MIDLINE

We began the 2008 Health Science Librarians of Illinois (HSLI) meeting on November 6 with our first winter chill in a far southeastern suburb of Chicago called University Park. The conference continuing education classes were held at Governors State University (GSU).

Surrounded by acres of farmland, you knew you were away from the city bustle when you pulled into the parking lot at GSU saw huge public sculptures. The Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park at GSU was one of the many highlights of this year's conference. GSU also has a unique arts program displaying old cigarette machines that vend pieces of art.

On Thursday, continuing education classes included such topics as expert searching of PubMed, patient safety, hospital nursing Magnet programs, and leadership without formally supervising people. Our instructors, Holly Ann Burt, Joy Kennedy, and Natalie Reed left their students with many new ideas.

Participants stayed at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Tinley Park, the same location for the keynote speaker, vendor breakfast, and business meeting on Friday, November 7.

Vendors had lots to share as new products were being introduced. NN/LM, EBSCO, StatRef, and Matthews books had displays. As we enjoyed a big breakfast buffet, Wolters Kluwer/OVID presented information about their new Nursing@OVID product and UpToDate purchase. Paul Blobaum, health science librarian from GSU, donated this year's unusual door prize — a jar of honey gathered from his bees.

Keynote speaker Janet Jensen, from Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, IL, spoke on "Dealing with Difficult People." Her presentation focused on how to handle yourself when confronted with stressful situations. She talked about the scientific basis of our "flight and fight" reaction and how to use breathing and "heart focus" to get past it so we could use our "cerebral cortex" thinking to solve the problem confronting us.

We enjoyed a wonderful luncheon while Molly Horio, outgoing HSLI chair, updated us on the organization's activities, from newly elected officers to several special honors. Stacey Knight-Davis received the HSLI Star Thrower Award for 2008. The Star Thrower Award is based on the story of the child who makes a difference by throwing stranded starfish back into the ocean one at a time. The award recognizes the efforts and contributions of an individual HSLI member toward the good of the organization. Virginia Gale received the HSLI President's award for her work on our consortia purchases. Laura Sklansky received the Syed Maghrabi scholarship to attend the HSLI 2008 meeting. We congratulated Fran Kovach and Stacey Knight-Davis on completing the website renovation.

Overall, it was a satisfying conference for members thanks to our great conference committee, Gail Lahti and the members of the Chicago and South Consortia.
Next year's meeting will be in Springfield, IL, at the Northfield Inn & Suites from October 28-30.

The Health Science Subdivision of the Iowa Library Association held its fall business meeting October 16 at the Grand River Center in Dubuque, IA. Jim Lander, who retired from Mercy Medical Center in Dubuque this spring, was presented with a letter of recognition signed by Iowa Governor Chet Culver for his years of outstanding service to health professionals in the state. University of Iowa Hardin Library Director Linda Walton is Regional Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Iowa. She will be working with libraries to create preparedness and emergency response plans. Jacqueline Leskovec, GMR Outreach and Evaluation Coordinator, gave the GMR update. The subdivision's revised bylaws were approved by acclamation.

Here are updates from a few libraries around Iowa:

Des Moines University
The DMU Library has hired a new archivist for the Archive/Rare Book Room.
Lindsey MacAllister will start on November 17. Lindsey was formerly employed as an archivist for the Museum of Science and Technology in Chicago.

Hardin Library, University of Iowa
Chris Shaffer left Hardin to become director of Oregon Health & Science University Library. Lisa Martincik is the new electronic resources librarian at Hardin. The library received new carpeting and chairs this past summer.

State Library of Iowa
The State Library is transferring the HealthInfoIowa to the Plone content management site. Mary Wegner, State Librarian and former medical librarian, was named ILA Librarian of the Year.

Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa (Mason City)
Elizabeth Kiscaden reported that last winter Mercy Medical Library – North Iowa was awarded a Technology Improvement Award from the NNLM/GMR, which was used to purchase a scanner. The library will be losing space for the creation of an ACLS/BLS computer lab, which will be constructed this fiscal year.

Mercy Medical Center – Dubuque
Pamela Kress-Dunn reported that she will be automating her library for the first time, using EOS. She will be weeding extensively over the next year and plans to update the book collection. She also hopes to obtain a scanner for emailing ILLs.

Genesis Medical Center – Davenport
Jason Young reported that he worked with the hospital's webmaster to create a new website based on the Mayo Clinic libraries' site. The new site receives top billing now via a tab on the hospital's intranet page. He was added to orientation for new nurses and physicians and is co-leading the health system's physician satisfaction team.

The Kentucky Medical Library Association (KMLA) met at Baptist Hospital East in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 11. The KMLA membership worked on bylaws, heard from various committees, debuted a new website and elected a new president. Mary Congleton of Southern Kentucky AHEC, Mt. Vernon, will serve as president for 2009 – 10. Congratulations to Mary and a special thank you to outgoing presidents Anne Sabetta, formerly of Jewish Hospital, and Ann Schaap, Norton Healthcare.