Submitted by Nell Aronoff and Ginger Trow, Communications Committee, Upstate New York and Ontario Chapter
Save the Date for the 2018 Upstate New York and Ontario Chapter (UNYOC/MLA) Annual Conference
The Upstate New York and Ontario Chapter (UNYOC) Annual Conference is scheduled for November 14–16, 2018. The event will take place in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is located in Ontario, Canada, not far from the US/Canadian border. Historic sites, shopping, and picturesque wineries await you in Niagara-on-the-Lake. A passport, passport card, Trusted Traveler Program card (for example, NEXUS), or an enhanced driver’s license are required for any US citizen traveling to and from Canada. More details will be available soon on the chapter website.
“Shake It Up” UNYOC/MLA Annual Conference 2017
The 53rd UNYOC Annual Conference was held in Syracuse, NY, on October 25–27, 2017. The conference convened at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel. The theme for the conference was “Shake It Up,” referencing Syracuse’s nickname, the Salt City. The meeting was enlightening, and as one happy attendee wrote: “UNYOC always ‘works’ for me! It’s a great opportunity to learn something I didn’t know I needed to know, to visit with vendors, and to network with fellow librarians.”
Continuing Education Class
Joey Nicholson, NYU Health Sciences Library, New York University School of Medicine–New York, led the continuing education class, “Instructional Design: Proven Principles and Practices for Librarians Who Teach.” Nicholson discussed the theories and practices behind learning and talked about ways that instructors can help enable student learning. He reviewed different instructional design models and built in time for participants to start devising their own curricula. He stressed that learning outcomes and objectives are crucial elements in instructional design and shared some techniques for assessment. It was a very informative class that was well received by participants!
Conference Program
- Michelle Kraft, AHIP, Floyd D. Loop Alumni Library, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH; former MLA president; and insightful thought leader and author of the popular blog, Krafty Librarian, opened the conference with her keynote address, “Wrestlers of Change.” Librarians are being challenged to tackle technology changes, driving them to rethink traditional roles and established doctrines, Kraft told the crowd. The needs of patrons and their organizations are evolving. Change can bring new opportunities for librarians to expand and diversify their skills and roles, and Kraft detailed numerous examples of progressive new programs and customized services being rolled out by librarians across the country. From supporting bioinformatics for researchers to inserting health information into patient video systems, medical librarians, she assured listeners, are actively and successfully responding to new professional realities.
- Joshua Steinberg walked the audience through a range of use cases and scenarios where mobile apps can provide quick answers to many common questions in “Point-of-Care Medical Apps: How to Use ’Em, How to Teach ’Em, How to Make ’Em”. He highlighted some of the most popular apps for medical staff as well as apps that he has personally developed. He also distributed a list of recommended mobile apps and referred the group to his website to learn more about the best mobile tools for medical staff. Steinberg, who teaches at State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate and United Health Services (UHS) Wilson Medical Center in Binghamton, is both a physician and a prolific software developer. He is the author of more than twenty medical apps currently available on Google Play and iTunes.
- In “Polish Your Prose: Editing Your Scholarly and Creative Works,” Sherry Larson-Rhodes, the first year experience librarian at SUNY–Geneseo with a master’s degree in organizational communication, led the group through a series of challenging, interactive copy editing exercises and illustrated grammatical tips and finer points of good writing along the way. The group came away with a greater awareness of good writing practices as well as useful techniques to apply when participating in scholarly writing projects or assisting others with their scholarly and creative work.
Member papers, lightning talks, and posters were also presented at the conference. MLA President Barbara A. Epstein, AHIP, FMLA, and MLA staff member Kate E. Corcoran represented MLA at the meeting. For more information, please visit our website or Facebook page.
