Interested in learning medical librarianship from a different cultural perspective, either first-hand or through interaction with a fellow librarian from another country in your own library? If so, MLA/ICS International Visiting Health Information Professionals Program (Int'l VIP) will be of interest to you. This program is administered by the MLA International Cooperation Section (ICS), in collaboration with medical library associations that have a bilateral agreement with the MLA.
The program was established in 2010 as a job exchange program with the Korean Medical Library Association. In 2014, the scope was expanded to partner with all medical library associations that have a bilateral agreement with MLA, and the name was changed to "MLA/ICS International Visiting Health Information Professionals Program" to better reflect the nature of the program.
Since the Open Forum in MLA2014 at Chicago, there has been a lot of progress made. All information about the program is available online and is linked from the MLA International Programs page.
Currently, the program is partnering with Taiwan Medical Library Association (TMLA) to implement a pilot run, to gain experience in placing a MLA member to an institution in Taiwan and placing a librarian in an US institution. If you are interested in participating, please send your interest to internationalvip@ics.mlanet.org.
Int'l VIP Program Task Force (Kathy Kwan, Martha Knuth, Fred Pond, Jie Li, Gurpreet Rana, Elizabeth Whipple) will be at MLA2016 in Toronto and attending ICS sponsored activities. Please talk to one of them about your interest!
If you would like to explore the Int'l VIP in a small group, please join the ICS Dining Circle on Sunday May 15, at 12 noon. The TMLA chair will be attending this lunch gathering to discuss the pilot between Int'l VIP and TMLA. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the program and to network with our international visitors. We will meet at International Visitor Desk at noon. Restaurant to be determined. Please RSVP to Kathy Kwan.
See you in Toronto!
Kathy Kwan
MLA/ICS International Visiting Health Information Professionals Program Chair
