit that we experience feelings of guilt, shame and doubt when we can’t find the answer. We know it is out there – it has to be! Bennington asks us to consider that since “studies have been published on the pressure produced when penguins poop,” that our client’s reasonable sounding question can’t be new. There must be an answer somewhere and you should be able to find it, “You are the information professional after all, the expert searcher, the experienced librarian, the ultimate information broker. People come to you because Google couldn't cut it." He poses the question: can there be something “inherent in librarians and information professionals that drive us to keep hunting”? He doesn’t unequivocally answer his question in this piece.


So what are the signs and symptoms of RAD? Bennington offers the following:

The Same Thing Over, and Over, and Over Again - Perhaps the most important sign that you need to stop is that you continue to find similar, but not completely relevant, resources, no matter what search terms or search strategy you deploy.

The Question Is Questionable - Maybe the information requested is merely "fun" or "nice to have."

The Client Wants to Stop – In the client’s mind he/she may have the answer, but you, the searcher, question that conclusion

The Funding and/or Time Runs Out.

The Wisdom of Crowds Says It's Time to Stop –“Sometimes, a clear indicator of when to say when is that you're all alone. You've bounced the question off your colleagues. You've consulted all the professional listservs to which you belong (and several that you don't). You've crowd-sourced the question via Twitter and LinkedIn. No one can suggest new terms, resources, or search strategies that you haven't already tried. Searching past this point makes you the information profession's equivalent of the alcoholic who hides a bottle of whiskey in the back of the toilet.”

The Answer Exists … Kinda … But It'll Cost Ya' – The dreaded result: a one-page article that mentions your potential answer and it can only be found in an obscure journal only available for big bucks.


Bennington offers the following questions to help you self-identify RAD. If you can answer "yes" to any of these symptoms, you might have RAD:

* I have feelings of guilt and sadness at not finding the "right" information.

* I get depressed or feel ashamed of myself as a librarian when I have to tell the client a search came up dry.

* I think that someone must have written a white paper on even the most obscure topics.

* I think my colleagues are laughing at me when I can't find anything. They always find everything they're looking for.

* I can stop searching any time. But only after checking one … more … source …

* I try to hide my searching habits because I know my coworkers/ boss/spouse/friends wouldn't approve.

* My colleagues have gone to happy hour, and I'm still searching.

* The client has said it's OK to stop searching … but I think he's wrong.


Cure? According to Bennington, there is no cure for Reference Anxiety Disorder; however, he advises that one “manage the feelings and symptoms.” Here’s the Rx for RAD – attend CAHSLA and COCLS meetings – the ‘co-pay’ is nominal, and you will have limitless ‘refills.’


Bennington, A. (2010). A practical guide to coping with reference anxiety disorder. Searcher, 18(3), 22-25


CAHSLA Colleagues


Travels

Lisa McCormick (The Jewish Hospital) is going to Israel with a group of health professionals from the hospital. Lisa has been part of the group at TJH working on establishing a sister hospital relationship with Sanz Medical Center-Laniado Hospital, Netanya, Israel. Laniado has a school of nursing, and Lisa will be meeting with the library staff at the school. There will be plenty of time to see the sights and savor the rich history of the country. Shalom!

Kudos

Kudos to Emily Kean of The Christ Hospital James N. Gamble Library for her participation in the NN/LM Outreach Evaluation Study and poster presentation on the topic at the Midwest Chapter/MLA Meeting in Madison, WI!

Retirees

OK--here is what I have been/am up to: 1. Got up on the bike when the weather turned nice, and cracked a bone in my thumb. This interrupted my spring gardening efforts. 2. Then we started water aerobics at the Y, saw a lot of people who are worse off then we are physically, but STILL MOVING, so they are inspirations to us. 3. Then I got into the church library business, have bought lots of books, had a lot of fun, and convinced the clergy that we don't need to be supervised re buying, and have got a number of parishioners coming back to see what is happening. 4. Engaged in another bout of vigorous gardening, involving honeysuckle and trumpet vines, and sprained my wrist pretty badly. 5. Concurrently got involved with helping a good friend of ours move out of his apartment (having been there about 25 years.) and adjust to the new environment.

One of the things I have learned about retirement is that it gives you time to hurt yourself in a variety of ways. But we are having a really good time, although I miss seeing old friends, and some of the intellectual stimulation of working--did I really say that? Having control of my time is one of the best things. And when the traffic report comes on in the morning, I just smile. . . . Jane Thompson


I am back at the two schools where I volunteer; one morning in each, each week. Usually I am in the library and really enjoy the kids. I do much of the minor shelving, overdues, etc while the librarian reads or conducts a library-use lesson. Then I help one-on-one, locating books using the computer and re-enforcing book location according to the lesson the librarian has given. Sometimes I do one-on-one or small group tutoring - usually when the child/children have missed school.

My other library "work" is with the Friends of the local public library. We have a book sale, using donated books, and paying for additional programs at our branch. We have a very diverse international population and try to choose programs which appeal to their interests and help them learn about the marvelous American public libraries.

We still love to travel and in May visited Iceland for two days, then a tour in Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, finally a week in Paris at a B n' B on the Left Bank.

I enjoy the Chronicle on line. -- Dorothy Gilroy


Between spending time with grandchildren, yoga classes, and water aerobics, I have managed to commit myself to putting together the Charlottesville Friends Meeting newsletter as well as the Chronicle, singing in the Charlottesville Women's Choir, singing with a group of shape note singers, and participating in two book clubs. I love having the time and energy to pursue my special interests, but there are just too many of them. I've managed to do some sewing and crafts but not nearly as much as I had anticipated. Our new, smaller house is great for us, but it still needs to be cleaned, and the outside needs a lot more landscaping work than I had in mind, so I have no trouble at all filling my time. I haven't gotten into any library work here in Virginia yet, but I'm intrigued by a local program called Books Behind Bars that manages a kind of lending library by mail for prisoners. -- Barbarie Hill


In the Literature and On the 'Net

A Slice of Research Life: Information Support for Research in the United States by Susan Kroll and Rick Forsman, for OCLC Research

Conclusions:
1. Researchers Value Ease of Use and Increased Efficiency.
2. Electronic Journals Continue to Reshape the Information Landscape and the Research Process.
3. No One Has Control Over Nor Plans for Managing the Storage, Maintenance, and Retrieval of Documents and Data Sets Over Time.
4. Scholarship Rests on the Foundation of Personal Relationships.
5. Libraries Must Articulate and Create Their Own Future.

http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2010/2010-15.pdf

The Librarian’s Book of Lists by George M. Eberhart, Senior Editor at American Libraries, was released in paperback in May 2010 (list price $22). According to Eberhart “At some point in my life, I realized that making lists belongs on my list of top 10 favorite things to do and that’s how I came up with the idea for The Librarian’s Book of Lists.” The book is a collection of “humorous, serious, and sometimes bizarre” lists that Eberhart hopes will be “at least tangentially useful and informative, especially for librarians and book-lovers.” The following examples are provided to merely whet your appetite for further reading.


10 Book Curses – “May the sword of anathema slay / If anyone steals this book away.” —Found on the first folio of a fourteenth-century fragment of Die vier Bücher der Könige.


6 Birds that make Library-Related Sounds – The Yellow Headed Warbler (Teetistris

fernandinae), found only in Cuba, makes a noisy, rasping shhh-shhhshhh- shhhshhh.


10 Commandments for Borrowers of Books – Thou shalt not cut the leaves of a book with a butter-knife, nor decorate the margins with jam in imitation of the old illuminated manuscripts.


5 Movies with the Worst Librarian Stereotypes - Chainsaw Sally (2004). Drab Porterville librarian Sally Diamon (played by April Monique Burril) turns into an insane, cannibalistic, chainsaw-slinging, Goth vigilante at night, dealing death to those who threaten her or her cross-dressing brother. She offs one male patron in the library men’s room for being noisy, and brutally executes Tina in the woods for not returning the overdue Atkins for Life diet book.


10 Suggestion for a Library-Related Ben and Jerry’s Flavor – “Book By Its Cover” looks like plain vanilla, but it is actually vanilla with white chocolate swirls mixed in.


JAAPA the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, has a regular online-only column edited by health sciences librarians Susan Klawanasky, MLS, AHIP. The column, Ask a Librarian! offers practical suggestions to accessing the literature on specific topics, reviews changes to some common databases, gives tips for getting published, and more. To read Ask a Librarian! you must register on the JAAPA website http://www.jaapa.com/


From the New York Times, The ethicist, August 27, 2010
Library Volunteers by Randy Cohen

[Question] Community members have responded to our town's tight budget by volunteering at the library, so much so that the library laid off several long-term full-time employees, people who are our friends and neighbors. Having fewer municipal employees means a slight reduction in property taxes for everyone, but it harms those left jobless. Should town residents consider that before volunteering?

[Answer] Consider it? Certainly. I'm pro-thought. But not even those unfortunate and unintended consequences you cite should automatically forestall volunteers.

Many library jobs require trained professionals, work no mere civilian can do. But for those tasks an amateur can handle, go to it. There is no shortage of work to be done by skilled municipal employees: children to be educated, accident victims to be treated, stadiums to be erected that will ultimately bankrupt the town. (Maybe not this last.) All your community needs are the will and the funds to undertake such things. My optimistic view is that the money that library volunteers save will be applied to the infinite number of things to be done only by trained professionals or those workers who perform difficult or unpleasant jobs nobody will do without pay. And not just at the library. Ideally, volunteers are not eliminating a job but transferring it. The money saved by a volunteer who shelves books can pay a sanitation worker to help keep you and your neighbors healthy. I suspect that few of your fellow citizens are volunteering to work the garbage trucks, that demanding and essential task.

[Comment] There is a sad limitation to this analysis: a laid-off library employee is not apt to be hired to teach 11th-grade calculus. He or she will suffer; someone else will be hired. There are winners and losers here. And it would be unfortunate if this upsurge of civic virtue resulted in only a tiny reduction in some people's property taxes, an outcome that thwarts the noble motives of those volunteers: to promote civic betterment by reallocating limited resources.

Patricia Reynolds, MLIS
Director, Bishopric Medical Library
Sarasota Memorial Hospital
patti-reynolds@smh.com

From Focus on Patient Safety 13(2):5-7, 2010
http://www.npsf.org/paf/npsfp/fo/pdf/Focusvol-13-2-2010.pdf
Collaborating to Promote Learning Focuses Organizations on National Patient Safety Goals by Christine Chastain-Warheit

"...Librarians have prepared "gold standard," evidence-based searches on each of the Joint Commission's NSPGs for hospitals... From search results, clinical content specialists select foundational articles as well as the most significant current articles. A core group of librarians and patient safety education specialists meets monthly to develop and implement the process."
From Medlib-l
Subject: Something on the light side: Librarians Rock. Well, Anyway, They Disco.

forwarded by a colleague in Australia, although it's an American video.
Longer and shorter versions available:

Check out this video, Libraries Will Survive, made by the staff at Rappahannock Regional Library in response to budget cuts. The full version http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/librarians-rock-well-anyway-they-disco/ begins with a send-up of a typical day in a library. The short version can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8QjjKrEK7Y

Amy L. Frey, MA AHIP
Manager, Health Sciences Library & Resource Center
Hospital for Special Care
New Britain, CT
Editor, National Network (HLS/MLA)
Chair, Publications Committee (HLS/MLA)
amyfrey@hfsc.org
When you’re sick, ask for … a librarian by Stever Robbins
July 27th, 2010
http://www.steverrobbins.com/blog/2010/07/when-youre-sick-ask-for-a-librarian/

I got a mention in the mahslin blog today: http://mahslin.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/the-wind-in-our-sails/ I was a speaker at their annual meeting. They’re medical librarians and they are currently feeling under siege from cost-cutting measures. “Why should we bother having librarians when we have the internet?” is the corporate logic. It’s logic I would have pursued, too, before meeting them in person.

Librarians are information scientists. While doctors may do a little to keep up with current research, they’re primarily educated by pharma companies with a vested interest in presenting research and information that encourages doctors to prescribe drugs. While their intentions are no doubt good, there’s so much research about how unconscious bias controls our behavior that I just don’t believe the pharma reps are presenting unbiased health information to the doctors.

The librarians, however, are trained to seek out the latest information and understand the quality of that information. While doctors are busy seeing patients, librarians are busy learning the latest. In-hospital librarians then serve as a resource to medical teams to make sure they are aware of the latest and best information about treatments and research right when they need it.

Next time you’re in need of emergency medical care, make sure you have a competent, skillful doctor, nurse, EMT, or nurse practitioner helping you out. And so they can do their job better, ask for your medical librarian to lend their expertise.
Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries by Linda Holmes
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/07/20/128651136/why-the-next-big-pop-culture-wave-after-cupcakes-might-be-libraries

"...Libraries get in fights. Everybody likes a scrapper, and between the funding battles they're often found fighting and the body-checking involved in their periodic struggles over sharing information, there's a certain ... pleasantly plucky quality to the current perception of libraries and librarians...

Librarians know stuff. You know how the words "geek" and "nerd" have gone from actual insults to words used to lovingly describe enthusiasts? Well, if we haven't gotten past venerating people who don't know anything, we've certainly reduced, I'd argue, the degree to which we stigmatize people for knowing a lot. This alone might not make libraries cool, but it takes away from the sense that they're actively not cool...

Libraries are green and local... You can pretty easily position a library as environmentally friendly (your accumulation of books and magazines you are not reading is fewer trees for the rest of us, you know), not to mention economical (obvious) and part of your local culture.

Libraries will give you things for free...

There seems to be a preposterous level of goodwill..."


CAHSLA Calendar

Oct. 7 CAHSLA fall membership meeting. Findlay Market. 5:30 p.m. See details above.

Oct. 18 OHSLA fall meeting and MLA course, Everyday Leadership. Wright State University, Dayton, OH. See details above.

Nov. 12 SWON fall membership meeting. Sharonville Convention Center. See details above.