Submitted by Euemduan C. Osmera and Jeanne Burke, Cochairs, 2019 Midcontinental Chapter Annual Meeting, Omaha, NE; edited by Katie Mulik Dayani, AHIP, Member, MCMLA Publications
Editor’s Note: Republished and edited with permission from the fall 2019 MCMLA Express, volume 40, issue 4, page 5.
“We Don’t Coast: We Impact. We Explore. We Educate” was the theme for the 2019 Midcontinental Chapter (MCMLA) Annual Meeting in lovely Omaha, Nebraska! We appreciate attendees taking the time to be at the Magnolia Omaha, a beautiful, old-world-charm hotel and meeting center. The structure was designed to mimic the Bargello, a palace in Florence, Italy, and was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
We were 104 people strong, including the exhibitors. We networked, learned from colleagues, explored new ideas, and ate some great food. Meeting topics included conflict resolution, predatory publishing, use of statistics and data, innovative uses for technologies, improvement of library research services, and development of new and improving library services.
There were many familiar faces and new ones, too. Library graduate students, your future is bright! What a breath of fresh air to see and interact with the Health Occupations Students Association (HOSA) group. We were impressed with them and their poster, so much so, they were voted the “Viewer’s Choice” Award!
MCMLA’s very own Lisa K. Traditi, AHIP, MLA president-elect, gave her vision for and updates of MLA. She inspired us to go exploring with her and MLA.
Some other highlights from the conference include:
Continuing Education
“Cool Creative Communications: Dazzling Data Visualization,” Instructor: Donna Ziegenfuss
“Data Management for Librarians: What Health Sciences Librarians Need to Know,” Instructor: Caitlin Bakker, AHIP
Featured Speakers
“Shared Story: Engaging Conflict Constructively to Have Difficult Conversations that Matter,” Kelly Gering
Kelly Gering believes in the power of difference and the opportunity to find common ground. Founder of Shared Story, a private practice conflict resolution firm in Omaha, Gering mediates, facilitates, coaches, and trains families, corporations, schools, hospitals, and faith-based groups on how to have difficult conversations that matter. Serving as a member of the State of Nebraska Office of Dispute Resolution’s private list of high-conflict family mediators, Gering understands that sharing one’s story, hearing another’s, and choosing to craft a shared story brings possibility, creativity, and meaningful change. As a special faculty member of Creighton University’s Negotiation and Conflict Resolution graduate program, Gering teaches her students theory, strategies, and tools that move defensive positions toward collaborative opportunity: “Collaborative...I Win, You Win.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Lake Forest College and a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Antioch University McGregor.
“The Story of the Creation and Deployment of the Cyborg Beast Cyborg, 3D Prosthesis,” Jorge Zuniga
Jorge Zuniga related the story of the creation and deployment of the Cyborg Beast, a 3D-printed, upper extremity prosthesis that has made artificial hands affordable and more useful for children around the world. The Cyborg Beast was named one of the best inventions of 2014 by MSN.com. Zuniga earned his doctorate (PhD) in exercise physiology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He currently works at the University of Nebraska–Omaha (UNO), where he holds the position of assistant professor in the Department of Biomechanics. Zuniga’s team at UNO continues to refine the Cyborg Beast and develop other, low-cost, 3D printed prostheses, orthotics, and assistive devices for children.
Contributed Papers: Five twenty-minute papers
Lighting Rounds: Six fifteen-minute lighting rounds
Posters: Nine posters
Exhibitors: EBSCO Health, Isabel, LibLynx, Matthews Medical & Scientific Books, McGraw-Hill, MLA, NEJM, Rittenhouse, Sage Publishing, Thieme Publishers, Third Iron, and Wolters Kluwer Health.
Thank you to all the members of the six local committees and 2 MCMLA members: Shawn Ammon, Judith R. Bergjord, Heather L. Brown, Nicole Caskey, Deborah Divis, Danielle Drummond-Westmark, Maria Ford, Emily J. Glenn, Anne Heimann, Wladimir Labeikovsky, Brenda M. Linares, AHIP, Rose Melonis, Karen Mier, Christian Minter, Cindy Perkins, Cindy Schmidt, and Joy Winkler.
Until we meet again virtually in 2020 and in-person in 2021,” Don’t coast ever!”
