Apply for the Carla J. Funk Governmental Relations Award!

Established in 2008, the Carla J. Funk Governmental Relations Award recognizes a medical librarian who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in governmental relations at the federal, state, or local level and who has furthered the goal of providing quality information for improved health. The award honors Carla J. Funk who worked diligently and passionately to provide viability for the association and profession as well as further the association's governmental relations agenda. 

The winner of the award will receive a certificate and a cash award of $500 at the MLA annual meeting. Nominees must be current members of MLA and a member of MLA at the time the government relations activities occurred. For more information, please go to the award website. 

Nominations are due November 1, 2016. 

Explore Greenville's History!

Never been to Greenville, SC before? Greenville has a fascinating history that is on display all over downtown. Take a break from Annual Meeting activities to explore! If you’re looking for some examples, you can start at the Westin Poinset (look for the wall of famous guests). C-SPAN covered many of Greenville’s historical features in a recent Cities Tour. You’ll probably note the many statues around downtown, including the statue of Charles H. Townes (his research helped develop the laser). For any Pokemon Go players out there, many of those statues are PokeStops. We can’t wait to welcome you to Greenville!

SC/MLA Annual Meeting: Sneak Peek of the Paper Presentation, "Re-Thinking Resident Orientations"

This week, we are offering you a glimpse of the paper, "Re-Thinking Resident Orientations: Changes over Time in Resident Information Seeking Behaviors and Confidence in Critical Appraisal Skills" by Cynthia J. Beeler, R. Eric Heidel, and Martha F. Earl, from the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine. 

Back in 2006, in collaboration with the Core Curriculum Committee, librarians at Preston Medical Library added three questions to every exiting resident survey, and began to survey incoming residents.  The idea was that we would be able to see changes in how residents approach information resources, how many articles they read per week, and how confident they are with journal article appraisal.  For this project, we looked at the data for incoming and exiting residents from 2006-2016.  Even though the data is not specific to the person (as in, we don’t have identifiers to know the change in specific residents), we can see that there are trends, and some of those trends lead to more questions.  Exiting residents report reading more articles than incoming residents.  Is that because their attendings encourage them to read more?  Is it because they aren’t learning what they need to know during hours that they are on duty?  Or is it because with smartphones and social media it’s easier than ever to just click and read articles? 

SC/MLA Annual Meeting: Early Bird Registration Deadline Extended!

Were you super bummed this weekend because you thought you had missed the early bird registration deadline for the SC/MLA Annual Meeting? Well, you are in luck because the early bird deadline has been extended to Friday, September 16 at midnight! Register now! Members will save $60 off full-conference registration with the early bird discount. Spend your savings on dinner at The Trappe Door or a book from M. Judson. The Annual Meeting promises inspiring presentations and posters, and great networking, in a fun city!

Around Greenville: Shopping, Activities, and Baked Goods!

Every Thursday leading up to the SC/MLA Annual Meeting, we will be enlightening you on things to see, do and eat around Greenville.

Wondering what to do with your down time in Greenville? Downtown offers something for everyone. We have amazing boutique shopping, a beautiful public park, and many different fun activities to keep you busy while you’re here. If you don’t want to go far, there is a funky bookstore and delicious bakery right next door to the Westin.

SC/MLA Annual Meeting: Sneak Peak of the Paper Presenatation, "Engaging Clinicians in EBP"

Every Tuesday leading up to the SC/MLA Annual Meeting, we will be offering a sneak peak of an accepted poster or paper presentation.

This week, we are offering you a glimpse of the paper, “Engaging Clinicians in Evidence-Based Practice” by Emily Brennan, MLIS, Amanda Davis, MPH, RD, CHES, and Rebecca Harper, from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

Three members of the MUSC Value Institute — the librarian, EBP Analyst, and Senior Value Specialist — recently taught an EBP course to clinicians that resulted in an implementation plan, and hopefully, a hospital policy change. Course participants each focused on one clinical question, searched the literature, appraised the evidence, identified quality measures, and developed practice recommendations. Participants are currently working with stakeholders to implement their evidence-based recommendations. Fifteen clinicians participated in the course: 13 nurses, one physician, and one social worker. Although the participants who attended every session were engaged and nurses ultimately earned CE credit for the course, there was a high drop-out rate. We are also struggling to get enough participants for a Fall interprofessional team-based course for which we are currently recruiting. We have successfully taught much larger EBP courses in the past, and so are planning on holding focus groups to determine what would attract people to participate in the Value Institute's EBP courses. Perhaps if we offered CME credit to physicians, and maybe three half-day workshops instead of six-eight 1.5 hour sessions?

Catch our presentation, “Engaging Clinicians in Evidence-Based Practice” on Tuesday, October 4 between 11:30AM-12:30pm!

Submit a Paper for the 2017 Erich Meyerhoff Prize

The Erich Meyerhoff (formerly Murray Gottlieb Prize) is awarded annually by the Medical Library Association for the best unpublished scholarly paper about a topic in the history of the health sciences. The purpose of the prize is to recognize and stimulate interest in the history of the health sciences. The author of the winning essay receives complimentary registration to the annual meeting, a certificate at the association’s annual meeting, and a cash award of $500, funded by the History of the Health Sciences Section, after the annual meeting.

Deadline for submissions is November 1, 2016 and at least one author must be a member of the Medical Library Association. Submission details can be found here. If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Swanberg, Jury Chair, at swanberg@oakland.edu.