July/August 1998
CONTENTS: View From a Former Pittsburgher | LAC Update | Congratulations and Best Wishes | MAC/MLA and Research | Calling All MAC Members | MAC Officers, Committee Chairs, Editor, and State Reporters | News from the States | MAC/MLA Counselors | Publication Deadline Reminder | Hospital Libraries | MAC/MLA Centennial Task Force
The View From a Former Pittsburgher
by M.J. Tooey
Associate Director for External Services and Development
HS/HSL, Univ. of Maryland
and former Pittsburgh resident
Picture if you will, a city of gleaming skyscrapers and glistening rivers nestled in the green, rolling hills of western Pennsylvania. Houses and neighborhoods cling to the hillsides surrounding this city – Pittsburgh! Pittsburgh was my home for almost 20 years and I am so excited that the joint meeting of the Mid-Atlantic and Pittsburgh chapters is being held there this October.
Located at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers meeting to form the Ohio, Pittsburgh’s history reflects the importance of these rivers. Settled by the French as Fort Duquesne, and fought for and won by the English who named it after the great English statesman, William Pitt, Pittsburgh’s importance to the settling of the west was paramount. George Washington almost assuredly slept at least near here as he worked as a young surveyor.
As an industrial city, Pittsburgh was known for it’s iron and steel manufacturing might fueled by the coal mines of western Pennsylvania. The history of this time is peppered with well-known names like Frick, Mellon, and Carnegie. Their mansions can still be seen along 5th Avenue in the Shadyside area of the city. These heavy industries fueled a nation’s economy but also left Pittsburgh’s skies smoggy and rivers polluted. A farsighted group of business leaders met in the 1950’s with a plan to turn Pittsburgh around and they did! Today, the air is clean and the rivers are used for boating, water skiing and other water based pleasures! Today, Pittsburgh’s major businesses are the service industries and education, with the University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon, among others.
Of course, there is much to see and do in Pittsburgh and our hotel, the Sheraton Station Square provides us with a perfect launching off place. Across the river from downtown (or dahntahn as the natives say), the location offers several possibilities. So what to do? Ride the incline to the top of Mt. Washington, visit the artist colony atmosphere of Carson Street, go to the new Science Center, the Aviary, the Planetarium, the Conservatory, get up really early and go to the Strip District and watch the produce arrive,while in The Strip eat at Primanti Bros. with the truck drivers, hop a cab and hang out in Shadyside or in Squirrel Hill where you can get great pizza and bagels along Murray Avenue, visit the Carnegie Musuem and Scaife Gallery, see the Cathedral of Learning, how about the Symphony or Ballet? Let me just add these thoughts – Steelers, Pirates, Penguins and college football – for no description of Pittsburgh would be complete without mention of the local passion for sports and loyalty to sports teams. Lest I tire you out, there is certainly plenty to do right at Station Square with its shops and restaurants.
Of course, when we have our meeting, the green rolling hills will be in beautiful shades of fall colors and there will probably be a chill in the air and maybe some rain. Don’t let that stop you – watch the Weather Channel and come prepared. There’s so much to see and do. Find out why Pittsburgh has been named America’s most livable city several times. Go to the meeting early and stay late – that’s what I’m planning to do and I look forward to seeing you there!
| Pittsburgh Fast Facts LAC Update |
By Kathryn Chmiel, Co-Chair
Local Arrangements Committee
Previous MAC Messages articles have discussed in detail the welcome reception, banquet, and hotel for the October 4-7th Mid-Atlantic and Pittsburgh Regional Chapters Joint Meeting. This article will discuss some interesting facts about the host city itself.
Pittsburgh was founded in 1758. Currently, the city proper is 55.5 square miles and is home to 369,879 people. Pittsburgh is the county seat of Allegheny county. The county is 731 square miles and is home to 1,336,449 residents. According to the FBI, the crime rate in southwestern Pennsylvania (which includes Pittsburgh) is the lowest of all metropolitan areas with a population over 1,000,000.
The climate in southwestern Pennsylvania is moderate. Temperatures generally range from zero to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Annual precipitation usually totals around 36 inches. The average day of the first freeze is October 21st. Average humidity in October is 54 percent. From April to October, this region usually enjoys sunshine more than 50 percent of the time. Therefore, plan for mild but sunny weather. So grab a light jacket and an umbrella (just in case) and “Get on Board.”
Congratulations and Best Wishes
From the MAC Honors and Awards Committee
The Honors and Awards Committee would like to congratulate Anne Wood Humphries, AHIP, Assistant Director for Information Services at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia as this year’s recipient of the Estelle Brodman Award for the Academic Medical Librarian of the Year. She accepted her award at the MLA annual Awards Luncheon and Ceremony on May 25, at MLA -98 in Philadelphia. The Estelle
Brodman Award is presented to an academic medical librarian for outstanding contributions to the academic medical library field as demonstrated by excellence in performance, publications, research, service, or a combination thereof. Ms. Humphries was also the 1997 recipient of the MAC Marguerite Abel Service Recognition Award, given to a MAC member for exemplary service to the Chapter during the past year.
Ethel Pollock, retired from her position as Learning Resources Coordinator, Moorman Memorial Library, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk VA on July 17 after 18 years of service. Ethel began her career at Moorman Memorial Library in 1980 where she served first as Interlibrary Loan assistant and then as Reference Librarian. In 1986 she assumed her position as Learning Resources Coordinator and was responsible for the Learning Resource Center, Computer Lab, education, and reserves and also continued with some reference and collection development work. Ethel has been active professionally serving on committees and holding elected positions at the local and regional levels. She was honored by colleagues, physicians, and faculty at a retirement ceremony
sponsored by the Moorman Memorial Library on July 1. The Tidewater Health Sciences Librarians, THSL, presented Ethel with a bronze “thistle” pin for her many
years of dedicated service to the consortium. Ethel stated that she is looking forward to a life with a lighter schedule, travel, more time with andchildren and volunteering activities. First on Ethel’s “light” agenda is a trip to Sacramento CA, then Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos and a brief tour in Bangkok. Colleagues, THSL and the MAC Chapter would like to thank Ethel for all of her hard work over the years and wish her all the best during her retirement.
MAC/MLA And Research
by Kathy Kruse
Research Liaison for the Professional Development Committee
In its Research Policy Statement, Using Scientific Evidence to Improve Information Practice, MLA defines research as “systematic inquiry into a problem, with the goal of gathering evidence to produce new knowledge.” (1) For MLA, research is a “foundation for excellence in health information practice, for new and expanded roles for health sciences librarians, and for attracting excellent people to the profession.” (2) To have more practicing health sciences librarians who are conducting research and disseminating their results is the goal of our Association. In May 1995, MAC/MLA Chair Anne Wood Humphries appointed the Chapter’s Research Taskforce. Included in its charge were recommending a Chapter structure to support member research, identifying significant topics and educational activities to support research on these topics, and recommending ways to encourage publication of study results. The final Taskforce recommendations, summarized below, serve as the basis for the MAC/MLA Research Policy Statement:
The creation of a Research Liaison position, as one member of the MAC/MLA Professional Development Committee, was another outcome of the work of the Taskforce. |
As Research Liaison, my responsibility is to implement the recommendations of the Research Policy Statement and to interact with other Chapter committees to promote research goals. To begin my work, I would very much like to hear from any Chapter members who are currently engaged in research or who have recently published or presented the results of completed research. Please provide me with a brief description of the project and citations to any resultant publications or presentations. I can be reached through E-mail (KRUSE@CDER.FDA.GOV), phone (301-827-5692), or regular mail (FDA Medical Library, HFD-230, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11B-40, Rockville, MD 20857). I look forward to hearing from you! Finally, if you have an idea for some research that you would like to do, why not start at the Web site of MLA’s Research Section (http://www-hsl.mcmaster.ca/lrs/index.html). You’ll find a Mentoring Service, extensive Research Bibliography, and Resources for Researchers (grant information). 1. Using Scientific Evidence to Improve Information Practice: The Research Policy Statement of the Medical Library Association. 2. Using Scientific Evidence to Improve Information Practice: The Research Policy Statement of the Medical Library Association. Executive Summary. |
by Julia Shaw-Kokot, MAC Chair
Now is the time for all MAC members to consider joining a committee. Committee membership benefits include getting a chance to shape the direction of MAC, development contacts with other members, and earn AHIP credits. The “work” isn’t hard, and you gain a knowledge of the organization and do a little traveling. MAC supports $50.00 of your travel expenses. Usually, you will attend one meeting in January of each year, and most membership terms are for three years.
Below is a list of committees and a little about what you would do if you joined. All you need to do now is complete and return the form in this issue of MAC Messages. Do you want to join a committee, but not sure which one you want to join? Send in a sheet saying “where I’m needed,” and I’ll sign you up for a committee that needs help. Sign up today! We’re waiting to hear from you!
This group coordinates the chapter’s efforts in informing members of legislative and regulatory issues, status of relevant activities, and their potential implications for members. So, if you’re interested in the new Copyright or Internet bills, you would be a perfect fit for this committee. We need a mix of hospital, academic, and special librarians to cover all the bases. Help us keep and eye on Washington.
This committee recognizes and rewards the professional activities of MAC members. Not only does the committee give awards, but it gets to sponsor a special event at the annual meeting to recognize the people. We need a member from each state for equal representation. Help us reward people for their hard work.
This committee conducts an annual membership drive, maintains and publishes a brochure for recruitment purposes in conjunction with the Publications Committee, gathers and maintains information on the dues structures of other professional associations, and maintains a database of MAC members. The MAC Directory comes from this group. Again, we look for members from each state. Sounds like a lot of work? Well, the main role is to identify and recruit new members. If you’re a “people person” who enjoys meeting new people, this is for you.
The PDC coordinates the chapter’s efforts in continuing education and provides information and guidance to groups and individuals on matters relating to professional development. These are the folks who line up the courses for the annual meeting. But, they also identify other courses throughout the year that will benefit members, locate “experts” within MAC, and offer AHIP counseling. If you are an educator, or an avid student, or just have ideas about what CE should be offered at the chapter level, join this committee.
This group is responsible for all MAC publications except the MAC Directory. The main MAC publication is MAC Messages. This group also oversees the MAC homepage on the web. So, if you are a print or electronic writer, editor, designer, or just like to read, publications can use you.
MID-ATLANTIC CHAPTER of the
MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
| Officers | Committee Chairs | MAC Messages |
|---|---|---|
Chair Julia Shaw-Kokot Health Sciences Library UNC – Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7585 (919) 962-0700 FAX: (919) 966-1537 Email: jsk@med.unc.edu Chair-Elect Secretary Treasurer Chapter Council Representatives Ginny DuPont (Alternate) Immediate Past-Chair |
Local Arrangements, 1998 Meeting Kathryn Chmiel Hupp Medical Library Ohio Valley Medical Center Wheeling, WV 26003 (304) 234-8771 FAX: (304) 234-8330 Email: klc@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com Publications Committee Governmental Relations Committee Professional Development Committee Membership Committee Honors and Awards Committee Nominee to MLA Nominating Committee |
Published 6 times a year by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association. Editor |
District of Columbia Maryland North Carolina Virginia West Virginia |
NEWS FROM THE STATES
MARYLAND
The Welch Medical Library, Johns Hopkins University, will join other Hopkins’ libraries by bringing up the Horizon system at the end of July.
Adam Szczepaniak has joined the Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore, as the new Associate Director for Library Operations.
VIRGINIA
Moving on, but staying in MAC…Gabe Rios has left the Area L AHEC in North Carolina to assume the position of Assistant Director of Information Services for the UVA Claude Moore Health Sciences Library in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Jose Elacate has been appointed the Director of the Learning Resource Center at the College of Health Sciences in Roanoke VA. He has been as the College of Health Sciences since 1995 in Public Services. Before coming to the College, Jose worked in the Medical Library at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital.
NORTH CAROLINA
A new post for Susie Speer… She is now Director of Information Resources at Wake AHEC in Raleigh, North Carolina. Formerly she was Coordinator of Computing and Information Technology at East Carolina University Health Sciencies Library in Greenville, N.C.
Mike Williams has recently been appointed the Information Resources Specialist at the Southern Regional AHEC Information Access Center. Mr Williams, who had been a staff member at the AHEC, received his M.L.S. from North Carolina Central University, December 1997.
From East Carolina University, Health Sciences Library:
Beth Winstead, Head of Access Services, has been accepted in the BRIDGES program, a professional development program for women in higher education sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Congrats Rick Peterson! He has been appointed Associate Director of the Health Sciences Library. He was previously Head of the Audiovisuals and Informatics Department.
QUESTIONS ABOUT AHIP CERTIFICATION?
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Paula Raimondo, Coordinator Center for Indoor Air Research 1099 Winterson Road Linthicum, MD (410) 684-3788 ciar@class.org |
Janie Trumbull, Chair-PDC Medical Center Library Duke University Medical Ctr. Durham, NC (919) 660-1120 trumb001@mc.duke.edu |
Lucy Glenn Health Sciences Library Roanoke Memorial Hospital Roanoke, VA (540) 981-7371 ldglenn@leo.vsla.edu |
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Beverly Murphy Medical Center Library Duke University Medical Ctr. Durham, NC (919) 660-1127 murph005@mc.duke.edu |
JoLinda Thompson Himmelfarb Health Sciences Lib. George Washington University Washington, DC (202) 994-2982 jlt@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu |
Publication Deadline
Items to be published in the September/October issue of MAC Messages may be submitted to the editor up until September 15, 1998.
HOSPITAL LIBRARIES
By Pat Hammond, Director of Library Services,
Cape Fear Valley Health System
In 1994, the Standards Committee of the Hospital Libraries Section/Medical Library Association produced a revision of the Minimum Standards for Health Sciences
Libraries in Hospitals. The changes wrought by advances in information technology and the restructuring of Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations (JCAHO) accreditation process are reflected in the revised standards.
The Standards for Hospital Libraries were written to compliment the JCAHO Accreditation Manual for Hospitals. An Evaluation Checklist is contained in the document. A review of the checklist will help you prepare for a JCAHO survey.
The standards publication, Item # 5330-00, is available from the Medical Library Association, 6 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60602-4805,
(312) 419-9094. The cost is $9.00 for MLA members and $12.00 for non-members. The Resource List (bibliography) in the publication has been revised and was published in National Network, April 1998, v. 22, n. 4, pgs S1-4.
The Pilot Project for MACLend, a cooperative DOCLINE-based reciprocal interlibrary loan project, was highly successful. Forty-nine libraries agreed to participate in the second round of the project, which runs from August 1998 – July 2000. In July 1998, participating libraries revised their DOCLINE routing tables. MACLend members received a new DOCLINE routing table which contained the LIBIDs of participating libraries in Cells 3-6. The structure of the routing table assures that similar-sized libraries trade with one another. An assessment of participant satisfaction will be done in the summer of 1999.
At this time only one software package is available for purchase that facilitates DOCLINE ordering, QUICKDOC. For information, contact Jay Daly at (617) 734-0918. Many academic libraries use QUICKDOC to do DOCLINE ordering. The software costs $179.95, a billing program module can be added for an additional $99.95.
CLIO is beta testing a software package for DOCLINE use. This company’s present product can be used for OCLC ordering and will produce an American Library
Association interlibrary loan form. CLIO can be contacted at (650) 726-9126 or http://www.perkassoc.com.
Since the National Library of Medicine is developing a web-based system for DOCLINE ordering, it is advisable to purchase DOCLINE management software AFTER the changes have been implemented to DOCLINE.
MAC/MLA Centennial Task Force
“At the Beginning”
The NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE in Bethesda had its beginning in 1836 as a modest collection of medical books and journals in the office of the United States Army Surgeon General. In 1865, army surgeon John Shaw Billings was posted to Washington and, in addition to other duties, assumed charge of the Library. Billings began the Index Medicus in 1879, and a year later, he published the first volume of the Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General’s Office. When he left 30 years later, the institution was the largest medical library in the world. The Library outgrew several buildings in downtown Washington, DC, and in 1962, it moved to a new facility on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Along the way (1956), the Library became a civilian institution within the U.S. Public Health Service. A number of landmark events have occurred over the past several decades: the computerization of Index Medicus and the development of MEDLINE; the development of the Regional Medical Library Network; the creation of a grant program; the Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program; the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications (research and development); the National Center for Biotechnology Information; and the National Information Center for Health Services Research and Health Care Technology. The Library’s staff of 575 now occupies two buildings in Bethesda; the annual appropriation is $160 million. The collection, which has grown to more than 5 million items, includes one of the world’s finest collections of medical history materials. The current library director is Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D. (Submitted by Bob Mehnert)
Augusta Medical Center, FOREST G. HARPER HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY in Staunton began when the Medical Staff Library was formed in the early 1960’s by the physicians of King’s Daughters Hospital. It was kept up by Dr. Forest Harper, a radiologist. In 1965, Dr. Harper asked Mary Horner to “help out” five hours a week (plus some volunteer time), and she began ordering books and journals and doing other library chores. In 1988, the King’s Daughters Hospital joined with Waynesboro Community Hospital to form the Augusta Hospital Corporation. In 1994, the Library moved into a new facility and became the Forest G. Harper Health Sciences Library of the Augusta Medical Center. Mary Horner became the first full-time librarian. With help from the SWVAHILI consortium, the Library provides computer workstations for access to MEDLINE, CINAHL, and the Internet for all employees. The textbook and journal collections have grown, and a nurses’ library and consumer-patient information section have been added. (Submitted by current library director, Mary R. Horner)
Located in the newly completed Basic Sciences Building, the HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY OF WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY in Morgantown began in 1957. The Library was designed by Alderson Fry, architect/librarian, who was also the first director. He was succeeded by Robert Murphy in 1971. The first reference librarian and assistant director was Marguerite Abel. The Library supports the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Health. An Occupational Health Collection supports the high interest in pulmonary and respiratory diseases. There is also a new NIOSH facility nearby. The newly-designed History Room contains general historic materials and also documents the development of medicine and biomedical research in West Virginia, its counties, and the Appalachian Region. The Library added MEDLINE access in 1972, and since then there has been a consistent goal of adding electronic databases and encouraging the use of current technology. Marge Abel retired in 1994; Bob Murphy retired in 1996. In 1997, Terrance Burton became the current and third director. (Submitted by Sally Brown).
MAC Application for Committee Appointment
1998/99
Editor: Barbara Kuchan
NN/LM SE/A Region
Health Sciences Library
601 W. Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201