Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Newbie MLA 2014 chat

Edit: Transcript available at  http://bit.ly/1o8jjC2

AND

Going to MLA 2014? Please add your name here - we're playing Bingo!

New to MLA 2014 Meeting Chat
Thursday, May 1, 2014
9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific

We officially covered Making the Most of MLA 14 in a previous chat so be sure to check out the great resources shared there. However, are you a first time Medical Library Association meeting attendee? A first time in forever attendee? What can we do to be more welcoming to these, students and others who may be overwhelmed by the annual meeting scene in Chicago? Never participated in a #medlibs or other Twitter chat before? Check out this overview and come on in, we're a supportive community!

Some ideas/calls for help -



Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Leadership and Management

Edit: Transcript available at http://bit.ly/1jJ5iXm 

Leadership & Management: One and the Same?
Thursday, April 24, 2014
9:00 pm Eastern/6:00 pm Pacific

Join your host (who is most definitely the learner and not the expert knowledge source in this area) Nikki Dettmar as we discuss what the concepts of leadership and management mean in our field. Is it possible to be a leader without being in management, and vice versa? How do leadership and management roles translate in professional service to our field outside of our work?

Never participated in a Twitter hashtag chat or #medlibs before? Check out this overview and come on in, we are a very supportive community and especially welcome all newcomers!

Some food for thought -

(thanks Roy!)

8 Subconscious Mistakes Our Brain Makes Every Day - And How To Avoid Them - one of work-smart's most read leadership articles of 2013. Are you making these?

Top Ten Qualities that Make a Great Leader - Are you exemplifying these?

We Wait Too Long to Train our Leaders - "The fact that so many of your managers are practicing leadership without training should alarm you"

Leadership & Management Section of the Medical Library Association Facebook page - great resources shared frequently!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Service Beyond the Library

Edit: Transcript saved at http://bit.ly/1hQT0zK

Service Beyond the Library: In-reach/Outreach
Thursday, April 17, 2014
9:00 pm Eastern/6:00 pm Pacific time

We know it's important for Health Sciences/Medical Librarians to provide outreach to meet the greatest number of users.

I'm going to use two different terms to help us navigate our users:
  • In-reach: Providing services outside the library but to internal user groups. Ex. you work at a hospital library but want to reach more users within the hospital.
  • Outreach: Providing services outside the library to external user groups. Ex. you work at a hospital library but want to offer consumer health information classes to a neighboring senior home.
Having these two terms will help me in building Thursday's discussion.

Here are a couple of questions that may come up:
  • What problems do you have getting out of the library for even an hour?
  • What struggles do you have with either in-reach or outreach?
  • What works for you in providing outreach/inreach?
  • What would you like help with regarding outreach/inreach (aside from extra staff because that's not happening)?
Have a good 'read' and get ready to chat about service beyond the physical library. I know from any and all previous Twitter chats we may diverge from the topic at hand and that's perfectly fine. I look forward to seeing you on Thursday's #medlibs chat!
Never participated in a Twitter #medlibs chat before? Check out this overview and join us, we're a supportive community. See you Thursday, April 17th 9pm EST/6pm PST.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Making the Most of MLA '14

Edit: Transcript at http://bit.ly/1lUgCGe 


Making the Most of MLA '14
Thursday, April 10, 2014 
 9:00 pm Eastern/6:00 pm Pacific time 

Please join #medlibs chat this Thursday for a lively chat about the important things to do at a Medical Library Association Annual Meeting aka #mlanet14. Never participated in a #medlibs or other Twitter chat before? Check out this overview and come on in, we're a supportive community!

Of course, everyone's idea of important is different so experienced meeting goers need to join us to make sure the new attendees know your favourite part of the MLA experience.

Michelle Kraft has already made some annual meeting suggestions on her blog.

And the MLA '14 blog is already up and running, and suggestions for things to see and do are already appearing.

Be sure to consider joining Colleague Connection to expand your network.  New and returning attendees are matched up - and you get a free breakfast.  (added 4/10/2014)

Hopefully some people familiar with Chicago and the area around the Hyatt Regency Chicago (the conference hotel) will be able to suggest some good places to eat, drink, and shop.  Lunch suggestions are especially welcome.  And if anyone know if there are drug stores or grocery stores nearby, that would be helpful too. (Edit from @eagledawg, #mlanet12 Local Assistance Committee CoChair - also keep an eye on the #mlanet14 LAC webpage to have more details as the meeting gets closer!) 

But this is about more than just local information.  Networking is important at the conference and outside of regular conference hours, so we want those suggestions as well. And of course, some people will want to know where all the free food can be found.

I hope you will join us as I make my first attempt at hosting a #medlibs chat.

Margaret Henderson
@mehlibrarain

P.S. I expect an extra special threat from Kimberley Barker (@KR_Barker) this week.

EDIT

Here is a compilation of the advice and comments from the #medlibs chat on April 3.  Names have been removed to protect the innocent and guilty.

Don’t forget to register and look over the conference web pages: https://www.mlanet.org/am/am2014/

Advice for everyone:
  • Follow the official blog, new things added daily http://npc.mlanet.org/mla14/
  • Set up the online scheduler before you go http://www.eventscribe.com/2014/mla/
  • Make sure to rest a little in between networking, presentations, and plenary sessions!
  • Take a break when needed. Impossible to DO ALL THE THINGS
  • Attend events where you can network & sessions that interest you
  • Don't forget you have access to video afterwards so you can miss things
  • Sounds a bit silly, but try to be "in the moment" when you're in a session- don't worry about where you're going next, etc
  • It's okay to leave a session and go to another if you are so inclined
  • My goal this year is to attend more talks on topics I don’t know-By the end of #mlanet13 I decided I had paid too much attention to familiar topics.
  • Went to sessions that I had no knowledge on. That's probably the best thing to do. Challenge yourself.
  • Don't forget to put your twitter name on your cards and your name tag!!!
New attendees:
Food:
Lodging:
  • Try Airbnb to find a place to stay
  • The LGBT Sig has a block if rooms usually quite affordable you should look into that
  • Medlibs-L is a good place to look for roommates. Or tweet for one

If you can't attend: think about the econference package. AND you can still participate in Party w/ Purpose

Here's an idea for future. Badges should have an area to automatically list twitter handle like name, employer, etc.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Preparing for Twisters and Other Things that Go Bump in the Night

Edit: Transcript available at http://bit.ly/1dS1U06 
Preparing for Twisters and Other Things that Go Bump in the Night 
Thursday, April 3, 2014 
 9:00 pm Eastern/6:00 pm Pacific time

Join your host Dan Wilson (@dtw2t) for a discussion about the value of disaster planning and tips for building a culture of readiness at your library.

Never participated in a #medlibs or other Twitter chat before? Check out this overview and come on in, we're a supportive community!

Q1 Are you and your library adequately prepared for a sudden potentially harmful situation such as a tornado or an earthquake?

Q2 What should you do if you are at work and suddenly you hear gun shots?

Q3 When was the last time your library took part in a drill? What kind of drill was it?

Q4 Are you active in any emergency preparedness organizations, such as the Red Cross, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), or the Medical Reserve Corps?

Q5 What roles might your library play in a major disaster?

From lead moderator Nikki Dettmar @eagledawg - one recent example of this with the Oso mudslide in Washington state is a small rural public library in the town of Darrington extended their hours and made Internet connectivity available for the community, and established a mudslide resource page including local agency contacts, news, and resources for coping with trauma.