Newsletter Editors
Ryan Harris, University of Maryland, Baltimore MD
Emily J. Glenn, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Seattle WA
Spring is here! We hope all of you who will be traveling to MLA this year will find the information in this newsletter useful and inspiring!
This issue includes thoughts from new MLA President-Elect Jerry Perry, who discusses his vision for librarians. Emily Vardell recommends some DC hot spots and tells us about her trip to the Olympics! And of course, we have some terrific shout-outs from our SIG leaders, conveners Kelly Gonzalez and Steven Douglas. Don't miss out on our two SIG-sponsored sessions (and thanks to Susan Swogger for coordinating session programming on behalf of the SIG).
New to this issue: a map for MLA 2010 that includes SIG-related and SIG-recommended locations. We want to thank all of those who have taken the time to provide content for this edition of the newsletter.
Your editors,
Ryan and Emily
PS: Isn't it great to have SIG colleagues and friends? Keep in touch by joining the SIG group on Facebook.
It is hard to believe that is 2010 already and nearly time for Spring Break! As a member of the National Program Committee, I am all too aware that this year’s annual meeting will be in Washington D.C. coming up in May. Other members of the SIG that are on the NPC are Jerry Perry and Chris Shaffer. A special congratulation is due to President-elect Jerry Perry! Many of you will also be active on the Local Arrangements Committee for the annual meeting. Way to go!
Speaking of MLA 2010, we want to continue to encourage our program planner
Susan Swogger as it looks like the SIG will be co-sponsoring
some interesting programs at the annual meeting:
• AIDS 2010: Evolution of Information
• Health Information for Those Left Behind: Outreach and Services for the
Disenfranchised, Marginalized, and Unconnected
The minutes from the 2009 business meeting in Honolulu (KG - still jealous of those of you who attended) have been posted to the SIG Web site. Thank you J. Dale Prince!
Thank you Robb Mackes for your work on the membership directory. We need your gentle reminders.
Richard Klein continues to do a fantastic job of finding hotel accommodations for the SIG. He has come through again in Washington D.C. I hope many of you have already reserved your room at the Normandy.
We had a conference call with Peter Hepburn, the chair of the External Relations Committee of the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Roundtable to explore ways our two groups could work together. Some of the ideas we discussed were a joint service project, the sharing of information resources each group develops, and inviting members of the other group to our social events.
Steven is working to plan our social event. Dupont Italian Kitchen was popular the last time we met in the District, but if anyone has a favorite place near the hotel please let him know.
Last but not least, thank you to Ryan Harris and Emily
Glenn for pulling together the newsletters. We truly appreciate their
hard work.
Kelly Gonzalez (Convener, 2008-2010)
Steven Douglas (Co-Convener, 2009-2011)
Our SIG business meeting will be held at the Hilton Washington, Oak Lawn Room (lobby level) on Monday, May 24, 4:00 - 5:00 PM. RSVP via our Facebook event site.
Our SIG social will be held at Dupont Italian Kitchen on Monday, May 24th at 7:00 PM.
The SIG hotel is the Normandy.
Here is where some members will be staying:
| Who | Arrive | Depart | Staying |
| Brenda Linares | 5/20/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Windsor Park Hotel |
| Chris Shaffer | 5/20/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Hilton |
| Dick Miller | 5/21/2010 | 5/27/2010 | Normandy Inn |
| Emily Vardell | 5/20/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Windsor Park Hotel |
| Jeff Huber | 5/22/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Carlyle Suites |
| Kelly Gonzalez | 5/20/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Hilton (21st and 22nd) Normandy Inn (23rd-26th) |
| Mary Helms | 5/22/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Normandy Inn |
| Meredith Solomon | 5/21/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Normandy Inn |
| Michael Newman | 5/21/2010 | 5/27/2010 | Normandy Inn |
| Patricia Padula | 5/21/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Hilton |
| Rick Barry | 5/22/2010 | 5/26/2010 | DC is home |
| Ryan Harris | 5/21/2010 | 5/26/2010 | Hilton |
| Steve Douglas | 5/22/2010 | 5/27/2010 | Hilton |
AIDS 2010: Evolution of Information
Monday, May 24,
2:30 - 4:00 PM
The last ten years have seen an explosion in research and information related to HIV and AIDS. This program will highlight library initiatives for outreach to patients, consumers, families, and public health professionals. It will also include strategies for working with faculty and students who are conducting research in this burgeoning field.
Health Information for Those Left Behind: Outreach and Services
for the Disenfranchised, Marginalized, and Unconnected
Wednesday,
May 26, 9:00 - 10:30 AM
This session will discuss outreach and education for populations that may be left behind by traditional health information services. These include, but are not limited to, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community; minority groups; and seniors. Discussion will include challenges in providing outreach and education to these groups, as well as successful initiatives that have been developed to better serve these groups.
How does it feel to be able to serve as
Pres-Elect/President of MLA?
It was a terrific honor to be asked to run, and I’m eager to serve. With the
help of Headquarters staff, I’m learning the details of my duties first as
President-Elect, then President, and finally Past-President. I’ve already
attended my first Virtual Board meeting as incoming President-Elect, and am
delighted by the prospect of working with our exceptional Board and of course
the great folks at Headquarters. It’s a bit daunting right now but in truth it’s
awfully exciting. And every so often that Talking Heads song runs through my
head when I think about the election and where I am in my life, and I ask
myself, “Well, how did I get here?” So it feels a little strange but also
energizing and joyful.
What will you bring to the position of
President?
I’m a hard worker and I’m diligent and driven, but also in some measure I’m
idiosyncratic. I enjoy problems and complications – they make life interesting
and show us all our diversities in perspective and perception. In terms of the
role I’ll be asked to play, among my assets are that I really like people and I
like to hear their stories, and I like to tell stories. I think my enthusiasm
for people, my openness and my sense of humor will be strengths in the next few
years.
What are some of your goals?
I have about a year before I formally announce what my priorities will be during
my term as President. Of course, I already have some ideas! I’d like to make it
easier for folks to participate virtually in our Association-related meetings.
I’m interested in promoting opportunities to rapidly advance new folks coming
into the Association into leadership roles. More broadly, and on behalf of the
profession and not just MLA, I’m interested in creating and enhancing leadership
opportunities for folks who have been working as information professionals or
five, ten, fifteen years and longer and who are not necessarily interested in
Director or Deputy Director positions. But, I also have to wonder, what do the
members see as critical priorities?
At our library, we think in terms of frames of reference when it comes to
decision making. In my opinion, decision making for the Association needs to be
considered in an inclusive and engaged frame of reference, while not sacrificing
timeliness and the need to respond rapidly. So lately I’ve been thinking that
during the lead-in year as President-Elect I’d like to set up a mechanism to
read and hear about what the membership see as the most pressing issues. I’m not
sure how that will be organized, but I expect I’ll use some sort of social media
tool to create an open place where folks can post suggestions and ideas and
where those ideas can be read and appreciated.
I also have to acknowledge that there are a number of important priorities
advanced by our most recent MLA Presidents that have not come to conclusion and
that we’ll want to continue promoting – Presidents serve for one year and that
is not a long time to get all that much done!
Anything else?
I’d really like to thank the members of the SIG – all the longstanding members
but also all the new folks who have recently joined – for the tremendous support
I’ve received over the years. I really identify with my role as a librarian and
the SIG has provided me with a kind of home or context for my professional
identity, for almost 15 years now. Our group’s simultaneous continuity and
reinvention is exciting and a great source of optimism!
Compiled by Ryan Harris
Thanks to Emily Vardell, Director for Reference, Education, and Community Engagement at the Louis Calder Memorial Library, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, for answering this installment of 11 Questions.
Tell us something about where you live now.
I moved to Miami, Florida, last September. There is definitely something
exciting about living in a place that to many people is a vacation destination.
I've yet to go to the beach, however. It just doesn't go well with being a
redhead!
Where did you get your library degree?
I did all my library coursework online with Texas Woman's University while
living in Vienna, Austria. It was quite convenient to have all my classes online
- I was doing my homework while all of my classmates were asleep!
How did you come to medical librarianship?
My mother (who is a library professor) showed me an ad for the NLM Associate
Fellowship program, and it seemed like a really interesting opportunity. I
thought, if that's the kind of thing you can do with an MLS, why not try it?
Then, as luck would have it, a year and a half later, I was accepted into the
program!
What was the best part of library school?
The best part of library school was hands-down the four health sciences courses
I took with Dr. Jeff Huber, a fellow SIG member!
A 2010 librarian is ... (fill in the blank)
whatever she or he may define it to be. (to paraphrase a popular Wellesley
tradition)
What is your fondest SIG/MLA memory?
That would have to be dancing to some great 80s music in Honolulu with Brenda
and Joey. We had a great time in that little bar!
What should we be sure to see at MLA 2010 in DC this year?
Be sure to check out the Human
Rights Campaign shop on Connecticut (near
Dupont Circle and the conference hotel). It's one of only three in the US. I
also recommend the nearby
Kramerbooks & Afterwords Bookstore and Shop (open 24 hours, so you can
easily go after all-night medical-library revelry).
What is the most trivial fact you have rattling around your head?
At the end of "The Sound of Music," where the family is "climbing every
mountain" and escaping the Nazis, they are actually walking right into Germany.
What is your favorite Web 2.0 technology?
I am a little blog-obsessed. Not only do I read a number of them daily, I also
have a personal blog, created my library's blog, and am the official blog editor
for the Public Health/Health Administration Section.
What has been your favorite story from the news during the past year?
The promising steps forward for marriage equality in New Hampshire, Iowa,
Vermont, and DC.
Tell us about a recent travel experience.
Brenda and I just made a rather insane trip to the Olympics. We traveled through
Seattle (via planes, trains, and automobiles bus) and had only about 30 hours in
Vancouver. We used that time wisely, running all over the city, seeing the
Olympic torch, buying copious amounts of Olympic merchandise, and seeing the US
women's hockey team defeat China 12:1! It was hectic and crazy, but it was the
kind of once-in-a-lifetime trip that I will always treasure.
When is your birthday? / What is your favorite way to celebrate your
birthday?
My birthday is November 3rd. Growing up, I often combined my birthday with
Halloween parties, which was a lot of fun (I spent a particularly memorable one
with fake braids on the side of my head as Princess Leia). Now I like to
celebrate by going out to a good restaurant and maybe watching a good movie.
What would your family say was your most embarrassing moment?
The "style" of glasses I wore from 1990-1999.
What is on your "pleasure reading" bookshelf this week?
As a librarian, I am ashamedly lazy when it comes to leisure reading. Does
Entertainment Weekly qualify?
Paul Blobaum completed a two year term as Faculty Senate President at Governors State University. He received a Faculty Excellence Award from his peers in 2009 as well as four publications and three professional presentations in 2009.
Steve Grove is Director of the Aeromedical Library of the USAF School of Medicine in San Antonio and is preparing to move it to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The collection is international in scope and we hold a research collection of not only aerospace medicine but also special collections of Manned Orbital Space materials and papers of Hubertus Strughold, Harry Armstrong, and NASA collections.
Brenda M. Linares finished her second year of the NLM Associate Fellowship and joined the Calder Library on August 31, 2009, as Manager, Finance and Administrative Librarian in Medical Library Administration. In addition to her financial responsibilities, Ms. Linares continues to participate in the library's outreach activities.
Emily J. Vardell finished her second year of the NLM Associate Fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library and joined the Calder Library on September 1, 2009, as Community Engagement Librarian and Collections Liaison. In her new position, she is involved in the library's outreach activities and collection development.
This page was last updated on May 3, 2010.