North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries (NAHSL)

 

The mid-year report covers the period from the MLA Conference in May through December 2007, a period which straddles two years on the NAHSL calendar which runs from the end of the NAHSL Annual Conference held in October through the Annual Conference the following year.

 

The 2007 Annual Conference held in Woodstock Vermont October 28-30 and the Annual Meeting held on the last day of the Conference ended a year lead by Chapter Chair Janene Batten, in which many goals were accomplished. NAHSL 2008 (or the remainder of the MLA year) will include the celebration of NASHL’s 50th anniversary.  Planning is underway for celebrations, promotions and advocacy for medical librarianship throughout the year. The Electronic Communications Committee and a special Task Force on the 50th anniversary has revised and updated the historical content found on the NAHSL web site to give an overview of the past 50 years. To see the historical materials go to http://www.nahsl.org/enterhistory.htm.

 

Progress on MLA and NAHSL Strategic Goals

The NAHSL organization including members, officers and committees have been active in support of the strategic goals of the Medical Library Association and its own strategic goals.

 

1. Recruitment, Membership and Leadership in the Profession

NAHSL’s ongoing goal is to increase student membership, retain continuing members, and recruit new members.  NAHSL ended 2007 with a membership of 222 including 8 student members. This was an overall increase of 12 members. Twenty members were new to the organization. Since 2005, NAHSL has offered free membership to students and has promoted this policy to the library schools in the region. The NAHSL informational pamphlet was updated and distributed at the Simmons Library School career fair in September 2007. NAHSL will again donate 2 seats to support 2 new MLA members’ registration for the Roundtable Lunch at MLA ’08.
 
NAHSL promoted leadership in the profession through advocacy for the AHIP credential. NAHSL Credentialing Liaison Joan Yanicke continued to provide information and reminder or “noodge” services to those considering the AHIP credential. Joan hosted an Open Forum attended by 30 Conference registrants at the ’07 Annual Conference.

 

NAHSL 2008 Goal: Develop leadership among medical librarians in the region and insure continued leadership in the NAHSL organization. To accomplish this goal the chapter chair and committee chairs will recruit and appoint members to committees and involve them in NAHSL goals and organization. To date in 2008, nine members have been newly appointed to committees.

 

2. Life Long Learning

NAHSL’s goal is to promote life-learning among medical librarians in the New England region and ensure a high degree of

participation in professional development by members. NAHSL met this goal by sponsoring continuing education programs in

the region over the course of the year, by holding the Annual Conference, and by providing scholarship funding or reduced rates for

members to attend MLA and NAHSL conferences. The NAHSL Board through the Professional Development Committee, awarded

14 full MLA ’07 registration grants and 17 grants funding CE classes and conference registrations for the NAHSL ’07 Conference. 

To encourage participation in MLA web conferences, NAHSL offered financial support for a single site registration in each of the

New England states this year. Four states took up this offer for the November 2007 webcast on Scholarly Publishing. 

 

In June, NAHSL co-sponsored a CE program with MAHSLIN (Massachusetts Health Science Librarians). The program “Getting Magnetized: Search and Service Strategies for Nursing Excellence”, took place on June 29, 2007 in Boston, MA. It was approved for 6 MLA CE credits and 4 nursing credits. In total 58 people registered for this program; 16 were nurses and 42 were librarians.

 

The 2007 NAHSL Annual Conference, Building Bridges: Connecting Medical Libraries and Communities, took place in Woodstock,

Vermont, October 28-30, 2007 and was attended by 259 registrants. The Conference offered a wealth of professional development and

learning opportunities. Keynote speakers included John Abramson MD on medical research integrity, Roy Tennant MLS on the new

era in library information discovery, Helene Langevin MD on research in acupuncture, and Lori Alvord MD, on integrating Native

American medicine in modern therapy.  Exhibits and breakout sessions provided numerous opportunities for attendees.  Networking

and enjoyment of the beautiful New England village of Woodstock in late fall enhanced the Conference experience. 98% of registrants

rated the Conference as very good or excellent. 

 

The Education Committee held 6 CE courses at the Conference. The topics were evidence-based medicine, health statistics sources,

teaching skills for librarians, management skills, complementary & alternative health, and grant writing. All classes offered MLA

approved CE credits. The committee surveyed the membership regarding potential CE courses for the next year, and notified members

of the many ways to get MLA CE credits such as classroom-based instruction, discussion groups, satellite conferences, web courses,

independent reading and self-directed learning projects.

 

NAHSL Goal for 2008: Connect NAHSL to medical libraries and librarians throughout the region in all 6 states.  We plan to collaborate with the state health sciences library organizations and other library organizations to hold CE sessions in each of the states including the northern states. We will determine the possibility of having programs broadcast for all within the region to take part in if they cannot make the program location. NAHSL is co-sponsoring an educational session on Electronic Resource Licensing in cooperation with the ACRL New England Chapter that will be held in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts on March 3 and 4, with NAHSL offering a substantial reduction in registration cost for members. The2008 NAHSL Annual Conference will be held October 19-21, 2008 in Lowell, Massachusetts and it will include the NAHSL 50th anniversary as a highlight. 

 

3. Advocacy

NAHSL’s goal is to be an advocate for medical librarians and libraries throughout New England and to communicate our value within and outside of the profession.  Advocacy activities included the annual award, promotion of the MLA benchmarking survey and communication of MLA national legislative advocacy activities.

 

The NAHSL Achievement Award for 2007 was awarded to Claire LaForce MLS, Medical Librarian at Rutland Regional Medical Center in Rutland Vermont. Ms. La Force’s advocacy for rural community hospital libraries, particularly her successful effort in cooperation with the NNLM New England Region Hospital Committee to save the library and librarian position at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Bennington VT, was noted as a reason for the selection. Her dedication to community organizations supporting grandparents raising children was also praised. 

 

NAHSL supported the 2007 MLA benchmarking survey. NAHSL benchmarking liaison Shirley Gronholm with support of state representatives on the NAHSL Executive Board, heavily promoted this survey by email and on the NAHSL website. Regional participation has been comparatively high. There will be an incentive prize drawn from among the New England libraries that participated.

 

The Government Relations Chair, Barbara Ingrassia, kept NAHSL members apprised of  the issues and activities of the MLA legislation and advocacy committees, particularly in the areas of the NIH appropriation, public access to NIH-funded research, USA Patriot Act, and the publication of MLA’s revised “Copyright Law and the Health Sciences Librarian” document.

 

NAHSL Goal 2008:  Make present and future work of medical librarians in New England a focus of communication, advocacy, and marketing both inside and outside the organization. Activities will include 1) news releases and stories about members on our own website, library news outlets, and local media; 2) Promotion of NAHSL and 50th anniversary at all state chapter meetings and other venues; 3) advocate NAHSL and library values in state, regional, and national agencies and legislatures.

 

4. Creating and Communicating our Knowledge

Though NAHSL has not developed an ongoing goal in this area, it provides a framework in which librarians can develop and present their research and scholarship. NAHSL members were active in presenting their work at MLA ’07. The Marketing Committee compiled a list of NAHSL members that participated in a presented paper or poster at MLA. To view the impressive list of NAHSL presenters in 19 MLA events see the NAHSL web site http://www.nahsl.org/MemberParticipationMLA07.htm

The NAHSL Conference hosted a poster session on Medical Librarianship at the Annual Conference. Nine posters were presented by members. The three breakout sessions at the Annual Conference were presented by NAHSL members.

 

5. Building a Network of Partners

NAHSL works in partnership with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine New England Region and with the 5 state chapters in the region. The NN/LM NER continues to host the NAHSL website, the NAHSL-L discussion list, the NAHSL Executive Board discussion list and discussion lists for the conference planning committees.  The NN/LM NER also provides meeting space for the NAHSL Executive Board and other NAHSL committees. The 5 state organization representatives are full members of the NAHSL Executive Board per a change in bylaws voted on at the 2007 Annual Conference. 

 

NAHSL members and representatives of the state organization served on the NN/LM Regional Advisory Committees (RAC). The RAC Education and Training Working Group designed and submitted an educational needs assessment survey which was answered by 271 people from all 6 New England states. Though no new formal partnerships are sought, the cooperation with the New England ACRL chapter for an educational program could point the way to additional collaborations outside of the medical library community.

 

Summary:  The NAHSL Chapter and Board are committed to the continuation of its role in support of its membership, medical librarians and medical libraries in New England, and to cooperate and support the Medical Library Association.

 

Motion

 

This report is informational and requires no action by the Board of Directors.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Marianne Burke, Chair

 

Janene Batten, Past Chair

North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries, Inc., a chapter of the Medical Library Association.

 


Elected Officers 2007-2008

 

Committee Chairs

 

Appointed representatives and Liaisons

 

State Representatives: