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
We will be meeting by the Farmer’s Shed located by the large parking lot off of
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
Ohio Health Sciences Libraries AssociationPat 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.
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!
So what are the signs and symptoms of
• 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.
* 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
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. . . .
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
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
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
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.
From the New York Times, The ethicist, August 27, 2010Library 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-lSubject: 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 RobbinsJuly 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 Holmeshttp://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.
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