See You Soon in Sunny Greenville, SC!

It’s almost time for the The 2016 SC/MLA Annual Meeting in Greenville! Coming in Saturday and wondering what you can do before the conference starts? Oktoberfest is being held just up the road from the hotel. Join Local Arrangements Committee member Debbie in the Westin lobby at 5:00 to walk up as a group, or just head out on your own.

The meeting begins on Sunday with a fantastic CE course, "Practical Skills and Tips for Research: From Proposal to Presentation." Before we greet you in person we wanted to send a few last minute details your way. Our weather forecast is looking good for the week so pack accordingly for warm and humid weather. When you get to the Westin, keep in mind that parking at the Westin is $7.50/day for self-parking and $19/day for valet. For any of you who are flying in, the Westin offers a free shuttle to and from the airport. Check the shuttle schedule and it maybe call ahead. For any of those last minute items that you forgot to pack, there is a CVS on the corner that can provide most of what you might need. Remember to pack your chargers, batteries, etc. We’ll see you soon!

SC/MLA Annual Meeting: Sneak Peak of the Poster Presentation, "Changes in the Handling of Linked References"

This week, we are offering you a glimpse of the poster, “Changes in the Handling of Linked References” by Nancy Schaefer, University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries, Gainesville, FL.

How quickly do links “rot” (become dysfunctional) in health science journals’ reference lists? How are publishers handling rotted links? This poster reports a pilot study on one “most used” society-owned journal in each of 3 types of health disciplines: general medicine, a clinical specialty and an allied health field.  Stop by “ Changes in the Handling of Linked References”  during the second poster session at SC/MLA 2016 on Wednesday, October 5 to learn what the author discovered and her suggestions for helping authors and researchers deal with link rot.

Around Greenville: Dine-Arounds...Yummm!

We are getting very close to the SC/MLA Annual Meeting in Greenville! We wanted to give you a sneak peek of the Dine-Around restaurants and their menus.  Dine-Arounds will be held Tuesday, October 4 from 6:30-8:00pm, and you can begin signing up for them at the Hospitality Table on Sunday, October 2. We are looking forward to dining with you!

Smoke on the Water: menu
Airy, unpretentious taproom serving barbecue & Southern dishes along with beer.

Handi Indian Cuisine: menu
This Indian cafe presents a menu of basic curries & offers a daily lunch buffet. They offer vegan and vegetarian dishes.

Rick Erwin’s Deli & Market: menu
American cafe with house & build-your-own sandwiches, salads, dinner entrees & prepared foods to-go.

Trio-A Brick Oven Cafe: menu
Family-friendly spot for pasta & specialty pizzas, served in a warm, brick-walled environment.

SC/MLA Annual Meeting: Sneak Peak of the Poster Presentation, "Designing Library Spaces"

This week, we are offering you a glimpse of the poster, “Designing Library Spaces: Creating the “Right Sized” Library to meet the needs of many different users” by Kim Meeks, AHIP, MLIS, Carolyn Klatt, MLIS, and Wanda Thomas, MLIS, from Mercer University School of Medicine Library. 

In March of this year, the Mercer School of Medicine Health Sciences Library in Savannah moved to a new space.  For eight years, the library could be found housed in an old auditorium which offered an ample amount of space for books and other library collections, but lacked ideal study areas and optimum opportunities for students to communicate with staff.

The new space at approximately 2,700 square feet, smaller than the previously used auditorium, required a tremendous amount of downsizing.  As titles were moved online so that they could be accessed 24/7 from any location, the library staff drastically weeded the print collection and moved to the much reduced space with approximately 1,247 print titles.

In order to keep the area more open, a book nook was created instead of traditional shelving.  Library staff members occupy offices with windows that face out into the main area of the library, so that they can always be easily accessible to their patrons.

In the planning stages for the new library, the former Dean of the Savannah campus, Dr. Phillip Malan, stated that he wanted the library to be less about study space and more about interactions between the patrons and librarians.  Students love the new library, and frequent it more now than when the library was in its previous location.

The small space does provide areas for a reading, independent study, and consultations with library staff.  There is also a small conference room that can be reserved for group study. Ample 24-hour study space is available throughout the building, outside of the library, and students seem to enjoy the variety of study-space locations.  Incorporating so many options for students into one area was challenging, but the final outcome worked out wonderfully well for all involved.

To find out more about this project, please stop by to see our poster, “Designing Library Spaces: Creating the “Right Sized” Library to meet the needs of many different users,” on October 4^th in the Poinsett room.    

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.