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Sue Skoglund, Editor
Valerie Reid, Webmaster
Table of Contents
Message From MDMLG President Audrey Bondar
MLA 2001 Wrap-Up
Editorial Note: New Series on MDMLG
Members
Meet Our New Members
Summer Luncheon Recap
September MDMLG Meeting
MHSLA Conference in October
Diane O'Keefe, Top Gun
Announcements
Who me? President of MDMLG? Who would have thought??
| As I begin my year as president of MDMLG I
look forward to the challenges that are ahead of me. Having completed my
first year of this three-year commitment I continue to have the
opportunity to have a positive impact on this group, its members and
others whom I have yet to meet.
Electronic Resources - As
a technical services librarian, I am faced with rapid changes at a pace
that continues to accelerate. I find myself amazed at how quickly the
number of electronic resources available increases. Only a few years ago
there were a handful of journals that offered electronic access. Now
there are hundreds that I might want to access but due to technical and
or financial restrictions, I am unable to provide access to them.
Sometimes we are able to overcome these obstacles but then find the
licensing restrictions present another whole set |
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| of problems. I don’t think I’m
alone in experiencing these difficulties. Who can help us facilitate
this process? Future programs will address some of these issues. |
Consumer Information – Studies
have shown that a large number of internet users are seeking health related
information. How can we guide them in the right directions? As medical
librarians and information specialists, our skills for evaluating information
for currency and accuracy are essential. How can we pass this along to those who
need it most? The executive board is working on ways to address this.
Continuing Education - Work has
already begun to plan for a PubMed class in the Detroit area. The dates and
location have not been determined yet. Please watch the web site for further
information. As soon as something is confirmed, you will be notified. An
additional CE class is also a possibility.
Marketing – As I look over
articles that appeared in past issues of the newsletters, I see some of the same
recurring issues. One is can we increase membership? The addition of the student
category last year is a step in the right direction and we will be working on
marketing our organization to students as well as others. Already many good
ideas are being considered.
Opinion – Having worked in several
hospital libraries over the years, (Henry Ford Hospital, Sinai Hospital of
Detroit, South Macomb Hospital and Hutzel Hospital) for more years than I care
to count, I know how difficult it can be to get things done when you are short
staffed. Again, we are being stretched to do more with less. Luckily for many of
us, MDMLG has been around to provide peer support. I hope this will continue. I
see this as a volunteer organization. No one receives a check from MDMLG for the
work they do. Unless you have served on a committee, chaired a committee or held
an office you might not appreciate the amount of work that is required to get
things done. My year as president-elect has opened my eyes even wider to this
fact. So, if you have not participated in one of these capacities or it has been
a long time, please consider volunteering. Your efforts will be appreciated.
Working together on a committee or an issue pertaining to your institution could
be quite valuable. It isn’t what you know but who you know that sometimes
makes the greatest difference.
Audrey Bondar
President, MDMLG
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By Bridget Faricy
This year’s MLA conference in Orlando, Florida saw a small
but highly visible presence of MDMLG members. Our local colleagues made their
mark with posters, presentations and awards.
Deborah Adams, of Botsford General Hospital, presented a
poster entitled Patron Access to E-journals and Books in a
Hospital Library. It was her first time presenting a poster and she is a
convert. "It’s not as difficult as you think." She recommends poster
presentation as a great way to meet colleagues, gain new perspectives on current
challenges and earn continuing education credits.
Carole Gilbert, of Providence Hospital, wore two hats as both
a presenter and as an honoree. She presented an invited paper for a program
entitled A Publishing Odyssey: What Medical Librarians and Journal
Purchasers Need to Know. She also received the national Lois Ann
Colaianni Award for Excellence and Achievement in Hospital Librarianship.
Congratulations Carole!
In talking to the attendees, two topics emerged as the
highlights of the conference: personal data assistants (PDAs) and benchmarking.
The PDA session held such an impact because it was specifically focused on the
potential applications of PDAs in Medical Libraries. Karen Tubolino, of John D.
Dingell VA Medical Center, felt the session was excellent. It helped define how
the library could take a leadership role with this technology and how it would
be ever more important to "focus on the electronic sources that we can
deliver right into the palm of our user’s hands."
The second session to cause a buzz was the benchmarking
session. Both Nancy Bulgarelli, of Royal Oak Beaumont, and Deborah Adams were
inspired by the session. The skills taught there could be immediately put to use
back in their respective libraries.
All attendees ranked the conference as a positive experience.
Some even voiced frustration that they could not attend all of the sessions!
Nods were given to the food and the accommodations, though some found Disneyland
to be more of an expensive distraction than an attractive benefit. Hopefully
next year’s conference in Dallas will prove to be just as exciting and
informative for MDMLG members.
Many thanks to Deborah Adams, Nancy
Bulgarelli, Carole Gilbert and Karen Tubolino
who generously gave of their time to be interviewed for this article.
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TOP
By Sue Skoglund
There was a flurry of messages on the MDMLG listserv this summer expressing
interest in seeing articles about MDMLG members in the Newsletter. Various
suggestions were made: "…have new MDMLG members’ profiles…"
"Do a mystery member column …" "…what’s that old [member]
doing..." The Communications Committee discussed these ideas and decided to
have a column on MDMLG members in each issue. The first article, immediately
following this editorial note, is on new members. The November issue will cover
long-time members, followed by mystery profiles in February, alternative careers
in April, and unusual things our members do in June. We hope you will enjoy
these articles.
Let us know if you think someone (including yourself!) would be especially
good to include in one of the issues. Your input helps make our Newsletter more
interesting and relevant for all of us. Thanks for the suggestions that prompted
this column. Keep them coming!
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By Carol Attar
Carla Caretto, Library Science student at Wayne State University, has
finished her coursework, and completed a practicum at Shiffman, and will
graduate in December, 2001. She has a bachelor’s degree in science, her first
love and intended career – but became disillusioned, as a graduate student,
with scientific research – which she feels is too dependent on commercial,
rather than academic, funding.
Carla is excited about her new career. "Information is the commodity of
the future," she says. She believes that librarians are the right people to
serve as intermediaries between the consumer and technology; citing the need to
guide consumers through information mazes and to educate them on the potential
hazards of invasion of privacy on the Internet. She has a special interest in
consumer health information, feeling that medical librarians have the expertise
needed by consumers trying to make intelligent decisions about medical
treatment. She is hoping to find a part-time position in a consumer health
library, a veterinary library, or other medical setting.
Because of Carla’s science education and training, she is the right person
to call for assistance with reference questions dealing with pure science or
scientific research.
 Bridget
Faricy, Senior Information Specialist at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak,
graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts degree,
majoring in English and Spanish….but no jobs were waiting for generalists. She
needed another degree, and, since her mom was a career nurse, thought that
nursing might be a good choice. She landed a job at University of Detroit Mercy’s
library working in circulation – thereby getting tuition paid as she worked
through the prerequisites for the nursing curriculum. She was promoted to
library tech, and spent the next four years working in that capacity and taking
courses. Then, anxious to be finished with school, Bridget transferred to Loyola
in Chicago, where she completed her nursing requirements and graduated in 15
months.
As a new nurse, Bridget thought she had landed her dream job when she began
working at Sinai in labor and delivery. But, says Bridget, "I hated
it!"
Trying to decide what to do, Bridget reviewed her previous jobs, and realized
that she had really enjoyed going to work every day at the library. So, while
still working as a nurse, she began library school at Wayne State. Her library
internship took her to the Plunkett and Cooney law library, where she was hired
part time. While still one class short of graduation, however, Bridget found she
was managing the whole library! Soon thereafter, she was working 60+ hours a
week, with no time for her personal priorities. Wanting to put balance back in
her life, and to make use of her nursing background, Bridget looked to the
hospital setting. Her next move was to Beaumont, where her current
responsibilities include reference and serials. Due to her experience in the law
library and her nursing training, Bridget is a good person to consult when
difficult reference questions regarding medico-legal and nursing practice issues
arise.
Asked for her thoughts on the future of the library profession, Bridget
talked about the continuing impact of technology. She sees increasing pressure
ahead from publishers to restrict access to materials, and believes that future
legal trends will make the old copyright law "seem like a walk in the
park." She believes librarians need to be vocal in opposition to
infringement of the fair use doctrine.
Summing up her career to date, Bridget says, "You could say that I
worked as a librarian to become a nurse, and then worked as a nurse to become a
librarian!"
 Elena Koustova introduces herself as ‘Helen,’ since that iteration of
her name lends itself best to English pronunciation. She is a Senior Information
Resource Specialist at Sladen Library, Henry Ford Hospital. In this position,
Helen staffs the reference desk, does literature searches, provides
bibliographic instruction, and is responsible for SDI’s.
Born in Russia, Helen studied Library Science at the Academy of Culture in
St. Petersburg, and then worked as a reference librarian at the National Library
of Russia. When her husband moved to the United States, Helen moved with him –
first to New York, and then to New Orleans. Their next move was to Ann Arbor,
Michigan, where she started working at the Preservation services of the Graduate
Library, U.of M., and later at the Science library. In 1997, Helen began
attending the School of Information full-time, while working part-time as a
professor’s research assistant at the College for Russian and Eastern European
Studies, and as a student reference assistant for Taubman library. She also
volunteered at the School of Information’s new, experimental Internet Public
Library (www.ipl.org). Eventually, the cost of education required her to reduce
school to part-time and to find full-time employment at the U of M Preservation
services. She obtained her library degree in 2000, and found her current
position at Sladen.
She is particularly interested in educational psychology, learning
disabilities and medical aspects of international adoptions, and is a good
person to talk to about good, non-U.S., medical web resources.
Helen is cautious about predicting the future of medical librarianship, but
she does see an emerging problem in our reliance on databases which reach
back only to 1966. In the near future, she believes, we must have increased
access to early medical literature.
Asked what led her to a career in medical librarianship in the first place,
Helen reports that three of her parents and grandparents were physicians and one
was a librarian! She had always been interested in medicine and research, so
being a medical librarian seemed a logical career.
 Patricia
Vinson is currently attending Wayne State University’s Library Science
program, with a concentration in Health Sciences and Archiving. Upon graduation,
she will have a certificate in Archival Administration, in addition to her
master’s in Library Science. She has completed her practicum at Hotel Dieu
Grace Hospital Medical Library in Windsor, and continues to work as a volunteer
for Toni Janik.
Librarianship is a second career for Pat, who worked for 25 years for Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Michigan before deciding it was time for a change. In
December of 1999, she left the "Blues" to pursue her childhood
interest – the field of Library Science. She feels that this is a wonderful
time for our profession. "The career options are endless!" she says,
and "In health care, librarians have, more than ever, the opportunity to
effect change in the quality and accuracy of information provided to health care
and the consumer community."
While her experience in the health sciences library is still limited, Pat
says she has expertise to offer her colleagues in the areas of instructional
design, customer service, and interpretation of health insurance benefit
programs.
BACK TO THE TOP
By Gay Byrnes
The MDMLG Summer Luncheon was held on June 21, 2001 at Mac
& Ray’s in Harrison Township. For those of us driving for the first time
from the West Side, we felt like it was in Phoenix. It is a lovely place, with
views of the water through huge windows and the best food, thanks to OVID.
Keith Allen, Sales Director, East Region for OVID
Technologies, spoke to us about the pricing for Consortium participation in OVID
databases. The pricing was based on the results of the MDMLG and MHSLA surveys.
The meeting was well attended and though we hated to hear it, Barbara Platts
announced her resignation as President of MDMLG. She will be moving to Traverse
City. She has been a great President and a beautiful representative for MDMLG.
We hate to see her go....best of luck Barb.
Audrey Bondar takes over the President’s gavel. She formally
accepted as President at the meeting.
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By Sue Skoglund
The next MDMLG meeting will be held at Mt. Clemens General Hospital on
Thursday, September 20, 2001. A panel discussion on E-Journals will be presented
by Deborah Adams (Botsford General Hospital), LeaAnn McGaugh (McLaren Regional
Medical Center), Ellen Marks (Wayne State University Shiffman Medical Library)
and Toni Janik (Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital). They will discuss all aspects of
E-Journals: selection, acquisition, budget, licensing, interlibrary loan,
access, marketing, cataloging, issues, concerns and positive outcomes.
Registration begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by the business meeting, a break
and the program. Further information, along with a map, can be found on the MDMLG
Meetings web page.
BACK TO THE TOP
By Gay Byrnes
The MHSLA Conference will open in Mt Pleasant on October 9 and
will run until Friday October 12. The Soaring Eagle resort will be our hosts. It
is always a vital meeting and this time, there will be CE Classes in so many
areas.
There are three CE classes being offered for the first day,
Wednesday, October 10. The Management of Electronic Resources is an all-day
class. Consumer Health, a subject that is gaining prominence, is the topic for
the morning half-day course. The session offered the second half of that day
will deal with our Brain, the Basic Tool of the Information Age and how we can
use it more effectively for information problem solving.
Thursday, Oct 11 will have the Keynote Address, a discussion
of Native American medicine, in the morning. There are two afternoon sessions.
Felita Wilson, Ph.D. is the Barbara Coe Johnson/Jean Brennan memorial speaker.
She will be addressing patient literacy. Duncan Sings-Alone, Ph.D. follows Dr.
Wilson, speaking on Reiki Healing.
Friday, Oct 12 starts off with concurrent sessions. Alexia
Estabrook from Providence Hospital is the presenter for a session that is being
offered twice: MHSLA Electronic Journal Club Navigating Web Crossing software.
The other concurrent sessions consider emergency preparedness and multicultural
challenges in healthcare. A final general session on Using Personal Digital
Assistants ends the conference.
The companies supporting this conference are Ebsco, Fennell
Subscription Service, Majors Scientific Books, Matthews Medical Books, OVID
Technologies, Inc. Rittenhouse Book Distributors, Inc., and Teton Data Systems.
Registration ends September 18th. Contact Doris
Asher at asherdoris@juno.com or
517/332-0004 for more information or check the MHSLA web site.
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Diane O'Keefe - Top Gun
| Diane O’Keefe won the "Top Gun" award at Space
Camp this summer. Diane has been going to Space Camp for several years
now. This year she participated in Aviation Challenge, a three-day
weekend program where adults trained in simulators as fighter pilots.
The training included land and water survival training and several
simulated flight missions attacking enemy positions. There was also an
escape and evade exercise at night where the adults dressed in
camouflage and tried to evade enemy hunters in the forest. |
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At the end of the program, the adults fly against each other in teams of two
- a pilot and a weapons officer in each plane - in a one-on-one plane battle for
the Top Gun Award. Diane and her teammate flew to victory and achieved the Top
Gun Award. To get more information about the adult programs at Space Camp, you
can check out the website: http://www.spacecamp.com/aviation/
or contact Diane at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital Library.
If you have an interesting hobby or story, contact any member
of the Communications Committee.
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Past MDMLG President Barb Platts is now at Munson Medical
Center, Traverse City following the retirement of Norma Powers.
Janet Zimmerman is the new director of library information
services at Bon Secours Cottage Health Services. She will begin September 24th.
Looking ahead, MDMLG is hosting next year’s MHSLA
conference. It will be at the Campus Inn in Ann Arbor Oct. 16-18, 2002. Further
information about the hotel can be found at http://www.campusinn.com
. Joanie Emahiser and Doreen Bradley are co-chairs for this event.
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Communications Committee 2001-2002
Carol Attar………………….. carolattar@home.com
Gay Byrnes…………………. Gaybyrnes@yahoo.com
Bridget Faricy………………. bfaricy@beaumont.edu
Helen Koustova…………….. hkousto1@sladen.hfhs.org
Maureen LeLacheur………… mlelach1@sladen.hfhs.org
Valerie Reid, web master…… vreid1@sladen.hfhs.org
Sue Skoglund, chair………… rohlibrary@hotmail.com
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