Minutes – 4/18/12 MLGSCA business meeting
Posted on | May 8, 2012 | 4 Comments
Update: it looks like IE users are having trouble downloading the minutes from WordPress, so I’m going to paste them into this post. Sorry for the hassle, IE users.
I just finished the minutes of our 4/18 business meeting (Word doc available here). If you attended the meeting, please take a look and let me know if you have any corrections. If you missed the meeting, please take a look to see what you missed.
Here they are:
Minutes
MLGSCA Business Meeting, Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 2:30-3:30 PM
In Attendance
Fortis College, Phoenix, AZ: April Aguiñaga, Rebecca Birr, Kathleen Carlson, Sue Espe, April Frost, Molly Harrington, Sheila Hofstetter, Monica Johnson, Nita Mailander, Cinda McClain, Amy Nadell, Bryan Nugent, Virginia Pannabecker, Deb Schneider, Susan Shelly, Nancy Showalter, Francine Tanori-Pote, Janene Wandersee, Kathy Zeblisky
Kaiser Permanente Medical Offices – Independence Park, Downey, CA: Judy Kraemer, Zoe Pettway Uno, Mary White
Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA: Laura Brown , Janet Crum
UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, Los Angeles, CA: Paul Camp, Alan Carr, Judy Consales, Kay Deeney, Adele Dobry, Lisa Federer, Darlene Parker Kelly, Stephen Kiyoi, Julie Kwan, DeDe Leshy, Irene Lovas, Rikke Ogawa, Sherrill Olson, Xiuling Qing, Kathy Russell, Lori Tagawa,
USC Norris Medical Library, Los Angeles, CA: Emily Brennan, Amy Chatfield, Pam Corley, Marcia Henry, Robert Johnson, Lisa Marks, Jessica Shultz, Eileen Wakiji.
Individuals (via MegaMeeting): Brooke Billman, Nancy Crossfield, Mary Riordan, Laura Stubblefield, Mary White
Documents Distributed for Meeting
Birr distributed the following documents via email to the MLGSCA list on 4/16/12:
- Minutes of the 9/30/11 business meeting
- Minutes of the 4/8/11 business meeting
- MLGSCA Location of Assets, 3rd Quarter FY11-12, March 21, 2012
- Suggested revisions to MLGSCA bylaws
- MLGSCA Treasurer’s Report, 2nd Quarter, October-December 2011
- Agenda for this meeting
Call to Order, Welcome & Introductions
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 2:34 PM by MLGSCA President Rebecca Birr. Many connection problems ensued; the meeting resumed at 2:45 PM.
Approval of Minutes, 4/8/11: Correction – under CE Program – paid registrants, 8 should be Burbank. Phoenix listed twice. Birr will send correction to Crum. Zeblisky moved to approve. Carlson seconded. None opposed. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes, 9/30/11: Ogawa moved to approve. Chatfield seconded. None opposed. Motion carried.
Announcements
No announcements.
President’s Update (Rebecca Birr)
Award Presentations
- Student Scholarship: Jessica Shultz awarded $1000. In MLIS program at SJSU and works part-time at a health sciences library. Birr and the group congratulated Jessica, and Emily Brennan presented the check.
- MLGSCA Louise Darling Achievement Award: Birr read nomination letter for this year’s winner [ask Becky to provide text of letter for minutes], Julie Kwan, UCLA. Alan Carr presented a plaque, check, and bouquet of flowers to Kwan.
Symposium
MLGSCA symposium, Information Treasure Hunt: Supporting Evidence-Based Practice at Your Institution was held on March 2 with presenter Connie Schardt. Birr indicated MLGSCA’s gratitude for the RML’s sponsorship of the event and thanked the program planning committee, chaired by Lisa Marks. Marks said that 54 people attended, and the evaluations were very positive.
Joint Meeting 2013
The 2013 Joint Meeting is tentatively set for the University of California – San Diego for the end of July. Chairs for the Joint Meeting are Robert Johnson, Danielle Linden, and Nita Mailander. Birr asked anyone who is interested in volunteering for one of the planning committees to contact the chairs. Announcements will be coming soon on the MLGSCA blog and listserv.
Quad Meeting 2014
We were approached by South Central and Midcontinental chapters to do a joint meeting with them. We invited NCNMLG to join the conversation. Both advisory councils (MLGSCA and NCNMLG) think this quad meeting would be a great opportunity. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for October 2014 in Denver. More details to come. Birr asked anyone interested in volunteering to help with the meeting to contact her.
Officer, Committee & Other Reports
Treasurer (Elisa Cortez)
Birr reported that the Treasurer’s Report was distributed on the listserv. No questions were asked.
MLA Chapter Council Rep (Andrea Lynch)
No report.
Awards (Laura Stubblefield)
Stubblefield congratulated the MLGSCA awardees and reported that nominations are due July 1 for the the MLGSCA Outstanding Health Sciences Library Paraprofessional Award. She thanked her committee members, Dede Leshy, Steve Clancy, Carol Attwood, Lisa Marks, Yamila El-Khayat, Russell Smith, and Billie White, for their great work this year.
Blog (Amy Chatfield)
No report
CE/Program (Emily Brennan)
Brennan reported that there were 40 total registrants for the MLA Webcast: 33 MLGSCA members, 5 non-members, and 2 students.
Connections (Andrea Harrow)
No report.
Electronic Information Resources (EIRC) (Paul Bielman)
No report.
Finance (Ellen Aaronson & Deborah Klein)
No report.
Government Relations/By-Laws (Mary White)
White reported that AC did a significant review of the MLGSCA bylaws, and the revised version has been reviewed and approved by MLA. The main changes are: wording was updated, electronic voting added, and references to coupon manager program deleted. Also, the description of the Archivist role will be removed from the Bylaws and added to the Advisory Committee Manual, where it can be updated by the AC rather than the entire chapter. Emily Brennan moved to approve bylaws. Cinda McClain seconded. None opposed. Motion carried. Birr thanked White for her dedication to this project.
Membership (Janene Wandersee)
As of 4/6, we had 174 members. A few more registered since then.
Nominating (Eileen Wakiji)
Wakiji reported the results of the recent MLGSCA election: Mary White is president-elect. April Aguiñaga is secretary. Alan Carr is Chapter Council Representative. Kathleen Carlson is Chapter Council Alternate. Kay Deeney and Janet Crum will join the Nominating Committee. Judy Consales is the MLGSCA candidate for the MLA Nominating Committee. Birr congratulated the candidates.
Professional Issues (Lisa Marks)
Marks thanked Crum for mentoring a member relocating from the UK to Southern California. She thanked Wandersee for sending a list of people who are interested in mentoring or being mentored.
Public Relations (Robert Johnson)
Johnson reported that his co-volunteers left the group after the last meeting, so there has been no progress on finding out what other chapters do for PR. He hasn’t recruited any new vendors to advertise on the blog. Vendors are more interested in having one on one conversations with us, e.g. at conferences. Vendors have national and local budgets, so we wouldn’t be competing with MLA for vendors.
Research (Zoe Pettway Unno)
No report.
Web (Jin Wu/Andrea Lynch)
No report.
Archivist (Birr for Marsha Kmec)
Marsha has a UCLA student scanning materials for the archives.
NN/LM PSR Rep (Irene Lovas)
No report.
Internal Auditor (Alan Carr)
No report.
MLA Credentialing Committee Liaison – AHIP (Kathy Zeblisky)
Zeblisky reported that the Credentialing Committee is considering a motion to remove the requirement for AHIP candidates to be working in the health sciences, because some members, due to the economy, may not be working in the field currently. She will know more after MLA.
New Business
Birr thanked the site coordinators for hosting the MLA webcast.
Adjournment
Nita Mailander moved to adjourn, seconded by Molly Harrington. The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Crum
MLGSCA Secretary
Ten attributes of a health literate organization
Posted on | May 7, 2012 | 1 Comment
The IOM Roundtable on Health Literacy has recently published a report describing the ten attributes of a health literate organization, that is, “an organization that makes it easier for people to navigate, understand, and use information and services to take care of their health.”
Best Bytes: Medify.com
Posted on | May 7, 2012 | No Comments
Contributed by Catherine Madsen, MLIS graduate, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
Medify.com is a web app for consumers, currently in beta. It is designed to cull millions of medical research studies primarily from Medline and other professionally vetted sources, making them more easily accessible, thus empowering consumers with the medical information they need to know to help themselves and their families with their medical conditions. They accomplish this by extracting relevant data and compiling it in interactive graphs and tables, personalizable for each consumer based on that consumer’s own symptoms and issues. They go beyond simply aggregating research from by extracting and graphing key data such as number of patients studied against number of studies as well as patient outcomes, something WebMD, another consumer focused site providing medical information, does not do.
They use an algorithm to rank treatments based on how far a drug has gotten in clinical trials; how often that drug has been studied; how many people it was studied on; and how quickly the treatment is evolving. For example, when a consumer enters a condition such as kidney disease, they will see the top five treatments based on the above algorithm, represented by bubbles on an interactive graph. They can find more information on each treatment by clicking on the bubble. Medify will rate the treatment based on the data, such as “effective” or “hot” and then provides access to the abstract of the study the data is based on that says the treatment was effective in 65 out of 66 patients for example.
The advantage of Medify as opposed to Googling their condition or looking studies up themselves in PubMed, which consumers may not know how to do adequately without assistance, is that the team of professionals at Medify have done the work for the consumer by culling studies only from vetted sources and then organizing and highlighting key facts and findings, making the consumer’s search much more efficient as well as reliable. The consumer can also personalize their search by inputting their own symptoms in order to see the studies involving similar cases and patient results from each treatment used in those cases. The intent is to provide consumers with the information they need to bring to their doctors in order to have a productive conversation about which treatments are available and which are most effective according to the research for their particular condition.
In addition, consumers can save their search results in a binder on the site as well as share it with friends and family. This site also tracks new studies and informs the consumer when they are published, making it easier for consumers to keep up with the latest treatments for their condition. This social networking aspect adds value to the site not found on other sites that are simply databases of all the medical studies in the world such as Medline or Clinicaltrials.gov, which provide access to the studies, but do not organize them for the consumer, extract data personalized to the consumer’s issues, create tables or graphs or provide social networking opportunities to share findings.
Want more information on Medify.com? Check out these sites:
- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/clintrial.html
- http://alzheimersspeaks.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/4237/
- http://www.crunchbase.com/company/medify
- http://mashable.com/2011/08/25/medify/
- http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/07/01/medify-incubated-at-voyager-capital-raises-1-3m-to-reshape-health-it-for-consumers/
- http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/medify-beta-latest-medical-information-interactive-layman/
- http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20111996-250/medify-for-when-you-need-to-become-a-medicine-geek/
- http://www.medcitynews.com/2012/01/medify-ceo-ready-to-wage-war/
- https://www.medify.com/about/how-it-works
Congratulations to MLGSCA Award Winners
Posted on | April 23, 2012 | No Comments
MLGSCA held it spring business meeting on April 18th. Two awards were presented. As the business meeting was held virtually using MegaMeeting, awardees traveled to one of the MLGSCA-sponsored MLA webcast viewing sites to receive awards from MLGSCA members.
Julie Kwan (R) receives award from Alan Carr
2012 Louise Darling Achievement Award was presented to Julie Kwan. The Awards Committee shared a brief biography highlighting Julie’s many accomplishments: “During her tenure in the Regional Medical Library (NN/LM PSR) as Library Network Coordinator, Julie Kwan had an important leadership role in several efforts that greatly facilitated resource sharing in the Region: EFTS, FreeShare, and electronic resources licensing with SCELC. She had a prominent role in publicizing and implementing all of these programs, greatly benefiting many MLGSCA libraries. Since her appointment as NN/LM PSR Associate Director in 2010, Julie has played an essential role in the professional development of many MLGSCA members by contributing funding towards such activities as the “E-Science Day” at UC Davis and the “Information Treasure Hunt: Supporting Evidence-Based Practice @ Your Institution” symposia. Julie also served as the Chapter’s Credentialing Liaison in 2005-2007. Julie has also been very active in MLA, most recently serving on the MLA 2009 Local Arrangements Committee. Julie was also Secretary/Treasurer for MLA’s Medical Library Education Section in 2005-2007. Over the years, Julie has made numerous presentation and contributions at MLA Annual and Chapter meetings on various resource sharing topics. In addition, Julie has been the course coordinator for several recent health science librarianship courses in the UCLA Department of Information Studies, and has mentored many new professionals.”
Jessica Shultz (L) receives scholarship from Emily Brennan
The 2012 Student Scholarship was presented to Jessica Shultz who is attending San Jose State University’s MLIS program. In addition to studying, Jessica currently works at a health sciences library and hopes to continue in health sciences librarianship after graduating. Jessica provided her thanks to MLGSCA and further information on her research interests in a blog post earlier this month.
Please join MLGSCA in congratulating Julie and Jessica on their achievements!
Nominations for MLGSCA Outstanding Health Sciences Paraprofessional of the Year Award
Posted on | April 20, 2012 | No Comments
Consider submitting your high achieving library paraprofessional for the MLGSCA Outstanding Health Sciences Paraprofessional of the Year Award. Applicant, who is currently working in a health sciences library, is recognized for their critical role and important contributions to the development and evolution of modern health sciences libraries and librarianship. Deadline for submission is July 1st.
Nominations can be made by any MLGSCA member to the Awards Committee chair. The nominee need NOT be a member of MLGSCA. Information and the nomination form can be found on the MLGSCA web site (http://www.mlgsca.mlanet.org/awards.htm)
Upcoming Joint and Quad meetings for MLGSCA
Posted on | April 20, 2012 | No Comments
Contributed by Becky Birr, MLGSCA President, and Maricopa Integrated Health System, Phoenix, AZ
I wanted to take a moment and update you on the plans for the upcoming Joint Meetings. As you know, we have had a number of discussions in the last year about the future of Joint Meetings. Both MLGSCA and NCNMLG have struggled with the last few meetings related to costs. As a result, we are going to try some different ideas. Here are some specifics:
Joint Meeting 2013 (with NCNMLG)
Tentatively set at University of California San Diego in late July 2013. Chairs for the JM are Robert Johnson at USC, Danielle Linden at St. Joseph Health System in Orange, CA and Nita Mailander at Grant Canyon University in Phoenix. If you would are interested in volunteering for one of the committees, please let them know (find contact information in the MLGSCA Directory). They will be making announcements on the listserv and blog soon.
Quad Meeting October 2014
The South Central and Midcontinental Chapters approached MLGSCA about a joint meeting. We had NCNMLG join the conversations. There were many discussions about this idea with our Advisory Council, NCNMLG, South Central, and Midcontinental. We came to the conclusion that this would be a great opportunity for our chapters, an excellent way for us to learn from other chapters, and network with our colleagues. The Quad Meeting, as we are calling it, will be held in October 2014 in Denver. More details will follow. There will be representation from all chapters on the committees. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Becky Birr.
So, the next few years should look like this . . .
2012 MLA in Seattle, May 18-23
2013 MLA in Boston , May 3-8
2013 Joint Meeting in late July at University of California San Diego hosted by MLGSCA (tentative)
2014 MLA in Chicago, May 16-21
2014 Quad Chapter Meeting, October, Denver
2015 Maybe a day-long CE in March
2015 MLA in Austin, May 15-20
2016 Joint Meeting hosted by NCNMLG (February? Summer? Hotel? College?)
If you have any questions about this, please email Becky Birr. This should be an interesting few years!
NLM Scanned Its Millionth Page for the Medical Heritage Library Project
Posted on | April 14, 2012 | No Comments
Title page of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes' Valedictory Address to Medical Graduates of Harvard University, March 10, 1858
The title page of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes’ Valedictory Address to Medical Graduates of Harvard University on March 10, 1858, shown to the left, was the millionth page NLM scanned for the Medical Heritage Library Project.
According to NLM’s announcement, “the goal of the project, launched in January of 2010, is to digitize books and journals that document the evolution of American medicine from 17th century colonial medicine to 20th century research hospitals.” NLM is working cooperatively with New York Public Library, the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University, the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Library at Yale and the Countway Library at Harvard on this project by contributing Medicine in the Americas.
“Medicine in the Americas titles are selected from the NLM’s History of Medicine Division (HMD), including books and pamphlets from the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada. The collection currently features items from 1610 to 1865. Topics covered include anatomy, military medicine, medical education, medical jurisprudence, public health, psychiatry, and nursing among many others of interest to scholars and popular audiences alike. Future work will encompass titles published through 1920.”
You can see the fruits of NLM’s labors so far on their Digital Collections page.
For more about the Medical Heritage Library Project
MLGSCA Scholarship Winner Responds
Posted on | April 12, 2012 | 1 Comment
Jessica Shultz was chosen as the recipient of this year’s MLGSCA Scholarship. Jessica responded to the notification by saying, “I am so thankful to the Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona for choosing me as a scholarship recipient.
At this moment life seems like a whirlwind! I am planning my wedding, currently enrolled in an MLIS program at San Jose State University, work part time at a health-sciences university library, and on the committee for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in my community.
I am interested in using the terminology and experience gained through these opportunities to further a career in medical librarianship. Both my mother and grandmother chose nursing as their career fields. I account having grown up listening to their stories as one of the reasons I am passionate about researching and learning how to stay healthy and to what degree daily choices affect the body. Education and knowledge are pivotal in medicine and librarianship alike, which is why I am passionate about providing health care professionals with up-to-date information that could mean life or death for their patients. Being naturally interested in variety of health management issues gives me the drive and motivation to further my education and excel in my career goal as a medical library information professional. I am truly grateful for the support given to me by MLGSCA. Thank you!”
Thanks to the Awards Committee for managing the scholarship application and selection process this year.
MLGSCA Elections Results
Posted on | April 5, 2012 | No Comments
Contributed by Eileen Wakiji, MLGSCA Nominating Committee
The polls have closed for the 2012 MLGSCA Election!
The MLGSCA Nominating Committee would like to thank all the candidates and voting members for making the 2012 election a success. The results are:
Mary White, President-Elect
April Aguiñaga, Secretary
Alan Carr, MLA Chapter Council Representative
Kathleen Carlson, MLA Chapter Council Representative Alternate
Janet Crum, MLGSCA Nominating Committee
Kay Deeney, MLGSCA Nominating Committee
A formal presentation of the newly elected officers will be made at the April 18th Business Meeting.
Information Treasure Hunt: Supporting Evidence-Based Practice @ Your Institution
Posted on | March 23, 2012 | No Comments
Contributed by Alan Carr, Member Services & Exhibits Coordinator, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Southwest Region. Reposted from Latitudes, the newsletter of the NN/LM PSR.
This one-day symposium was held on March 2, 2012, at the newly renovated UCLA Library Conference Center, at the Charles E. Young Research Library. Funded by NN/LM PSR to enhance the role of librarians in supporting evidence-based medicine education and practice for health care practitioners, the symposium was organized by the Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona (MLGSCA), in cooperation with the Northern California and Nevada Medical Library Group (NCNMLG) and the Hawaii Pacific Chapter, Medical Library Association (HPCMLA). The symposium planning committee was chaired by Lisa Marks, Library Services Supervisor, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Burbank. Roughly sixty enthusiastic attendees came to hear featured speaker Connie Schardt’s presentation highlighting the key types of clinical study designs, along with their strengths and weaknesses. She also thoroughly explained the terminology used to describe the results of clinical trials, as well as the criteria for judging the validity of therapy studies and systematic reviews. Ms. Schardt, who holds the position of Associate Director for Public Services at the Medical Center Library at Duke University, is a nationally recognized expert in the field. Other invited speakers included Cheryl Bartel, former UCLA librarian and current nurse for the Lake Elsinore School District, and Robert Johnson, clinical services librarian at the USC Norris Medical Library.
The session began with an examination of the “evidence pyramid,” a hierarchy of study design methods, such as case reports, case control studies, cohort studies, and randomized controlled trials. Ms. Schardt reviewed the methodological rigor of each study design, and whether the timeline used to measure outcomes looked forward or backwards. This was followed by an interactive discussion highlighting tips for searching PubMed for particular study types using either MeSH or the “publication type” indicator. Ms. Schardt suggested ways to tailor search techniques in our own libraries to obtain the best clinical evidence, by customizing PubMed filters and utilizing clues in citations, such as the “JC” designation, indicating that the reference is from the ACP Journal Club, which summarizes the best new evidence for internal medicine from over 130 clinical journals. The discussion was followed by small group exercises, providing attendees the opportunity to review selected articles and critically appraise the effectiveness of the type of study design used to conduct the research. Ms. Schardt then covered statistical analysis in the context of searching for and evaluating systematic reviews, presenting criteria for appraising articles that attendees then used in small group discussions of selected articles. This technique was very effective in pushing symposium attendees to think critically about the types of research questions asked and whether or not the study methodology was appropriate.
The next part of the symposium featured Ms. Bartel and Mr. Johnson leading a discussion of using qualitative techniques in research design. This session emphasized the subjectivity of human nature and how qualitative theoretical frameworks necessitate constant evaluation of study results. We again used small groups as a way to discuss selected articles, to provide an analysis of the context of the study, the research design, the demographics of the study population and whether or not the study conclusions were valid. At the end of the day, the three presenters provided a joint summary of the practical applications of evidence-based practice. The information-packed day gave attendees many take-home points, including a better understanding of research projects and study designs, techniques for better filtering of search results, and the importance of a comprehensive reference interview so the research question can be effectively and readily analyzed.
To expand the scope and relevance of the event for attendees, the symposium also featured a Virtual Poster presentation, possibly the first time an MLA chapter has conducted such a session. Poster proposals were submitted in advance of the symposium to a selection committee of eleven people, who then selected eight posters, which were looped together in a PowerPoint display, and shown during breaks and over lunch. PDF versions of the posters are available for viewing and commentary with the authors on the MLGSCA Link newsletter.
Thanks are due to everyone involved in the planning and implementation of this program! It was an overwhelming success, and will hopefully lead to additional similar events, which will continue to benefit the NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region.
Two job postings at ASU
Posted on | March 21, 2012 | No Comments
There are two open positions at the Arizona State University for Health Sciences Librarians:
ASU Health Sciences Librarian- Coordinator
ASU Health Sciences Librarian- Assistant Rank
MLGSCA New Member: Monica Garcia
Posted on | March 20, 2012 | No Comments
Welcome to new MLGSCA member Monica Garcia! Monica is a Health and Life Sciences Librarian at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, and serves as the library liaison to the School of Public Health and School of Nursing. Monica received her MLIS and MA in Latin American Studies from UCLA in 2011. Prior to joining the Biomedical Library, she worked as a reference intern and student supervisor/stacks coordinator at the UCLA Hugh and Hazel Darling Law School Library. A Southern California native, Monica’s interest in librarianship was sparked by a high school job as a page and aid at the Thousand Oaks Public Library. She finds that health sciences librarianship is an excellent way to combine her interests in health services and information sciences. She has joined MLGSCA to meet other health sciences librarians and to take advantage of mentorship opportunities. In addition to providing instructional services, reference services, and building collections at UCLA, Monica is currently working on a project to revamp the UCLA Biomedical Library’s presence in social media. When she’s not working, you can find Monica out exploring Los Angeles neighborhoods or trying new foods. If you have suggestions for new places to explore, or want to hear about unique restaurants in your neighborhood, get in touch with Monica!
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