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Press Releases

What's New: June 2005

To top of page MLA Honors Grants and Scholarships Winners at MLA '05

Each year, the Medical Library Association's (MLA) Grants and Scholarships Committee selects outstanding students and practicing health sciences information professionals to receive grants and scholarships. This year more than $40,000 in grants and scholarships was given to recipients who were honored at the MLA '05 Awards ceremony and luncheon in San Antonio, TX, on May 17. The individuals selected are:

  • Kristine M. Alpi, AHIP (David A. Kronick Traveling Fellowship)
  • Yin Aphinyanaphongs (Donald A. B. Lindberg Research Fellowship)
  • Marcy Brown (Hospital Libraries Section/MLA Professional Development Grant)
  • Shamsha Damani (MLA Scholarship for Minority Students)
  • Raphael Euppah (2005 Cunningham Memorial International Fellowship)
  • Ruiling Guo, AHIP (Medical Informatics Section/MLA Career Development Grant)
  • Teresa Hammett (MLA Scholarship)
  • Sharon Kambeitz, AHIP (Hospital Libraries Section/MLA Professional Development Grant)
  • Andrea Ketchum, AHIP (Continuing Education Award)
  • Kelly Klinke (EBSCO/MLA Annual Meeting Grant)
  • Christine F. Marton (Medical Informatics Section/MLA Career Development Grant)
  • Molly J. Montgomery, AHIP (EBSCO/MLA Annual Meeting Grant)
  • Peggy Mullaly-Quijas, AHIP (MLA Research, Development, and Demonstration Project Grant)
  • Carolyn M. Papa (EBSCO/MLA Annual Meeting Grant)
  • Paula Whannell (EBSCO/MLA Annual Meeting Grant)

Kristine M. Alpi, AHIP, Public Health Library, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, is the 2005 recipient of the David A. Kronick Traveling Fellowship, which awards $2,000 to cover expenses involved in traveling to 3 medical libraries in the United States or Canada for the purpose of studying a specific aspect of health information management. Alpi will use the fellowship to fund a project to capture knowledge about managing academic public health libraries and apply it to the development of libraries and information services for local and state departments of public health.

Yin Aphinyanaphongs, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, received the Donald A. B. Lindberg Research Fellowship for 2005. The $25,000 fellowship was established to fund research that links the information services provided by librarians to improved health care. Aphinyanaphongs proposes to create a Web-accessible system usable by librarians and clinicians (Evidence-Based Management search) that employs advanced pattern recognition technology to efficiently and accurately identify content-specific, high-quality articles in MEDLINE.

This year's Hospital Libraries Section/MLA Professional Development Grants were awarded to Marcy Brown, Health Sciences Library, Forbes Regional Hospital, Monroeville, PA, and Sharon Kambeitz, AHIP, Library Services, Allina Hospitals and Clinics, St. Paul, MN. The award, sponsored by MLA's Hospital Libraries Section (HLS), provides librarians working in hospitals and similar clinical settings with the support necessary for educational or research activities. Brown will use the grant to pay the costs of attending a basic serials cataloguing workshop in Columbus, OH. Brown will use what she learned in the workshop to more effectively provide access to both print and electronic serials in her facility and to integrate the serials into their resource management program. Kambeitz used her grant to pay for the continuing education course, "Qualitative Evidence: Practical Methods to Gather and Analyze Information Behavior and Attitude Data," at MLA '05. Kambeitz will use what she learned in this course to design and conduct a research project about information-seeking behaviors in rural and underserved community hospital settings.

The 2005 MLA Scholarship for Minority Students, created to encourage minority library school students to pursue careers in health sciences librarianship, was awarded to Shamsha Damani, School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas-Denton. The scholarship is awarded to a minority student entering an ALA-accredited library school or with at least one-half of the requirements of the program to finish in the year after receiving the scholarship. Damani, a medical library assistant at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas-Houston, says that her interaction with patrons seeking consumer health information has enhanced her desire to become a medical librarian. She has also expressed an interest in expanding the availability of consumer health information in other languages.

MLA's Cunningham Memorial International Fellowship is available to health sciences librarians from countries outside the United States and Canada and provides up to four months of observation and supervised work in one or more medical libraries in the United States or Canada. Raphael Euppah is the recipient of the 2005 fellowship. Euppah, medical librarian, The Nairobi Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, gained the opportunity to visit various medical libraries including: Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida-Gainesville; Christiana Health Care System, Wilmington, DE; Gundersen Lutheran Library Services, La Crosse, WI, National Library of Medicine (NLM), Bethesda, MD; and Texas A & M University-College Station. During his fellowship, Euppah shared experiences with fellow health sciences information professionals, received PubMed and TOXNET training, and gained other skills and knowledge that he can apply directly to his library in Nairobi.

Ruiling Guo, AHIP, Idaho Health Sciences Library, Idaho State University-Pocatello, and Christine F. Marton, College of Information Studies, University of British Columbia-Vancouver, Canada, each received this year's Medical Informatics Section/MLA Career Development Grants. The grants, sponsored by MLA's Medical Informatics Section, awards up to 2 individuals $1,500 each to support a career development activity that contributes to the advancement of the field of medical informatics. Guo plans to use the grant to create a Web-based library-instruction tutorial on the use of library resources to support distance learning for students in the state of Idaho, as Guo's institution has been charged with being the primary source of health education in the state. Marton would like to continue pursuing her interest in the collection, storage, and retrieval of electronic health data through teaching and research and will use the grant to improve her knowledge of existing health care coding systems used in North American health care institutions and data repositories.

The MLA Scholarship recognizes a student who has shown excellence in scholarship and potential for achievement in the health librarianship profession. The scholarship is granted to a student entering an ALA-accredited library school or with at least one-half of the requirements of the program to finish in the year after receiving the scholarship. Teresa Hammett, College of Information, Florida State University-Tallahassee, is the 2005 scholarship recipient. Hammett is currently employed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as an epidemiologist and information specialist and has worked on an informationist assignment in the CDC Library. Her goal is to work as an informationist in a public health setting. She states that through her work, she has come to realize the importance of timely and accurate information. Already professionally involved, Hammett served on MLA's Public Health Section's 2005 Program Development Committee.

Andrea Ketchum, AHIP, Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, received the 2005 Continuing Education Award, which provides members with the opportunity to develop their knowledge of the theoretical, administrative, or technical aspect of librarianship. With the award, Ketchum plans to explore the relationship between standardized terminologies including MESH, NOMED, ICD-X, and CPT and the implications for medical librarianship, both within and beyond the library walls.

The EBSCO/MLA Annual Meeting Grant, sponsored by EBSCO Information Services, provides up to $1,000 for up to four medical librarians working in health sciences libraries with 2 to 5 years experience in the field, to attend MLA's annual meeting. This year's recipients, all first-time annual meeting attendees, are Kelly Klinke, Molly J. Montgomery, AHIP, Carolyn M. Papa, and Paula Whannell. Klinke, Medical Library, Liberty Hospital, Liberty, MO, is a 1-person hospital librarian who is active in her state organizations. She attended MLA '05 to become more involved nationally in the MLA Hospital Libraries and Consumer and Patient Health Information Sections and to participate in continuing education courses. Montgomery, Library, American Heart Association, Richardson, TX, is interested in presenting at a future MLA meeting. By attending MLA '05, she gained exposure to issues important to health sciences information professionals and was able to see how information is presented at the national meeting. Papa, Library and Community Resource Center, All Saints Healthcare, Racine, WI, submitted an abstract for the MLA '05 poster session and used the grant to see what others are doing in their libraries and to learn about new products and services.
Whannell, Health Sciences Library, Iowa Methodist Medical Center-Des Moines, whose job requires leadership responsibilities in several areas including collection development, education, and vendor decisions, attended MLA '05 to meet with other professionals with similar responsibilities.

Peggy Mullaly-Quijas, AHIP, Health Sciences Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City, received the 2005 MLA Research, Development, and Demonstration Project Grant, which supports research, development, or demonstration projects that help to promote excellence in the fields of health sciences librarianship and information science. Mullaly-Quijas will use the grant to support research that examines the potential effect of the Clinical Medical Librarian Program at the University of Missouri Health Science Library in shaping how physicians use information in their clinical practice, as well as determining if changes made to the current program model have improved its performance.

MLA, a nonprofit, educational organization, is comprised of health sciences information professionals with more than 4,500 members worldwide. Through its programs and services, MLA provides lifelong educational opportunities, supports a knowledgebase of health information research, and works with a global network of partners to promote the importance of quality information for improved health to the health care community and the public.

For more information, please contact Lisa C. Fried, mlapd2@mlahq.org, 312.419.9094 x28.

To top of page MLA '05 Public Relations Swap and Shop Ropes in Award-Winning Promotions

Medical librarians from across the country submitted promotional items varying from bookmarks to brochures to CDs to squeezable peaches at the Medical Library Association's (MLA) sixth annual public relations Swap and Shop booth at MLA '05 in San Antonio, TX. Each year the booth showcases medical librarians' creativity and innovation in marketing their library's services and provides a venue for exchanging public relations ideas. Open throughout the meeting, the booth also gives attendees the opportunity to discuss promotional tactics with representatives from Public Communications, Inc. (PCI), MLA's public relations consultant.

As shown in this year's "Best in Show" from the McGoogan Library of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center-Omaha, health sciences information professionals are drawing attention to their organizations in imaginative ways. The library marketed its "Passport to Information," a self-directed orientation for new students. Staff developed a booklet resembling an official passport to serve as a guide to the library. Patrons received travel-related items as prizes, including compasses and luggage tags, after participating in a sight-seeing tour of the library's stations.

All submitted samples were categorized and judged by PCI representatives for creativity, accomplishment of stated goals, and best use of available budget and resources. First, second, and third place certificates were awarded in each category. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all who participated in this year's booth. The winners of the 2005 MLA public relations Swap and Shop contest are:

Best in Show

McGoogan Library of Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center-Omaha
For encouraging exploration of the library with the "Passport to Information"

Medical Center/Hospital Libraries: Consumer Outreach

First Place: St. Thomas Hospital, Nashville, TN
Second Place: Seton Medical Center, Daly City, CA

Medical Center/Hospital Libraries: Professional Outreach

First Place: Atlantic Health System, North Central Region, New Jersey
Second Place: Cleveland Clinic Alumni Library, Cleveland, OH
Third Place: Bellevue Medical Library, New York, NY

Academic Libraries: One-time Event

First Place: Biomedical Library, University of Pennsylvania-Philadelphia
Second Place: Hopwood Library, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA
Third Place: School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Academic Libraries: Ongoing Campaigns

First Place: Learning Resources Center, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD
Second Place: University of Louisville Libraries, Louisville, KY
Third Place: Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, The University of New Mexico-Albuquerque
Honorable mention: Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah-Salt Lake City

National

First Place: Green-Field Library & Resource Center, The Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, IL

MLA, a nonprofit, educational organization, is comprised of health sciences information professionals with more than 4,500 members worldwide. Through its programs and services, MLA provides lifelong educational opportunities, supports a knowledgebase of health information research, and works with a global network of partners to promote the importance of quality information for improved health to the health care community and the public.

For more information, please contact Tomi Gunn , mlams@mlahq.org, 312.419.9094 x11.

To top of page MLA Thanks MLA '05 Corporate Sponsors

The Medical Library Association (MLA) and the 2005 National Program Committee (NPC) would like to thank the MLA '05 sponsors whose generous financial support enriched the MLA annual meeting experience for attendees.

MLA '05, held May 14-19, 2005, in San Antonio, TX, provided more than 2,600 colleagues with the opportunity to learn, share, and network through plenary sessions, continuing education courses, paper and poster sessions, and exhibits.

Among the many longtime sponsors who consistently contribute to making MLA meetings a success are: Elsevier, who once again sponsored MLA's annual meeting Internet Café; EBSCO Information Services, who sponsored the McGovern Lecture and Library of the Future session as well as the International Visitors Reception; Thomson /ISI ResearchSoft who sponsored meeting tote bags and; Ovid who, once again, supported the meeting badge lanyards. The MLA '05 President's Reception, held at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, was sponsored by Majors Scientific Books. McGraw-Hill, for the first time, supported a relaxation station as well as morning coffee tickets.

The association, 2005 NPC, and all MLA '05 attendees gratefully acknowledges the following supporters. Two jalapeno peppers indicate the highest level of sponsorship.

Two Chili Peppers
EBSCO Information Services
Elsevier
McGraw-Hill
Ovid
Thomson ISI ResearchSoft

One Chili Pepper
JAMA & Archives Journals

Amigos
CyberTools for Libraries
Doody Enterprises
Majors Scientific Books
MARCIVE
Matthews Medical and Scientific Books
New England Journal of Medicine
Thomson Scientific

MLA, a nonprofit, educational organization, is comprised of health sciences information professionals with more than 4,500 members worldwide. Through its programs and services, MLA provides lifelong educational opportunities, supports a knowledgebase of health information research, and works with a global network of partners to promote the importance of quality information for improved health to the health care community and the public.

For more information, please contact Ray Naegele , naegele@mlahq.org, 312.419.9094 x17.

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