Contributed papers will be presented on Sunday, October 4 from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Posters will be on display on Monday, October 5 from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Presenters should be available to discuss their posters from 11:00 a.m. to noon on October 5.
See the Call for Papers and Posters for submission details!
Speaking of MLA, yesterday's MLA Focus included information on how MLA members can get FREE video of all the MLA '09 plenary sessions. I tried this and it works swell. It takes a little time since one has to set up an account to "purchase" the videos from MLA. Links to download the videos are sent to you in your e-mail. So right now I'm listening to fellow Midwest Chapter member Michael Homan delivering his Janet Doe Lecture. Thanks MLA! This is one really great benefit of membership.
This morning, seeking a change of scenery from my luxuriously appointed office cubicle, I trekked upstairs to the 2nd floor periodicals section. I spent some very fruitful time there scanning the library literature the old-fashioned way, in print. One of my finds today was Mitch Fontenot's article in the Fall 2008 issue of Reference & User Services Quarterly (amusing title: The Ambidextrous Librarian, or "You Can Teach a Middle-Aged Dog Some New Tricks") on mid-life career changes for librarians. He too made the leap to academic librarianship after more than several years as a specialized librarian. I found his frank discussion of the challenge of publishing research encouraging. I went right up to the 4th floor, grabbed our copy of the recommended The Librarian's Guide to Writing for Publication, and checked it out.
I'm not sure how this happened but somehow I never managed to take a "research methods" class when I attended library school way back in the dark ages. So sitting on my desk is a copy of Practical Research Methods for Librarians and Information Professionals which I borrowed a few weeks ago from another OhioLINK library. Late this summer, I am hoping to begin a study as part of the NAHRS Mapping the Literature of Allied Health project.
As an instruction librarian, I spend a lot of time showing other people how to search for information. Online searching is something that I also did not really study in library school. Your intrepid blog editor earned her M.L.S. a full two years before Tim Berners-Lee even proposed the World Wide Web. Of course, I have taken numerous formal training courses in searching specific databases. But I have learned the techniques of searching mainly by doing. So I found the section on search styles and tactics in Andrew Booth's article "Using Evidence in Practice" in the December 2008 issue of Health Information and Libraries Journal very illuminating. I generally teach "building block" searching to my students but in my own searching, I am more of a "berry picker" or even a "pearl grower."
That's what I'm reading today. What are YOU reading today? Comment below!
]]>But I did enjoy following the MLA '09 Twitter feed last week. Wednesday morning's exchanges were particularly informative (to someone thousands of miles away) and lively.
So I was pretty interested this morning when I snagged this post "Paper Highlights Pros and Cons of Twittering at Academic Conferences" from The Wired Campus blog in my feed reader. I clicked through to this draft copy of the paper "How People are using Twitter during Conferences" available online to get the details.
The multi-national group of researchers asked the question “Can Twitter (or any other microblogging tool) help to improve interactions among learners, and enhance their learning experiences?” They surveyed 41 conference attendees of five particular conferences. They found that Twitter exchanges are useful for more than just following conference events and exchanging information. They facilitate communication about emerging issues and provide a forum for parallel "backchannel" discussions. The respondents noted that tweeting (gotta love that verb) enhances networking and community. So, yes, Twitter can add value to conferences.
Whaddya think? Should we try this at this year's Midwest Chapter conference?
Rachel Walden posted this Wordle word cloud of the MLA blog earlier today. So your intrepid blog editor just knew she had to make a word cloud of this blog. This is fun!
I monitored the "Top Technical Trends III: Technology Fusion" panel using Eric Schnell's Cover It Live feed yesterday afternoon. The tweets really could only give the flavor of the discussion with little detail which is a bit disappointing. But I did catch the videos as they were posted. The time difference is a bit of an issue for those of us in EDT. The session was only about halfway through when it was time to leave work. But this morning when I brought up the feed page again, the entire session was there for me to replay. I am actually just keeping that feed "open" to keep track of today's conference tweets as everyone gets started with the day. As I am typing this, the tweeters are doing an excellent job reporting the Social Networking Task Force Open Forum with lots of interesting crosstalk between them.
Another great way I'm keeping an eye on the conference is with Facebook. Most of my Facebook friends are librarians and many are posting updates and, even better, photos to their profiles. Fun!
Keep up the great work social networkers!
This year the Official MLA Bloggers (profiled here) have it all together on the Official MLA 2009 Blog. (You might recall that in order to follow all the bloggers last year, David Rothman set up a feed to gather them all together.) You can check the MLA Blogger Calendar to see which events your favorite blogger will be covering. Additionally this year, there are the MLA '09 Twitter account and Flickr group. All of these already have posted content, so we are off to a great start!
Fellow Buckeye and Technology Trends Panel virtual presenter Eric Schnell has set up a CoverItLive site for the Monday panel. You can sign up for a reminder there on the blog entry. I've done this already and have a note on my Outlook calendar as well. (I hope I got the time difference right.) I'm really curious how this will work.
Attention Midwest Chapter Members attending MLA: please also consider sharing YOUR insights, experiences, and photos here on ConnectMidwest. You can even write up your experience after you get home. Contact me and I'll show you how!
Have a safe trip everyone! I'll be with you in spirit. Next year, Barbara, supervisor of my supervisor, and I will be joining you all in Washington, DC.
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The display debuted at our 2008 conference at Michigan. It is currently featured on the always informative Midwest Chapter website.
In February, the display traveled to Illinois and was displayed by Beth Carlin at the 12th Annual Career Day sponsored by the Dominican University GSLIS Alumni Council.
In March, your intrepid blog editor exhibited at the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science Career Night here at the Kent campus. We have exhibited at this event before and really enjoy it. This year we had quite a lot of interest in the scholarships that are available for the 2009 Midwest Chapter/MLA Conference which will be held here in Ohio in October.
After the Kent event, I packed up the display and gave it to Career Night organizer Rhonda Filipan. She graciously took it with her down to Columbus and Stephanie Schulte exhibited for the Midwest Chapter at the Columbus version of the event.
The next stop for the membership display was at the Ohio Health Sciences Library Association Spring Meeting at the Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library in Columbus where Midwest Chapter Representative at Large Ximena Chrisagis set up the exhibit.
Stephanie Schulte took the membership display to Indiana for it's final spring show at the ISHLA 2009 Meeting at Notre Dame in mid-April.
The display is now back "at home" with Membership Secretary Rebecca Caton. But it longs to be back on the road again!
The display promotes membership in the Midwest Chapter/MLA and careers in health sciences librarianship. Midwest Chapter members are encouraged to display the poster at any event in which they participate, including local career fairs, library school events, and state or local library association meetings. The display is lightweight, comes in a compact carrying case, and easily rolls out to full width for display on a tabletop. Pretty nifty!
To reserve the display for a particular event or for more information, contact Midwest Chapter/MLA Membership Secretary Rebecca Caton.
After a great lunch at Due Amici, we walked back over to the Statehouse for a tour and even more meeting.
On Sunday evening October 4, we'll be hosting a fabulous dinner reception at the Statehouse for conference attendees. We are looking forward to seeing you there!
So, dear chapter members, if you are going to MLA '09, apply for this award! You will be able for free to attend the so popular and useful Sharing Roundtables lunch sponsored by Chapter Council. Previous winners of this award found the experience rewarding. You can apply for this award whether or not you have already registered for the lunch. Just make sure that you are registered before the meeting. Tickets are $38 and must be pre-paid by the applicant. The two winners will be reimbursed $38 each after the meeting.
All you need to do is write a paragraph or two describing “Why I Deserve a Free Lunch.” Creativity and conciseness are encouraged! Entries are judged on humor, pathos, and/or neediness.
For complete Free Lunch Award application information, click here!
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Last week, my neighbor to the north, The Krafty Librarian, sent me a comment here to ask me to pass along to Midwest Chapter members this year's call for MLA bloggers. She'll be there and has already been posting about the conference including this recent post on cheap travel deals to Hawaii and an informative post about the call for bloggers with all the details. She notes that it is important to get as many people blogging as possible so that they can cover as many aspects of the convention. And did you know that you can even get AHIP points for blogging the convention? The blogger application deadline is April 24, 2009. Results will be announced May 1, 2009.
So you say, "I can't blog MLA because I don't even have a blog." Well, if you are a Midwest Chapter member, please consider blogging MLA for ConnectMidwest! If you are interested, contact me and I'll get you all set up! If you take your camera along, we can even post your photos.
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Papers and posters may highlight practical problem-solving approaches, report on research in librarianship, document collaborative efforts or outreach activities, or describe innovative programs, resources or services. Contributed paper and poster topics are as unlimited as your imagination, talents and creativity can devise.
Contributed papers will be presented on Sunday, October 4 from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Posters will be on display on Monday, October 5 from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Presenters should be available to discuss their posters from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on October 5.
For contributed paper proposals, submit a 250 word abstract to describe your paper. Include your name, position title, address, phone number and e-mail address. The abstract should be sent to: Leslie Schick, University of Cincinnati Health Sciences Library, PO Box 670574, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0574 or e-mailed to leslie.schick@uc.edu.
For poster proposals, submit a 250 word abstract to describe your poster. Include your name, position title, address, phone number, and e-mail address. The abstract should be sent to: Linda DeMuro, Director of Library Services, Nationwide Children's Hospital Library, 700 Children's Dr., Columbus OH 43205 or e-mailed to Linda.DeMuro@NationwideChildrens.org.
The deadline for abstract submission is May 31, 2009. Notifications of paper/poster acceptance/rejection will be made by June 30, 2009.
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They will be honored at the 2009 Awards Ceremony and Luncheon during MLA '09 in Honolulu, HI, Monday, May 18, 2009. Congratulations!
]]>The Midwest Chapter/MLA’s 2009 "Free Lunch Award" is open for applications, and two awards will be offered to Midwest Chapter/MLA members. The official name of the lunch is the Chapter Council Roundtable Lunch, which will be held during the Medical Library Association Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, May 17.
The Roundtable is not just a lunch, but a great learning and networking opportunity as well. You can select one of 30 topics and participate in an informal and lively discussion at your lunch table. The list of topics is located on page 10 of the MLA Meeting Preliminary Program. Additional information on each topic is available on Chapter Council website here.
Requirements: