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Professional Development

MLA | CE Opportunties

Visit MEDLIB-ED anytime to access over 80 MLA webinars and courses and over 150 MLA-approved educational offerings from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM). 

Not sure where to start? Take MLA's free competency self-assessment.


But Where is My Data? Teaching a Two-Stage Data Search Process

Live Webinar | March 19, 2024 | 1 - 2:30 pm CT

If you are a health, biomedical sciences, or instructional librarian or other health information professional looking for new ways to serve your patrons, learning how to conduct and explain the unique process needed for a successful dataset search may be just what you need!

Dataset searching requires a specialized skill set. Datasets can have hundreds of variables, few of which are named in an abstract. A successful search requires a two-step process: 1) search or browse for a candidate dataset; 2) search within the candidate dataset to determine whether good variables are present.

Dr. Nina Exner, an experienced research data librarian and instructor of instructors, will be your guide to learning how to conduct and explain this two-step process. You’ll leave the webinar with new searching skills, a new skill you can teach, the core of a lesson plan for teaching dataset search to novice data searchers, and confidence that you can help students and researchers do research involving secondary analysis of data and faculty for datasets for use in their classes.

 

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What Librarians Should Understand about Copyright

Live Webinar | April 11, 2024 | 1 - 2:30 pm CT

If you are new to librarianship or fuzzy about copyright, fair use, and plagiarism, join Ford Miller, a librarian, lawyer, and entertaining presenter and learn what you need to answer patron questions on these matters.

You’ll learn about and be prepared to answer patron questions on:

  • The foundations of copyright law and fair use
  • The distinction between copyright infringement and plagiarism
  • Copyright restrictions and fair use as they apply to instructors and researchers

You’ll discover that the law is pretty straightforward, and you’ll leave the webinar able to answer with confidence most copyright, fair use, and plagiarism questions that come your way.

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Communicating with Researchers about the Benefits and Risks of AI for Evidence Synthesis

Live Webinar | April 18, 2024 | 1 - 2:30 pm CT

It seems that everyone is talking about AI and what it can do, can’t do, and seems to do but doesn’t really. If you work on systematic reviews, you may be especially interested in the answers to these questions that go to the heart of how librarians collaborate with researchers on reviews:

  • Can AI tools automate and expedite systematic reviews and other types of evidence Synthesis without compromising the rigor and reproducibility that are the hallmark of systematic reviews?
  • How do you critically appraise a study that uses AI?
  • How do you have informed conversations with and advise researchers on the use of AI in reviews in this time of uncertainty and rapid change?

You’ll leave the webinar with new knowledge and increased confidence in your ability to discuss AI with researchers, and you’ll join the company of librarians able to build on their expertise in the rigor and reproducibility in systematic reviews to help shape the future of AI.

This webinar is an approved elective for Level II of the Systematic Review Services Specialization.

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"The live webinars and recordings are easy to access from work or home."


Sharing it Ethically: Research Lifecycle Support for Sharing Human Participants Data

If you are looking for a way to advance your career, become more valuable in your workplace, and contribute to the research base that supports evidence-based medicine, developing systematic review services skills may be one of the best ways to accomplish these goals! MLA members created the Systematic Review Services Specialization to offer health sciences librarians a means to acquire and document a wide range of skills, from developing search strategies, conducting review searches, and documenting and reporting searches to managing data, planning review projects, ensuring quality, negotiating review team roles, and peer reviewing searches.

Feedback from individuals who earned their Level I Systematic Review Services Specialization certificate shows that earning the certificate can open up opportunities to become co-author on reviews, a leader in developing a systematic review service, and the “go to” librarian for review services. See Highlights of a Survey of Level I Systematic Review Services Specialization Certificate Holders for much more about the benefits of a Level I certificate.

To make it easier to earn your Level I or Level II SRSS certificate, MLA offers discounted packages of courses for each SRSS Level through May 31, 2024.

The SRSS Level I Learning Pathway: 8 Level I SRSS required courses and 4 electives needed to earn a Level I certificate at a discount of 30%, PLUS we waive the application fee (members: $99; nonmembers: $129) AND we include more electives and all the electives we add through October 2024, making the total savings more than 40%.

The SRSS Level II Learning Pathway: All Level II SRSS required courses and all MLA webinars and on-demand electives at a discount of nearly 30% of the total cost of the courses needed to earn Level II, PLUS we waive the application fee (members: $99; nonmembers: $129) AND we all the electives we add through October 2024.

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2024 CE Passport

The MLA 2024 CE Passport Is Now Available

Individuals and Institutions Get Great Savings on Full Access to MLA Webinars and Self-Paced Courses

Make this your strongest professional year yet with savings on hours of MLA Continuing Education! Secure an MLA CE Passport by June 30 and register for live and on-demand webinars and self-paced courses on data collection, expert searching, marketing, collection development, and more through December 31. You'll have 90 days to complete the on-demand courses you register for.

  MLA CE Passport

80+ Webinars

Available by 12/31/24

19 Self-Paced

Courses

SAVINGS
Member $660 $5,200 $1,615 $6,155
Non-Member $860 $6,800 $2,185 $8,125

Purchase your 2024 Individual CE Passport

Learn more about the Passport, including great savings for institutions

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AHIP

What else can you do with your CE?

Did you know that you can use your MLA CE to become a member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP), MLA’s credentialing program? In a survey of 560 members of the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP), over half agreed that AHIP membership helped them advance in their career or was required or recommended for a position they’ve held or applied for or a raise they sought or attained. Learn about AHIP and how it can help you grow as a professional and increase your professional stature. AHIP is open to MLA members and non-members.

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Upcoming Schedule

Date

Event

April 11

What Librarians Should Understand about Copyright

April 18

Communicating with Researchers about the Benefits and Risks of AI for Evidence Synthesis

May 2

ChatGPT and Beyond: Strategies for Effective AI Communication

May 18

Collections Budgeting: It's More Than Spreadsheets (In-person at MLA '24)

May 18

Essential Searching Skills for Librarians on Systematic Review Teams (In-person at MLA '24)

May 18

Master Data Cleaning and Wrangling with OpenRefine and Python (In-person at MLA '24)

May 18

The Joy of Project Management! Managing All Products, Large and Small (In-person at MLA '24)

If you have any questions, please contact Debra Cavanaugh, Director of Professional Development, or Barry Grant, Director of Education.