MLA News Selected Articles

January 2001

In January 2000, a readership survey, designed and developed to solicit membership input about the MLA News, was mailed to 380 randomly selected members. The response to the survey was high (40%), and the overall feedback very positive. The MLA News editorial staff was pleased to learn that most respondents reported reading every issue, and although most favored an electronic version if given the choice, there was no desire to abandon the print version.

But as with any "work in progress," there is always room for improvement, and the survey was very helpful in identifying some of those areas. To address your reader needs, the News has undergone some reconstructive surgery. A nip here, a tuck there, and voilà—a fresh new face has emerged, just in time for the millennium.

Based on your suggestions, we will continue to give you more of what you want, including shorter articles, preferred coverage of hot topics and trends, and practical tips and applications. With the establishment of two new columns, Hospital Libraries and Leadership and Management and plans for more columns—we have infused new content into the News. By creating a consistent look to departments and features, we have made it even easier for you to locate your old favorites, as well as create new ones.

As you examine and admire our efforts, you will notice several other changes in style: new font faces; larger type style; elimination of vague graphical icons; more efficient use of space; more prominent sidebars, subheads, and headlines; and consistent use of color, including the addition of more color ads and photographs, whenever possible. Speaking of color—this year’s new skyblue hue is the perfect complement for one of our biggest events, MLA 2001: An Information Odyssey, to be held under the sunny, blue skies of Orlando, May 25–30.

Our approach in redesigning the News has been gradual and progressive but always focused on producing a more reader-friendly publication. The MLA News team welcomes your feedback on our new look. Please feel free to tell us what you like and dislike about the redesign of your newsletter. Members are also encouraged to respond through letters to the editor and active submission of ideas for future columns and newsworthy items. As the association grows, changes, and gets better with age—so will MLA News.

Library Program Evaluation

Submitted by Catherine Burroughs, Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library,
University of Washington–Seattle; edited by Kristine M. Alpi, AHIP

The evaluation component of a library program is an important tool that can focus, improve, and document successful results. Recently, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library conducted a collaborative project to study best practices in evaluation and produced an evaluation guide (listed below). This guide is one of the few evaluation resources on the Web for librarians, but there are other sites with research and evaluation tools useful to any program.

Videoconferencing Technology for Remote Library Instruction

Submitted by Terry A. Henner, Savitt Medical Library, School of Medicine, University of Nevada–Reno; edited by Kristine M. Alpi, AHIP

Videoconferencing was once the purview of corporate elites, requiring a major investment in dedicated hardware and software, plus a team of technicians to keep it running. Today, viable, cheap, and easy-to-deploy desktop videoconferencing systems are available that provide librarians with a powerful set of tools to augment distance education and professional collaboration. NetMeeting, included with the second or higher edition of MS Windows 98, is one such system gaining attention. Possessing an impressive array of capabilities, NetMeeting can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft site. Hardware requirements are minimal: a 133 MHz Pentium processor and 32 MB of RAM. Audio features require a sound card, speakers, and a microphone. Video requires a camera connected through either a parallel or universal serial bus (USB) port. Performance is best on a local area network (LAN) or modem supporting 56 kbps connections.

Advantages
Desktop conferencing software allows for real-time interactive communication and the ability to maintain face-to-face relationships with remote library users. NetMeeting provides a variety of options for computer-based communication to host virtual meetings or provide instruction, including:

• text chat
• shared whiteboard
• sharing of an application or desktop
• file transmission
• interactive video and audio transmission

Text chat, whiteboard, file transmission, and application sharing work with up to eight simultaneous users. Text messaging will appear instantaneously on all participant desktops. Diagrams drawn on the desktop whiteboard will similarly be shared. In application sharing, for example, a word-processing document can be brought up on one computer and viewed simultaneously by the other participants. Sharing an application is an especially powerful teaching tool, as it can deliver a mirror image of your desktop and display it in real time on a remote user’s computer. By providing an "over-the-shoulder" view of the use of a program such as MEDLINE, instructors can conduct a virtual session to anyone running NetMeeting.

Drawbacks
NetMeeting is not without its drawbacks. It does not run on Macintosh or other non-Windows computers. Security factors can create incompatibility problems for those operating behind firewalls or through proxy servers. The NetMeeting 3 Resource Kit has extensive information on these issues. Most limiting, perhaps, is that NetMeeting, by itself, only supports audio or camera-generated video between two persons. Do not expect broadcast quality video; display is roughly eight frames per second (fps), compared to thirty fps for broadcast television. Exceeding the two-person limitation is possible by using third-party products called conferencing servers or multipoint control units (MCU). These devices bridge three or more clients to allow participation in real-time audio or video conferencing. However, their use introduces an additional level of expense, complexity, and necessity for technical support. MCUs are available from a variety of vendors, including White Pine Software, developers of CU-SeeMe videoconferencing software, and will be an add-on to Microsoft’s Exchange 2000 product line. For more information, see the NetMeeting Frequently Asked Questions at <support.microsoft.com/support/netmeeting/readme/readme3.asp>.