Newsletter Vol. 9 No. 2 April 2004

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Health Science Librarians

Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Medical Library Association

Table of Contents

Welcome from the Co-Editors

Is it possible? Can it really be true? Are we -- your lowly and hard-working newsletter co-editors -- really approaching the end of our two-year term?

I think we can hardly believe it. But it's true. [**sniff, sniff**] I'd like to thank the Academy, all the little people who made this possible, and ... oops! ... wrong speech, again!! [**nervous giggling**]

Seriously, while we didn't accomplish everything that we intended during our two years, we did manage (or so we think) to infuse some spirit back into the newsletter. And we did it all through our many trials and tribulations, which is a major testament to our commitment to the group.

This issue is loaded with information specifically relating to this year's MLA meeting in grand, old Washington, DC. In addition to a welcome from our current co-chairs, we've also got another incarnation of "The 'Unofficial' Guide to Who's Where and When" as well as a SIG Guide to the Conference. And there are a couple more 11 Questions -- this time from Greg Bodin and Michael Scott. And there's a housing update that include preliminary information about the 2005 meeting in San Antonio. (There should be more discussion of that during the SIG business meeting.)

And that's only the tip of the iceberg! So read on and enjoy!

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Letter from the Co-Chairs

Here we are again, only a month away from the MLA annual meeting (this year in Washington, DC), looking forward to the many opportunities the meeting always offers to get caught up with old friends, to make new ones, and to work together to accomplish our SIG goals. Your co-chairs are as anxious as any of the group to get there and get started!

The meeting will be a busy one for members of the LGBT SIG. As usual, we have a block of rooms booked for the group in a hotel that is less expensive than the MLA conference hotel, and many of us will meet each other first in this fashion: at check in, in the corridor, or at breakfast. If you're not staying with us at the Jury's Normandy Inn, be sure to join the group for dinner at our social evening (Sunday, May 23rd, at 7:30 p.m). We're going to the Dupont Italian Kitchen (DIK); the evening has been arranged by Rick Barry, our man in Washington; be sure to contact him in advance if you haven't done so already.

On Monday the 24th, the first of our two co-sponsored programmes takes place at 3:30 p.m. With the Cancer Librarians, we are co-sponsoring "Making Critical Decisions: End-of-Life Health Care." Although our co-sponsorship of this programme did not result in any LGBT focused papers in the presentation, it looks as though the papers being offered are very interesting. We encourage you to attend.

Our business meeting immediately follows this programme (5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.), and we will be dealing with a very full agenda. We have to plan for the next annual meeting, find a successor for Gail Persily whose term as co-chair is coming to an end, and take care of a number of other items which will appear on the agenda later in the month. If anybody has topics they want included on the agenda, please contact one of your co-chairs before the meeting so that we can be sure to include your concerns.

On Tuesday the 25th, the second of our co-sponsored programmes takes place at 2:30 p.m. This programme is entitled "The Power of National and International Health Initiatives." Dr. Anthony J. Silvestre - a founding member of the Caucus of LGBT Public Health Workers of APHA and of the Center for Health and Sexual Orientation at the University of Pittsburgh - will speak about the importance of including LGBT health issues in public policy documents. His paper is entitled "The Power to Influence Health Policy." There are two other presentations in this session.

These are the official events, but as we all know from attending other meetings, there will be many unofficial meetings, lunches, dinners and evenings-out in the course of the time we are in Washington. Networking is what meetings like this are all about, and it's fun, as well as informative and useful to make connections at meetings. We're getting together for a good time, and nobody knows how to have a better time than the members of this group!

Your co-chairs want to thank all of the many participants who have contributed planning and energy to put this extravaganza together on your behalf, among whom are: Richard Klein, Ammon Ripple, Bryan Vogh, Chris Shaffer, Michael Scott, Rick Barry. We really hope that we haven't forgotten anybody and that everybody whose name doesn't appear in this list will be planning to do something so that they can appear in next year's list of people to be thanked. We also want to thank Jon Crossno and David Midyette, our newsletter editors who are working hard at getting out to you all the news that's fit to print!

Looking forward to seeing many of you in Washington in May ...

Tom Flemming and Gail Persily, co-chairs
12 April 2004

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"Position" Available

Wanted: Female co-chair for the MLA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Librarians Special Interest Group. Must be female, and a member of MLA, must have a sense of humor and be willing to serve a two-year term as co-chair beginning at the end of the annual meeting in May 2004.

The SIG needs help from its membership. Gail Persily, our current co-chair will have reached the end of her two-year term in May 2004 and we need to replace her. She has done excellent work in helping to rejuvenate the group and in reaching out to other SIGs to find common ground on which we can all grow and become stronger, but her time is nearly up as co-chair. While I am sure she has enjoyed her term of office, I suspect that she isn't anxious to have to extend it.

We need a volunteer, or a draftee, before the meeting begins. We need someone who will attend the Washington meeting and be willing to share the chair with me for the next year. The terms of the co-chairs are staggered so that only one of us leaves office every year. The task of leading this group is not dreadfully onerous, but it can be as exciting as the incumbents want to make it. There is lots of scope for activity and involvement, even for (heaven forbid!) activism, if you want it. Won't some strong woman step forward and help to lead us for the next two years?

Expressions of interest, nominations and outright volunteers all welcome. Please contact Tom Flemming (tomflem@mcmaster.ca) - or Gail (gail.persily@library.csf.edu) directly - for more information. We can allay your fears and pique your interest, but you have to supply the willingness to serve!

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Housing Update (from Richard Klein)

Washington, DC - Jury's Normandy Inn - May 21-26, 2004

There is still room (but barely) for our SIG at the Jury's Normandy Inn. After speaking with one of the hotel managers (Marina), you will still be able to call for the rooms you need. But you have until Friday, April 23, to do so. Mention "Special Interest Group" in order to get our group rate. Call 1-800-424-3729; or 1-202-483-1350. Presently our group rate is $125, single, and $135 double, per night, plus 14.5% tax. Cancellation is by 4 p.m. hotel time, 24 hours in advance to avoid charges.

As of April 22, we have had a quota of 17 rooms for each night for our group. The most number of rooms our group has used has been 13 for May 22-25. (People are also staying before and after these dates.) So, there is availability. But you have to act quickly. After April 23, rooms are subject to availability and the "going" rate. And the hotel is quite filled for this period.

As of April 5, our room count was as follows:

• Wed. May 19 — 2 rooms
• Thurs. May 20 — 4 rooms
• Fri. May 21 — 9 rooms
• Sat.-Tues. May 22-25 — 13 rooms each night
• Wed. May 26 — 4 rooms
• Thurs.-Fri. May 27-28 — 2 rooms each night

The hotel offers a daily continental breakfast for $5.50 (plus tax) as well as a complimentary wine and cheese reception on Tuesday afternoons (for hotel guests only). Free fitness center privileges at the Jury's Courtyard (located across the street from the Washington Hilton) are available to Jury's Normandy Inn guests. Please also refer to the information on the housing section on our SIG Web site.

If anyone needs troubleshooting assistance with getting reservations, please either email Richard at rsklein_98@yahoo.com or phone him at home at 773-327-4618.

San Antonio - May 2005

I have done some initial troubleshooting if there is interest in having SIG housing for next year's MLA in San Antonio. I believe the dates are approximately May 13-18. It appears (though not 100% sure) that the MLA conference hotel is the Marriott River Center. In previous years, the San Antonio convention center was our locale for the actual meetings.

I have discovered there is a Red Roof Inn, which is within 2.5 blocks of the Marriott River Center Hotel and about 3 or 3.5 blocks from the Convention Center. So in either case, both places are close by. San Antonio will be warm at that time of year but will not have the heat of June, July, and August. I was advised there is a trolley route which runs about every 12 minutes which takes one within a block of the River Center or possibly the Convention Center, but that needs to be checked.

The Red Roof Inn is a clean, comfortable, though not terribly exciting, place to stay. It is located on I-37. And one would have to walk under the highway to get to the convention center and downtown San Antonio, etc. I was advised that the rooms even facing the highway are quiet. Rates would be $69.99 per night (plus tax), subject to confirmation, and the rate includes a continental breakfast. There is an outdoor pool on the grounds, and corridors are interior so one would not have to walk outside to get to one's room.

In any case, perhaps this might be brought up for discussion at the SIG business meeting? I could also try to check out other places, though I don't think they will be this inexpensive. So there are possibilities for next year!

Richard S. Klein, 2400 N. Lakeview Ave. # 512, Chicago, IL 60614-2732 Tel: 773-327-4618
also: Aqua Terra Travel, Chicago, IL 800-376-3784, 312-787-2400 (leave message for me, and I’ll get back to you)
Email: rsklein_98@yahoo.com (please note there is an underscore, not a dash between rsklein and 98).

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SIG Program: "Making Critical Decisions: End-of-Life Health Care"

Sponsored by Cancer Libraries Section; co-sponsored by Relevant Issues Section, Research Section, and LGBT SIG.

Date: Monday, May 24
Time: 3:30-5 p.m.
Location: Military

Health sciences librarians play a key role in helping patients experience a dignified, comfortable, and peaceful death. From advance directives to grief and bereavement, from hospice care to pain management, patients and care givers have significant and varied information needs. Librarians improve the quality of compassionate care for people who are dying by providing health, legal, and ethical information. How can librarians best assist those making critical decisions regarding end-of-life health care?

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SIG Program: "The Power of National and International Health Initiatives"

Sponsored by Public Health/Health Administration Section; co-sponsored by LGBT SIG.

Date: Tuesday, May 25
Time: 2:30-4 p.m.
Location: Monroe West

Significant initiatives have been undertaken to support the global public health infrastructure to more effectively meet the challenges to the public's health at the community, state, and national level and to reduce disparities in health. National health initiatives, such as Healthy People (HP) and the Turning Point projects, provide opportunities for libraries to act as partners in health promotion and disease prevention efforts. Anthony J. Silvestre, associate professor, Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, will offer a perspective on the development of HP 2010 objectives. Contributed papers will be presented by information professionals playing a role in local, state, national, or international health initiatives.

SIG Presentation: "The Power to Influence Health Policy" by Anthony J. Silvestre, Ph.D., LSW
Time: 3:15 p.m.

Librarians and professional library associations have had major impacts on the health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people and on the development of health policies. In some cases, decisions by individual librarians have made a substantial difference in the lives of LGBT people. Additionally, the formal support of the profession of the early LGBT movement provided credibility and resources when they were most difficult to get.

This support continues in the face of ongoing political pressure. The recent congressional investigation of NIH's support of HIV and LGBT health research is the most recent and most publicized example of inappropriate political interference into the research process. The resulting dearth of LGBT research has negatively affected efforts to affect LGBT health policies and programs. The barriers to LGBT research arise from the lack of federal funding, inadequate resources to deal with all health disparities, the relative silence of our associations and schools, and lack of political will.

The development of "Healthy People 2010" and the "Healthy People 2010 Companion Document for Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Health" illustrates the impact of politics on LGBT health policies. As such it sheds light on the practical steps that can be taken to improve health policy in the future. Librarians and their colleagues in the wider research community have the power to make a difference in health policy.

About the Speaker:
Anthony J. Silvestre, Ph.D., LSW, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. He has worked to lessen health disparities based on sexual orientation and gender identity since the early 1970s when he served as Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Governor's Council for Sexual Minorities, the first governmental body ever formed to end discrimination based on sexual orientation. More recently, he has served as a past president of the Caucus of LGBT Public Health Workers in relations with the American Public Health Association. He also served as an editor and co-author of the "Healthy People 2010 Companion Document for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health."

Tony is a longtime gay rights activist who has also been a champion of and partner to the library community for many years (as well as a heavy user of the services provided by the Health Sciences Library System at the University of Pittsburgh). He remembers using the ALA equal rights resolution from 1971 and an accompanying bibliography in his lobbying and education efforts because ALA was the first professional association to pass such a resolution affirming that equal rights should be extended people of all sexual orientations. That one-page bibliography used to be one of the only ways LGBT information was disseminated when there was no Internet and few books and articles in the libraries on this topic.

His appreciation for the role of information/informatics in public health was proven locally last year when he helped get a Public Health Informatics course into the MPH curriculum at the University of Pittsburgh. He serves as the principal faculty member and co-teaches the course with faculty librarians, including SIG program coordinator Ammon Ripple.

Tony has a lot of experience working with policymakers and plenty of stories to tell and strategies to share that may help the library community make a difference in health policy regarding LGBT health research and other health policy issues.

For more biographical information and a photo, go to http://www.idm.pitt.edu/faculty/silvestre.html.

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SIG Guide to MLA '04: Washington, DC

The "Unofficial" Guide to Who's Where and When

Calendar — May 2004

Arrivals & Departures

Hotel Information

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SIG Social

This year's SIG Social is scheduled for Sunday evening, May 23, at the Dupont Italian Kitchen (1637 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20009, 202-328-3222). The restaurant is also known as "DIK" for short.

Currently, social attendees will be seated in groups of six, and we'll either be in the dining room at street level or on the 2nd floor next to the DIK Bar (depending on the weather).

Rick Barry, our social coordinator, has been eating at DIK for more than 10 years. If you haven't let Rick know that you will be coming to the dinner by now, please do so as soon as possible. You can reach him by email at rbarry@ana.org.

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Business Meeting

Date: Monday, May 24
Time: 5-6:30 p.m.
Location: Map

The LGBT SIG Business Meeting will be held on Monday, May 24, from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Map Room. The agenda will be distributed to the list within the next couple of weeks. If you have suggestions for agenda items, please send them to the co-chairs as soon as possible.

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SIG-Related Events (By Day)

Here is a brief summary of SIG member activity during this year's meeting. The information presented here was either supplied by SIG members or obtained by searching the MLA's Itinerary Builder/Program Viewer for names from the membership roster on the SIG Web site.

Links to paper/poster abstracts have been supplied when available. Please note: Not everyone may be attending the meeting, but even if someone is not attending, the work will be there. So come on out and show your support.

Definite attendees will be marked with an asterisk [*].

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11 Questions

Greg Bodin

When is your birthday?

31 October, Halloween

Where are you located geographically?

My boyfriend and I own a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy, little shotgun house in the Faubourg Marigny, New Orleans, Louisiana. Check out my neighborhood (http://www.marigny.org/ or http://www.relocateneworleans.com/neighborhoods/faubourg.cfm)

I telecommute from New Orleans, but my office is at the HAM-TMC Library, located in the Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas.

Where did you get your MLS?

Louisiana State University, 1994. If I'm ever abducted by aliens, call the Alumni office, they'll know where to find me.

What was the worst part of library school?

Two things come to mind:

1) Group projects - I didn't always get to work with the sharpest tools in the shed

2) The required cataloging class - I don't think I need to say anything more

How do you really feel about cataloging?

I have a healthy respect for it, because I fear it.

Actually, cataloging is very sexy (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/lists/library.html)

I have a funny anecdote about how I pissed off a cataloger. When I was a young, green little graduate assistant, I was working the reference desk with one of the catalogers. While she looked at my screen I entered purposely misspelled terms to see what records came up. Lots of laughs! She didn't find it amusing for some reason…

What would your mother say was your most embarrassing moment?

I was a band fag. I played the tuba. The repertoire for tuba is limited. Imagine me playing a solo tuba piece in front of my high school. Aren't you embarrassed for me?

What would you say was your mother's most embarrassing moment?

I can't imagine she ever had any. I take that back, I was an evil, spoiled brat of a child. I'm sure I was pure hell and embarrassed her regularly.

How did you come to medical librarianship?

A long time ago, in a universe far, far away, I was an underpaid public library branch manager at a bustling suburban branch library. I wanted to move to New Orleans and I wanted to make more money. In a stroke of good fortune, karma, and luck, a job opened up in New Orleans for a medical librarian at a teaching hospital. The rest is history…

An informationist is …

A trite, silly term. I'm too busy being a LIBRARIAN to figure out what it means.

Fondest SIG/MLA memory?

I'm sort of new to the group. I enjoy dinner with everyone and hope that maybe one year my travel budget will allow me to actually stay for the entire conference and maybe attend the SIG program.

What is the most trivial fact you have rattling around your head?

Noun declensions: English gave up on these long ago. Latin has five. Finnish has a mind-boggling fifteen! See the list at http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/finnish5.html.

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Michael Scott

When is your birthday?

January 13

Where are you located geographically?

Minneapolis, MN

Where did you get your MLS?

University of Missouri

What was the worst part of library school?

Listening to professors drone on about library service that most of the time isn't what really happens.

How do you really feel about cataloging?

I wouldn't want to do as my career, but I'm glad it (and catalogers) is there. My ultimate cataloger would be so in tune with the patrons that they would look for ways to better blend cataloging rules with how end users approach a search engine (card catalog or search engine.)

What would your mother say was your most embarrassing moment?

Running over a gas meter at 6 a.m. while delivering newspapers in high school. Amazing how loud that is that early in the morning. Definitely not silent but potentially deadly!

What would you say was your mother's most embarrassing moment?

I can't really say.

How did you come to medical librarianship?

Needed to do something after college when I didn't make it into grad school to become a physical therapist. A librarian at my college encouraged me to pursue librarianship. After a stint in two academic medical center libraries and several years working for vendors, here I am.

An informationist is …

Someone who can ideally thoroughly understand medicine (at least a specialty) and employ good librarian skills to not only find the information practicing medical staff need, but also analyze the data and make it useful. Librarian shouldn't be afraid of these folks; they ought to be working with them. If you think they're the enemy (which I don't), then use this advice: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Fondest SIG/MLA memory?

I have always had fond memories when I see all the SIG folks I know at MLA. Two come to mind: the Ovid party in Vancouver and J. Dale, Brian, Greg, and I doing dinner and the "scene" in San Diego.

What is the most trivial fact you have rattling around your head?

Farrah Fawcett was only on Charlie's Angels for on season and then replaced by Cheryl Ladd. OK, lots of people know that I guess. How about this: Boy George appeared in an episode of "The A Team."