Jerry Perry's MLA President Page

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Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:42:12 -0700

A portion of the facade of the EMP Museum, designed by Frank...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:41:46 -0700

A portion of the facade of the EMP Museum, designed by Frank Gehry.

Winter Board Meeting Update and Seattle Teaser

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:39:52 -0700

On February 15^th the Board of Directors met for its winter virtual meeting, leveraging the Association’s MegaMeeting service. Much of the meeting was spent with our President-Elect Jane Blumenthal leading us through a discussion of her priorities for her term – look for news about that in the April issue of the MLA News. Jane has some terrific ideas for leading us forward!

The sitting Board also reviewed and approved the grants, scholarships, and awards recommendations made by the Association’s many juries. This is a real highlight of the season, having the opportunity and honor to recognize our peers for their outstanding accomplishments. Congratulations to all winners and nominees!! We’re all proud of you!

The winter meeting signals the end of perhaps the quietest time of the year for the Association. With the release of the preliminary program and the opening of registration, our members and friends are gearing up for the upcoming Annual Meeting in Seattle (May 18 through 23). With thanks to our National Planning Committee, led by our General Manager Theresa Knott (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Head Coach Michelle Kraft (Cleveland Clinic, and member of the Board of Directors), look for a roster of star presenters, papers and posters. Seattle will be the backdrop for a game-changing conference! Register now!

A couple of members have asked me about our Tuesday night MLA Reception. This year we’ll gather to celebrate our community and the accomplishments of the annual meeting at the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum [ http://www.empmuseum.org/index.asp ] adjacent to the world-famous Space Needle. While we’re in town, the EMP will feature a new exhibit on the classic hard rock band AC/DC (“dirty deeds done dirt cheap!”), an ongoing exhibit on the iconic Pacific Northwest grunge band Nirvana, and a display of artifacts and props used in the popular, game-changing film, Avatar. Geeks and freaks and regular folks alike will enjoy the many, highly-interactive displays and activities throughout the unusual Frank Gehry-designed building. Look for news about the annual meeting in forthcoming releases of Focus, the News and this blog.

Until May, join me in welcoming Spring Training and the season when hope springs eternal!

Safeco Field, in Seattle, home of the Mariners.

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:37:56 -0700

Safeco Field, in Seattle, home of the Mariners.

The glorious Marina Towers along the Chicago River, photographed...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:36:23 -0700

The glorious Marina Towers along the Chicago River, photographed at night.

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Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:06:50 -0700

The “Peace Wall” mural in Bisbee, AZ!

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:05:01 -0700

The “Peace Wall” mural in Bisbee, AZ!

MLA Advocates for Health Info Professionals at the National Level, Too!

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:49:28 -0700

While each of us has a responsibility to be an advocate for our profession, there is also a need for coordinating our message of value to our nation’s leaders, including those who manage the purse strings – our Congress.

MLA provides coordinating services for its advocacy efforts by leveraging its highly experienced HQ staff and by working intentionally with sister associations, most often the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL). This strategy saves the Association significantly and outcomes-wise is showing good value for money, due in large part to the strong relationships that MLA staff and leaders have with key stakeholder groups. With AAHSL, MLA several years ago formed a Joint Legislative Task Force that provides leadership and oversight over outreach and messaging to Capitol Hill. The Task Force meets at least once each year, in the spring to address legislative priorities for the two associations, to meet with governmental relations staff from our sister library associations and other organizations including NLM and the AAMC, and to meet with Congressional staff to address issues related to our public policy priorities. Folks may recall that every time the MLA Annual Meeting is held in D.C., Capitol Hill visits are coordinated under the leadership of the MLA Governmental Relations Committee giving our members the opportunity to meet with Congressional staffers to convey our message of value. Legislative Task Force members also participate in making Hill visits at this time.

Together, the Governmental Relations Committee and Joint Legislative Task Force, a seasoned team of Association leaders, have been heading up our national level advocacy efforts, and they are doing a terrific job. In 2011, the AAHSL Board decided to help fund MLA in support of this successful collaboration. The GRC and members of the TF have worked hard this past year on two of MLA’s key advocacy objectives: improved funding for NIH and the national research agenda, and enhanced support for the National Library of Medicine. Both MLA and AAHSL have been especially busy of late:

· On January 30, MLA and AAHSL submitted a joint letter in opposition to the proposed Research Works Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD), stating that “This act would restrict access to information generated through public funds, overturn the successful NIH public access policy, and prohibit other federal agencies from establishing similar policies.”

· AAHSL and MLA are now considering a collective, positive response to the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA), which was re-introduced in the House of Representatives on February 9. This legislation is sponsored by Reps. Mike Doyle (D-PA), Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO). Senate sponsors are Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), and possibly Sen. Durbin (D-IL). FRPAA is essentially the mirror opposite to the Research Works Act and would ensure public access to Federally-funded research.

National-level advocacy relies on all of us to pay attention to what is happening in our Congress with legislation that impacts the important and valuable work that we do. The Joint Legislative Task Force, along with MLA’s Governmental Relations Committee and the GRC’s of our regional Chapters, all play critical roles of filtering out the legislative “noise” and focusing our collective attention on advocacy issues of true national (and international ) importance.

When you see alerts issued from the GRC, the Joint Task Force, or by MLA HQ, or by your Chapter’s GRC, please pay attention and consider your role as part of our collective advocacy strategy. Let your representatives in the House and Senate know what you think!

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Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:24:55 -0700

Blog Question re: Advocacy

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:24:21 -0700

A reader of the blog sent me the following question: “I am wondering where the patrons of these libraries will now go for information?”

That’s a great question, and one of the fundamental concerns raised by these closures for our health sciences librarians’ community of practice. Some hospitals and healthcare systems are making arrangements for licensing point-of-care databases and other resources and making them accessible via their local secured networks. Some are looking to establish contracts for service with local academic health sciences libraries, where the academic library provides access to resources, personnel support, or some combination therein. Since so many hospitals are part of systems and networks, some are consolidating information services in a central or “main” library service center, with the libraries at local sites being closed; customers throughout the network are expected to be served by that main library. Typically in these networked environments, virtual services are available and provided, as described in the latest MLA News. The position of MLA is that, however it is achieved, it is essential that a qualified health information professional be readily available to assist in addressing the information needs of the care delivery organization. Employing a health sciences librarian on-site is a cost effective, tried-and-true strategy for bringing forth the right information that is needed, when and where it’s needed.

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Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:11:18 -0700

A Hopi sunflower from my garden this past summer…

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:11:00 -0700

A Hopi sunflower from my garden this past summer…

Advocacy for Hospital Libraries: Everyone has a Role!

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:09:10 -0700

In 2011 two hospital libraries closed in the metropolitan Denver area. Both were part of the MedConnect consortium headquartered at the Library I direct, the University of Colorado Health Sciences Library. Both had outstanding librarians but that did not save their libraries. In the case of one, the librarian was but one of several hundred employees laid-off at once. At the other, the library had been experiencing a protracted decline over the last several years, tied to cyclic budget reductions.

How do we help hospital librarians promote their value? My position is that everyone in the Association has a role to play, and that it’s critical for everyone to help. But if it’s YOUR library that’s at risk, here are some steps you can take:

· Know who is making the decisions: If you work at a hospital or in a healthcare delivery system, find out who controls the purse strings and find out what matters to them. Ask your boss, ask your co-workers, ask your union, ask your Library Committee Chair, ask whoever makes sense to ask, ask until you know!

· Figure out what matters most to them: Is patient safety the top priority? Preventing readmissions? Profits? Reducing expenses? In order to position yourself to present the strongest possible case for your library, you need to know what the decision-makers care most about and what messages they will hear above the din of extraneous information.

· Who are your allies? If your library is at risk for closure, who have you lined up in advance to go to bat for you and your customers? Let’s not be quixotic here; power speaks, and so is the Medical Chief of Staff on board? The Chair of your Library Committee? The CFO? Who with authority and financial clout is ready to speak up for your library service? What have you done to prepare her for that role?

· What is your message? No one has time to read more than a handful of bullets. We can regret that, but regret won’t save a job on the line. Is yours a message of successes achieved? Commitments of improvement based on what matters most to the decision-makers? If your leadership cares most about preventing readmissions, how will your library contribute to that goal? What is your sound bite about how the library will make a difference?

· What is your evidence? What sort of evidence matters to the decision-makers at-hand? Will a fact or figure do? Will a citation from the library literature suffice, or does it need to come from another journal – say JAMA or NEJM? What sort of study will be convincing to that decider? Frame your argument – and evidence – around what will be quickly and readily understood. Now is not the time for nuance.

· Look for tested tools and templates you can use. MLA has put together a lot of useful resources to help you make your argument. First, take a look at MLA’s advocacy resources including the Advocacy Toolbox, on MLANET at http://mlanet.org/resources/#libpr. Do you need help with marketing your library? Stating the case for supporting your library? This Resources page has some good links for you to pursue. Note that some of these resources are for Members Only as a benefit of belonging to the Association. MLA also has a number of helpful policy statements that might include the data or argument you need; check out MLA’s Advocacy and Policy page, at http://mlanet.org/government/. One of the BEST MLA websites for hospital libraries in trouble is the Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians; see http://mlanet.org/resources/vital/. Here you’ll find the Medical Librarians Raise the Hospital Bottom Line brochure, the terrific Myths and Truths About Library Services PowerPoint slides and bibliography of sources, and links to the NNLM’s Hospital Library Toolkits (also at http://nnlm.gov/ner/lrm/promotion.html).

· What can you do next? Talk about the problem you’re having with others, and use your network of colleagues to brainstorm possible options and solutions. If none of the MLA resources cited above fits the bill, modify what’s on-hand. No two situations in a threatened library closure will be identical, and local conditions always trump. That’s why it’s important to understand what matters most in your local context.

Did the Denver area librarians try any of the above to save their libraries? Yes, absolutely they did, and yes, those libraries still closed. That does not mean that it’s pointless to try. If you really believe that as a librarian you contribute to improving the quality of healthcare where you work, then you must try. Will MLA meet all your advocacy needs? No, no association can or will. But MLA’s leadership is committed to trying.

Look for a future blog entry on what MLA is doing at the national level to advocate for all health sciences libraries.

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Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:28:17 -0700

An annual CU HSL holiday tradition - the Mitten Tree! Folks...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:27:46 -0700

An annual CU HSL holiday tradition - the Mitten Tree! Folks donate hats, gloves, scarves and mittens, which will be given to the Children’s Hospital Colorado.

A view of the side of our CU HSL building showing the 10 or so...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:25:07 -0700

A view of the side of our CU HSL building showing the 10 or so inches of snow that fell in the Dec. 21-22 storm, just now ending…

One of the CU HSL’s patios covered with last night’s...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:23:19 -0700

One of the CU HSL’s patios covered with last night’s and today’s snow! No need to just dream of a white Christmas…!

Happy Holidays!

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:21:20 -0700

My best wishes for the holiday season!

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Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:25:40 -0700

Molly Knapp as a zombie, courtesy of ZombieBooth (Android...

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:24:46 -0700

Molly Knapp as a zombie, courtesy of ZombieBooth (Android app)…