MDMLG News

Christina Wallace, Editor
Valerie Reid, Webmaster

Table of Contents

The President’s Message
Preview: MDMLG September General Business Meeting
Michigan Library Association Annual Conference
Fridays @ Shiffman Learning Café Series
Upcoming C.E. Opportunities
MDMLG Summer Luncheon
MDMLG Listserv

First, thank you for the trust you have placed in me by selecting me as MDMLG president for 2004/05. I had written a first draft of a few goals I set as president for the year. We then had our first Board meeting and there were so many exciting ideas flowing from board members that my list began to increase in length.

The accomplishments of this Group are impressive. Let me list some of the recent ones: a high caliber newsletter published quarterly; professional web site; active listserv; continuing education events during the year that bring in librarians from across the state and from our Canadian neighbors; increasing membership; great programming and brown bag sessions at our regular meetings; consumer health teaching tips on the web; salary surveys; a healthy treasury; sponsorship of research; and now sponsorship of a health science library student at WSU.

This year in order to address the time constraint issues we all have, MDMLG will be holding fewer meetings. Our kickoff meeting is scheduled for Sept 9^th at BiCounty. Our second meeting of the year is tentatively scheduled for Dec 2^nd. The Professional Development committee is targeting late March for our first CE offering with a second one to following in late spring. And finally our annual summer program will be held in the second half of June. I will be looking for your feedback on how this schedule meets your needs.

I know it has been said before, but hold on to your patience and let me say it again – I know we are all busier than ever. Really!! But a local professional organization of the caliber we have created in MDMLG is a precious thing. We need fresh exciting ideas; plans that spark renewed interest in experienced librarians, that light up enthusiasm in new librarians and that invoke pride and eagerness in library students. MDMLG needs the participation of all its members. Maybe it is writing an article for the newsletter, maybe it is speaking up and discussing issues at a general meeting, maybe it is offering to host a meeting or facilitate a brown bag, maybe it is serving on a committee, maybe it is attending meetings and CE events and asking that one important question that only you have which sparks a new thought or action, maybe it is asking for help on the listserv, or maybe it is even agreeing to run for office! I would ask you to consider sharing your talents by running for a Board position in the coming year.

So even though we created more goals for ourselves, I am proud that I have been asked to lead this organization this year and I REALLY want to hear from each one of you. What would you like to see accomplished now and what would you like MDMLG to be in the next few years?

Work with the Program and CE committees in order to continue to provide excellent professional growth opportunities despite the decrease in the number of meetings we are holding this year.

Evaluate the effectiveness of our programs after holding fewer meetings (four Board meetings and four general business meetings per year).

Set up a Bylaws Committee to revise the terms of office and suggest other appropriate changes to the bylaws for a vote in September.

Review the ethical ramifications of vendor support for programming and continuing professional development.

Maintain the professional status of the MDMLG listserv.

Encourage broader participation in the association by the membership.

Study the feasibility of adjusting the voting board position to include communication as well as public relations.

Consider the benefits of incorporating MDMLG.

Provide support for the Library and Information Science program at WSU by offering opportunities to students in the health science library field.

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The meeting will be held in the basement of the Collier and BB Meeting Room. Attendees should park in the Patient/Visitor Lot and enter the hospital through the main entrance facing 10 Mile Road. Take the stairs or the elevator directly behind the information desk down one floor to the basement. The meeting rooms are directly across from the stairway, elevator.

For driving directions: http://www.henryfordhealth.org/body.cfm?id=37469 

The Michigan Library Association Annual Conference Preliminary Program is available in PDF format on the MLA website at http://www.mla.lib.mi.us .

The Preliminary Program provides you with everything you need to register for the conference, including:

• Titles, descriptions, dates, and times of preconferences (taking place on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning).
• Titles, sponsoring divisions/roundtables, dates, and times of program sessions.
• Information on keynote speakers, which this year include professor Marshall Keys of Simmons College, Baseball Legend Ernie Harwell, author/trainer Maureen Burns, and Michigan Author Award winner Patricia Polacco.
• Information on free tours, the All-Conference Reception at the Traverse Area District Library, CEUs, poster sessions, the Internet Room, division and roundtable membership meetings, the Silent and Live auctions, and WSU and U-M alumni receptions.
• Information on hotel rates at the Grand Traverse Resort--the discounted conference rates have been extended through the weekend so you can enjoy the resort after the conference is over.

It is never too early to start planning! The Early Bird Registration deadline is September 3. Be sure to check out the conference website at: http://www.mla.lib.mi.us .

Eva Davis
Annual Conference 2004 Publicity Chair
TSD Board Chair

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The Shiffman Medical Library offers a variety of educational programs for Wayne State University health sciences faculty, students and staff. The library also offers workshops and customized training programs for members of the community. The Shiffman Library librarians are also pleased to assist individuals in learning about health sciences information resources that can be useful in research, papers, presentations, instruction and clinical care. These classes and training sessions are open to MDMLG members, so take advantage of what Shiffman has to offer!

Registration procedures are located on the Shiffman Education and Training website: http://www.lib.wayne.edu/shiffman/geninformation/ed.php 

Upcoming Schedule

September
Fridays @ Shiffman: 1:30-3:30pm, Lab #169

September 16th & 30th - EndNote Extreme

October
Fridays @ Shiffman: 12noon-1:00pm, Lab #169

October 8^th - External Funding Resources
October 22^nd - Where's That Article?

EndNote Extreme
October 14^th and 28^th, 1:30-3:30, Room #217

The current schedule is posted on the Shiffman website at: http://www.lib.wayne.edu/shiffman/geninformation/ed.php 

We welcome all MDMLG members to our Shiffman training/instruction sessions.

Nandita Mani
Wayne State University / Shiffman Medical Library

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Upcoming C.E. Opportunities

MLA Satellite Teleconference

The Art and Practice of Electronic Journal, Book, and Database Licenses: Practical Tips for Health Care Organizations

Wednesday, September 22, 2004
1:00 p.m., central time

Hosted Locally by Providence Hospital, Southfield
For directions and information about Providence, go to:  http://www.providence-hospital.org/centers/ 

More information to come.
Thanks to Carole Gilbert and Jane Potee and Swets Information Services.

For more information about the teleconference, go to:  http://mlanet.org/education/telecon/licenses/index.html 

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October 26-29, 2004
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa

C.E. Offerings Include:

• Poetry in the Branches (Oct. 26^th, 27^th)
  Information on hosting poetry events.
• Understanding Cross-Generational Communication at Work (Oct. 26^th)
  Communication skills development.
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Building Effectiveness from the Inside Out (Oct. 27^th)
  Improve trust, productivity, effectiveness and time management.
• Getting Published: An Overview for Librarians (Oct. 27^th)
  Tips and advice on preparing and submitting manuscripts.

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From Dialog… Quantum2

"Quantum² is an innovative skills development program provided free of charge by the Information Professional Development Group at Dialog. The program is designed to help information professionals expand their services, increase their visibility and value, and improve the flow of information within their organizations."

Visit the Quantum2 website for more information about workshops:
http://quantum.dialog.com/training/workshops/

Christina Wallace 
Windsor Regional Hospital

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MDMLG Summer Luncheon, June 2004

This year’s Metropolitan Detroit Medical Library Group summer luncheon was a great success. Over 60 members attended the luncheon which was held at the Somerset Inn in Troy. The meeting began at 11AM with an hors d’oeuvres and networking reception. The reception was followed by lunch. At 1:30, keynote speaker Judith A. Seiss gave a talk entitled "The Visible Librarian – Advocacy And Marketing". Ms. Seiss stressed the importance of customer service and marketing one’s library. This is something that librarians are generally not comfortable doing and is not historically taught in library school. She also emphasized the value of knowing the corporate culture and aligning the library with the strategic objectives of the parent organization.

The business meeting followed the presentation by Ms. Seiss. Daria Drobny gave a moving tribute to long time MDMLG member Lynn Sutton who is leaving her position at Wayne State University and the Detroit area. All who have had the good fortune of knowing and/or working with her will miss Lynn. Officers’ and committee reports were followed by presentation of certificates. Karen Tubolino is the new president; Diana Balint is president-elect. Many people work to keep your organization going.  Can you help? It doesn’t necessarily require a huge commitment of time. Contact any Board member or committee chair to find out how you may help.

Our thanks to Joe Jursa of StatRef, Erin Kennedy of EBSCO and Charles Breneman of Binding Unlimited for their sponsorship of our luncheon.

The next meeting will be in September. Plan to join us. Make a resolution that this will be the year you will truly participate in your professional organization!

Carla Caretto
Oxford Public Library

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A listserv is provided for all MDMLG members to share ideas, to seek help and support from other librarians, and to network and communicate with each other. Our listserv is just one of our many faces to the professional world. Thankfully we have an excellent moderator in Valerie Reid. Valerie is also MDMLG Webmaster, and has posted listserv guidelines and tips on the MDMLG website. For more information, visit: http://www.mdmlg.org/listserv.htm 

The following is a quick overview for the MDMLG Listserv.

Guidelines:

Attachments are not permitted on the MDMLG listserv. If you have a file which you need to distribute to the group, please contact the MDMLG Webmaster for assistance (vreid1@sladen.hfhs.org).

In an effort to keep the listserv of a professional nature, anecdotes, jokes, and stories are discouraged on the MDMLG listserv. However, if you feel that an off-topic message would benefit the listserv members, please put "CHAT" in your subject line.

Vendor and charitable solicitations should be sent to the list moderator for approval prior to being posted to the listserv.

Common Commands:

Christina Wallace 
Windsor Regional Hospital

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Communications Committee 2004-2005

There’s always room on the Communications Committee! For anyone interested in joining and earning AHIP points, please contact Christina Wallace. We also accept submissions at all times from any MDMLG member! If you have an announcement or an item of interest, send them to Christina Wallace at cwallace@wrh.on.ca .

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