MLA '12: Section Programs
Section Program Themes
The diversity of thought-provoking programs coordinated by MLA sections and special interest groups (SIGs) offers exciting opportunities for professional development. To submit a paper or poster abstract, review the instructions in the poster or paper FAQs, then begin the online submission process. Submission deadline is November 2, 2011.
List is organized alphabetically by name of primary section sponsor (bold type). Numbers are to facilitate referencing the online abstract submission site drop down list and are not in numeric order.
Last updated January 30, 2012
| Primary Sponsor (followed by cosponsor sections and SIGS) | Program Name | Program Format | Section and SIG Contacts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Program Committee, Medical Library Education Section, New Members SIG | It’s Outta Here! Community Engagement (general topic session) | Contributed papers | Janna Lawrence, AHIP |
| When, where, and how do you engage the communities you serve? In this session, share your methods, challenges, and successes when you or your library have gone beyond the physical walls of the library and engaged with your communities. As a general topic session, this is a very broad overview of community engagement and outreach. | ||||
| 2 | National Program Committee, Libraries in Curriculum SIG | Spring Training: Education and Instruction (general topic session) | Contributed papers | Janna Lawrence, AHIP |
| This session focuses on education in all its forms: education by librarians, for librarians, or about librarianship; individual, group, or online teaching; one-off courses or integrated instruction; continuing education for medical librarians; base-level education for medical librarians; and anything in between or beyond. | ||||
| 3 | Cancer Librarians Section, Clinical Librarians and Evidence-Based Health Care SIG, Federal Libraries Section, Dental Section | Clinical Librarians Get into the Game: Collaborating with Clinicians to Improve Patient Care | Contributed papers | Janet Crum, AHIP |
| Clinical medical librarians (CMLs) have been hitting home runs as the health care team designated hitter responsible for improving patient care outcomes with best evidence since the early 1970s. The contributed papers in this session will showcase success stories for partnering with clinicians and clinical faculty, describe how to create innovative and sustainable CML programs, discuss how to assess CML impact on clinical decision making and patient care outcomes, and explore training and mentoring a new generation of CMLs. | ||||
| 4 | National Program Committee, Cancer Librarians Section, History of the Health Sciences Section, Institutional Animal Care and Use SIG, Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG, Translational Sciences Collaboration SIG | From the Bench to the Field: Translational Research (general topic session) | Contributed papers | Janna Lawrence, AHIP |
| This session focuses on the many facets of translational research. What plays in your playbook contribute to an institution’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)? How have you used the tools in your arsenal to advance the research mission of your institution? How are you engaged in the many facets of translational research? Consider showcasing your role in translational research. | ||||
| 5 | Chiropractic Libraries Section, History of the Health Sciences Section | Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM): Evidence, Bias, and Use….Oh, My! | Panel discussion based on submitted papers | |
| According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine a subsidiary of the National Institute of Health (NIH), 38% of Americans will use an alternative medical practitioner sometime in their lifetime; and this number is expected to grow. In response, the NIH has set up dual R25 grants that help allopathic physicians learn more about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices and funded CAM institutions to train their practitioners in the ways of evidence-based practice and research literacy. But how much tension and residual bias from both sides still remains? Many CAM practitioners say conventional research methodology, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs), does not effectively measure the efficacy of their modalities. While some allopaths have resisted recommending alternative health care to their patients for a variety of reasons, including the lack of authoritative evidence, others have enthusiastically embraced CAM techniques and practitioners into integrative clinics. In the middle of this quandary is the medical librarian who needs to find appropriate information for practitioners and patients alike. This program will explore the issues surrounding the usage of CAM in the United States, biases for and against CMA, and sources of legitimate information about CAM. | ||||
| 6 | Collection Development Section, Technical Services Section | Sustaining Library Collections to Ensure a Home Run | Contributed papers | Cecilia Botero |
| Share your experiences and help us all hit a home run! Libraries increasingly must make informed decisions on what users really need. This session will pursue the concept of creating or updating models for sustaining library collections. Topics might include patron-driven acquisition (PDA) plans, consortial and/or shared purchasing models that leverage group buying power, and so on. In short, creative models designed to stretch a library’s collection and materials budgets by purchasing materials needed “just in time,” not “just in case.” Sustainability models might also include the concept of using existing resources to their fullest extent. In that context this program would include issues of discoverability and providing better avenues for users to find resources, whether through the OPAC or outside tools. | ||||
| 7 | Consumer and Patient Health Information Section; Federal Libraries Section; Outreach SIG; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Science Librarians SIG; Relevant Issues Section; African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG | Consumer Health Outreach: Taking the Consumer Health Library out of the Library | Contributed papers | Meredith Solomon |
| Consumer health libraries offer a wealth of information in health care facilities, but marketing beyond the walls of the library is increasingly important to bring reliable, relevant, and up-to-date health care information to members of surrounding communities. This outreach not only serves as a resource appreciated by consumers and librarians in the community, but also serves as a marketing tool for your health care organization. Join our panel of consumer health librarians who have reached beyond their physical walls to the community at large through many innovative and creative approaches. | ||||
| 8 | Corporate Information Services Section, Consumer and Patient Heath Information Section, Relevant Issues Section | Patient Advocacy: Meaningful User Needs Assessment | Contributed papers | Montie' L. Dobbins, AHIP |
| This contributed paper session will focus on how librarians are key players in patient advocacy. In particular, how are librarians conducting user needs assessments and advocating on the behalf of patients? Who are librarians working with, and what tools and techniques are they using? What are the lessons librarians have learned that can help others better advocate for patients in their own institutions? | ||||
| 10 | Dental Section, Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, Educational Media and Technologies Section, Libraries in Curriculum SIG | Connecting with the Away Team: Leveraging Mobile Technology |
Invited speaker and contributed papers | Julia H. Schiavo, AHIP |
| This session highlights innovative uses of mobile technology, including smart phones and tablets, to support outreach in both education and clinical settings. This includes specific resources aimed at point of care, optimized mobile access to general resources, incorporation of mobile devices into the library, and other applications of mobile technology. | ||||
| 11 | Educational Media and Technologies Section, Libraries in Curriculum SIG, Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG | Becoming a Better Teacher: How to Coordinate, Execute, and Assess Instruction | Contributed papers | James Brucker | This session focuses on innovative approaches to instructional design, pedagogy, and comprehensive assessment of instructional efforts. This includes reflections on personal instructional approaches and overall, large-scale efforts, along with strategies for teaching both small and large groups of patrons and peers. Strategies leading to both success and failure can be equally helpful, given proper assessment |
| 12 | Educational Media and Technologies Section, Medical Informatics Section, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG, Libraries in Curriculum SIG, Osteopathic Libraries SIG, Outreach SIG | Loading the Bases: Teaching with Technology and Multimedia | Contributed papers | James Brucker | This session focuses on the incorporation of technology and multimedia into on-site and distance education efforts, as well as technology-focused instruction. This includes the use of audience response systems and other in-class technological tools, screencasting, interactive tutorials and gaming systems, integration of social media into live and asynchronous instruction, and approaches to teaching technology to peers and patrons. |
| 13 | Federal Libraries Section, Medical Library Education Section, Leadership and Management Section, Veterinary Medical Libraries Section, Retired Librarians SIG, Informationist SIG | Time for a Game Change: Growing Opportunities to Reinvent Our Roles | Contributed papers | I. Diane Cooper, AHIP | This session will look at: how librarians are embracing new roles in institutions; how librarians are changing their models of library service; what are current and future roles of medical librarians; what are the challenges librarians face as information access changes and evolves. |
| 14 | Federal Libraries Section, Informationist SIG | Careers in Federal Libraries | Invited speakers panel | I. Diane Cooper, AHIP | Are you interested in learning more about opportunities for information professionals in the federal government? If so, the MLA Federal Libraries Section is offering a special session for you. Join a panel of federal librarians as they discuss the future of federal librarianship and the variety of opportunities available in the federal system. Topics will include:
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| 15 | Health Association Libraries Section, Research Section, Consumer and Patient Heath Information Section, Collection Development Section | Moneyball: Demystifying Library Funding | Contributed papers and other | Gini Blodgett | This session will comprise six fifteen-minute contributed presentations or question-and-answer sessions from librarians who have succeeded in getting funding to support research projects, special collections, one-time activities, or ongoing operations from a variety of foundation, government, and community sources. Presentations will share how funders were selected and approached, the process of being funded, and post-funding requirements and continuing engagement. The design or impact of the actual projects will not be discussed, so that you may submit the actual project for consideration for another session as a paper or poster. |
| 16 | History of the Health Sciences Section, Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, Hospital Libraries Section, Dental Section, African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG | Hall of Fame: Nursing and Allied Health Information and Scholarship in a League of Their Own | Contributed and invited papers | Susan Sanders, AHIP | The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section of MLA, which began as the Nursing Libraries Interest Group in 1962. Participants are invited to reflect on the 20th century or project ahead to the 21st century, and reveal how librarians, nurses, and allied health professionals team up to improve library services and bibliographic access or foster collaborations that lead to knowledge and scholarship in these evolving professions. The program will comprise contributed papers and invited speakers. |
| 17 | Hospital Libraries Section, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG | Librarian as MVP of the Patient Safety Team | Contributed and invited papers | Claire Joseph, AHIP | As health information professionals, we are poised to become the most valuable player (MVP) of the patient safety team at our institutions. This program will explore ways in which we can align ourselves with patient safety issues and use our knowledge management skills to help to prevent diagnostic errors and to provide the evidence necessary to inform decision making by the team and by the entire hospital community. |
| 18 | Hospital Libraries Section, Medical Library Education Section | Knowledge Management: A Whole New Ballgame | Contributed papers | Claire Joseph, AHIP | Knowledge management (KM) is more than a buzzword. It is a different way of approaching our work and our roles. Most of our work is not traditional “library work” these days. Many of us maintain databases, index publications, and create web-based learning modules, for example. Contributed papers will showcase different KM projects that our members are undertaking. |
| 19 | International Cooperation Section, Public Health/Health Administration Section, Library Marketing SIG | Stepping Out of the Box: Librarians Working in Unconventional Roles and Places in Support of Global Health | Contributed papers | Alicia A. Livinski | The point of this session will be to highlight the various roles that librarians are fulfilling on global health–focused programs and projects. The focus is global health; however, this encompasses anything international (e.g., collaboration, programs, partnerships etc.) that may not be focused on global health per se. |
| 20 | Leadership and Management Section, Corporate Information Services Section, Institutional Animal Care and Use SIG, Veterinary Medical Libraries Section, Cancer Librarians Section | Smells Like Team Spirit: Partnerships to Move Your Library Forward | Contributed papers and videos | Teresa L. Knott, AHIP | How does your library achieve collaboration nirvana? Who does your team work within and out of your organization? Do you have librarians embedded in other departments? Do you work with other departments, libraries, or organizations on grants or projects? Who are your partners, and how do they view your relationship? In this session, we are accepting contributed papers featuring information on forming partnerships to move your organization forward. In addition, we will accept three-to-five-minute video clips featuring staff from partner organizations talking about what partnering with a health sciences library means to them. Video clips featuring partner organizations must be submitted by MLA members. |
| 21 | Leadership and Management Section, Veterinary Medical Libraries Section, Medical Library Education Section | Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? Turning Losses into Opportunities | Contributed papers | Teresa L. Knott, AHIP | Have you lost a key player from your roster? Lost a key faculty partner in one of your schools? Lost your funding to accomplish a goal? Have you redefined your services after budget cuts? Have you had an excellent failure where the lessons learned were more valuable than a success might have been? After this has happened, have you been able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by going in a new direction or by developing an unexpected partnership? If so, please consider sharing your story by contributing a paper to this session. |
| 22 | Medical Informatics Section, Educational Media and Technologies Section, Medical Library Education Section | Tech Trends | Contributed and invited papers | Douglas L. Varner, AHIP | Technology trend spotters will speak about the latest issues in technology and provide their opinions and thoughts on their impact on health sciences libraries. This session will be a quick-paced and interesting discussion among the panelists and contributed paper authors, along with the aid of a Google jockey searching and highlighting the topics. Bring your mobile devices and participate in the program online as a Twitter jockey will summarize each panelist’s thoughts, fostering the online discussion. Make sure to stay to the end of the session to take advantage of the Technology Petting Zoo, where you will be able to touch and play with the latest technology tools. |
| 23 | Medical Informatics Section, Public Services Section, Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG, Libraries in Curriculum SIG, African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG | Triple Play: The Librarian’s Roles in Bioinformatics Training, Research, and Resource Development | Contributed papers | Douglas L. Varner, AHIP | Librarians and information professionals are playing an emerging role in providing resources and services in the areas of bioinformatics, computational biology, and the “omics.” This contributed paper session will explore librarian’s roles in providing research consultations with bioinformatics faculty and staff; training others in the use of bioinformatics resources through workshops, courses, etc.; participating in the integration of bioinformatics training into health and basic sciences curriculum; and licensing and development of software programs to support bioinformatics initiatives at the librarian’s institution. |
| 24 | Medical Library Education Section, New Members SIG, Research Section | New Voices: Let’s Hear It from the Rookie Lineup | Contributed papers | Julie K. Kwan, AHIP | Celebrating the work of current master’s degree and doctoral students and recent graduates (within one year) |
| 25 | Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG, Public Health/Health Administration Section | Libraryless in Seattle: Outreach to the Resource-poor and the Library-bereft | Contributed and invited papers | Jonathan Potter | How do academic librarians prepare their students for leaving the resource-rich academic environment? How do hospital and clinical librarians who serve nurses and other health professionals ensure the continued existence of their libraries and their jobs? How are librarians involved in outreach efforts to “libraryless” and resource-poor allied health professionals? The broad theme of this topic is really outreach. How can librarians reach out to nurses, allied health practitioners, and others who need access? |
| 26 | Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, Educational Media and Technologies Section, Public Health/Health Administration Section, African American Medical Librarians Alliance SIG | Fundamentals of the Game: Skill Building for Health Professional Information Literacy and Evidence-based Practice | Contributed and invited papers | Jonathan Potter | The focus here is on lifelong learning. How do librarians help nurses, allied health professionals, and others maintain fundamental health information literacy competencies? How can librarians of various stripes encourage health information literacy both among practitioners and consumers? What are the best practices in education and training? |
| 27 | Pharmacy and Drug Information Section, Dental Section, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG | Building the All Star Team: Librarians' Role in Enabling Interprofessional Education | Contributed papers | Irena G. Dryankova-Bond | Interprofessional education is an increasingly popular and important topic in health sciences education. By learning and working together, students from different disciplines are able to leverage a wider range of expertise, think about how to coordinate care across disciplines, and prepare for the real-world work environment. Libraries and librarians as neutral, pan-disciplinary, and integrated experts have an excellent opportunity to enable and participate in the process. Contributed papers will discuss how librarians have been involved in interprofessional education at their institutions, highlight the wide range of ways interprofessional education is implemented or interpreted, and provide suggestions for how librarians can get involved at their institutions. |
| 28 | Pharmacy and Drug Information Section, Dental Section, Public Health/Health Administration Section, Medical Library Education Section, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG | PDI AccessPharmacy Lecture | Invited speaker | Irena G. Dryankova-Bond | EMBASE annual lecture |
| 29 | Public Health/Health Administration Section, Complementary and Alternative Medicine SIG, Clinical Librarians and Evidence-Based Health Care SIG, Relevant Issues Section | Teamwork for Evidence-based Practice: Collaboration for Improving Evidence-based Practice | Contributed papers | Joseph Nicholson | This session focuses on all varieties of collaboration to achieve successful evidence-based practice. This would be contributed papers that aim to include accounts of personal triumphs in collaborating outside the library as well as detailed how-to strategies for collaborating with other organizations to help improve their practice (larger-scale efforts) and/or collaborating with doctors, nurses, and public health professionals to help improve their research and work (smaller-scale efforts). |
| 30 | Public Health/Health Administration Section, International Cooperation Section, Relevant Issues Section | Going the Distance: Keeping Your Global Health Projects Alive | Contributed papers | Joseph Nicholson | This session focuses on sustainability of global health library projects. More and more institutions are developing global health programs and including libraries. But in today's budget climate, continuing to find funding for expensive global projects can sometimes prove difficult. This session could include personal success stories as well as detailed strategies from libraries that have developed, maintained, and continued to grow their global health library presence. The current thought is to have one to two contributed papers, but also have invited speakers with large global health presences and funding networks available in Seattle (Gates Foundation, University of Washington, PATH, etc.). |
| 31 | Public Services Section; Federal Libraries Section; Osteopathic Libraries SIG; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Science Librarians SIG | Hitting the Ball out of the Park: Reaching New Audiences | Contributed and invited papers | Dolores Judkins, AHIP | As new programs are added to your institution, the library needs to be proactive in reaching these audiences. How are you reaching new audiences, including distance students? Who are the new groups you are reaching out to? What have you found successful or unsuccessful in your outreach efforts? |
| 9 | Relevant Issues Section; Corporate Information Services Section; Pharmacy and Drug Information Section; International Cooperation Section; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Health Science Librarians SIG | Minority and Underserved Nontraditional Populations: Health Care Information for All | Contributed papers | Emily J. Glenn |
| This session focuses on health information services for minority and underserved populations, including health-related collections found in nontraditional places, community space (non)libraries, and traveling collections and sustainability of those services and collections. This session will explore how collaborative relationships can enhance outreach services to those who have barriers or difficulties in using libraries and how libraries can build relevant and responsive library services to better meet community needs. | ||||
| 32 | Research Section, Public Health/Health Administration Section, International Cooperation Section, Translational Sciences Collaboration SIG, Clinical Librarians and Evidence-Based Health Care SIG, Outreach SIG | Effective Dissemination of Findings: Pitching Your Research with Speed and Accuracy | Contributed papers | Kristine M. Alpi, AHIP | This session will present strategies and methods for disseminating and evaluating the impact of findings from library or health research. Examples from community-based participatory research and illustrations of the role of the library in disseminating findings to a wide range of constituents—such as study participants, funding agencies, current and future practitioners, policymakers, and journalists—are welcome. |
| 33 | Research Section, Public Health/Health Administration Section, Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG | Spring Training: Statistical Literacy and Techniques in Library Research and Practice | Contributed and invited papers | Kristine M. Alpi, AHIP | This session will address the development and application of statistical knowledge by librarians. Areas of interest include statistics in critical appraisal, bioinformatics searching and results interpretation, library research, and decision making. Presentations on library roles running the gamut of statistical information needs from choosing statistical software, collecting in statistics, referring or engaging in statistical consultation, participating in meta-analyses, and beyond are welcome. |
| 34 | Technical Services Section, Collection Development Section, Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG | Stepping Up to the Plate with New Concepts of Data: Resource Description and Access, Semantic Web, Linked Data | Contributed and invited papers | Megan Curran | In celebration of its 30th year, MLA’s Technical Services Section seeks contributed papers concerning the future of data and metadata, and how medical libraries may interact with and institute these new concepts. Of particular interest will be papers focusing on resource description and access (RDA), proposed replacements for MARC21, the semantic web, linked data, and other novel or alternative concepts of data and metadata creation and organization. |
| 35 | Veterinary Medical Libraries Section, Institutional Animal Care and Use SIG | Wisdom of Yogi: How We Instruct Our Game | Contributed papers | Esther E. Carrigan, AHIP | Join the fun and discover the wisdom of the oxymoron, as presenters connect their paper topics with the very quotable Yogi Berra. This session will have a very broad scope covering topics from revitalizing our programs and services, key success and challenges, changes in collections and services, and what we can learn from our new recruits. |
| 36 | Veterinary Medical Libraries Section, Osteopathic Libraries SIG, Institutional Animal Care and Use SIG | Instant Replay: How Technology Is Changing Our Game | Contributed papers | Esther E. Carrigan, AHIP | This session will have a very broad scope both in the interpretation of word “technology” and the possible meaning for “our game.” Technology concepts will span those implemented and explored by the library. Our game will span library services, programs, collections, and the roles of librarians. |
