MAC Messages – Number 84

November/December 2000

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Message from the Chair — Star-Gazing in Roanoke Virginia | News from the States | MAC Nuggets | Minutes: MAC/MLA Annual Business Meeting | Hospital Libraries | Correction | MAC Messages Deadline | MAC/MLA AHIP Counselors | MAC Officers, Committee Chairs, Editor, and State Reporters

As I begin my year as MAC Chair, I want to thank everyone who made our Annual Meeting in Roanoke a big success! We had 133 full meeting registrations, 66 participants in the five continuing education offered, and 18 exhibitors. This year’s Local Arrangements Committee did an outstanding job planning all the great social events that complimented our program of speakers, posters, exhibits, and contributed papers.

The “Reaching For The Stars!” theme was evident throughout the meeting, in events planned and unplanned! Our Welcome Reception Wednesday evening at the Science Museum of Western Virginia & Hopkins Planetarium gave everyone an opportunity to meet new members and renew old acquaintances, as we were entertained by a planetarium show featuring many well-known “stars.” The stargazing didn’t end at the reception, as many of us were given the unexpected opportunity to see the beautiful night sky and the famous Roanoke star on Mill Mountain, as we informally gathered outside the Hotel Roanoke during a 4 a.m. false fire alarm, early Thursday morning! Later that morning, Hollywood star Charlton Heston was spotted by some members as he addressed a national advocacy group, also meeting at the Hotel Roanoke.

Though not as well known as Mr. Heston, our Keynote Speaker was a nationally recognized leader in the field of evidence-based medicine. Dr. David Slawson energized us with his enthusiastic presentation on the need for “just-in-time” information at the point-of-care by today’s health care professionals. Photos and many of the annual meeting presentations can be found on the MAC 2000 web page at:

http://www.cbil.vcu.edu/mac/events/2000/meeting.html

Join me in congratulating this year’s award winners, who were honored at the annual meeting Awards Luncheon: MAC Librarian of the Year: Donna Flake; One-Person Library Recognition Award: Sarah Towner Wright; Marguerite Abel Service Recognition Award: Patricia Hammond.

At our annual business meeting, winners of this year’s elections were also announced:

Chair-elect: Janice Kelly
Secretary: Rebecca Johnston
Treasurer: Ann Sasser
Nominee to MLA Nominating Committee: Pat Hammond

Please take a minute to review the 2000/2001 Goals, which were presented and approved at the annual business meeting. Minutes of the full business meeting are also included in this issue of MAC Messages. The final item of business at the meeting was an invitation from the Maryland Local Arrangements Committee to next year’s annual meeting, to be held October 17-20, 2001 in Ocean City, Maryland.

I would like to thank all who served on committees and task forces this past year. The MAC website lists all the new committee rosters, and I look forward to working with all of you in the coming year. The MAC Executive Board and all Committees will meet in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday, February 2, 2001. Details about this meeting will be sent out in early January 2001. Happy Holidays to all!

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North Carolina

Barbara O’Bryon, former Library Technician at Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayetteville, transferred to another department. The position was upgraded to Associate Librarian. Tammy Stewart is the new Associate Librarian and is the contact person for interlibrary loan. In addition, Jackie Wells was hired as a part time Associate Librarian. Both have had experience at the Cumberland County Public Library.

Duke University Medical Center Library News

The Medical Center is pleased to announce that Patricia L. Thibodeau, who has served as Associate Director of the Duke Medical Center Library for the past seven years, has been appointed as Associate Dean for Library Services at the Duke University School of Medicine. Pat, who succeeds Susan Feinglos, has served as Acting Director of the Library since Feinglos stepped down from the directorship in January 1999. Before coming to Duke in 1993, Pat spent ten years at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville, N.C., as Director of Information Services. From 1977-1983, she served as Director of the Health Sciences Information Center and Research Administration at the Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island in Providence. Please join us in congratulating Pat in her new position.

Tiffany Anderson joined our staff as Instructional Technology Librarian in June. Her responsibilities will focus on analyzing educational technology needs and working closely with faculty on instructional design issues. For the past 5 years Tiffany held positions as Reference and Instruction Librarian at Jackson State Community College, Jackson TN. and as Associate Instructor, School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington. Tiffany obtained her MLIS from the University of Southern Mississippi and a more recent MS in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University.

After 6 years of service to our Library, Scott Garrison will be leaving us to take another position at UNC Health Sciences Library as Operations Manager of Library Systems. Scott has helped this Library and Medical Center build a strong Web presence on the Internet and create an excellent set of services to support Web activities.

Andy Eisan has taken a one year leave from his position as Information Services Librarian. In his absence, Marlyse Hickman has come to us after serving in a temporary position at the Durham County Public Library. She is a recent graduate of The College of Library & Information Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Janie Trumbull has announced that she plans to retire at the end of the year. As of December 5, she will have been here 20 years, coming to Duke from Bermuda where she worked first at the Columbia University Geophysical Field Station and then as Librarian of the Bermuda Biological Station Library. While in Bermuda, she was a charter member of the International Association of Marine Science and Aquatic Libraries and a member of the steering group that created the Bermuda Library Association. While at Duke, Janie directed the cataloging department with the implementation of AACR2 and the introduction of OCLC cataloging; helped move us to two online catalog systems; worked on the TRLN task force for the creation and standards of the MARC format for holdings; and developed guidelines for cataloging our newest electronic resources. Please join us in wishing Janie the best in her retirement and thanking her for her many contributions to our Library.

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West Virginia

Nancy J. Wasson, West Virginia University Health Sciences Librarian, and colleague Carroll W. Wilkinson, WVU Librarian, presented a session on Electronic Document Delivery in West Virginia at the WV Library Association Annual Conference in Charleston, WV, November 2-4, 2000. Thelma Hutchins, Director of Fairmont State College Library, and Barbara Winters, new Dean of Libraries at Marshall University, moderated a session on library consortia. Dean Winters further discussed consortium issues at a meeting of the WVU Library Faculty Assembly on November 10, 2000. The Health Sciences Library at West Virginia University is currently interviewing candidates for two Information Services Librarian positions.

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Several library associations, including MLA, are opposing the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). A satellite teleconference, which will provide help on strategies for opposing or amending this legislation in state legislatures, is going to be held on December 13, 2000 1-4 PM (EST). Go to http://www.arl.org/ucita.html for details.

Why should libraries be concerned about UCITA? Simply stated, UCITA is a proposed state contract law that could impact fair use by libraries under the Federal Copyright Law. When one downloads software from the Internet or buys a shrink-wrapped product, one enters into an agreement with the vendor. As stated by ALA, “when a buyer breaks the wrapping or clicks “ok” with his or her mouse, that buyer is entering into a contract or license with terms that may restrict otherwise legitimate uses of the product, such as legally transferring the software or digital works; publicly discussing the product; or providing access to other users [and] the buyer likely does not even know that he or she has agreed to those contract terms. In other words, UCITA would allow an end run around currently legitimate practices under the copyright exceptions for fair use, first sale, and preservation.”

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The MAC/MLA Chair, Steven Squires, called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m.

Executive Board Members present: Steven Squires, Chair; Jonathan Lord, Chair-Elect; Terrance Burton, Past-Chair; Mary Wallace Berry, Secretary; Patricia Hammond, Treasurer; Ginny DuPont, Chapter Council Representative; Paula Raimondo, Chapter Council Alternate.

Steven Squires distributed minutes, committee reports, and task force reports in a business meeting information packet.

A motion was made by Lynne Turman and seconded by Jean Siebert to approve the minutes from the October 8, 1999 Annual Business Meeting in Wilmington, NC. These minutes were printed in MAC Messages and distributed at the meeting. The minutes were approved as printed.

State of the Chapter

Annual Meeting: Jonathan Lord reported on the 2000 Annual Meeting. Final meeting registration totaled 133 full meeting registrations, 2 one-day registrations, 66 CE participants, and 18 exhibitors.

Membership: Chair Steven Squires reported MAC has 282 members and that 23 of these are new members.

Steven Squires also reported that Lynn Eades developed an online membership directory but maintaining security is a problem. Steven asked the membership to give input on the importance of security around the online directory. Discussion followed about security and selling the directory. MJ Tooey recommended selling the list or protecting it. Diana McDuffee recommended making it available without security. Other members stated concerns over making the directory available without security. Without membership consensus, the matter of online directory security and availability will go back to the Membership Committee for further consideration.

Treasury: Patricia Hammond presented the treasurer’s report distributed in the meeting packet. The report from July 1, 1999 – June 30, 2000 shows a balance of $27,555.05. Pat Hammond reported MAC received an overdue tax notice from the IRS for the period ending 6-30-1995. The notice indicates Form 990 was not filed for the year. Form 990 is required for tax exempt organizations. The assessed balance is $1,962.50 with $442.55 in statutory additions bringing the total due to $2,405.05. Treasury records for the period have no indication that Form 990 was filed. Pat Hammond and Steven Squires consulted MLA and sent a letter to the IRS to appeal the case. The appeal with the IRS is pending.

Past Chair & Nominating Committee Chair: Terrance Burton reported on this year’s election. Terrance Burton thanked all candidates for their willingness to run. 139 usable ballots were received. New officers are: Janice Kelley, Chair-Elect; Rebecca Johnston, Secretary; Ann Sasser, Treasurer; Patricia Hammond, Nominee to the MLA Nominating Committee.

Executive Board Actions and Chair’s Report: Steven Squires reported the Executive Board met in March and September. The board addressed budgeting matters for the 2000 meeting and LAC concerns for the 2001 meeting. Three task forces – Strategic Planning, Financial Planning and MAC Records – were appointed and charged. The membership term length to PDC was extended from two to three years. A process to revise the MAC Policy and Procedures Manual was started in 2000. The Executive Board approved a proposal to expand the Government Relations Committee.

Committee Reports were distributed in the business meeting information packet. Steven Squires asked the membership to review the reports.

Task Force Reports: Summaries of the task force reports were distributed in the business meeting information packet.

• Strategic Planning Task Force: Steven Squires, Chair, reported for the task force. The task force met in March and decided to simply update the current Strategic Plan. The Executive Board discussed the Strategic Plan at the September meeting. The Executive Board recommended proceeding with a needs assessment of the membership from which a new Strategic Plan would be developed rather than updating the existing plan. The Strategic Planning Task Force met during the annual meeting and has a preliminary plan for undertaking the needs assessment. The task force will consult library schools in the region for assistance. A paper assessment will be conducted along with focus groups. With the information, the task force will proceed with a new MAC Strategic Plan


• Financial Planning Task Force: Beverly Murphy, Chair, reported for the task force. The full report will be available on the MAC Website. The goal of the task force was to confirm or recommend changes concerning MAC financial processes and procedures. Major task force recommendations include: (1) maintaining current dues structure for another 1 – 2 years but reviewing every 4 – 5 years; (2) streamlining financial processes as possible; (3) clearly delineating program, LAC, and PDC meeting expenditures; (4) continuing support of reimbursement for Executive Board travel and MLA registration for Chapter Council; (5) managing treasury funds for liquidity as well as long term investments; (6) investigating alternative methods for generating income; (7) containing cost at annual meetings. The MAC Executive Board will form an Annual Meeting Task Force to explore the recommendations for annual meetings.


• MAC Records Task Force: Diane McKenzie, Chair, reported for the task force. In 1999, MAC transferred MAC Archives from NLM to Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU is assisting with MAC in determining what needs to be archived. The archives will include print, electronic, and photographic materials. Archiving electronic items will be addressed in 2001 with policy and procedures to handle electronic archives to be developed. The main recommendations are to create an archivist position that will be a member of the Publication Committee, to create an Archive Subcommittee of the Publication Committee, and to the refine the Policy and Procedures Manual to reflect recommendations from the Task Force.

MAC 2000-2001 Objectives: Steven Squires referred the membership to the MAC 2000-2001 Objectives that were distributed in the information packet. After review, Suzanne Duncan moved to approve the objectives. Beverly Murphy seconded and the membership approved as distributed.

The 2001 LAC invited the membership to Ocean City, Maryland for the 2001 MAC Annual Meeting to be held October 17 – 20, 2001. The committee showed videos of the attractions in Ocean City.

Steven Squires called attention to the roster of chairs and committee members for the coming year. Some slots are vacant so interested persons are invited to volunteer.

Pat Hammond announced that MLA awarded the Lois Ann Colaianni Award for Excellence and Achievement in Hospital Librarianship to Jackie Ramseur, a MAC member from North Carolina.

A motion to adjourn was made by Beverly Murphy and was seconded by Patricia Hammond. The motion was approved and the meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Mary Wallace Berry, MAC Secretary

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During the Professional Issues Forum at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter/Medical Library Association, several items of interest to hospital librarians were discussed.

1. MLA has hired a public relations firm to help medical librarians “market” their image. Something useful that has come from this effort is the “Medical Librarians List of Top 10 Websites.” Librarians can access the list by going to MLANET at http://www.mlanet.org. You do not have to be a MLA member to access the list. The MLANET homepage provides a link to the story that appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on October 23, 2000. MLA members around the country have been contacted by representatives of the public relations firm; requesting participation in media broadcasts. The firm’s goal is to promote the role of the medical librarians in the community. Librarians at the University of Maryland Health and Human Services Library have planned training for the staff of the Baltimore Sun. In Fayetteville, NC, the local medical librarians are participating in a discussion about consumer health resources on the local National Public Radio affiliate.


2. An executive summary of the 2000 Hay Group Study of Pay Equity for Medical Librarians is available to MLA members in the members-only area of MLANET. The Hay Group was commissioned by MLA to conduct a study comparing the salaries of information technology professionals to medical library professionals. Medical librarians are paid from 13 to 40 percent less than information technology staff at comparably sized organizations. The full study is for sale by the Medical Library Association. To order, contact Tom Pacetti at (312)419-9094 x19 or mlafa@mlahq.org.


3. More libraries need to participate in the MLA Benchmarking Network. Unfortunately, only MLA members can access the Benchmarking Data Worksheets. These are found in the members-only area of MLANET. There are several lengthy forms and it does take time to complete them, but the information you provide may help another hospital library withstand reductions. Sarah Wright, Librarian at Arlington Hospital, is the MAC liaison for this project. Contact her at (703) 558-6975 or Wrightst@arlhosp.org.

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A portion of the September/October 2000 “Hospital Libraries” column was inadvertently eliminated. The last line on Page 3 should read as follows:
The Department Directors’ Interview remained on the schedule and was conducted by the Administrator Surveyor. Hospital librarians should participate in this interview. (There was some question about this interview remaining in the survey schedule. See Hospital Libraries column in May/June 2000 issue of MAC Messages.)

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Newsworthy items for the MAC Messages January/February issue may be submitted to the editor (macmessages@angelfire.com) until January 15, 2001. Please include “MAC” in your subject line.

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