Comments for MLA Connections

Comment on MLA’s Future by What is the Purpose of an Association? - Things of interest to a medical librarian. - Krafty Librarian

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:29:37 +0000

[…] Blumenthal wrote a very thought provoking post on the future of associations. In the past people usually belonged to an association so that […]

Comment on Board Proposes Dues Increase for 2012-2013 by Jim Brucker

Jim Brucker — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:11:30 +0000

Thanks for the history and explanation, Scott (see Alisha’s comment) and Jane. I certainly agree that the discussion and debate is essential. However, here is the bottom line about the voting process: The members who can afford memberships but cannot afford to attend an annual meeting will have no chance to vote on the increase of their membership dues.

There will be other members who are not able to attend the annual meeting for other reasons, but, in the end, the members who might be most impacted by this decision will not be a part of the decision action. For those folks, the $30 increase (by 2013) could very well affect membership in various MLA sections, which could diminish section revenue.

A mail-in proxy vote would be the appropriate path for this, as plenty of organizations collect votes without expecting all members or stakeholders to be physically present at a single board meeting or conference.

Just one perspective on a complex situation. Personally, I have no issue with the increase, as it is simply a part of reality.

Sincerely,
Jim

Comment on Board Proposes Dues Increase for 2012-2013 by Alisha764

Alisha764 — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:29:51 +0000

First, thank you for the details in the post. I appreciate the information. I was originally caught off guard by members only being able to vote at the MLA annual meeting. I blogged about this online and a great conversation ensued on the importance of the debate. I wanted to post that here in case others have questions about the vote being only for those attending the MLA annual meeting: http://alisha764.com/2011/04/06/must-be-present-to-be-counted/

~Alisha

Comment on Board Proposes Dues Increase for 2012-2013 by Jane Blumenthal

Jane Blumenthal — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:17:51 +0000

Beginning in 2009, the MLA Board and staff have cut total annual expenses by over $440,000 (13% reduction) without substantially affecting any existing programs and services. These cuts include the elimination of temporary and permanent staff positions (20% reduction), elimination of all of MLA’s outside contractor agreements and fee-based governmental services agreements with the exception of conference services, and the adoption of virtual meeting and other technologies to manage our programs and accomplish the same tasks at much lower cost. Just as in our members’ institutions, current MLA staff members have taken on additional roles and responsibilities to ensure that the association’s programs and services continue to run smoothly. These changes, however, have also created opportunities that have allowed MLA Headquarters to provide additional services to the members including e-conference registration, virtual meeting and distance education technologies to committees, chapters and sections, and a new association management system with the e-portfolio capability which will be introduced at MLA ’11.

Comment on Board Proposes Dues Increase for 2012-2013 by bandym

bandym — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:48:53 +0000

As a longtime member and former board member I know this kind of action is not undertaken lightly. I also know about some but not all of the actions taken by the board and headquarters to reduce expenses. I think it would be worthwhile to share that information with the members.

Comment on New Roles for Librarians by Lori Winterfeldt

Lori Winterfeldt — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:17:47 +0000

Just this week I moved into a new role from Chief, Library Service, for the Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System in Manhattan to that of VISN 03 MyHealtheVet Coordinator.

For those not familiar with the terminology, VISN stands for Veterans Integrated Service Network which is the entity that lies organizationally between the Central Office in Washington and the local facility. MyHealtheVet is the VA’s personal health electronic record for access by Veterans.

I’m really excited about my new role, because I see it as an opportunity to demonstrate what librarians do–connect people with the information that they need. Additionally, I have a great interest in Knowledge Management and I see this as an opportunity to reach out to–and work with–members at the decision making level and bring to light the need for information management strategies. Not just from a tech perspective, but from the actual usability perspective.

I almost see my latest role as a version of embedded librarianship.

Comment on What Sections do I Belong to? by PNC Weblog » Additional Details Continue to Come in About the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:33:24 +0000

[…] that. There has been steady work on improving the MLA’s own site itself, for instance. See here and here and here and for some info about some of the improvements that came from the […]

Comment on Introduction of Incoming Pres-Elect by MLA President and Board Members « Krafty Librarian

MLA President and Board Members « Krafty Librarian — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:15:37 +0000

[…] Not only will you learn a little bit about their professional activities but you will be directed to Jerry’s video clip about his personal interests, learn how to pronounce Rikke’s name, and find out about […]

Comment on Get CONNECTED before the MLA Annual meeting by Connie Schardt

Connie Schardt — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:30:33 +0000

This is a great tool for connecting with Annual meeting participants. It’s been up for a little over a week and already it has helped 2 members find roommates for the meeting and it identified a Library School student coming to the MLA for the first time.

Comment on Please come to Washington (not now) in May! by Different Things at MLA 2010 Annual Meeting « Krafty Librarian

Different Things at MLA 2010 Annual Meeting « Krafty Librarian — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:13:10 +0000

[…] President Connie Schardt’s email to Medlib-l and her post on MLA Connections, discusses our Keynote Speaker, Daniel Pink author of “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers […]