Compiled by Ximena Chrisagis, State Liasions Committee Chair and Representative at Large, Fordham Health Sciences Library, Wright State University, Dayton, OH
Iowa
Submitted by Paula Whannell
Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines, IA
The Health Sciences Subdivision of the Iowa Library Association met April 24 at Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines. Max Anderson of the NN/LM Greater Midwest Region (GMR) taught a course on podcasting in the morning session. Attendees had time for hands-on practice to get acquainted with the software and to develop a brief podcast.
During the afternoon, Jacqueline Leskovec of the GMR presented a session via Adobe Connect on upcoming changes to PubMed. She demonstrated the use of the advanced searching screen and the citation searcher and covered term-mapping changes, the spell checker and MyNCBI.
The last session of the day was the group's annual business meeting. Plans were shared about the Iowa Library Association's fall meeting to be held in Des Moines in October. Linda Walton, director of Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa, reported on the Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for the state. An election was held for 2010 officers. Finally, attendees shared information about their own libraries, reporting new activities as well as discussing the impact of the current economy on library personnel, materials and services.
Kentucky
Submitted by Mary Congleton
University of Kentucky Medical Center Library, Lexington, KY
The Kentucky Medical Library Association's (KMLA) next meeting and continuing education event will take place June 12 at the University of Kentucky's William T. Young Library Auditorium in Lexington. Lisa Traditi, head of education and assistant professor at the Health Sciences Library, University of Colorado, Denver, will present the four-hour CE program "The Librarian and the Evidence: Our Role in EBHC." For more details, contact KMLA President Mary Congleton.
Minnesota
Submitted by Donna Barbour-Talley
North Memorial Health Care, Robbinsdale, MN
The Health Science Libraries of Minnesota (HSLM) will hold its annual meeting June 5 at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. The morning session will feature a workshop titled "Copyright Issues for Health Sciences Librarians" presented by Dorothy Salo, digital repository librarian at the University of Wisconsin. The event is free for current HSLM members and $30 for others. The annual business meeting will follow lunch.
North Dakota
Submitted By Karen Anderson
Angus L. Cameron Medical Library, Trinity Health, Minot, ND
The Health Science Information Section (HSIS) of the North Dakota Library Association (NDLA) held its spring meeting April 17. The meeting was held in Grand Forks. Because of flooding in the state, librarians also participated from sites in Bismarck and Fargo.
We discussed our scholarship fund for attending Midwest Chapter meetings, approved policy handbook changes and our 2009 Annual Conference Program. Travis Schulz is working to get Max Anderson from the GMR to present a program on screencasting. Theresa Norton presented the history and progress of the NDLA blogs. Facebook and other NDLA updates were given. NDLA has a wiki that is being used for the development of the conference manual. Once completed, it will be linked to the website. Officer candidates for next year are Mary Markland for chair-elect and Theresa Norton for secretary.
We had a Midwest Chapter report and then discussed which city will host the 2014 Midwest Chapter Meeting in North Dakota. It will be an agenda item for the fall meeting. Barb Knight reported on the GMR Regional Advisory Council (RAC) meeting. She also reported on Go Local for North Dakota. The Go Local project focus has changed from inputting records to auditing and upkeep. Flood resources have been included recently. NLM is developing a disaster-preparedness module that will be available later in 2009.
Ann Pederson discussed our Emergency Preparedness Plan. During the recent flooding, there were some problems using the regional checklist. It did not always fit the situation. If we had a blog established for emergencies, it would be an easy way to stay apprised of situations at various libraries. We should have buddies within and outside the state. We also talked about having remote access and backup for our systems. Ann is planning to schedule a separate meeting to address these and other items for the plan.
In the afternoon, Max Anderson gave a GMR update and presented an excellent podcasting workshop, "Can You Hear Me Now: How to Make a Podcast."
Ohio
Submitted by Ximena Chrisagis, State Liasions Committee Chair and Representative at Large, Fordham Health Sciences Library, Wright State University, Dayton, OH
The Ohio Health Sciences Association (OHSLA) held its 2009 spring meeting April 3. Mt. Carmel Health Sciences Library Stevo Rosksandic and his staff were the gracious hosts. Twenty-six people attended. For the morning session, Max Anderson presented his "Can You Hear Me Now: How to Make a Podcast" CE course.
The OHSLA business meeting was held during lunch. Treasurer/Membership Chair Susi Miller announced that as of April 3, OHSLA had 94 members, including 6 new members and 2 students. President-Elect/Program Chair Jacqueline Harris announced that OHSLA is offering a scholarship to the 2009 Midwest Chapter Meeting and encouraged OHSLA members who meet the eligibility criteria to apply.
The Midwest Chapter/MLA 2009 Annual Conference will take place at the Hyatt on Capitol Square in Columbus from October 3-6. Annual Meeting Planning Committee co-chairs Marlene Porter and Bette Sydelko announced the featured speakers: author Cliff Stoll and OCLC's Lorcan Dempsey. They gave a progress update and encouraged all OHSLA members to participate. In her role as current OHSLA President, Marlene Porter reported the 2009 OHSLA election winners: Bette Sydelko (president elect/program chair) and Maryann Mlodzik (treasurer/membership chair). The new officers' terms will begin July 1.
During the afternoon session, Maryann Mlodzik, librarian at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital and Ohio Regional Coordinator for Emergency Preparedness Planning, presented "Expecting the Unexpected: Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning for Ohio Libraries." In her presentation, she shared the slideshow "A 10 Step Approach to Service Continuity Planning" created by Dan Wilson, coordinator of the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan. She also gave an overview of NN/LM's Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit.
The Midwest Chapter/MLA 2009 Annual Meeting in Columbus will serve as the venue for OHSLA's Fall Business Meeting. The OHSLA meeting is scheduled for Oct. 4.
Wisconsin
Submitted by Michael Venner
Ebling Library, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI
The Wisconsin Health Sciences Library Association (WHSLA) Annual Conference is May 4-5 in La Crosse. This year's theme is "Steamin' Into the Future." There will be three CE classes offered at this year's conference. The Wisconsin Library Association's (WLA) Annual Meeting will be held Oct. 20-23 in Appleton. WHSLA publishes an online newsletter six times a year. The latest issue can be found here.