MLA President Mary Ryan will be presenting the MLA Update on Sunday, October 19 at the Midwest MLA/MHSLA Conference. Your intrepid blog editor interviewed her via e-mail this week:
CM: Welcome! Thank you for visiting us here at ConnectMidwest!
MLA Pres: Thanks. I’m happy to be here.
CM: You are nearly to the halfway mark of your presidential year. What have you found to be the most pressing issues facing medical librarians right now?
MLA Pres: Survival of health sciences libraries is a critical issue right now. Because of increasingly difficult economic times, and because so much information is available on the Internet, some administrators think that libraries can be eliminated. Evidence of this is the closing of some hospital libraries and the EPA libraries. Flat or reduced budgets have affected our ability to provide the services and information resources our users need, and reduced staff development dollars have made it more difficult for us to get the continuing education we need to perform our jobs well. Another development which makes the survival of libraries an issue is the major changes that are taking place in scholarly publishing as authors begin sharing information in ways other than the traditional publishing models.
Another major issue is the recruitment and retention of health information professionals. Half of MLA members are over 50, and many baby boomer librarians have started retiring, leaving many vacancies to be filled in the near future. We must find ways to recruit new members to the profession to fill these vacancies, and we must find better ways to retain the talented librarians that we already have working in our libraries.
Finding good ways to utilize current and new technologies to provide better service for our users is another challenge. It is difficult to keep up with all of the changes taking place in technology and to identify effective ways to use those technologies.
CM: You have chosen “iFusions” as the theme for your presidential priorities. How is this concept guiding your activities as MLA president?
MLA Pres: "IFusions: Partnerships for Addressing Information Issues" is my theme. The i in iFusions can stand for the individual members of MLA, for the interrelationships that members form with each other to meet the goals of the association and our profession, and the interrelationships that MLA forms with other associations in order to meet our goals. I’ve focused on encouraging all members of MLA to become more involved in the association (all new members of MLA who volunteered for committee appointments were offered appointments, we’ve established a blog to improve communication between MLA leaders and members, we’re working on providing more opportunities for members who cannot attend the annual meeting to participate in some sessions electronically, etc.). We’ve also worked on expanding our activities with other associations in order to benefit from “strength in numbers”. I’ll give more details about these activities at the MLA Update.
CM: Last week, you made the first post to the new MLA Connections blog. Would you comment on the progress of initiatives to incorporate the use of current technologies by MLA and its members?
MLA Pres: MLA is currently evaluating association management systems and will implement one soon to better provide services to MLA members. Many chapters, sections, committees and task forces are now using blogs, wikis, twitter, etc. in their work. We’re working to expand the amount of the annual meeting which will be available electronically, and we’re increasing the number of CE opportunities available online. I think the establishment of the MLA Connections blog will improve communication between MLA leaders, headquarters staff, and members. And finally, the MLA Board is considering replacing one of the three face-to-face board meetings per year with a virtual board meeting.
CM: Could you share with us a little preview of the MLA Update that you will be sharing with us?
MLA Pres: I’ll talk about the progress we’ve made on priorities, such as conflict of interest issues (establishment of the MLA Ethics Task Force), the environment (greener meeting for 2009), more efficient and effective association operations (review of strategic plan, management software), advocacy for the profession and issues of importance to us (salary survey, legislative activities), emergency management/disaster preparedness (fall webcast, resources on MLANET), recruitment and retention activities (work/life balance webcast), etc. I’ll also discuss briefly the Health Information Literacy Research Project and other priorities carried over from previous years, and I’ll give some details of the preparations for the MLA ’09 meeting in Honolulu.
CM: The MLA president does a lot of traveling. Have you attended any other MLA chapter meetings yet?
MLA Pres: I attended the Mid Atlantic (MAC) chapter meeting last fall in Baltimore. I will attend the South Central Chapter meeting in Dallas next week before heading to Troy for the Midwest Chapter/MHSLA meeting.
CM: Where are you headed after the Midwest Chapter MLA/MHSLA Conference?
MLA Pres: I’ll go straight from Troy to the Upstate New York and Ontario (UNYOC) Chapter meeting in Ithaca NY, and then on to Hoover (Birmingham), Alabama for the Southern Chapter meeting.
CM: Do you have any conference advice to share with our readers?
MLA Pres: Since work/life balance is one of my priorities for this year, I would encourage all members to try to get enough rest and exercise during the meeting, and to try to eat a balanced diet (I have problems with all three of these when I’m at meetings). Also, take advantage of the many opportunities for informal sharing of information with colleagues. (I sometimes find that I learn something very important while standing in line in the restroom, talking to others at social events, etc.)
CM: Thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you in Troy!
MLA Pres: Thanks. I’m looking forward to attending the meeting and getting the opportunity to visit with the attendees.