MDMLG News

Carla Caretto, Editor
Valerie Reid, Webmaster

Table of Contents

Pyramid of Evidence-Based Medicine at Sladen Library
Library of the Future
Metadata = Data About Data = Cataloging
Web Design for Non-Designers
Non-US Websites:  Australia and New Zealand
New Member Spotlight
Library Desiderata
Announcements

Pyramid of Evidence-Based Medicine Resources at Sladen Library

The old way of searching for answers to clinical questions was to first go to Medline.  The new way of searching for answers to clinical questions involves first using Evidence Based Medicine Resources. Last summer, the Sladen Library and Center for Health Information Resources embarked on a project to improve clinicians' access to the medical literature by developing an easy to apply search paradigm based on Dr. Brian Haynes "4S" classification of medical evidence.  The "4S's" are Systems, Synopses, Synthesis, and Studies. We applied the classification system to the resources provided by the Sladen Library.  We then developed a hot linked pyramid graphic that directly links to the resources at each level.  The end-user is instructed to start at the top of the pyramid and the drill down until he or she obtains an answer.  At the base of the pyramid is the Sladen Staff Searches level, indicating that the end-user should contact the library for further research.  Our statistics tell us that this web page is becoming increasingly popular.  We also developed a laminated card with the Pyramid of Evidence Based Medicine Resources that can be attached to an employees badge.  The card contains contact information for the library.  To view the pyramid, click on http://sladen.hfhs.org/library/staff/ebm-resource-pyramid.htm

Haynes, R. Brian.  Of studies, syntheses, synopses, and systems:  the "4S" evolution of services for finding current best evidence.  ACP Journal Club 134(2):  A11-A13, 2001.

Team Members:

Nardina Mein, MSLS, Director
Audrey Bondar , MSLS
John DuLong , PhD.
Gina Hug , MILS
Laura Lewis, MSLS
Valerie Reid, MSLS  

Gina Hug
Henry Ford Hospital  

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Library of the Future

We've all read myriad accounts, speculations, and indeed fantasies about "The Library of the Future".  I would suspect that most of us have had to develop some working model of such a library for ourselves, or at least for our administrations. I was forced to do so by a renovation project that is underway at my hospital.  I was charged with the dictate of creating a futuristic library, and I was to do so with a very small budget. 

I actually think that these are the central issues for most of us: we want to be able to use our limited resources and space to best advantage; we want our facilities to be functionally and physically ahead of the curve; we want the flexibility to adapt and change with new technology; and we want to have the opportunities to educate ourselves to take advantage of these new technologies.  We want to be able to teach others to use our libraries to best to the fullest potential. 

The glitch is that we don't know, with any certainty what exactly is coming down the pike, so to speak.  No one can tell us we that we will, for example be all wireless or that we will be located in a central room and just instant-messaging out answers to reference questions.  The experts on future trends can only follow paths and tendencies to their inevitable conclusion. But sometimes their ideas diverge to the point at which their information is essentially meaningless. 

Technology is a fundamental issue.  We spend a great deal of money for resources that are essentially temporary. We are paying enormous sums of money for access to information, but we aren't paying for a physical item.  We invest tremendous amounts in computer systems that are outdated by the time the bill becomes due. How will this affect our physical space requirements?  Computers are becoming smaller and more portable.  How will this impact library and information gathering functions?

There are several visions that seem to appear repeatedly in the literature both of the library community and of the greater information world. Each has a predominant theme. The proponents’ reasoned arguments are based on current and predicted trends.  These overarching trends seem to concern themselves with access, digitization, and design. 

The question of access is a loaded one. "Divorcing library services from a physical location provokes a profound difference in what a library is"⁴.  If there no longer needs to be a central library, what does this portend for our jobs?  With communication innovations such as laptops, cell phones, wireless towers, and video phones widely available, users no longer have to be in a physical library to request or receive data.  We are now able to electronically transmit an article to a user via a cell phone or wireless device in many areas of the country in very short order.  We could conduct a reference interaction via video cell phone.  We've yet to truly adopt these technologies as a given, but that has as much to do with a basic distrust of anything brand new as it does money available to implement it.  We have all watched as a new technology, innovative at the beginning of a decade, become obsolete by the end of the decade.  Remember CD-ROM towers anyone?  We want to have a sense that (whatever we’re considering) we are investing in a future platform. "Because of the fragility of digital media, the rapidity with which systems for accessing digital information are superceded, and the uncertainty of the long-term efficacy of current digital maintenance techniques preservation of digital information is a growing concern as well."²  We have had to spend a great deal of money on these transitory technologies.  What happens next is anyone’s guess.  I believe that we are all reluctant to simply sit in a room alone and wait for the phone/fax/cell/PDA/monitor/pager to ring.  We need a certain amount of contact in order to get a better "read" on what our users really need.  We are all aware that users don’t always know what exactly they want.  They rely on our training and abilities to guide them to the information they require.  Body language and verbal interaction are often absent from these interactions.  Access in the future should depend on the facilities and technologies that make our services better- faster certainly, but better. "The libraries of today are mongrels. They are the mating of the library of the past with the library of the future.  They are awkward and, in some cases, unattractive. Libraries built twenty to thirty years ago have been trying to accommodate computers and electronics as best they can."¹  

Many of the issues in truly providing futuristic point-of-need service involve the myriad forms our collections take. It would be easy if copyright, digital data, and technology really worked cost effectively for most of us.  "As libraries work to achieve this anytime/anywhere access, they are struggling to allocate limited resources in a way that supports the reality of today while laying the foundation of the future."³ If we didn’t have to consider the preservation of materials in our collection development, we’d have a much easier time happily co-existing with digitization.  Access to our digital collections changes from year to year.  "It’s important to harp on vendors who appear arbitrarily wedded to their contents medium.  Some force price or packaging models that seem more about the attachment to the format rather than on what the market needs and wants."³   The companies who own copyrights to much of the research materials are making hoards of money. They get to set up the game board, and it’s loaded in their favor. This situation will prevail as long as the "publish or perish" faculty positions predominate.  There are several groups trying to ameliorate this situation with electronic, peer-reviewed data collections, and a movement to try to reclaim copyright ownership by the originators of the material.  We will have to wait and see if those movements will have an impact on publishing in the future. 

This brings us to library design.  Will the future bring us a lonely glass fishbowl-perhaps off-site entirely from our facilities, or a huge computer lab? Current trends in library design make a valiant attempt to humanize a technology friendly space.  Wireless technology allows for more flexible design, and there seems to be an emphasis on keeping the look of wood in library design.  There is something in human nature that wishes to have organic and non-organic materials blended.  We see use of glass and metal to represent futuristic design, but this is often balanced by warmer materials: wood, cork and stone or stone-look materials to give balance to the often beige and black “plastic-ness” of the computer age. "The library of the twenty-first century will be a blended library; one that incorporates all the best of both the digital and actual library world."² As technology becomes more compact, it requires less room, and therefore the space used to house it is more flexible and reflects the needs of the user.  The library of the future is ergonomic and the tools are built into the space. There are techno-chairs that allow a user to plug in a laptop in a sort of armchair.  There are smaller Internet video meeting rooms that take advantage of multi-site face-to-face meetings as a reaction to diminishing travel budgets.  Storage space is smaller, and computer space is rapidly eating up any available space.  We are planning spaces from the computer access outward.  "It is important for the library of the twenty-first century to provide a classroom with banks of computers for hands-on training.  The librarian must be able to teach skills in an atmosphere conducive to learning."² 

What do all of these trends mean for us?  We will have to live for many years with choices that we are making now without really knowing what’s ahead.  No one wants to make the wrong decision, but we are all likely to do so.  There’s no crystal ball.  We all have to work with given amounts of space and budget constraints.  We need to evaluate our user populations and facility needs.  There are even libraries being built currently on the bookstore concept.  They have huge book displays, a central "checkout/question desk", and a coffee bar. There are also ideas for creating a more modern, more kinetic experience in the library.  Its focus seems to be on creating an appealing space, and letting the actual library materials be a secondary consideration.   It is my hope that we can move away from the static concept of what a library is and be able to move towards a futuristic library that is a combination of technology and humanistic needs.  "…if the digital era, libraries must continue to compete, it can cease to be about collections and become about services—the ingeniousness with which individual libraries tailor resource access to particular needs of their user communities."²     

References:

1.) Knowles, SK. 2001, a Space Odyssey: a Library for the M millennium.  Bull Med Libr Assoc.1999. 87(2) 219-221

2.) Marcum, D.  Requirements for the Future Digital Library. J Acad Libr. 2003. 29(5): 276-279

3.) Stratigos, A; Strouse, R. Library of the Future. 2003. Online 27(1): 74-76

4.) The Shape of the 21st Century Library. Howard Besser, Visiting Associate Professor, UC Berkeley School of Info Mgmt & Systems from Milton Wolf et. al. (eds.), Information Imagineering: Meeting at the Interface, Chicago: American Library Association, pages 133-146 http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/Papers/peters.html  

Juliet Mullenmeister 
St. Joseph Mercy of Macomb

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Metadata = Data About Data = Cataloging

(Note: Metadata is treated as a singular noun in this article, even though -- as we all know! -- the word data is actually plural.)

Librarians have been creating information about information in the form of cataloging for centuries.  However, the emergence and proliferation of electronic resources has placed a new emphasis on the importance of describing information to facilitate its discovery.  As a result,  cataloging -- reborn as the very impressive sounding metadata -- has become a hot topic in library and information science. Following is a brief guide to some metadata basics, as extracted from Pricilla Caplan's Metadata Fundamentals for All Librarians (Chicago: American Library Association, 2003) and Gail Hodge's Metadata Made Simpler (Bethesda, Md.: NISO Press, 2001).

What Metadata Is

The term metadata comes from the field of computer science.  In computer terminology, the prefix "meta" is commonly used to mean "about." So, a metalanguage is a language used to describe other languages, and metadata is data used to describe other data.  Thus, simply defined, metadata is information describing an information resource; more specifically, it is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource.

The term METADATA, capitalized or all capitals, was coined in the late 1960s. By the 1990s, the non-capitalized term metadata was being used to refer to information necessary to make computer files useful to humans. As the Internet and Web emerged, the term began to be used to in the context of describing networked information resources. The term entered the working vocabulary of mainstream librarianship around 1995 with the creation of the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (so named because it resulted from a workshop at OCLC’s headquarters in Dublin, Ohio). This early initiative served as an agent of cross-fertilization between the library and Web communities and served to energize the library community with new concepts and terminology.

Today, the library and information communities seem to agree on two key characteristics of metadata -- it must be structured and it must describe an information resource – but otherwise use the term a variety of different ways.  Many use it to refer only to machine-readable elements that describe Web resources. Others limit its use to the description of digital objects, but not necessarily Web objects. Still others use it to refer to any elements (machine-readable or not) that describe digital and non-digital resources. Within the library environment, metadata is most commonly used to describe any formal scheme of resource description applied to any type of information object.

Types of Metadata

While the distinctions may depend on the user, metadata is typically categorized into these three types: descriptive, administrative, and structural. 

Descriptive metadata is information that describes a resource for the purposes of discovery, identification, and selection. It can include such elements as title, author, abstract, and keywords.  Traditional library cataloging metadata is primarily descriptive, as are schemes such as Dublin Core and the Visual Resources Association (VRA) Core.  Other elements that fall under the broad heading of descriptive metadata include evaluation, linkage, and usability. 

Administrative metadata is information that is intended to help manage a resource.  It can include elements such as:  when, how, and in what format it was created; who can access; who can control access; and what processing activities have been performed on it. Rights management metadata is a form of administrative metadata dealing with intellectual property rights. 

Structural metadata is information that indicates how compound objects in a resource are put together. For example, structural metadata is required to record the relationship of pages to chapters in a digital book or to tie together the components of a multimedia entity.

Metadata can be used to describe resources at any level of aggregation:  a collection, a unitary resource, or a component of a larger resource. Metadata can be stored separately, which simplifies its management and facilitates search and retrieval. It can be also stored in digital objects and is often embedded in HTML documents and in the headers of image files.  Storing metadata with the object it describes ensures it will not be lost and helps ensure that the metadata and object will be updated together. 

What Metadata Does

The consistent application of descriptive, standardized metadata accomplishes the following:

• Facilitates the discovery of relevant information by helping to identify resources, distinguish among dissimilar ones, bring similar ones together, and provide location information.
• Organizes and sets up relationships between Web resources by facilitating creation of aggregate sites, portals, channels, and digital library collections.
• Promotes interoperability and information exchange between systems with different hardware, software, platforms, structures, and interfaces.
• Provides persistent and unique digital identification to assist in differentiating one object from another.
• Supports archiving and preservation, ensuring that resources will survive and continue to be accessible in the future.

Some Metadata Schemes

Metadata schemes are sets of metadata elements designed for a particular purpose, for example, to describe a particular type of resource.

The definition or meaning of the elements themselves is known as the semantics of the scheme.  The values given to metadata elements are the content.  Content rules specify how metadata values are selected and represented. For example, the semantics of a scheme may establish the definition of an element called "author," but the content rules would specify which information would qualify for selection as author and how an author's name should be represented.  (All of this probably sounds familiar to library catalogers.)

Some metatdata schemes may also have syntax rules prescribing how the elements are to be encoded in machine-readable form. Metadata elements can be encoded in MARC, in "keyword=value" pairs, or any other definable syntax.  Many current metadata schemes use SGML or XML. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is an extended form of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), and it allows for locally defined tag sets and the easy exchange of structured information. SGML (Standardized General Markup Language) is a superset of both HTML and XML and allows for the richest markup of a document, but is a difficult language for programs to process.

Here are a few common metadata schemes currently being used by the library and information communities:

• Dublin Core Metadata Element Set ( Dublin Core) is a relatively simple set of 15 descriptive data elements, including "title," "creator" "subject," "publisher," "format," "date," and "identifier." It does not specify any particular syntax or rules for representing content.  While originally intended to describe Web-based documents, it is successfully being used to describe other types of resources as well as in applications demanding some complexity. The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Web site is at:  http://dublincore.org/.
• Visual Resources Association Core Categories (VRA Core) contains 17 metadata elements and was developed primarily to describe visually-oriented materials such as photographs, slides, digital images, architecture, sculptures, and paintings. Like the Dublin Core, it does not specify syntax or rules for description; however, it has served as impetus for the visual resources community to developed shared vocabularies and classification schemes.  The VRA Web site is at: http://www.vraweb.org/.
• Encoded Archival Description (EAD) was developed as a way of representing archival finding aids in electronic form.  Finding aids are a form of archival description that generally begin narrative information about the collection as a whole and then subsequently provide more detailed descriptions of components of the collection. The EAD standard is maintained jointly by the Library of Congress and the Society of American Archivists.  The official EAD Web site is at http://www.loc.gov/ead/.
• Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) Header is an encoding standard for describing electronic textual documents in the humanities, such as novels, plays, and poetry. The SGML markup becomes part of the electronic resource itself, and a header portion containing bibliographic information and provenance precedes the full encoding.  The TEI home page is at: http://www.tei-c.org/.
• Government/Global Information Locator Service (GILS) grew out of the U.S. federal government requirement for public access to information and was authorized by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. It has been adopted by other governments and for international projects, leading to the current Global designation. Unlike most other metadata schemes, GILS itself does not formally define terms, rules for representation, or syntax.  Rather, the GILS profile is written as an application of the Z39.50 protocol for search and retrieval, specifying which attributes must be supported.  (Z39.50 is an international standard protocol that allows one system to request a search be performed in another system and receive results back in a format that the first system can display.  The federal GILS home page is at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gils/index.html.
• ONIX (Online Information Exchange) International is an XML-based metadata scheme developed by publishers for exchanging trade information in electronic form with booksellers and distributors. Many online book traders such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble use this metadata standard to transfer information about their products. Libraries have been quick to see its potential use in the materials processing stream, e.g.,  the Library of Congress is looking at integrating ONIX feeds into the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) stream. The ONIX Web site is at http://www.editeur.org/onix.html.
• Traditional library cataloging with its format specifications and rulesets –  MARC21, International Standard Bibliographic  Description (ISBD), and Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2^nd ed. (AACR2) – together functionally constitute a metadata scheme.  The MARC21 Web site is at: http://www.loc.gov/marc/. The ISBD Web site is at: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbd.htm.  AACR2 is not available on the Web.

Conclusion

The proliferation of information resources -- particularly electronic ones -- is presenting a variety of new challenges for applying the analytical and organizational skills that are the hallmark of the librarian and information scientist.  The development and application of metadata is one of these opportunities. 

For more data on metadata, consult the works cited above and the works they cite.  Other useful resources: the MIT Libraries Metadata Reference Guide at http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/metadata/index.html and the September/October 2002 issue of Library Technology Reports.

Sheryl Stevens
Medical College of Ohio

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Web Design for Non-Designers

Librarians in the twenty-first century are the epitome of "multi-taskers".  Not only are we expected to execute our professional duties, but we are expected to be computer technicians, accountants, and in many cases, web designers.  As more and more health sciences libraries go online to provide services and to reach communities and health care professionals, it will become essential for librarians to be involved in the design and implementation of library, and even hospital web sites.

Logically, there is no better person to design a library web site than a librarian.  Librarians understand how information should be organized, and best know how clients access that information.  Librarians understand search strategies and can create a logical site that is easily navigable and user friendly.  While we may not all be programmers, we certainly understand how to use web-based tools.  It is this knowledge that makes us the best candidates for the job of library site designer.

Despite being well equipped for web design, many librarians may be intimidated by the prospect of creating a web site.  The task may seem overwhelming at first, but answering a few simple questions and approaching the site with a fresh perspective can make designing a web site less tortuous.

The first question to answer is "Who is my audience?"  What population do you wish to reach with your site?  Is it just physicians?  All health care providers? Community members?  All of the above?  Once your target audience is decided, you can determine what type of information might be sought on your site.  What is the purpose of your site?  Is it to provide basic information about your library or are you looking to create an information portal and act as a gateway to other information? 

It is easier to determine content once these questions are answered. Keep information simple, and don’t forget to provide all the basic information you, as a client might want.  Pull on your own past experience if necessary.  What has frustrated you in the past on web sites?  Was the contact information lacking or were the hours of operation or phone number difficult to find?  Remember what elements have made a site difficult for you to use, and avoid recreating those mistakes in your own site.

Now that you have a mass of information, you must organize it.  This is the most difficult part of web design.  You must organize information according to your audience’s needs.  It is most likely that you are not designing a web site that librarians alone will use.  You may be tempted to organize your site as you might search it yourself. However, this is not always the best idea.  How do your users search?  What kind of questions do you frequently get asked when assisting a user in searching?  What kind of terms do customers use when looking for information?  These are important questions to answer when determining how pages should link, what pages and links should be named, and how deep information should be buried in a site.  I approach my sites as I would an index to a book.  What are the main topics of information covered in this site? What are the minor subheadings that users might search for?  Which concepts best describe my site?  I tend to diagram my sites out on paper first, mapping the physical pages and how they will be linked by drawing boxes and lines.  It may seem crude but this visual technique has been very helpful and has kept me on track when I have lost the concept of my site.

Site utility (how well it functions) and usability (how effectively users navigate it) are of vital importance.  It is important to remember why your users come to your site.  Jakob Nielsen, expert in web usability, reminds us that "people do not come to the Web for an 'experience,' they come for information." [2000]  Make sure your information is reliable and easy to find.  Based on personal experience, I have developed some general rules that have kept my users happy:

• Do not bury information too far into your site.  If the user has to click more than three times to find a piece of information, that is too much and you have probably already lost that customer.

• Create as many access points as you can to important pages.  For example, create multiple links to contact information, not only from the home page or navigation bar, but also internally from individual pages that might raise questions.

• Start simple.  Create a very basic site and progressively add to it.  If you start too grand, you will not be able to provide a complete, comprehensive site and you will disappoint your users.  Better to pleasantly surprise users with new updates and added sections.  This also gives you reason to advertise when new segments are added.

• Never put "Coming Soon" or "Under Construction" on an unfinished page.  Do not post a page until it is completed.  Unfinished pages can seem sloppy or unprofessional.  Start by posting essential pages, and then your site will not seem incomplete, even if you are not finished adding content.

• Do not make individual pages too long.  Try to keep content limited to what a user would view on the screen.  Too much scrolling will cause your users to lose interest or become frustrated when scanning for information.

• When in doubt, surf the'‘net'.  I have frequently found design "do's and don't's" on other library sites.  By navigating the sites created for other libraries, I have discovered both wonderful features that I could incorporate into my own site, and also glaring omissions and frustrating 'faux pas' that I could correct in my own design.

• Do not create anything that you can't maintain.  Remember, links and content information must be checked regularly for function and accuracy.

• Have fun!  This is your chance to show your face to the world!  Web sites are often the first encounter many users have with a library and a great way to flaunt your assets to the world.

I am a librarian at the Health Sciences Library at Windsor Regional Hospital.  I am not a programmer and I do not have a degree in computer Science.  I have designed several Intranet and Internet web sites for libraries and universities.  Recently I have completed the Intranet and Internet pages for the library on my hospital’s web site.  Visit the "Health Sciences Library" section (under “Research and Education in the left navigation bar) and also the “Related Links” section of the Windsor Regional Hospital site (http://www.wrh.on.ca/webbuild/site/wrh-internet/) to view my work.

Library pages URL: http://www.wrh.on.ca/webbuild/site/wrh-internet/webpage.cfm?site_id=2&org_id=51

Suggested Books

Campbell, Nicole. 2001. Usability assessment of library-related web sites: methods and case studies. Chicago: American Library Association.

DiNucci, Darcy, Maria Giudice, Lynne Stiles. 1998.  Elements of Web Design. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press.

Liu, Yaping Peter. 1999. Web Page Development and Management. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries.

Nielsen J. Designing Web usability: the practice of simplicity. Indianapolis: New Riders, 2000.

Bibliography

Cunliffe, D. (2000) "Developing usable Websites—a review and model."Internet Research 10 (4):295-307.

Davies, R. (2003) "Building an Internet gateway."Information Technology and Libraries 22(3):106-109.

Fuller, D. M., Hinegardner, P. G. (2001) "Ensuring quality Website redesign: the University of Maryland’s experience."  Bulletin of the Medical Library Association  89 (4): 339-345.

Mann, M. et al. (1999) "Web design – effective and aesthetic."Serials Librarian 36(1/2): 27-32.

Rossignol, L.R. (1999) "Build it so they will come: blueprints for successful Webpage development."  The Serials Librarian 36(3/4): 523-528.

Swenson, J. et al. (2002) "Audience-driven Web design: an application to medical Web sites."  Technical Communication 49(3): 340-352.

"Web development tools." (2001) Medicine on the Net 7(1): 8.

Yan, M. (2002) "A design analysis model for developing World Wide Web sites."Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 53(7): 531.

Christina Wallace 
Windsor Regional Hospital

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Non-US Websites:  Australia and New Zealand

Australian Medical Association / http://www.ama.com.au -- Contains links to practice parameters in Australia, links to publications from the organization, and links to Medical Journal of Australia (with some full-text) publications.

National Breast Cancer Centre / http://www.nbcc.org.au -- Breast cancer resources, research and disease information.

Australia Resource Centre for Healthcare Innovations (ARCHI) / http://www.archi.net.au -- Healthcare quality and innovation for administration and nursing as well as practice of medicine.

HealthInsite / http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/ -- A wide range of up-to-date and quality assessed information on important health topics such as diabetes, cancer, mental health and asthma.

Public Health Group of the Victorian State Government Department of Human Services in Australia / http://www.health.vic.gov.au/phtopics/  -- Database of publications both for the consumers and health practitioners.

Australian Nursing Federation / http://www.anf.org.au/ -- Nursing organization with links to regional groups, publications and policy statements.

Royal College of Nursing / http://www.rcna.org.au/ -- Links to publications, research and education.

New Zealand Medical Association / www.nzma.org.nz -- Includes links to the Journal, resources, etc.

Juliet Mullenmeister 
St. Joseph Mercy of Macomb

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New Member Spotlight

LaVentra Ellis-Danquah is the Coordinator of Education and Community Services at Shiffman Medical Library, where is enjoys the opportunities for public outreach and instruction.  LaVentra received her dual undergraduate degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in psychology and Africana Studies.  She then received her MLIS from Wayne State University.  LaVentra joined MDMLG to network with other members and to participate in the quality educational programming offered by MDMLG.

Jane A. Potee is a Corporate/Medical Sales Manager for Swets Information Services and has been with the company since June of 2001.  Previous positions include Midwest Medical/Corporate/Government Sales Director with RoweCom/Faxon, Director of the Medical Library and Health Information Services at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana, Children’s Librarian at the Muncie Public Library and Communications Coordinator for the Marketing Department at Borg Warner.  She also had a term as president of the Indiana Health Sciences Librarians Association.  Jane went to Ball State University where she received her undergraduate degree in Library Science, School Media Services and Multi Media Technology.  She also received a MA in Industrial Technology and K-12 certification for School Media Services.  Jane enjoys networking with members of MDMLG and meeting clients.  She is proud of Swets Information Services continued partnership with the MDMLG Continuing Education Committee.

Nandita Mani recently graduated from the LIS program at Wayne State University.  She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Alberta and Concordia in Alberta, Canada.  She also received a post bachelor degree in Computer Systems Technology.  Nandita currently is a librarian at Shiffman Medical Library at Wayne State University.  She previously worked as a Systems Analyst for Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta.  Nandita recently presented her award winning student paper on digital preservation at the Michigan Library Association conference, and will be a co-presenter at the upcoming conference of the Michigan Academy of Arts, Sciences and Letters.  She joined MDMLG to learn about the new trends and challenges facing medical librarians.

Sue Walton graduated this past December from the LIS program at Wayne State University.  She is currently a substitute librarian at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library, and a substitute teacher for the Bloomfield Hills school district.   Sue is currently seeking a position as a school media specialist.  She received her BS in Art Education from Miami University and her MBA from Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio.  Sue also has her own business as a weaver of clothing and teaches weaving at the Birmingham/Bloomfield Arts Council.  Sue joined MDMLG through a recommendation by Toni Janik and she really enjoys the educational programming.

Patricia Supnick is currently a student in the LIS program at Wayne State University and plans on graduating in April.  She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan Dearborn in General Studies.  Patricia currently works at the William Beaumont Hospital Medical Library, but has worked at Beaumont for the past 17 years.  She has held positions as a medical records analyst, nursing assistant, unit secretary and bereavement representative.  Patricia joined MDMLG for the networking opportunities and to learn of job leads.

Cheryl Hayes Gassen is a student in the LIS program at Wayne State University.  She currently works as a substitute teacher in the Livonia and Plymouth-Canton School Districts.  She did most of her undergraduate course work in Physical Anthropology at Austin Peay University in Tennessee.  While a student there she also worked as a Reference Assistant in the library.  Cheryl completed her BS in Physical Anthropology with a minor in Library Science at Michigan State University.  While working at various positions in the MSU library, she ultimately reached an administrative professional level as Supervisor of the Information Desk.  Cheryl has also worked in marketing at an architectural/engineering firm and in various medical assistant positions in both office and hospital settings.  Cheryl would eventually like to earn her PhD in Forensic Anthropology.  She joined MDMLG at the recommendation of Lynda Baker and enjoys meeting medical librarians.

Jennifer Bowen
Children's Hospital of Michigan

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Library Desiderata

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  Mark Your Calendars for the Next MDMLG Meeting

Round-table speakers include:

Jaema Berman, MLS
Coordinator Library Technician Program  
Oakland Community College

Maurita Peterson Holland
Associate Professor and Assistant to the Dean
Director, Academic Outreach  
School of Information
University of Michigan

Joseph J. Mika, Professor and Director
Library & Information Science Program
Wayne State University

Suzanne Robinson, MLS
Training Coordinator
Michigan Library Consortium    

Please join us at the University of Detroit Mercy, Outer Drive Campus - 8200 West Outer Drive Detroit, MI  

Driving Instructions:  
http://www.udmercy.edu/about/drivingdirections.htm#outer

Campus Map:  
http://www.udmercy.edu/about/imgs/odmap.gif  
The closest lot for visitor parking is #18 on the map.

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”  Derek Bok, president, Harvard University

  Special Libraries Association 75th Anniversary Gala Celebration

Please join the Michigan Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) in celebrating its Diamond 75th Anniversary with a gala reception and dinner in Dearborn on Thursday, May 13, 2004 .

The festivities start with a free, afternoon reception at the Henry Ford ( Dearborn ) Centennial Library. Stephen Abram, an expert on technological trends in the information profession, president elect of the Canadian Library Association, and 2003 recipient of SLA 's John Cotton Dana Award, will be our guest speaker. We've asked Abram to read our fortune, focusing on the theme, "Celebrating the Past, Creating the Future."

Dinner will be at the Dearborn Inn. Cynthia Hill, President of SLA, will join us as we continue our diamond anniversary party. We will be showing off our "facets" -- applauding the contributions of our Chapter officers, past and present; praising our colleagues for their dedication, resourcefulness, and teamwork; and reminding our bosses that the "instant" delivery of quality information requires a commitment to our professional development and membership in information associations.

It's time to shine! Please mark your calendars and join us for this special event. Open to members and non-members.

For more information, please contact:
Kathy Irwin, kmirwin@umd.umich.edu, 313.593.5598
or Alice Pepper, pepper@freepress.com 313.222.5135  

  Munson Library Services Receives State Award

Recognized for 'commitment to excellence, innovation and customer service'

Munson Healthcare's Department of Library Services has received a 2003 Citation of Excellence from the Library of Michigan Foundation in recognition of the department's outstanding community outreach and collaboration.

"We're very proud to have received one of two Excellence Citations presented by the foundation," said Library Services Manager Barbara Platts.  "Our nomination focused on our community outreach, education, and programming that we provide through the Community Health Library, the Caregiver Resource Center and Library, the Northern Michigan Consumer Health Internet Library, and the Health Sciences Library."

The foundation also presented a Citation of Excellence to the Clinton-Macomb Public Library and its 2003 Excellence Award to the Otsego County Library during the State Librarian's Luncheon in Lansing on Oct. 30.

"Libraries are an integral part of our communities, enriching the lives of Michigan citizens as well as providing access to a world of information and resources," said State Librarian Christie Pearson Brandau. "The three we recognized this year exemplify the commitment to excellence, innovation and customer service that makes libraries so vital."

Munson's Community Health Library, located inside the south entrance of the Munson Community Health Center, is a lending library open to the public. It provides health care information through books and videos covering traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine. The library also has anatomical models, Internet access, and health care databases for research.

The Caregiver Resource Center and Library, at Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital in Frankfort, provides a caregiving support network for Benzie County. It features more than 350 resources on family caregiving in books, videos, pamphlets, brochures, journals, magazines, and newsletters. The Internet is also available with special caregiving Web sites bookmarked for easy access.

The Northern Michigan Consumer Health Internet Library is a system-wide networked Digital Library, supported by the Department of Library Services at Munson Medical Center. Public workstations that provide access to this library are located at five hospitals and six clinics in the Munson Healthcare service area.

Munson Medical Center is the home of The Health Sciences Library, which provides clinical medical research and support services to Munson employees and visiting students enrolled in Health Sciences programs at Michigan colleges and universities.

"The staff at each library does so much to make a difference in the communities they serve," said Platts. "We are glad to help people in the Munson Healthcare service area to understand health information and health-related issues. They, in turn, can make informed decisions about their health and formulate questions for their health care provider."

Seventeen libraries applied for the 2003 Citation of Excellence. Munson Healthcare's Department of Library Services is the first specialized library system to win the award. All previous citations had gone to public community libraries.

  MDMLG member Aimee Haley has just finished creating a master index for the MDMLG Newsletter.  It includes all the issues from 1989 to the present (more than 1,500 entries) and the entries are hyperlinked directly to the newsletter articles, when available.  Aimee created this index for her final project in her Indexing Class at Wayne State University.  Thanks Aimee!

Upcoming Dates:

Communications Committee 2003-2004

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