MLA President 2002/03

Linda A. Watson, AHIP Theme and Priorities for 2002/03 I want MLA to be recognized as the association of the most visible, trusted, and respected health information professionals in the world, based on clear evidence that the members make a positive difference in the quality of health in the world.

For this bold statement to become a reality within the next decade, we need to call upon our individual expertise, energy, and commitment, as well as our collective strength in numbers, our collective intelligence, and our collective voice. We have a strong foundation on which to build, established by recent MLA presidents and boards and carried forth by the creativity and dedication of MLA members and headquarters staff.

With the following specific goals for 2002/03, we will continue our journey together into the new century.

1. Cultivate an Expanded and Energized Workforce
(Our Collective Strength in Numbers)
The challenge of MLA's demographics is clear: we are a graying profession and must recruit new members as one of our highest priorities. The response to the challenge will mean telling the story of the value and joy of our work in such a compelling fashion as to attract new members to our profession and nurture them through our association.

A. Identify and support the next generation health information professionals

• Build on the work of the Task Force to Plan Recruitment for the Twenty-First Century Workforce and develop a process for personalizing and customizing our outreach to potential new members.
• Follow up on the insights gained at the Informationist Conference.
• Build on the spirit of Laura Bush’s proposal to recruit new librarians.
• Develop more targeted and defined relationships with the faculties of graduate schools of library and information science and informatics programs and more fully engage the students with the work of our association.

B. Serve the needs of members and engage their energy and creativity in the life of the association; seek 100% participation and deliver a 110% return on investment

• Assess member needs at various stages of their careers and develop ways to respond. Use member information to customize products and services.
• Engage the MLA Fellows in describing and transmitting our culture, traditions, and values in compelling ways to our own members and beyond.
• Continue building the virtual MLA, an “anytime, anywhere” association that adds value to our members through technology.

2. Foster a Learning and Evidence-Based Culture
(Our Collective Intelligence)
MLA should support members' personal mastery by harnessing the lessons of proven practice and forging new directions using the principles of evidence-based practice. We should also seek ways to repackage our knowledge for wider audiences.

A. Acquire, apply, and share what we already know

• Create a “Knowledge Marketplace” on MLANET by capturing, organizing, and promoting the explicit knowledge of members.
  • Promote our official journal, Journal of the Medical Library Association, as the core of our knowledgebase and extend its value beyond our membership.
  • Digitize our “core practice” handbooks and other publications to enhance access to and derivative use of our collective knowledge over time and provide for continuous updating.
  • Encourage members to submit best practices, such as development of expert searching guidelines or posting of teaching syllabi, for placement on MLANET.
  • Develop more powerful searching and data-mining capability across all of MLANET to make the richness of individual unit content more accessible and useful.
• Build on the work of MLA’s Center of Excellence to enhance member access to the knowledge assets of our association and promote the value of the Academy of Health Information Professionals as a framework for continuous learning.

B. Generate new knowledge

• Invigorate and support an MLA and member research agenda including making research a more comprehensive and visible presence on MLANET.
• Leverage our resources by seeking opportunities to partner with other agencies, organizations, and educational institutions to conduct joint research.
• Promote new knowledge and foster MLA’s research agenda through funding the Donald A. B. Lindberg Research Fellowship and selecting the first scholar.

3. Reach a Shared Community of Users to Improve Health
(Our Collective Voice)
There are many players who support health information literacy as a way to improve health. These players included governmental agencies, foundations, professional associations, private sector businesses, health care and public health professionals, patient educators, and health information professionals. MLA has developed a track record in consumer health-information training and delivery of quality information. We need to determine the most effective next steps. There are also real and potential barriers to access to necessary information against which MLA needs to take strong and thoughtful positions.

A. Define MLA’s role in health information literacy and articulate it aggressively to both consumers and other players

• Seek partnerships that complement and leverage the contributions and skills of MLA and its members including national, regional, and local health information literacy efforts.
• Explore adapting the American Library Association’s @your library campaign as health @your library.
• Continue to work with PCI, MLA’s public relations firm, to communicate the value of health information professionals to multiple audiences.

B. Continue MLA’s advocacy role in national information policy, legislation, and funding, especially that which has impact on biomedical research, health care, and scholarly communication.