ConnectMidwest

Time does indeed fly! Hard to believe that your intrepid blog editor has been working here at the Kent State University Library for nine months already. So far, it has been one learning experience after another. I had no idea how much I didn't know!

This morning, seeking a change of scenery from my luxuriously appointed office cubicle, I trekked upstairs to the 2nd floor periodicals section. I spent some very fruitful time there scanning the library literature the old-fashioned way, in print. One of my finds today was Mitch Fontenot's article in the Fall 2008 issue of Reference & User Services Quarterly (amusing title: The Ambidextrous Librarian, or "You Can Teach a Middle-Aged Dog Some New Tricks") on mid-life career changes for librarians. He too made the leap to academic librarianship after more than several years as a specialized librarian. I found his frank discussion of the challenge of publishing research encouraging. I went right up to the 4th floor, grabbed our copy of the recommended The Librarian's Guide to Writing for Publication, and checked it out.

I'm not sure how this happened but somehow I never managed to take a "research methods" class when I attended library school way back in the dark ages. So sitting on my desk is a copy of Practical Research Methods for Librarians and Information Professionals which I borrowed a few weeks ago from another OhioLINK library. Late this summer, I am hoping to begin a study as part of the NAHRS Mapping the Literature of Allied Health project.

As an instruction librarian, I spend a lot of time showing other people how to search for information. Online searching is something that I also did not really study in library school. Your intrepid blog editor earned her M.L.S. a full two years before Tim Berners-Lee even proposed the World Wide Web. Of course, I have taken numerous formal training courses in searching specific databases. But I have learned the techniques of searching mainly by doing. So I found the section on search styles and tactics in Andrew Booth's article "Using Evidence in Practice" in the December 2008 issue of Health Information and Libraries Journal very illuminating. I generally teach "building block" searching to my students but in my own searching, I am more of a "berry picker" or even a "pearl grower."

That's what I'm reading today. What are YOU reading today? Comment below!

First, a confession. Your intrepid blog editor doesn't even know how to send a text message. I use my cell phone as a cell phone only. It doesn't even have a camera. Imagine that!

But I did enjoy following the MLA '09 Twitter feed last week. Wednesday morning's exchanges were particularly informative (to someone thousands of miles away) and lively.

So I was pretty interested this morning when I snagged this post "Paper Highlights Pros and Cons of Twittering at Academic Conferences" from The Wired Campus blog in my feed reader. I clicked through to this draft copy of the paper "How People are using Twitter during Conferences" available online to get the details.

The multi-national group of researchers asked the question “Can Twitter (or any other microblogging tool) help to improve interactions among learners, and enhance their learning experiences?” They surveyed 41 conference attendees of five particular conferences. They found that Twitter exchanges are useful for more than just following conference events and exchanging information. They facilitate communication about emerging issues and provide a forum for parallel "backchannel" discussions. The respondents noted that tweeting (gotta love that verb) enhances networking and community. So, yes, Twitter can add value to conferences.

Whaddya think? Should we try this at this year's Midwest Chapter conference?

So this afternoon, I caught what seem to be the last of the Official MLA 2009 Blog entries posted live from the conference. The tweets of the Leiter Lecture are still coming though.

Rachel Walden posted this Wordle word cloud of the MLA blog earlier today. So your intrepid blog editor just knew she had to make a word cloud of this blog. This is fun!

I'm keeping an eye on MLA '09 using the various social networkings. The Official MLA Blog is working pretty well. [Just one little coding glitch yesterday that probably only I recognized since I made the very same goof once with the chapter conference blog. Allan B. came to the rescue that time.] Some of the Official MLA Bloggers have been staying up late or getting up early to share their experiences with the rest of us poor folks stuck back here on the continent. And thank you for that! It is kind of a mixed bag of fun stuff and session reports. Love the food photos the best! This all makes me really want to go to MLA next year. I've already requested on interlibrary loan a copy of A Whole New Mind which has been chosen for discussion at next year's meeting in Washington, D.C.

I monitored the "Top Technical Trends III: Technology Fusion" panel using Eric Schnell's Cover It Live feed yesterday afternoon. The tweets really could only give the flavor of the discussion with little detail which is a bit disappointing. But I did catch the videos as they were posted. The time difference is a bit of an issue for those of us in EDT. The session was only about halfway through when it was time to leave work. But this morning when I brought up the feed page again, the entire session was there for me to replay. I am actually just keeping that feed "open" to keep track of today's conference tweets as everyone gets started with the day. As I am typing this, the tweeters are doing an excellent job reporting the Social Networking Task Force Open Forum with lots of interesting crosstalk between them.

Another great way I'm keeping an eye on the conference is with Facebook. Most of my Facebook friends are librarians and many are posting updates and, even better, photos to their profiles. Fun!

Keep up the great work social networkers!

It's time for those of you who are attending MLA '09 to be packing your bags and making final preparations to get on that plane and go to Hawaii. Be sure to take one last look at the MLA '09 wiki for everything you need to know. And once again, your intrepid blog editor will only be attending MLA vicariously. If you are attending MLA, please enjoy a fancy drink complete with an umbrella or other decorative item for me!

This year the Official MLA Bloggers (profiled here) have it all together on the Official MLA 2009 Blog. (You might recall that in order to follow all the bloggers last year, David Rothman set up a feed to gather them all together.) You can check the MLA Blogger Calendar to see which events your favorite blogger will be covering. Additionally this year, there are the MLA '09 Twitter account and Flickr group. All of these already have posted content, so we are off to a great start!

Fellow Buckeye and Technology Trends Panel virtual presenter Eric Schnell has set up a CoverItLive site for the Monday panel. You can sign up for a reminder there on the blog entry. I've done this already and have a note on my Outlook calendar as well. (I hope I got the time difference right.) I'm really curious how this will work.

Attention Midwest Chapter Members attending MLA: please also consider sharing YOUR insights, experiences, and photos here on ConnectMidwest. You can even write up your experience after you get home. Contact me and I'll show you how!

Have a safe trip everyone! I'll be with you in spirit. Next year, Barbara, supervisor of my supervisor, and I will be joining you all in Washington, DC.

Well, it is not quite Flat Stanley, but the Midwest Chapter membership display has really been getting around this spring!

The display debuted at our 2008 conference at Michigan. It is currently featured on the always informative Midwest Chapter website.

In February, the display traveled to Illinois and was displayed by Beth Carlin at the 12th Annual Career Day sponsored by the Dominican University GSLIS Alumni Council.

In March, your intrepid blog editor exhibited at the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science Career Night here at the Kent campus. We have exhibited at this event before and really enjoy it. This year we had quite a lot of interest in the scholarships that are available for the 2009 Midwest Chapter/MLA Conference which will be held here in Ohio in October.

After the Kent event, I packed up the display and gave it to Career Night organizer Rhonda Filipan. She graciously took it with her down to Columbus and Stephanie Schulte exhibited for the Midwest Chapter at the Columbus version of the event.

The next stop for the membership display was at the Ohio Health Sciences Library Association Spring Meeting at the Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library in Columbus where Midwest Chapter Representative at Large Ximena Chrisagis set up the exhibit.

Stephanie Schulte took the membership display to Indiana for it's final spring show at the ISHLA 2009 Meeting at Notre Dame in mid-April.

The display is now back "at home" with Membership Secretary Rebecca Caton. But it longs to be back on the road again!

The display promotes membership in the Midwest Chapter/MLA and careers in health sciences librarianship. Midwest Chapter members are encouraged to display the poster at any event in which they participate, including local career fairs, library school events, and state or local library association meetings. The display is lightweight, comes in a compact carrying case, and easily rolls out to full width for display on a tabletop. Pretty nifty!

To reserve the display for a particular event or for more information, contact Midwest Chapter/MLA Membership Secretary Rebecca Caton.

Where are YOU going to be October 3-6, 2009? Well, I know where I'll be! Your intrepid blog editor is going to be in Columbus, Ohio at the 2009 Midwest Chapter/MLA Conference. We'd love for you to join us here in the Buckeye State in October. Conference Co-chair Bette Sydelko took Max Anderson's podcast course at the OHSLA meeting earlier this month and recorded this invitation to the conference just for you:

After a great lunch at Due Amici, we walked back over to the Statehouse for a tour and even more meeting.

On Sunday evening October 4, we'll be hosting a fabulous dinner reception at the Statehouse for conference attendees. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

The spring issue of our chapter newsletter MIDLINE will be published online in just a couple of weeks. And as always it will include a complete report of business conducted at the spring meeting of the Executive Board from our chapter Recording Secretary Elizabeth Smigielski. Your intrepid blog editor wasn't able to make it to Chicago, but her intrepid Communications Chair Karen Anderson did. Here are some highlights she shared that I thought you might want to know about before the full report is published:

• Work is beginning on a “members only” section of the chapter website.(Membership Secretary Rebecca Caton sent the password to current members via e-mail after the meeting.) This is just one of the many benefits of membership! If you haven't had a chance to renew your membership for 2009, use the form here.


• Work is continuing on the chapter archives. President Deborah Lauseng and Special Archives Committee Chair Mary Hitchcock visited the archives the day before board meeting. The board approved hiring a library school student to work on the processing of the backlog of materials.


• Great progress is being made on the chapter Policy and Procedure Manual being developed on PBwiki. Your intrepid blog editor needs to get cracking on her section!


• We are testing a new model for financing the annual conference. For the 2009 conference in Ohio finances are being managed completely using the chapter treasury rather than the treasury of the hosting group.


• The chapter is pursuing use of Acteva for online membership renewal for next year. Acteva will be used to manage registration for the 2009 chapter conference.


• A special committee will be formed to consider alternative means of conducting chapter meetings, including committee work. Webmaster Allan Barclay tested the use of Dimdim web conferencing software during the board meeting.


• The fall executive board meeting will be held during the 2009 conference in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, October 2 from 4:00-9:00 p.m. Members invited!


• Chapter committees will have also have the opportunity to meet in person during the 2009 conference on Saturday, October 3 from 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Earlier this week President Elect Elaine Skopelja sent an announcement on the "chapter members" discussion list on behalf of the Midwest Chapter Awards and Scholarships Committee to let us know that the deadline for applying for the 2009 Free Lunch Award has been extended to next Monday, April 13.

So, dear chapter members, if you are going to MLA '09, apply for this award! You will be able for free to attend the so popular and useful Sharing Roundtables lunch sponsored by Chapter Council. Previous winners of this award found the experience rewarding. You can apply for this award whether or not you have already registered for the lunch. Just make sure that you are registered before the meeting. Tickets are $38 and must be pre-paid by the applicant. The two winners will be reimbursed $38 each after the meeting.

All you need to do is write a paragraph or two describing “Why I Deserve a Free Lunch.” Creativity and conciseness are encouraged! Entries are judged on humor, pathos, and/or neediness.

For complete Free Lunch Award application information, click here!

Will you be attending MLA '09 in Honolulu? Unfortunately, your intrepid blog editor will not be winging her way across the Pacific to the island paradise of Oahu in May. So once again, I will be relying on our MLA bloggers to keep me informed.

Last week, my neighbor to the north, The Krafty Librarian, sent me a comment here to ask me to pass along to Midwest Chapter members this year's call for MLA bloggers. She'll be there and has already been posting about the conference including this recent post on cheap travel deals to Hawaii and an informative post about the call for bloggers with all the details. She notes that it is important to get as many people blogging as possible so that they can cover as many aspects of the convention. And did you know that you can even get AHIP points for blogging the convention? The blogger application deadline is April 24, 2009. Results will be announced May 1, 2009.

So you say, "I can't blog MLA because I don't even have a blog." Well, if you are a Midwest Chapter member, please consider blogging MLA for ConnectMidwest! If you are interested, contact me and I'll get you all set up! If you take your camera along, we can even post your photos.