MOOCs for Librarians

Many of us are planning on taking advantage of the CE offerings at this year's SC/MLA meeting. Even more of us enjoy the training opportunities provided by the NN/LM. But how many of us make use of another (mostly free) form of professional development: Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs?


While fitting a MOOC into our busy schedules may not be an easy task, most of the major MOOC providers (Coursera, edX, Udacity, etc.) allow learners to "audit" courses free of charge and at their own pace. There a several MOOCs currently on offer that relate to the work that we do. Perhaps you're interested in learning more about data science or, more specifically, research data management? Or maybe you wish you were more familiar with  open education or bioinformatics? Or perhaps you're interested in how people learn and would enjoy taking one of the most popular MOOCs around?

Have you taken any MOOCs? Did you have a good learning experience?

Annual Meeting Website Up and Running

The SC/MLA 2017 Local Arrangements Committee and Program Committee are excited to announce that the website is up and running for members and others to register to attend the Annual Meeting in Knoxville, TN this October!

The Annual Meeting website is also accessible via the SC/MLA website. We look forward to a wonderful Knoxville experience! 

Janet Doe Lectureship Call for Nominations

Nominations for the 2019 Janet Doe Lectureship are now being accepted! The 2019 Doe Lectureship will be delivered during the MLA annual meeting in Chicago, IL.

The Janet Doe Lectureship was established to support a lecture in honor of Janet Doe. The Doe Lectureship offers both significant recognition and the opportunity to present a major plenary session lecture at the annual meeting of the Medical Library Association. The lecturer receives a certificate at the annual meeting, a $500 honorarium, and up to $1,700 to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses for travel, one day hotel and per diem, conference registration, guest ticket(s) for non-MLA members, and expenses related to research and/or preparation of the presentation.

Nominations are due to the MLA Headquarters by November 1, 2017, and should be submitted by members of the Association. Self-nominations are accepted. General information, criteria, and the nomination form can be found at the following link: http://www.mlanet.org/p/cm/ld/fid=243.

For more information, please contact the Doe Jury Chair, Elizabeth Hinton (ehinton@umc.edu).

Job Opportunity: MUSC Research and Education Services Librarian/Informationist

The Medical University of South Carolina Libraries, in beautiful Charleston, invites applications for the position of Research and Education Services Librarian/Informationist.

The MUSC Libraries seeks a self-motivated individual to fill the position of Research and Education Informationist. The Research and Education Informationist will provide education and research support services to teaching, clinical, and research faculty and health professions students. The Informationist will actively serve as liaison to the undergraduate programs in the College of Nursing and select programs in the College of Health Professions. This position reports to the Associate Director of Libraries and will work in a flexible, team-oriented, highly collaborative environment. A broad scope of work and activities are within this position, including expert search services, teaching and education, research consultations, and community engagement to MUSC students, faculty, and staff in the health sciences. An ALA-accredited Master's degree in Library Science is required. New Librarians are encouraged to apply.

Review of applications will begin August 15, 2017 and will continue until the position is filled. Preferred qualifications, application procedures, and other information are available in the complete position description at http://jobs.library.musc.edu.

The Medical University of South Carolina is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Apply for the Sewell Travel Award to Attend the 2017 APHA Annual Meeting

Is your position related to public health or a public health related field? Would you like an opportunity to immerse yourself in the public health field for a few days?  Then you need to apply for the Sewell Travel Award for Public Health and attend the 2017 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA in early November.  We anticipate funding approximately 8 non-local librarians ($1,235) and 2 local librarians ($730).  The award will reimburse you for the cost of APHA membership and early bird conference registration. Non-local librarians receive additional funds to help offset the cost associated with travel.

Deadline for submission is July 17, 2017 at Midnight (Eastern).

Reflections from MLA 2017

By Kelsa Bartley

This year’s MLA conference was my first time attending. The conference reminded me of a huge family reunion where you’re meeting all the family you never met for the first time! Everyone seemed familiar; either I’d met them online and were meeting them in person for the first time, people knew me by association to my current work place or library school, or they knew someone I work with or used to work with. It was also my first time in Seattle, such a beautiful city. The weather was a perfect mix of warm days and cool nights for most of the conference. I noticed the heavy emphasis on being green, sustainability, and recycling. All the Uber taxis at the Seattle-Tacoma airport were Prius cars!

Welcome to MLA 17!

Being an official MLA tweeter this year, sharing my conference experiences from a library school student and library paraprofessional perspective was the perfect way to get introduced to the hundreds of medical librarians on Twitter. I learned a lot about Twitter engagement, shared a ton of photos, and made some new connections. I definitely recommend signing up to be a tweeter or blogger for the next MLA conference.

Martha C. Watkins Memorial Scholarship

Nominations and self-nominations are now being accepted for the Martha C. Watkins Memorial Scholarship! Please consider nominating a colleague, or yourself, for this award! 

The Martha C. Watkins Memorial Scholarship was established in 1996 to honor Martha Watkins, who was not only a founding member of the Southeastern Conference of Hospital Librarians (SCHL), but also a friend and mentor to a generation of hospital and other health sciences librarians in the South.

She spent many years educating hospital library managers, instructing student and staff users of library services, and providing information to rural and underserved healthcare personnel. The scholarship was begun with SCHL's treasury after the organization disbanded in 1995. 

Application and procedures and qualifications for the scholarship are as follows:

• Applicants must be current Southern Chapter members, who work in a hospital library and who want to take a course or workshop at the Southern Chapter annual meeting. 
• The amount awarded will not exceed $500.00, and can be used to defray any expenses necessary for the fulfillment of the course (tuition, travel, etc).

The goals for this award are as follows: 

• To help Southern Chapter members gain skills and knowledge needed to improve their roles in providing optimum patient care.
• To support participation in professional opportunities which might not otherwise be available because of lack of funds.
• To enhance the role of hospital librarians in maintaining their cutting-edge managerial skills in the face of changing social forces which affect hospitals.
• To promote the sharing of knowledge gained with other hospital librarians in consortia or other cooperative relationships.

To apply for this award, see here.

Please apply by July 15, 2017.