MLA is proud to announce that we’ve signed a contract with LearnSomething to use their LearnerCommunity platform to host all MLA educational offerings starting in early 2017. This news heralds a new era of learning at MLA and for health information professionals around the globe!
We’ve christened our new learning platform (or LMS, learning management system) Medlib-Ed. The name echoes MEDLIB-L, the largest email discussion list and gathering place for our profession, and #medlibs, the Twitter hashtag started and used by medical librarians. It also captures the intent of the new platform, which is, to quote the tagline of the site, to be “The Learning Destination for Health Information Professionals.”
LearnSomething, a Xerox corporation, was chosen after a 10-month process in which MLA staff reviewed dozens of systems and, with members, viewed demonstrations of five. MLA will profit from LearnerCommunity's extensive experience working with associations and its economical, flexible, state-of-the-art platform.
The new platform will enable MLA to accomplish its strategic goal in education over the next three to five years, in alignment with the guiding principles set by the MLA Board. Medlib-Ed will seamlessly integrate into MLANET and will host MLA webinars, all internal MLA education programs, including trainings and orientations, and many new e-courses and programs in the coming years. The MLA Clearinghouse, which lists all courses offered for MLA CE credit, will be integrated into the Medlib-Ed catalog, making it much easier to find learning opportunities.
The new platform and our increased commitment of resources will provide MLA members and others interested in acquiring skills and knowledge in health information with unprecedented, one-stop access to opportunities to grow as a professional, participate in learning communities, and contribute to the profession as instructors and subject matter experts.
In September, a special working group of the Continuing Education Committee will work with headquarters staff to begin setting priorities for MLA curricula and identify pilot e-courses. Watch this space for updates!