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MLA '09: Section Program Themes
The diversity of thought-provoking programs coordinated by MLA sections and special interest groups (SIGs) offers exciting opportunities for professional development.
This list is organized alphabetically by primary section sponsor.
Last updated May 1, 2009.
| Primary Section/SIG Sponsor, Cosponsors | 2009 Program Name | Program Format | Program Day/Time and Room |
| 2009 National Program Committee (NPC) | Innovation. Inspiration. Illumination. Session A | Contributed papers | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: Have you tackled an interesting project? Researched a challenging problem? Engineered a creative solution? If the answer is "yes" and your topic does not fit into any of the section programming themes, the 2009 National Program Committee (NPC) will present such papers in this NPC-sponsored general session. | |||
| 2009 National Program Committee (NPC) | Innovation. Inspiration. Illumination. Session B | Contributed papers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: See the description for Session A above | |||
| 2009 National Program Committee (NPC) | Innovation. Inspiration. Illumination. Session C | Contributed papers | Wednesday, May 20 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. |
| Description: See the description for Session A above. | |||
| Cancer Librarians Section; Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section; Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Science Librarians SIG; Mental Health SIG | Fusing Culture and Community to Improve Health Literacy | Contributed papers and invited speakers | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: Health care professionals and institutions are being challenged with the goal of improving health communication by providing information in the appropriate cultural or community context, as well as in the context of special diseases (i.e., people with cancer, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, etc.). As a result, health communication is being developed for specific cultural, community, and illness groups. This session will focus on the role libraries and information professionals play in contributing to this developing area of literacy. Research and topics may range from, but are not limited to, providing educational support for patients with cancer and support for survivors and survivorship issues; supporting nurses and allied health professionals providing patient education on the frontline; demystifying acronyms used to talk about people with mental disorders (BD, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, etc.) and defusing the stereotypes that come with them; communicating with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community; and serving the health care needs of those with limited English literacy and different cultural and religious healing practices. | |||
| Collection Development Section; African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG | Vendor Relations: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Panel discussion (3 vendors, 3 librarians: hospital, academic, and special) | Wednesday, May 20 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. |
| Description: Panelists will discuss three primary topics: (1) What to do when vendor relations break down? (2) What to do when librarians make unreasonable requests? (3) What to do make transitions of vendor representatives as smooth as possible? | |||
| Collection Development Section; Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG | Clinical and Translational Science: Fusing Information Services with Basic Research and Clinical Application | Invited speakers (1 clinician, 1 information specialist) | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: Clinical and translational science (CTS) describes the process of translating scientific discoveries into practical applications. Basic scientists work closely with clinicians to study diseases at a molecular/cellular level, identify new tools for use with patients, and assess medical impact. To encourage this research approach, many institutions have or are creating CTS centers. Increasingly, medical libraries are being asked to provide informational support and services for these centers. This session will include two speakers: (1) a clinician will describe the concept of CTS, its influence on medical research, and implications for the future; and (2) an information specialist will describe the role of medical libraries in supporting CTS research, the types of resources and skills necessary for this support, and the overall impact on the profession. Ample time will be provided for audience questions. | |||
| Consumer and Patient Health Information Section; Corporate Information Services Section, Federal Libraries Section, Hospital Libraries Section, Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG, Library Marketing SIG, New Members SIG | The Health Library: Creating a Culture of Wellness | Invited papers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: An invited paper panel will describe the Circle of Wellness@yourLibrary initiative of the American Library Association. | |||
| Dental Section; Cancer Librarians Section | Open Access and the Evidence | Invited speakers and contributed papers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: For the past 100 years, medical libraries have focused on building the best collection of resources—print and then online. Initially, medical libraries looking at open access looked at institutional compliance. In this session, the discussion will focus on the impact of open access on libraries. Whether you work at a hospital library with access to hundreds of journals or a major academic health sciences library with access to thousands of online journals, will the body of research available to you dramatically expand with open access? Will there be a potential impact on the current structure of journal-based publishing at the primary distribution point for emerging research? Will the law of unintended consequences bring about results that haven't been thought of yet? These are some of the questions we will attempt to address as the operational reality and the impact of these changes begin to emerge. | |||
| Dental Section; Public Health/Health Administration Section; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Science Librarians SIG | Health Disparities in Underserved Populations | Contributed papers | Wednesday, May 20 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. |
| Description: This contributed papers session will cover disparities in health care delivery to underserved populations, such as, but not limited to, African Americans; Latinos; American Indians; Alaska Natives; Asian Americans; Pacific Islanders; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community; and the elderly. It will explore the barriers to care and the role medical librarians can play to close the gap through outreach activities and other services. | |||
| Educational Media and Technologies Section; Collection Development Section | Technology and E-resources: Evolving with the Times | Panel with discussion | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: Collections are changing and so are the technologies we are adding to our libraries. This panel discussion will discuss what types of technologies at present are candidates for addition to health sciences library collections along with some suggested criteria for making selections. Ten minutes will be reserved at the end of the program for questions from the audience. | |||
| Educational Media and Technologies Section; Corporate Information Services Section, International Cooperation Section, Medical Informatics Section, Library Marketing SIG | Resources for Disaster and Remote Access Regions | Contributed papers | Wednesday, May 20 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. |
| Description: A growing role for health sciences libraries is serving the information needs of those individuals working in locations facing challenging situations, such as in areas in disaster zones or third world countries. Panel members will talk about what resources and services are useful to develop and suggest other possible options to consider. | |||
| Educational Media and Technologies Section; Library Marketing SIG, Outreach SIG | Training the Trainer | Panel discussion | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: Health sciences libraries offer a wide range of resources, technologies, and services to those they serve. If they want their users to get the maximum benefit and use from these library offerings, librarians are frequently required to train others who will in turn train the end users. A panel will illustrate helpful techniques and tips. A short question-and-answer session will follow. | |||
| Federal Libraries Section; Collection Development Section; African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG; Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Science Librarians SIG | Fusing Cultures and Diversity Awareness in Library Collections | Contributed and invited papers | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: This session will focus on library efforts to support cultural diversity awareness by developing collections and library resources for staff development and patient education. Research reports and case studies on the effectiveness of cultural diversity collection development efforts will be presented. | |||
| Health Association Libraries Section; Federal Libraries Section, Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG, National Library of Medicine (NLM) | Fusing Information and Preparation in Times of Devastation | Invited panel | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: Invited panelists will describe the efforts of the National Library of Medicine, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and other librarians to prepare for and preserve health sciences libraries and their services in the aftermath of disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. | |||
| History of the Health Sciences Section; Public Services Section, Libraries in Curriculum SIG | Infusing History into the Curriculum | Contributed papers | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: Various programs and other collaborations through which special collections can offer real and/or potential curricular support to academic departments (e.g., schools of medicine, medical sociology, and history departments) will be presented. | |||
| History of the Health Sciences Section; Technical Services Section | Promotion and Development Fusions for Special Collections | Contributed papers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: This session will showcase different ideas of how digitization projects and other library projects can be dovetailed into various promotional mechanisms or used for program development of special collections. Various activities and collaborations (both within library units and other academic departments) with digitization and institutional repositories to provide access to historical materials will be highlighted. | |||
| Hospital Libraries Section; Corporate Information Services Section, Research Section, Library Marketing SIG | Librarian's Toolkit | Contributed papers and invited speakers | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: This program will focus on advocacy, career development, blowing our own horn, benchmarking, credentialing, building partnerships or vital pathways (i.e., Magnet leadership), etc. | |||
| International Cooperation Section; Corporate Information Services Section, Japan Medical Abstracts Society, Japan Medical Library Association | Issues in Japanese Health Sciences Librarianship | Invited speakers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: The program offers a unique learning opportunity and chance for dialogue with colleagues from Japan. The invited speakers include medical librarians, a database producer, and a public health physician. They will discuss a credentialing program for health sciences librarians, patient libraries and consumer health information services, and bibliographic database services and a training course for health information specialists. | |||
| Leadership and Management Section; Public Services Section, New Members SIG | Fusing Career Resources Through Mentoring | Roundtables and one-on-one mentoring | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: Building on the success of speed mentoring at the previous annual meetings, "Fusing Career Resources Through Mentoring" is a two-part interactive session. In part one, attendees will participate in roundtables designed to inform and enlighten on the following topics: “Anatomy of MLA,” “What We Wish We Knew When We Started Librarianship (Confessions of a Senior Librarian),” and “Career Reinvention.” In part two, attendees will be paired with library administrators for fifteen-minute sessions for resume critiques and career advice. Join us this year and become fused with career resources. | |||
| Leadership and Management Section; Relevant Issues Section, African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG, Libraries in Curriculum SIG | Fusion in the Library Workforce: Creating Synergies Through Professional Diversity | Contributed papers | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: As the health sciences librarian profession continues to evolve and attract new people, our library staff has become increasingly intergenerational and diverse. Much of what we do requires that the library work as a synergistic team. How can we do this when we all have such different collaborative styles? Have you ever wondered why your coworker seems to see things in black and white while you see them in shades of gray? Or do you consistently find it a challenge to manage people who think differently but need to do the same kinds of tasks. Imagine being able to understand your coworkers and their being be able to understand you and each other. This session will be facilitated by the director of organization development/licensed professional counselor from the University of Alabama–Birmingham and will highlight two contributed case studies. | |||
| Medical Informatics Section; Educational Media and Technologies Section | Top Technical Trends III | Panel (interactive) | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: Join technology trend-spotters in health sciences libraries as they offer their latest insights, opinions, and criticisms on where technology is leading us next. This is the third year that this popular program will be offered. | |||
| Medical Informatics Section; Molecular and Genomics SIG | Being an Informationist, or Why Are You Working in the Library | Contributed papers | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: In the context of medical libraries, an “informationist” is an individual with expert training who supports specific user groups and provides specialized information. This may include individuals with medical degrees or scientific doctoral degrees (with or without a master’s of library and information science) or librarians with post-master’s of library and information science training. Subject expertise runs from bioinformatics to disaster preparedness to geographic information systems to evidence-based medicine to…. This program will present discussions of any of the following: the role of an informationist in a library setting, the requirements to be an informationist, the ways to recruit and retain informationists, etc. Viewpoints from library administration as well as informationists themselves will be presented. | |||
| Medical Library Education Section | Emerging Research: The Fusion of Theory and Practice | Contributed papers (student submissions) | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: Current master’s and doctoral students and recent graduates (within one year) will contribute papers on their emerging research. How are new and future librarians fusing what they learned in the classroom with current practice in the field of medical librarianship? Come and join us for this exciting session! | |||
| Medical Library Education Section | Fusing Interdisciplinary Expertise in the Workplace | Invited panel | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: The invited panel members will share how interdisciplinary expertise can be fused into the workplace through recruitment, education, and partnerships. Emphasis will be placed on integrating diverse subject expertise into health information environments. | |||
| Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section; Dental Section, Educational Media and Technologies Section, Libraries in Curriculum SIG | Educational Fusion: Librarian-integrated Instruction in Interdisciplinary Education Programs and Partnerships | Contributed papers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: This will be a contributed paper session with librarians in specialty curricula sharing their experiences and research on innovative ways they work the library into the curriculum, technology that effectively reaches and captivates students, and techniques and tricks that knock the socks off students and faculty. | |||
| Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section; Hospital Libraries Section | Magnet Fusion: (Re)credentialing from a Leadership Perspective | Contributed papers and invited speakers | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: The Magnet credentialing process will be explored from some different perspectives, looking at both the initial credentialing process and recredentialing. | |||
| Pharmacy and Drug Information Section | EMBASE.com Lecture | Invited speaker | Sunday, May 17 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. |
| Description: An invited speaker will discuss an issue relevant to pharmacy and drug information in the United States at this endowed lecture, sponsored by Elsevier Science, producer of EMBASE. | |||
| Pharmacy and Drug Information Section; Relevant Issues Section, Mental Health SIG | Personal Health Records: How Private Is Your Medical Information? | Contributed papers or panel | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: Papers or a panel will discuss issues of privacy and confidentiality of information in medical records, including disease, mental health, and medication histories. | |||
| Public Health/Health Administration Section; Veterinary Medical Libraries Section; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Science Librarians SIG | Emerging Issues in Global Health | Contributed papers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: The session will highlight emerging global health issues and new ways that the profession is meeting them. Initiatives such as using Web 2.0 technologies for viewing and visualizing emerging infectious disease or surveillance tools, the "One Health Initiative," or new ways of delivering culturally competent health care will be addressed. | |||
| Public Services Section; Research Section | Seamlessly Working the "I" into an Academic Medical Center Workflow: The Eskind Biomedical Library Experience | Invited speakers | Tuesday, May 19 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. |
| Description: In an effort to integrate public service and research, this session spotlights the work being done by the Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library (EBL), Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN. With the implementation of a philosophy of lifelong learning, the EBL has built a culture of supporting mentorship and lifelong learning in expert searching, critical appraisal of the literature, medicine, and the basic sciences. The librarians from the EBL will report on the Clinical Informatics Consult Service (CICS) and show results that demonstrate a significant effect on treatment decisions and imply a high level of trust in the CICS. Part of this service is integration of best evidence and relevant clinical information into the Vanderbilt informatics systems for professionals and patients. These initiatives help cement the library’s position as a central piece of the institution’s information infrastructure. The CICS had also extended its service into the research arena, collaborating with the Vanderbilt Office of Research to extend genetics/genomics research assistance in support of Vanderbilt’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). All of this will be summarized in a discussion of developing a culture of true integration through active participation in the organizational leadership vision. | |||
| Relevant Issues Section; History of the Health Sciences Section | Threatening Fusions: When Ideologies and Demagogues Meet Ideas and Libraries | Invited speaker | Wednesday, May 20 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. |
| Description: This invited speaker session features Rebecca Knuth, associate professor, Library and Information Science Program, University of Hawaii–Manoa. Knuth's research "is focused on international, interdisciplinary and comparative inquiry into intellectual freedom (access to information as a human right), international librarianship, literacy, the history of books and libraries, book burning, genocide, and the link between extremism and cultural destruction." Her presentation will discuss intellectual freedom issues of relevance to all health information professionals. | |||
| Research Section; Hospital Libraries Section | Research 101: How to Start and Finish a Research Project | Invited speakers | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
Description: What are the basic steps to conduct a research project?
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| Research Section; Hospital Libraries Section, Outreach SIG | Research Fusion: Integrating Evidence-based Library and Information Practice into the Librarian's Work Life | Contributed papers | Wednesday, May 20 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. |
| Description: All library systems and programs can be evaluated to find evidence of economy, efficiency, or effectiveness. The program sponsors are looking for papers presented by individuals who have conducted evaluations or research projects and have results to report. These results would have been used as evidence to make a change in a program efficiency or economy or to prove the effectiveness of a program. All types of programs from all types of libraries are welcome including outreach. The accepted presenters will be expected to publish their papers in the future to add to the evidence base for health libraries science. | |||
| Technical Services Section; Health Association Libraries Section, Leadership and Management Section, Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG | Fusing Our Organizations: Cooperating, Networking, and Collaborating with New Partners | Contributed papers | Wednesday, May 20 9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. |
| Description: Our libraries are becoming increasingly integrated in organization-wide initiatives. Presented papers will highlight proactive efforts and best practices used to fuse their libraries into these new partnerships. | |||
| Veterinary Medical Libraries Section; Outreach SIG | Fusion Outreach: Synthesizing Outreach Concepts in Human and Veterinary Medicine | Contributed papers | Monday, May 18 10:30 a.m.–noon |
| Description: The 2007/08 “One Health” initiative from the presidents of the American Medical Association and American Veterinary Medical Association exemplified fusion of human and veterinary medicine. This session will continue this exploration from the outreach perspectives of both human medicine and veterinary medicine. Papers that describe outreach activities with practitioners at a local and national level are encouraged as are papers that showcase technological fusion in outreach activities. Attendees are encouraged to bring examples of their own outreach initiatives to share. | |||
Please note the following section programs have been cancelled:
- Can You Have It All: Creating Work-life Balance (Public Services Section; Public Health/Health Administration Section, Technical Services Section, New Members SIG)
- Evidence-based Medicine/Practice in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Chiropractic Librarians Section; Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG, Veterinary Medical Libraries Section)
- Fusing Culture with Patient Education for the People of the Pacific Basin (Consumer and Patient Health Information Section; Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG)
- Personalized Health Care: The Future Is Now! (Relevant Issues Section; Pharmacy and Drug Information Section, Medical Informatics Section)
- Uniting to Promote Green Practices: Serving Our Patrons and Our Planet (Corporate Information Services Section; Health Association Libraries Section, Public Health/Health Administration Section, Library Marketing SIG, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG)
WEBSITE SPONSORS
www.mlanet.org /am/am2009/sect_prog/themes.html
