ConnectMidwest

ConnectMidwest is brought to you by the Communications Committee of the Midwest Chapter/MLA.

Already, your intrepid blog editor is thinking about how to blog the 2008 Midwest Chapter Annual Conference just up the way in Troy, Michigan. The conference wiki has a Blogging @ Midwest page where you can list yourself if you will be blogging from the conference. And tag your posts and photos Midwest08. One thing that I really enjoyed last year was sharing Flickr photos.

I've picked up these conference blogging tips since the Omaha meeting. And don't miss this tongue-in-cheek advice at A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette. Liveblogging doesn't really work for me. If I'm frantically blogging, I find that I'm not really able to "digest" the information. So I'm hoping that someone else might want to try at this year's conference. How about you?

That conference wiki looks interesting! It will be a great way to share all kinds of information. Looking for a roommate? Shared transportation? Want to know who will be attending which functions? How to get there? Where to EAT?

Want to keep up with all this information? Use your feed reader! Since the conference website main page is in blog format, you will be able to subscribe to find out the latest. There is even a feed for wiki updates! Already in my Bloglines feeds!

I've been quite busy over the past few weeks preparing the latest issue of MIDLINE for publication. Your intrepid chapter editor has been at this for a while now. This is my fifth year as editor. And how the production of MIDLINE has changed!

Under the guidance of my predecessor Cathy Perley, MIDLINE made the transition from a print publication to an electronic one with the Spring 2003 issue. The first issue under my editorial guidance was the Winter 2004 issue. Production was labor intensive. I sent a huge text file with the edited text of the issue along with the issue photographs and typesetting suggestions to the webmaster who then drafted the issue as a webpage. After a couple of cycles of review and editing, it was ready to be announced on the chapter website. Talk about an awkward process. Eventually, I tried my hand at drafting the issue myself using FrontPage. Somehow this managed to make it even more "interesting" for the webmaster. I know just enough html to be dangerous!

Moving the chapter's web presence to a commercial vendor gave us the opportunity to produce the newsletter more efficiently. Using Movable Type as the publication platform for MIDLINE puts all of the article entry and design in the hands of the newsletter editor with a smaller workload burden on the webmaster. The text editor in MT is easy to use even for the html clueless. It is simple to insert the photographs and links. Document files can even be included as part of a story. See this story as an example. The clickable table of contents and the archives are generated automatically. All of the content is keyword searchable. The RSS feed provides an additional means of delivering the newsletter to our readers. The comments and trackback features mean that the newsletter can become more participatory and conversational. But there is some awkwardness that comes with using blogging software for publishing a "static" publication. One must be very aware of the order of story entry, for example. The first issue produced with MT, November 2006, displays in upside down order in the archival view. Oops!

The chapter also has used Movable Type to produce conference blogs for the 2006 and 2007 chapter meetings. And ConnectMidwest is the latest of the chapter's efforts to foster information sharing and communication in the Midwest Chapter.

I have been asked many times if I think there is still a need for a quarterly publication of chapter news. And my answer is an emphatic "Yes!" Having the opportunity to blog about chapter events and subjects of interest is a great service to offer our members. But there is always going to be a place for a more formal and permanent report of chapter business and activities.

P.S. Remember: You can earn 1 point toward your AHIP membership by writing a feature article for MIDLINE!

Hope that all of you had an uneventful trip to Minneapolis! Did you know that Minneapolis is halfway between Los Angeles and New York City?

We invite you to JOIN IN THE FUN! Please consider becoming a ConnectMidwest contributor. Posting a story is so easy even I can do it! Contact our webmaster to get your very own username and password. Or you can just submit the copy to your intrepid blog editor and I will post it for you. And feel free to comment on any of the posts at any time. Just click on the "Comments" link at the end of any article and join in the conversation!

Last week, your intrepid blog editor exhibited for the Midwest Chapter at the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science Library Careers Night.

I was joined at the Midwest Chapter table by two of my fellow medical librarians from the Cleveland Clinic Alumni Library, Gretchen Hallerberg and Barb Anderson. We had a great time talking to students about careers in medical librarianship. (AND we got a free dinner!) The Midwest Chapter offers FREE student memberships, so I handed out quite a few membership applications. I'll be interested to see how many students join the chapter. I talked a lot about our Annual Meeting Scholarships. Since I am a Kent State alumna myself, I would love to have a Kent State student attend the Midwest MLA / MHSLA 2008 Conference. I told everyone who visited our table what a great value our annual conferences are, with two days crammed with quality programming, great special events, and so many opportunities for networking. The $500 scholarship easily will cover the cost of the conference and two nights at the conference hotel.

One nice thing about being in Kent for the evening was being able to visit with my son who is a KSU sophomore. It was nice to have some help tearing down the exhibit! And collegian son was able to snag some of those free OCLC pens from George across the aisle.

The deadline for applications for the chapter's Chapter Sharing Roundtables "Free Lunch Award" is less than a week away! If you will be attending MLA, this is a no-brainer! Two chapter members will be able to participate in the discussion AND get a free lunch on May18th.

Here is the information you need to know to apply for the Free Lunch Award. All you have to do is submit paragraph or two describing "Why I deserve a free lunch."

There is a Chapter Sharing Roundtable for every interest! There will be 30 topic tables this year:

• Second Life and Health Care Information


• Assessment and Evaluation


• Changes in Technical Service in a Digital Environment


• Clinical Decision Making Tools (Up-to-Date, MDConsult & others)


• Communication Techniques for Library Patrons


• Copyright Issues


• Document Delivery Services and ILL


• Electronic Libraries


• Evidence Based Practice


• Evidence Based Nursing


• Expert Searching


• Handheld Clinical Resources


• How to Obtain Funds for Library Projects


• How to Stay Current with New Technologies


• Integrating You or the Library into the Curriculum


• Issues in Hospital Librarianship


• Liaisons Stepping Out of the Library


• Librarian as a Consultant


• Library Directors of the Future


• Management of E-Resources


• Managing Resources in Emergency/Disaster Situation


• Multi-generations Working in the Same Library


• New and Emerging Roles for Medical Librarians


• Oral History


• Point of Care Clinical Resources


• Providing Virtual Reference Service


• Strategies for Threatened Librarians/Libraries


• Supporting Magnet Status Initiatives


• Using New Technologies and Instructional Design for Teaching


• Wikis in the Library

Do you live in Facebook? Even if you only visit occasionally, join the all new Midwest Chapter Facebook group!

If you read closely there on the top of the group page, you'll see that one of the missions of the Midwest Chapter is "to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and the discussion of mutual problems and concerns." The Facebook group and this blog join the chapter discussion list and newsletter as tools that chapter members can use to communicate with each other. Whichever medium you use most, the Midwest Chapter offers a great way to network with your fellow medical librarians! Join in the discussion!

PLEASE COMMENT! How can the chapter's Facebook group page be improved? What information, widgets, or whatever can be added to make it a more useful communications tool? Click on that Comments link below and share your thoughts!

Welcome to ConnectMidwest!

What is this blog all about? Take a look! It is so much more than announcements and news. Think of this blog as a CONVERSATION among the members of the chapter on any topic of interest. Think of the blog posts as conversation starters. Click on any of the Topics for Discussion over there on the right - there's something for everyone!

How can YOU participate in the conversation?

Check out the "starter" posts then keep up with new posts by subscribing to the Recent Posts feed. And keep up with the continuing conversation by subscribing to the Recent Comments feed.

You can comment on any post by clicking on the Comments link at the end of any post. The comments are moderated and will be posted in a timely manner.

You can post an article on a news item or topic of interest. Just contact me and I'll show you how! You don't have to have your own blog to be a blogger. Become a Midwest Chapter blogger!

Join in the conversation!

Sheryl Stevens, our chapter Awards & Scholarships Committee chair, sends this along:

The Midwest Chapter/MLA Awards & Scholarships Committee is seeking nominations for the Chapter's 2008 Jean Williams Sayre Innovation Award. This award is intended to recognize individuals, groups, libraries, or organizations for their creative approaches to delivering and/or managing health information. It includes a cash prize of $500.

Please take a few minutes to think about some of the projects you and/or your colleagues have recently initiated, participated in, or are currently involved with. What about that project or accomplishment you described (or will be describing) in a paper or poster presentation at a conference? You've done the hard part already -- filling out our nomination form is easy compared to that!

You can find additional information about the Innovation Award at: http://midwestmla.org/committees/awards/2008/Innovation%20Award%202008.pdf.

The nomination form is at: http://midwestmla.org/committees/awards/2008/Innovation%20Award%20Nomination%20Form%202008.pdf.

The application deadline is August 18, 2008.

Thanks for considering this. Please give our committee the opportunity to acknowledge your creativity and accomplishments!

The winner will be announced during at the Chapter’s Annual Business Meeting on October 20, 2008, at the Detroit Marriott Hotel in Troy, Michigan.

As you are watching the Democrats and Republicans gear up for their conventions, don't forget to vote in the Midwest Chapter 2008-2009 officer races.

Click on this link for a copy of the official ballot and biographical information for each candidate!

Ballots must be received by Friday, September 5, 2008.

You can fax, mail, or e-mail (with attachment) your ballot to Immediate Past President Chris Shaffer:

3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd.-LIB
Portland, OR 97239-3098
ph: 503-494-6057
e-mail: shafferc AT ohsu.edu
fax: 503-494-3227