HLA Blogs!

The countdown is on.... Are you ready for ALIA Access 2010 - Brisbane

2010-06-24T11:00:00.004+08:00

Health and Specials back in partnership - along with Acquisitions, Resource Sharing, Professional Development and lots, lots more. Early bird registration closes on 7th July and, remember, it's cheaper if you register online.

The Conference dinner on Thursday 2nd September is a distributed networking opportunity and you may select from a variety of options in your registration. Join the Health crew at Kapsalis - Greek Cuisine
Address: Shop 31a Southbank Parklands, South Bank
http://conferences.alia.org.au/access2010/network.html

Make the trip even more worthwhile by participating in the QULOC (Queensland University Libraries Office of Cooperation) allied event that is open to all. Evidence Based Practice in Health for Librarians will be held Wednesday 1 September at the University of Queensland's Library Conference Room, St Lucia. There will be a modest charge for the day of $50 to $60. Further information and registration will be available from the QULOC website in the next few weeks.

This is a 'content-rich' day. A mix of presentations and workshops will engage and educate. Come along to hear from your Australian colleagues, and from presenters such as Carol Lefebvre (UK Cochrane Centre), Professor Chris Del Mar (Bond University), Dr Satyamurthy Anuradha, Associate Professor Suhail Doi and Dr Tammy Hoffman (UQ), Dr Ann Walsh (QUT), and Ms Connie Schardt, Past President, MLA and the Medical Centre Library, Duke University.

Round the day (Wednesday 1st September) off with a Health dinner - please contact me (remove 'no spam') from the address) by email if you would like to attend a Health get-together on Wednesday evening (1 Sepember). More on this closer to the date.

Cheryl Hamill

One for the diary: EBLIP6

2010-06-23T07:09:00.002+08:00

The announcement has gone out that The 6th International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP6) Conference is to be held at the University of Salford, Greater Manchester UK from 27th-30th June 2011.

Key Dates:
Call for Abstracts: September 2010
Deadline for Abstracts: December 2010
Notification of Acceptance: January 2011
Registration Opens: March 2011

Website: http://www.eblip6.salford.ac.uk
Contact: eblip6@salford.ac.uk

So How Much Does it Cost to Run a Conference?

2010-03-31T09:17:00.004+08:00

This post by Graham Black, ALIA Access 2010 Conference Convenor and current ALIA Vice-President, makes interesting reading. I remember someone telling me years back just how much conference budgets are eaten into by meal costs -pardon the pun! :)

Anyway, mark the dates 1-3 September in your diaries...

…a Coalition of the Willing - Health Partners with Specials, Acquisitions, the Literate Information Types, for a Conference (and an UnConference) - and All of it with a Fringe

Set aside the first week in September for a visit to Brisbane for ALIA's Access 2010 conference. Health Libraries Australia (HLA) has been busy preparing a program that is more than the usual conversation we have within the profession. It is a program to influence the direction and development of health librarianship in Australia. Where do you fit in the health workforce, what is your scope of practice in the health care team, how will you make a difference in the health system over the next few decades? Be a part of the Health stream to have your say.

Join in with our coalition partners to mine the richness of their programs. There is considerable commonality of interest with the programs being prepared by the specials, acquisitions, information literacy, unconference streams and more.

The fringe event will be held on Wednesday 1 September and is a partnership between HLA and Queensland University. This will be a more practical skills-sharing (free) event at UQ sites. Suggestions so far include workshops on Advanced PubMed and on evidence-based librarianship. You are invited to propose other topics.

It's great to see the reawakening of our Health / Specials conference relationship - let's make the most of it. Put it in your diaries now, and start writing up those submissions for support.

2 Great Job Opportunities at UQ

2010-03-24T09:45:00.003+08:00

Two fixed term Senior Librarian (Clinical) (Hew Level 7 ) positions have recently been readvertised until 12th April.

Secondment arrangements are encouraged and these roles will be guided and mentored by senior staff.

This is a great opportunity to help advance evidence-based practice at two major Brisbane teaching hospitals.

Details of the positions are available at http://www.uq.edu.au/jobs/index.html?page=130708&pid=11218 or http://seek.com.au/job/senior-librarian-clinical-x-posts-hew-fixed-term-uq-library/brisbane/16983363/27/1/.

You can contact Majella Pugh, Acting Senior Manager for UQ Health Sciences Libraries, on (07)33655354 to discuss the role.

Positions Filled

2010-03-10T11:14:00.003+08:00

Following the recent Call for Nominations we are pleased to announce that:

Suzanne Lewis, Northern Sydney Central Coast Health (NSW), has taken up the position of Convenor for Health Libraries Australia;

Jane Shelling, from the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ACT), is now Secretary of the Anne Harrison Award; and

Veronica Delafosse, Caufield Hospital (VIC), will continue as Convenor of REBLs.

We wish them every success in their roles and thank them for volunteering their time and energy.

2009-04-24T07:00:00.000+08:00

The following post to the aliaCPD discussion list (22 April 2009) should be of interest to all members but, perhaps, particularly those who manage and have interactions with new graduates.

What makes a profession and who's responsible?

Professions occupy a unique place in our society. Governments have assigned the right and responsibility to control the professions to those who practice the professions. This is a privilege which most professionals take very seriously. ALIA provides the education standards for LIS education in Australia and we work closely with educators, employers and practitioners to ensure high-quality educational programs are available.

ALIA is currently reviewing its course recognition process and would like your input.

As per the notice in the last inCite magazine, we are currently seeking comments on key issues relating to ALIA Course Recognition. Should the ALIA Core Skills and Knowledge be updated and reflected in Course Recognition processes? Should the process be called Accreditation rather than Recognition?

You can make your comments and contributions on the consultation wiki (username and password required), or directly to dianne.walton-sonda@alia.org.au.nospam (remove the '.nospam' from the address) by 30th April 2009.

First meeting of the ALIA Special Libraries Advisory Committee

2009-04-23T09:30:00.002+08:00

From Cathy Brady:

The first meeting (teleconference) of the ALIA Special Libraries Advisory Committee is scheduled for 24 April. The Special Libraries Committee is a new Advisory Committee whose primary role is to provide advice in the form of identification of issues, opportunities, activities and in general assist in developing a strategic direction for special libraries with the ALIA Board. Items proposed for discussion at the first meeting include the draft terms of reference for the Committee, the Electronic Resources Australia (ERA) meeting and professional development for special librarians. Emma Datson (Therapeutic Goods Administration) and I (Cathy Brady, HealthInsite, Department of Health and Ageing) are both members on the committee from the health libraries sector. We hope to provide you with outcomes from the meeting next month. If you have any queries regarding the Committee, please feel free to contact me at catherine.brady@health.gov.au.nospam (remove '.nospam' from the address).

Online LIS journals now available to ALIA members

2009-03-18T07:00:00.000+08:00

As an ALIA member, did you receive your email last week alerting you that access is now available to over 130 online, full text LIS journals via the ProQuest Library Science database?

This initiative is very welcome. For those working in special libraries, getting access to the LIS literature is not always simple, cheap or time effective.

I'd welcome any comments about this new member benefit.

ALIA Research Mentoring Program 2009

2009-03-17T07:00:00.000+08:00

I missed this announcement. My apologies because this is a GREAT INITIATIVE from ALIA. If you want to do research but feel you lack the necessary skills to put together a half decent research study then read on!

The following was posted to aliaHEALTH by Jane Hardy on 10th March.

"Would you like to learn how to gather the evidence to make your services and resources even more effective in meeting your clients needs? Have you always wanted to learn the steps involved in conducting a research project?

The ALIA Research Mentoring Program provides the opportunity for ALIA members to develop and refine their skill, knowledge and confidence in conducting research.

This program is a new initiative for 2009. The ALIA members survey conducted in 2008 clearly showed that ALIA's members were eager to have access to more research support and guidance. In today's ever changing information rich and technologically driven world, it has become more important than ever that library professionals embrace a culture of research and scholarly enquiry. Research skill and knowledge are the essential tool kit for ensuring that libraries and librarians continue to effectively and efficiently meet the evolving needs of the clients and communities they serve.

The program is open to practising librarians or library technician members who have been personal financial members for at least two years at the time of application. The program is not open to members occupying research or teaching positions.

The purpose of the program is to provide the opportunity for recipients to receive expert coaching and guidance as they undertake a research project on a selected library or information issue.

Up to four recipients will be selected to take part in the 2009 Program.
The successful recipients will be matched with a mentor who has experience in conducting research.

Nominations will be considered by the ALIA Research Committee and a recommendation made to the Board of Directors.

Nominations close on 6 April 2009.

For further information (including the application form), visit http://www.alia.org.au/research or contact Helen Partridge, Chair of the ALIA Research and Publishing Standing Committee, at h.partridge@qut.edu.au.nospam (remove '.nospam' from the address)."

Innovation Award: try these on for size

2009-03-16T10:26:00.000+08:00

If you're wandering whether one of your workplace activities fits within the definition of 'innovation', as it relates to the HLA/HCN Innovation Award, consider the following examples:

* libraries moving to providing virtual services only – e.g. no physical library, e-only offerings
* libraries using open source Library Management Systems
* libraries implementing Clinical Librarian/s

All sound very familiar, don't they? The judges will be looking for projects that have changed established practices, through the introduction of new methods, services or products, and contributed to and/or supported improved health outcomes.

Please think seriously about applying. Don't underestimate what you have achieved and don't think that applying is equalivant to big-noting yourself...it's not! What you are doing is enhancing the reputation of your library service, giving yourself an opportunity to undertake significant professional development (should you be the successful winner), sharing what you have done with the rest of the health library community (everyone gets the chance to learn from you!) and supporting this new and important Award.

Click here for the application form and here for the guidelines.

EBLIP5: Registration now open

2009-03-14T08:39:00.004+08:00

You can now register for Bridging the gap, the 5th International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP5) Conference to be held in Stockholm, 29 June - 3 July 2009.

Early bird registration ends on April 26th 2009, and registration closes on June 1st.

If anyone from an Australian health library is planning to attend EBLIP5, please consider writing up your experience for HLA News. Contact me directly (you will need to remove the '.nospam'). Thanks!

Job ad: Faculty Liaison Librarian, Sydney Uni

2009-03-13T10:00:00.004+08:00

Here's another position to contemplate. The University of Sydney's Health, Law and Medical Sciences Libraries Division is seeking a Faculty Liaison Librarian. This is a full-time, continuing position. Search for position reference USYD/151827 on the USYD's Careers Website.

Application close on 23 March 2009.

Interview with Joanne Marshall

2009-03-13T10:00:00.000+08:00

I think most of us know of, if not quietly revere, Joanne Marshall. Anyway, I happened to stumble upon an interview with Joanne on Technorati in which she "discusses evidence-based library and information practice and efforts to link research to practice. Libraries as social agents in life-long learning, work force studies and issues, and health information services are discussed." The video runs for 30 minutes and is well worth watching.

Job ad: Systems Librarian, Melbourne

2009-03-12T17:09:00.003+08:00

The Royal Melbourne Hospital Health Sciences Library is looking for a full time Systems Librarian. The position description and criteria can be accessed online.

Applications close 25 March 2009.

Deadline extended

2009-03-12T13:06:00.006+08:00

The HLA Executive has announced that the deadline for applications for the HLA/HCN Innovation Award has been extended to March 31st, 2009.

The purpose of the Award is to acknowledge excellence/innovation in performance by an information professional. This Award is an opportunity for those working in the Australian health and biomedical library sector to showcase innovative projects which, through the use of health informatics or web technologies contribute to or support improved health outcomes.

This is a great opportunity to pick up $2500 to put toward yours or your team's professional development. All that's required is completing an application form and writing 2 articles for HLA News - one that describes your innovative project and one that reports on the professional development activity you use your winnings on.

If you're unsure whether your project is "innovative" contact a member of the HLA Exec. Click the 'office bearers' link on the HLA web site for contact details.

Click here for the application form and here for the guidelines.

Job ad: senior position in Melbourne

2009-03-04T11:07:00.000+08:00

Eastern Health, in Melbourne, is advertising for a Chief Librarian. This is a full time, ongoing position and classified as Grade 2 under the Health Professionals Services – Public Sector – Victoria 2003 Award.

From the position description: 'The Eastern Health Library Service operates across the seven main campuses of Eastern Health with the main sites with permanent provision of resources being Box Hill Hospital and Maroondah Hospital. Satellite sites include Angliss Hospital, Peter James Centre, Wantirna Health and Healesville & District Hospital/Yarra Ranges. Currently, the provision of services to these sites most often occurs via Box Hill or Maroondah with a physical presence of library staff at these sites on a part time weekly basis.' The position will be based at Box Hill Hospital.

The full job description can be found on the Eastern Health website.

Applications close on 13 March 2009.

ALIA 2009 elections - electronic voting now available

2009-03-04T10:15:00.008+08:00

This morning I received an email with instructions on how to vote electronically in the ALIA Board of Directors election. I haven't cast my vote as yet but this is a great step forward for those of us with easy access to the Internet...no more paper forms, no more envelopes in envelopes!

I confess I had not taken any notice of the candidates until I had a quick look this morning. Five individuals are running for the 2 available directors' positions: Stuart Ferguson, Gillian Hallam, Richard Siegersma, Kate Sinclair and Lothar von Retzlaff. You can read more about them on the ALIA 2009 election website.

What is most surprising is that there was only one nomination for Vice-President, Graham Black, Director, Division of Library Services, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton. As such, and in accordance with ALIA by-laws, Graham is automatically elected to the position. As incoming Vice-President (2009-2010), Graham is also President-elect (2010-2011). Congratulations to Graham.

I have one gripe, though - and it may be nothing more than an administrative oversight or maybe I'm just not looking in the right spot on the ALIA website - but where the candidates for the Board positions have provided additional information that further describes their skills and experience and the issues they consider need addressing by the Association, I don't see any of this information available, beyond a short Statement of Professional Concerns, for the incoming Vice-President. The membership needs to know a little more about what to expect from the future President of ALIA. So if I have missed something, can someone let me know?!

Regardless, please take the time to vote and if you are a member and haven't received voting instructions, contact ALIA National Office on the member's line 1800 020 071 or enquiry@alia.org.au.nospam (remove the '.nospam' from address).

Update your member details online

2009-03-03T10:36:00.004+08:00

ALIA National Office has announced that ALIA members can now update their member details online. You will need your 6-digit ALIA membership number and a password. If you have forgotten, or don't know, your password follow the 'forgotten your password?' links when you login to have your password e-mailed to you, or phone the membership team on 1800 020 071.

Can I urge you to spend a couple of minutes updating your details. And, remember, you must select HEALTH as your group to continue receiving HLA News and any other direct communication from the HLA Executive.

Contact ALIA National Office directly if you have any queries.

Only 2 days to go - HLA/HCN Health Informatics Innovation Award

2009-02-25T22:10:00.007+08:00

As I type this there are only 2 days to go before applications close for the HLA/HCN Health Informatics Innovation Award. The folks at HCN tell me they've had opportunity to talk to many health librarians, during meetings and recently at the Online 2009 conference, and there are "lots of people doing fantastic things out there". This is your opportunity...nominate yourself or a colleague.

Click here for details of the award and here for the application form.

Closing date: This Friday, February 27th

Library photos

2009-02-25T10:35:00.010+08:00

A big thanks to Karen Carson (Manager of the Ramsay & Buttfield Libraries in Tassie) who sent me a link to photos of the new Douglas Piper Library at Royal North Shore Hospital. Karen took these photos during a visit organised by Gillian Wood, Area Library Manager for NSCCAHS, to coincide with the Online 2009 conference.

If any of you have photos of your library that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you!

[Photo of cockatoo and DPL mascot by Dr Richard Piper]

WebJunction

2009-02-21T11:22:00.008+08:00

In a recent press release, WebJunction, an online social network learning community for librarians and library staff, has released Library Management Competencies, a guide to courses and resources to help current and aspiring library managers be more successful in their work. Competencies are grouped around the following sub-categories:

* Budget & Funding
* Community Relations
* Facilities
* Laws, Policies & Procedures
* Marketing
* Organisational Leadership
* Personnel Management
* Project Management
* Staff Training & Development
* Strategic Planning
* Trustees and Friends

I can't comment on the quality of the courses but it may be useful to know that many are self-paced - you have a year in which to complete them - and each costs around US$40 (just over AU$60).

FOLIOz for 2009

2009-02-20T10:31:00.003+08:00

ALIA and ScHARR (University of Sheffield, UK) are presenting 4 online courses this year as part of the FOLIOz (Facilitated Online Learning as an Interactive Opportunity) series.

Promoting and Marketing Library and Information Services' (PROMISE)
Monday 23rd March - Friday 8th May 2009
Cost $220 for ALIA members

Moving into Supervision: Supervisory skills for library technicians and/or newly qualified professionals (MOVES)
Monday 1st June - Friday 17th July 2009
Cost $220 for ALIA members

Managing for Service Quality (MSQ)
Monday 24th August - Friday 9th October 2009
Cost $220 for ALIA members

Maximising the impact of your service (Maxim)
Monday 30th November 2009 - Friday 22nd January 2010 (including a two-week break 21st December-4th January)
Cost $270 for ALIA members

I completed the KM FOLIOz course that was offered in 2008 and really got a lot out of it. The course was delivered by email (typically one per day) supported by web materials, briefings, powerpoint tutorials, audio and video presentations, quizzes and buddy exercises. Some days, all I had to do was read an article. Other days, I needed to complete an exercise. Whatever the task of the day, by the end of the course I had developed a portfolio of work that reflected what I had learnt and how I intended to apply my new found knowledge. It was suggested that participants would need to put in 2-4 hours of work per week but I found, like most things in life, what you put in was what you got out! Another great thing about the course was how flexible it was; I could complete the activities at my own pace (though I would highly recommend trying to maintain a consistent pace!).

If you are interested, contact Judy Brooker, ALIA's Professional Development and Careers Manager, on 1800 020 071 or email judy.brooker@alia.org.au for more details.

HLA News - Jan 09 issue

2009-02-19T10:17:00.002+08:00

The January issue of HLA News was distributed to HLA members at the end of January 2009. If you believe you are a HLA member but didn't receive it, please email me directly at melanie.kammermann@alianet.alia.org.au.nospam (remove the 'no spam' from the address) so we can check that your name is on the mailing list next time.

The Jan issue has also been loaded on the HLA News website. You will need your ALIA login and password to access it. Older issues are freely available.

Thanks once more to our bulletin sponsor, EBSCO.

I am always looking for contributions to the newsletter. If you have implemented a new piece of software, made service improvements, done some benchmarking, attended a conference...anything that's of interest to health libraries...please consider writing this up for publication. The bulletin is selectively indexed in CINAHL and the Informed Librarian Online, and you can also earn ALIA CPD points.

The HLA Exec Needs You!

2009-02-18T12:13:00.010+08:00

It's that time again when you are asked to consider nominating for the Executive Committee of Health Libraries Australia. Back in August 2006 I wrote a post about why I continue to be involved and those sentiment still hold.

All positions are open and include: Convener, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor or General Member.

Please contact the secretary, Mary Peterson at mary.peterson@imvs.sa.gov.au.nospam (remove 'no spam' from the address) before the end of February.

New ALIA member benefit - full text LIS journals

2009-02-18T09:57:00.005+08:00

ALIA has just announced that they will be joining forces with Proquest to provide ALIA members with access to more than 100 online full-text LIS journals. Titles will include Library Journal, Computers in Libraries and The Electronic Library.

For those working in small, special libraries, access to LIS journals is often not readily available so this news is very welcome, particularly with regards professional development and evidence-based practice.

More details will be made available in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

HLA/HCN Health Informatics Innovation Award

2009-02-10T09:30:00.000+08:00

If you haven't checked it out already, HCN is sponsoring a new award, the HLA/HCN Health Informatics Innovation Award. This is a great opportunity to showcase innovative projects which, through the use of health informatics or web technologies contribute to or support improved health outcomes.

The winner of the Award will receive $2500 to put toward professional development... a substantial amount of money at the best of times but especially in the current economic climate. $2500 might enable all the members of a winning team to attend workshops, or an individual a trip to an overseas conference.

But what I really like about this Award is the sharing of information; we get to learn from one another. And, remember, you can self-nominate or be nominated by a colleague. Please do consider nominating a deserving colleague if you think they won't self-nominate.

The application form and guidelines can be downloaded from the HLA website or contact a member of the HLA Executive for an application.

Applications close 27 February 2009 so get your skates on!

Results from the ALIA member survey

2009-02-06T11:22:00.000+08:00

ALIA members can now access the executive summaries of the results from the member survey conducted last year. There are summaries for both individual and insitutional results.

The reports summarise those factors most important to members versus member impressions of how well ALIA is performing against each of these factors. It also sets out some potential improvement opportunities for ALIA.

These documents are worth a read...only 3 pages each...as you can expect the results to heavily influence the future activities of our national professional body.

Kung Hei Fat Choi

2009-02-05T10:36:00.004+08:00

HLA Blogs! has been a little dormant over the last 6 months but we'll see if we can't rectify that in the coming months.

Happy New Year from the HLA Executive and, equally important from my desk here in Hong Kong, Kung Hei Fat Choi! It's the Year of the Ox and let's hope it's not as bad as one might imply from a headline I saw recently..."Get ready for an absolute cow of a year". Perhaps it would be more positive to think about the coming year in terms of harnessing the qualities of the Ox...patience, common sense and the achievement of prosperity through determination and hard work.

One definite bright spot on the horizon and a biggie for us this year is ICML 2009 in Brisbane. The keynote speakers listed so far are most impressive. Registrations are open at the early bird fee up until 17th April. This is one event you won't want to miss.

How much times does web 2.0 take?

2008-07-24T10:44:00.000+08:00

For any of you interested in Web 2.0 I stumbled across a post by Nina Simon from Museum 2.0 - How much times does web 2.0 take?. This might provide some perspective on what's manageable within your current time constraints. How does it measure up to your experiences?

Places are filling...HLA at dreaming08...have you registered?

2008-07-23T10:41:00.001+08:00

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
TUESDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2008

The countdown is on everyone. Numbers are building fast and there’s less than a month left for you to register for the HLA Professional Development Day at dreaming08. We need to hear from you soon. In addition to some great speakers, there’s a load of excellent PD workshops on offer and it’s your preferences that will determine the final program.

You can find the draft program and registrations forms on the ALIA HLA website.

Registrations close 18 August 2008.

HEALTH LIBRARIES STREAM, MAIN CONFERENCE
WEDNESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2008

We are very excited to announce our keynote speaker* – Dr Stephen Duckett, Executive Director, Reform & Development Division, Queensland Health and author of Australian Health Care System.

Dr Duckett’s paper will be titled, Beyond the Blame Game: National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission Proposal. (Commission’s report). He'll be looking at the big picture reforms in Australia, and his view of implications for Australian health libraries. A book signing, sponsored by Ramsay Books, will be held following this session.

Visit the dreaming08 website to register.

[*Trish Greenhalgh was originally announced as keynote speaker but has had to pull out due to personal reasons.]

Ann Ritchie and Cheryl Hamill
Co-convenors, HLA at dreaming08

Great minds think (too much) alike

2008-07-23T07:37:00.000+08:00

Check out this article in the July 17 issue of The Economist. It reports on a recent article in Science (18 July 2008: Vol. 321. no. 5887, pp. 395 - 399). Rather than leading to fuller citations, the growth of online databases of scientific journals has led to fewer articles being citied. The articles that are mentioned tend to be recent articles themselves. I recommend you take time to read the comments.

Oz medical librarian wins 2008 Information Professional Award

2008-06-17T22:48:00.000+08:00

Jan Weaver, Medical Librarian at Deakin University, has been announced the 2008 Information Professional of the Year by the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Australia and New Zealand Chapter. Employed by Deakin University Library in July 2007as its first Medical Librarian, Jan's role was to establish and develop a medical and health sciences library collection and learning space at the university's Geelong Campus in support of the new School of Medicine (the first students arrived in February 2008!). "Her ability to gather the right resources while forging strong relationships with other partner health services, clinical schools, and medical library and information services is exemplary and something that the profession can celebrate," said Liz Blankson-Hemans, Director of Information Professional Development at Thomson Scientific. The full press release can be read here. Congratulations, Jan!

Last year's winner was Stephen Due, another Australian medical librarian.

The annual Information Professional Award award is sponsored by Thomson Reuters.

Books needed for Uganda

2008-05-26T22:29:00.000+08:00

In partnership with DHL, the Mater Hospital endeavours to send unwanted items of medical equipment to needy hospitals around the world. The most recent container, which went to a Ugandan hospital last year, contained over 80 cartons of health related books donated from various medical libraries around Australia. This particular hospital has just opened a "Health University" to train their own Ugandan nurses, doctors and allied health professionals (see HLA News March 2008, pg6).

We are again sending a container load of equipment to this Ugandan hospital in August and they have requested more books. In their own words: "We are still in need of lots of text books - these can be medical and nursing, medical management, health policy, paramedical, - really anything to do with health. We have a fairly urgent need for these this year."

Anyone wishing to donate books or journals should contact:

Graham Carter
Manager, Biomedical Engineering Services
Mater Health Services
Raymond Terrace
Brisbane. 4101
Ph: 07 3163 1219

ICML 2009 - Call for papers and posters

2008-05-26T22:06:00.000+08:00

10th International Congress on Medical Librarianship (ICML) 2009 incorporating the 6th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists (ICAHIS) and the 4th International Clinical Librarian Conference (ICLC)

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Monday 31 August - Friday 4 September 2009

You are invited to participate in the 10th International Congress on Medical Librarianship (ICML), to be held from Monday 31 August - Friday 4 September 2009 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Queensland, Australia.

ICML, under the auspices of IFLA, is a global forum held every 4-5 years. The ICML 2009 theme Positioning the Profession will offer delegates an array of research papers, user studies and innovative solutions. Local and international presenters, including those working in health libraries, publishing industries and the information and communication technologies, as well as clinicians and academics will participate at the Congress. A number of continuing education activities will be offered as well as tours of the region. Interest has already been expressed from librarians and information professionals from Malaysia, China, Australia, India, Korea, Japan, Fiji, Egypt, Middle East, Europe, UK, Canada, Central America, Latin America and the United States. It is anticipated that more than 1000 delegates will attend the Congress.

By attending the ICML 2009, we have no doubt that delegates will enjoy an experience of a lifetime in a place like nowhere else on earth. For more information on themes, important dates, and abstract submission, please visit the ICML 2009 website.

Heather Todd & Lisa Kruesi
Co-Convenors, ICML 2009
Australian Committee

Job opportunity - Librarian, AstraZeneca (NSW)

2008-05-26T21:59:00.000+08:00

AstraZeneca is seeking a Pharmaceutical Librarian.

Reporting to the Head of Medical Information and Patient Safety, this position is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining the Library systems and services to ensure the provision of a quality and value adding service to internal and external customers.

The closing date for applications is 29 May 2008.

The full job description can be viewed here.

Connections: Bridging the Gaps May 16-21 2008, Medical Library Association, Annual Meeting, Chicago, USA

2008-05-26T21:12:00.004+08:00

Some thirty hours and two flights later I arrived at the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago on Thursday 15 May. I cannot remember how many very long queues I’d been in transit so when I arrived at Chicago airport and was standing at the end of another mile long queue I agreed to share a cab. This is worth doing and results in being removed from a queue. Aussie’s must have the sharing spirit, as a chap from WA travelled with me downtown. He was attending the National Restaurant Association conference also on in Chicago. Beautiful tulips lined the streets of this wonderful city.

As the Cunningham Fellow recipient my attendance at the Meeting was funded by the MLA. The MLA over the past three years has provided the booth space to promote the ICML 2009. As hosts of ICML in Brisbane we are enormously grateful for the outstanding support we have received from the MLA.

Friday 16 May I attended a one day workshop Rapid Web-Based Course Development: A Short Course for Librarians presented by Jan Buhmann. What did I learn? By the end of the day I was aware of a few processes and tools that can be used for course development. I also discovered that Camtasia and Survey Monkey are so intuitive that even with jet lag I was able to use them. Why did I do this course? Curriculums are increasingly adopting online formats and I wanted to gain an understanding of what is involved. The course provided a one page listing of instructional design resources and rapid development tools. Let me know if you’d like a copy and I’ll seek Jan’s permission to share the list.

Saturday 17 May the morning was spent setting up the ICML booth. This involves hanging up Australian flags, pinning a large table cloth with a map of Australia to a backdrop curtain, putting out miniature koalas, laying out brochures and getting the larger Koala and Kangaroo raffle prepared. Fortunately the lovely staff at the Majors booth didn’t need their table (already dressed with an attractive skirt) as I’d ordered a table that wasn’t big enough. Last but not least I blew up our inflatable Skippy then the booth was complete. The Exhibition Opening is always on the Saturday evening. Once again I had flown 14,000 km to experience koala frenzy. The MLA delegates just love our wee koalas that can be worn upon a lapel or attached to just about anything. All Australian hands were on deck, including Mary Peterson, Rolf Schafer and Saroj Bhatia from Australia to help promote ICML 2009.

Sunday 18 May at 7 am I attended the Thomson (Reuters) Scientific Sunrise Seminar: Showcasing new translational research resources. The following is a summary of the session taken from the MLA Program:
• Investigator Portal: comprehensive research for all stages of disease investigation and therapeutic regimens
• BONDplus: public and proprietary sequence, interaction and related interactions information
• Thomson Collexis Dashboards custom datasets on therapeutic areas or diseases, providing unique data mining, display and predictive potential.
Ok, the truth, I attended this seminar as Thomson's door prize was an Apple i-touch though UQ is setting up a Translational Research Institute. I didn’t win the Apple i-touch…grrrr. All the resources are very specialised and are newly released. Are you familiar with Collexis? Watch this space! The Thomson Collexis Dashboard is only available to Web of Science subscribers.
BONDplus is a bioinformatics tool and it was way too early in the morning to digest the complexities of this resource, for more details go to: http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/bondplus/
This was followed by the McGovern Lecture on Sunday morning presented by Andrew Zolli. To Be Continued. Lisa Kruesi, Health Sciences Library Service, UQ Library

EAHIL Conference 2008

2008-05-26T20:21:00.000+08:00

Is anyone planning to go to the EAHIL conference in Helsinki this year? If so, let me know if you'd be prepared to either blog from Helsinki or write for HLA News.

Don't know anything about Finland. Check out the conference blog!

11th European Conference of Medical and Health Libraries
23rd - 28th of June 2008
Helsinki, Finland

Job opportunity - Librarian, NT Dept Health

2008-05-26T20:06:00.000+08:00

Reference Services Librarian - Department of Health &Community Services, Darwin, Northern Territory

The position of Reference Services Librarian is a full-time contract position. Some flexibility with dates can be negotiated, starting at a minimum of 6 months through to a maximum of 8 months. Assistance with relocation expenses can be negotiated.

This position is responsible for the delivery of specialist reference and educational services, including facilitating access, promotion and evaluation of quality evidence-based information and knowledge resources to all staff of the Department of Health and Community Services (DHCS) and other eligible library members.

The job description can be found on the ALIA employment website.

For more informaton contact:
Robyn Tranthem
Health Services Librarian
Department of Health & Community Services
Tel: 08 8922 8037 Fax: 08 8922 7777

Exploring the Evidence Base - a bliki

2008-05-26T19:47:00.000+08:00

This site has been around for awhile but it's good to be reminded of these things. Catherine Voutier (Centre for Clinical Effectiveness) and Terence Harrison (Royal Melbourne Hospital) have set up a bliki (part blog, part wiki) which provides links to resources "to help inform clinical librarians, information specialists and clinicians of new tools, search tips and other items of interest."

It's definitely worth a look.

Registrations now open - HLA at Dreaming08 Professional Development Day

2008-05-16T10:40:00.001+08:00

Please visit the ALIA Health Libraries Australia website to download the registration form and draft program for the Health Libraries Professional Development Day being held on Tuesday 2 Sept 08 at the Centre for Remote Health in Alice Springs.

The program is looking fantastic - great content, good networking opportunities, excellent value for money.

And don't forget, the following day (Wednesday 3rd Sept 08) will feature the health stream of the ALIA Biennial Conference so don't forget to register for that as well - whether it be just the one day or the whole conference.

Chasing the Sun: virtual reference workshop

2008-05-07T21:28:00.000+08:00

CHASING THE SUN is an innovative approach to international co-operationby making use of time zone differences across the world and uses OCLC's Questionpoint virtual reference software. The service currently runs between Australia and the UK and is expanding into Canada with interest from New Zealand. More information can be found on the CTS home page. Libraries participating in CTS can also provide a local virtual reference service to their own staff via the same software licence for a small extra fee.

Chasing the Sun - an after-hours virtual reference service for clinicians will be used to demonstrate the principles and practice of VR. Training will cover 2 areas.

* Virtual reference as a skill
* Using Chasing the Sun (this session will be hands on and all
participants will have a chance to be a client as well as a VR
librarian).

DETAILS

Trainer:
Sue Rockliff, co-administrator of the Australian Chasing the Sun Service and the Senior Librarian at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide.

Venue:
The Department of Health training room in North Sydney.

Cost:
$30 for ALIA members
$40 for non-members

Date:
Friday 30th May, 2008 9.30am to 12.30pm.

Registration:
To attend, please fill in the registration form.

Please note:
You do not have to be a Chasing the Sun member to participate in the training, so this is the opportunity for anyone in NSW who may be interested in learning about virtual reference, to get in and see what it is all about. Places are limited so don't delay.

More information:
If you have any queries or want to talk more about CTS, please call Sue Rockliff on 08 82226408 Mon-Wed or email or visit the ALIA HLA website.

CAVAL's Space Planning for Libraries - any HLA members going?

2008-05-07T21:15:00.000+08:00

If any HLA members are planning to attend CAVALS's 2 day Space Planning for Libraries program (17-18 June) could you please contact me. I have been reviewing 'Appendix Two: Recommended minimum space requirements for health libraries' in the Guidelines for Australian Health Libraries (3rd ed) and am interested in hearing about latest trends in space planning.

Dreaming '08 Accommodation Options

2008-04-29T08:30:00.001+08:00

There is a wide variety of accommodation in Alice Springs through various websites. Deals are available from YHA up to 5 Star and Boutique. Useful websites to find your perfect Alice Springs accommodation:

Total Travel
Wotif
Needitnow

Coming Soon: Tiger Air Deals to Alice Springs

QANTAS flight deals to Alice Springs in time for HLA at Dreaming08

2008-04-06T22:39:00.000+08:00

For those of you intending to go to HLA at Dreaming08 (or those who need some enticement), QANTAS has recently advertised Red e-Deals from various capital centres to Alice Springs (Sydney $198 one way; Melbourne $179 one way; Adelaide $189 one way; Perth $239 one way; Darwin $169 one way; Brisbane $199). It covers flights taken between 22 July and 18 September 2008 (click on 'Top End Deals' to see the full range of dates included in this deal) but bookings must be made by 14 April or until seats are sold out. Visit the QANTAS domestic flights page online.

HLA is not endorsing QANTAS as a preferred carrier. We're just merely letting you know so you can take advantage of the offer.

And if you need any reminding as to why you should seriously consider attending HLA at Dreaming08, go not further than our top 10 reasons.

HLA at Dreaming 08:

Tuesday 2nd September, Health Libraries Professional Development Day.
Wednesday 3rd September, Health Libraries Stream during the main conference program.

Library managers, have you completed the neXus 2 survey?

2008-03-25T08:42:00.000+08:00

A number of posts have appeared on aliaHEALTH about stage 2 of the neXus project. HLA has been specifically approached by the neXus project team seeking health library participation. Further, Gill Hallam, project leader, is hoping to present initial results at HLA at Dreaming08.

The HLA Executive cannot stress enough the importance of your input to this project. neXus2 will help OUR sector better understand the issues that impact on the recruitment and retention and the training and development of library staff. The study will focus on the institutional perspectives, rather than the individual, so needs the active participation of library management, to be able to obtain data at the organisational level.

The first step in the process is to register for a Security Identification Code. This can be done at http://datagecko.com/nexus/index.php?sid=14

Time is running out. The cut off date for the survey is Friday, 4 April 2008.

Queries can be directed to Gill Hallam, email: g.hallam@qut.edu.au or mob: 0402 159 818.

Registrations open for next FOLIOz Course: G2G

2008-03-25T08:33:00.000+08:00

Registration is now open for

Getting to Grips with Knowledge Management (G2G)

The course will start on 28th April 2008 and brought to you by ALIA and The University of Sheffield (ScHARR)

This a high quality online learning activity conducted at your own pace and in your own time:

Course duration: 28th April 2008 - 13th June 2008

Course Aim: This course aims to provide practical skills in delivering knowledge management techniques that are feasible at a local or organisational level. The course will be supported by real-life case studies and practical tasks and exercises.

Course Objectives: By the end of this course participants will be able to:
* Understand the importance of knowledge management.
* Identify the main considerations to be taken into account when planning a knowledge management strategy.
* Use knowledge management tools to meet the needs of their organisation or community
* Prepare a planned approach to developing a "community of practice".
* Identify strategies to enable you to sell the benefits of
knowledge management at an organisational or local level.
* Evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge management techniques.
* Engage with fellow participants in discussing issues connected with practical knowledge management problems and situations.

Cost:
ALIA Member $195
ASA/RMAA/ASLA/LIANZA Member $195
Non-member $295

Registration forms and FOLIOz information now available at
http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/workshops/

HLA at Dreaming08 - top 10 reasons to be there

2008-03-25T08:22:00.001+08:00

One thing we will share from the March issue of HLA News is our top 10 reasons to be at HLA at Dreaming08.

1. Loads of health library specific content

…and it’s back to back!
Health Libraries Professional Development Day, Tuesday 2nd September
Health Libraries Stream during the main conference program, Wednesday 3rd September.

2. Prominent health library keynote speaker

Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, a regular BMJ contributor and author of 7 academic text books (remember ‘How to Read a Paper - the basics of evidence-based medicine’, BMJ Publications, 2002? Well, that’s Trish!). Her presentation will be: Tales of the field: Challenges and pitfalls of evaluating large-scale IT projects in healthcare.

3. Get a different perspective; hear the latest in health librarianship

…from invited speakers with international and national perspectives, as well as colleagues who are doing it on the ground.

4. Professional development

We guarantee you’ll learn stuff. The content is strong and practical.

5. Network, network and then network some more.

We all know this is where the real action takes place.

6. Backs onto a darn good general library conference with some strong academic content that’s applicable to ALL OF US.

Visit the Dreaming08 for more details of the program.

7. Not nearly as expensive as SOME conferences we know of!!

8. Heavy discounts on the cost of the Health Library PD day for ALIA members attending the whole conference

9. You get to be part of the HLA team spirit.

Contribute to HLA’s priorities for the next year as we lead up to the International Congress of Medical Librarians to be held in Brisbane 2009, help shape our profession’s vision for the future vision, be a part of your national group that advocates for health librarianship and coordinates national initiatives such as the Workforce Planning research that is currently underway.

10. Be wowed by Alice Springs.

It’s a unique attraction. And the Henley on Todd is the weekend before . Why not make it a holiday?

HLA News, March 2008 issue

2008-03-25T08:11:00.000+08:00

The first issue for this year was emailed to HLA members last week and has since been uploaded to the ALIA HLA website. (The December 2007 issue is now open access.)

Contents include:
Web 2.0 and Australian health libraries - From Your Convenor - Competencies and keeping pace with technology changes in smaller library settings - Evidence Australia - Australian libraries make a difference to the University of Uganda - NT Health's new eLibrary leads to skill development for library staff - Conference diary - Top 10 reasons to attend HLA at Dreaming08

If you think you should have received HLA News via our direct member email but didn't, log on to ALIAnet and check that the HLA box is ticked under 'my groups'.

New look ALIA website

2008-02-24T22:16:00.000+08:00

Check out the newly upgraded ALIA website.

Don't forget to vote - ALIA BOD

2008-02-19T10:16:00.000+08:00

It's election time for ALIA. Members are asked to vote to elect board members and a vice president. You can read about the candidates here.

Philip Keane, Helen Partridge and Michelle Brennand are all seeking re-election. New candidates are Brenda McConchie, Gail Schmidt and Kate Sinclair. Kevin Dudeney and Jan Richards are vying for the position of Vice President.

Ballot papers will be included in the March issue of inCite. Voting closes 9 April 2008.

Have your say. Make your vote count.

Job opportunity: P/T Library Tech (Melbourne)

2008-02-19T09:59:00.001+08:00

20 hrs per week

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is one of Australia's leading biomedical research institutes, with a strong history of significant discoveries of clinical importance and an outstanding international reputation.

We are seeking an experienced part time staff member to support the operations of the library. Duties include document delivery, cataloguing, serials focusing on the library management system and general duties as directed. The successful applicant will have completed a recognised Library qualification and be eligible for membership of ALIA.

Familiarity with a library management system (preferably Unicorn) is essential, as is experience with online and web based information resources. Solid IT skills, including Word, Excel and database software (Access, FileMaker Pro) are required, and strong attention to detail and a demonstrated ability to work as part of a team are also necessary for this role. Experience in a health, special or academic environment is desirable .

The position is available for one year in the first instance. Salary range: $44,462 - $47,187 (paid pro rata @ 0.57 FTE). Up to 17% superannuation and very attractive salary packaging options are available.

A position description is available on our website.

Enquiries on the role can be directed to Jo Marshall.

Written applications, including CV and the contact details of three professional referees should be forwarded to:

Human Resources Manager
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
1G Royal Parade, Parkville
Victoria 3050

Alternatively, email your application.

Closing Date: Thursday 28 February 2008

HLA News, Dec 07 issue

2008-01-25T09:52:00.000+08:00

The December 2007 issue of HLA News was emailed to members late last year. This issue is now also available to members on the HLA website.

Contents include:
Austin Health Library Survey | From Your Convenor | NSW Health Libraries Forum report | EBLIP4 Conference report | Writing a paper: two scientific perspectives | HLA at Dreaming08 | Management Strategies for Library & Information Service Centres: a conference report | Left Field: library branding and marketing

All other issues of HLA News, including the Nov 2007 issue, are available open access.

Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association

2008-01-25T09:47:00.000+08:00

Volume 28, Number 4, Fall 2007 is now available. Click here to access the contents.

The feature article is - Introducing Web 2.0: wikis for health librarians.

Job opportunity: Librarian, part-time (Sydney)

2008-01-24T14:54:00.000+08:00

Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney, SENIOR LIBRARIAN, Permanent part-time position, 24 hours per week

Salary $887.70 to $1810.00 (gross per week dependant on experience & skills)

Position No: 2008/06

An opportunity exists for a senior Librarian to join the Royal Rehabilitation Centre. With a reputation for providing excellence in the area of rehabilitation and hosting four University affiliated research centres, Royal Rehab is seeking an individual with excellent research and communication skills who can be an integral part of our research and service development activities. With a focus on customer service and knowledge of information technology in the library environment, the individual will also play a leadership role in the development of a new state of the art rehabilitation library.

Applications must address Essential and Desirable criteria as outlined in the information pack.

Information Pack: Human Resources on 9808 9207 or e-mail: jobs@royalrehab.com.au

Enquires: Deborah Frith, Director Marketing and Business Development on 9808 9266.

Closing date amended to: 4 February 2008 (originally 28 Jan)

Job opportunity: Library Technician (Melbourne)

2008-01-24T14:48:00.000+08:00

THE NORTHERN HOSPITAL, Library Technician, Full Time

Northern Health Library services requires a full time Library Technician to work 38 hours per week. This position will be primarily based at The Northern Hospital Library with a 1 day per week rotation at Bundoora Extended Care Centre Library.

You will assist in the provision of library services with particular reference to inter-library loans, journal accessioning, cataloguing, circulation desk duties and general library house-keeping.

Diploma or equivalent, eligible for ALIA membership and previous library experience essential.

Health & Allied Services Award - Classification A01 $38,786.80 plus 9% superannuation.

Enquires: Ilana Jackson Librarian, Ph: (03) 8405 8728E-mail: Ilana.Jackson@nh.org.au

Applications quoting Ref. No.A-023 to jobs@nh.org.au or to Human Resources The Northern Hospital185 Cooper St Epping Vic 3076 by 25/01/2008.

HLA Regional group (Qld) Event - Brisbane, 31 Jan

2008-01-24T14:41:00.000+08:00

New Technologies, Tools and Trends at the New England Journal of Medicine

Hear Tom Richardson, Director of Institutional Sales & Service for the New England Journal of Medicine, discuss the latest technologies, publishing trends, and new tools developed at the journal and globally. This is an ideal opportunity to ask Tom questions about the future of publishing and journal subscriptions.

When -Thursday January 31, 2008
Time - 2:00-3:00, followed by afternoon tea
Where - QUT Gardens Point Campus Library, V Block Room 714
Cost - Free
RSVP - Wednesday, 30 January 2008 to j.hall@library.uq.edu.au or l.evans@qut.edu.au

Information Valuation

2008-01-24T14:26:00.000+08:00

The latest issue of Elsevier's Library Connect newsletter has the theme 'Information Valuation'. Articles and columns include:

How marketing can help increase the value of e-resource investments: Five key findings;
Study shows migration to online books saves libraries money and increases usage
Librarians Speak Up:How is your library determining its value?

aliaNEWS 22 January 2008

2008-01-24T13:25:00.000+08:00

Of interest to HLA members in the latest aliaNEWS broadcast:

Call for papers for the ALIA Biennial Conference. Deadline is 30 Jan.
Call for papers for the ALIA Information Online Conference. Deadline is 28 Mar.
Call for papers for the4th ALI A New Librarians Symposium. Deadline is 4 Apr.
If you provide health information services to patients or your local community, consider submitting an article to the March issue of inCite.
Interested in being on the ALIA Board of Directors? Nominations close 1 Feb.
Comments and submissions are invited for the ALIA Education and Workforce Summit 2008 to be held 28 Mar.
A new draft on the ALIA Conference Manual is being prepared. Copies available on request.
The ALIA Resources Directory 2008 will be available online to members this year.
Consider applying for the Jean Primrose Whyte Churchill Fellowship 2008 (SA only) and Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship 2008.
New ALIA publications available; member discount on CSU's Libraries in the twenty-first century.

Click here to read the latest aliaNEWS broadcast in its entirety.

Happy New Year to all members

2008-01-24T11:31:00.000+08:00

The ALIA Health Libraries Australia Executive would like to wish all members a productive and fulfilling year ahead.

Conference
The main HLA professional development and networking event for the year will be held in September in Alice Springs as part of the ALIA Biennial Conference. HLA will be holding a health library professional development day on Tuesday 2 September followed by health library conference day on Wednesday 3 September. This is a fantastic opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues, update your skills and knowledge AND see some of beautiful Central Australia! Register your interest today.

Bulletin
Health Libraries Australia will continue to publish HLA News. Four issues are planned for this year and thanks go to our sponsor, EBSCO Australia. Submissions are welcome and should be forwarded to the editor, Melanie Kammermann.

Local Events
Keep an eye out for local HLA events happening in your region. These will be advertised on the aliaHEALTH e-list, the ALIA events calendar and on this blog.

Your Executive
The HLA Executive will continue to progress HLA's strategic plan, and as always, the Executive welcomes your input whether it be to provide feedback, make suggestions or raise professional concerns. Contact details can be found on Vital Link.

HLA News - November 2007 issue

2007-12-07T09:54:00.000+08:00

ALIA HLA members should have already received their copy of the November 20007 issue of HLA News via email.

In this issue you will meet Aussie expat Janene Batten as she talks about her life at Yale and the sometimes indirect routes to life's perfect destination.

Terry Harrison reports on the third UK Clinical Librarians Conference and Ann Ritchie reflects on the IFLA satellite conference on CPD. Terry has also penned the Left Field column in this issue, which for the first time is written by someone looking from within the sector.

We also celebrate the retirements of Titi Alexander and Ian Stubbin - not their going, but the sector's good fortune in having them!

Last up, hands up for dreaming08 - a genuine health libraries stream within the conference and a professional development day as a satellite event.

The November issue is now up on the HLA newsletter website. Members can access this issue by logging on using their 6-digit ALIA membership number and password.

All preceding issues of HLA News are open access.

Thanks to our newsletter sponsor EBSCO for their renewed sponsorship of HLA News.

Job opportunity: Manager Joint Princess Alexandra Hospital/UQ Library

2007-12-07T09:48:00.000+08:00

An exciting opportunity is available for an innovative and energetic Librarian with outstanding leadership and management qualities to take on a senior management role at The University of Queensland Library. The University Library delivers high quality client-focused innovative information products, services and programs that are integrated with and central to the University’s teaching, learning, research and community service activities.

The Role: In the role you will manage the delivery of information services to the Joint Princess Alexandra Hospital/UQ Library; participate in overall strategic planning and policy development within the University Library, develop action plans to implement Library policies and strategies; ensure effective communication with clients, and participate in budget formulation and expenditure as well as recruitment, deployment and development of staff. See position description for other duties.

The Person: You should possess a degree and recognised professional library qualifications, sound library management experience and expertise; extensive professional experience in academic libraries; sound understanding of trends in information service delivery in an educational and research environment and the ability to work flexibly within a team structure. See selection criteria for further requirements.

Remuneration: This is a continuing full time appointment at HEW Level 8. The remuneration package as of 1/1/08 will be in the range of $80,419 to $ 90,300 per annum, including employer superannuation contributions of up to 17%.

Contact: Obtain the position description and selection criteria online or contact Suzanne Green, telephone (07)3365 6254 or email. Telephone Lisa Kruesi (07) 3365 5354 to discuss the role.

Send applications to Joanne Rutherford, Human Resource & Staff Development Coordinator, Library Corporate Services, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, or email.

Closing Date for Applications: 16th January, 2008

Reference Number: 1263306

Scholarship opportunity

2007-11-21T11:17:00.000+08:00

The Department of General Practice, Flinders University through the Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) program, is offering an exciting opportunity for a Librarian with a knowledge or background in health to assist our group perform a literature search of the research evidence for reducing hospital bed days of older adults. This includes both decreasing the number of unnecessary admissions (hospital avoidance) and decreasing the number of inpatient bed days through greater use of community based sub-acute care services.

The person we seek will have:

Graduate Diploma or Masters in Information Studies or equivalent;
Eligible for membership of the Australian Library and Information Association;
Knowledge or background in Health;
Experience using health databases;
Good conceptual skills, enjoys a challenge and has a flair for creativity;
An interest in being a member of a research team.

The value of the schoarship is $20,000. There is flexibility with respect to working hours as well as full time / part time but someone is needed who can make a start quickly.

In the first instance please email Dr Leigh Roeger, PHCRED Coordinator, at with a brief paragragh about yourself to express an interest in the scholarship by Friday 23rd November 2007.

Job opportunity: Manager, Biological Sciences Library, UQ

2007-11-21T11:14:00.000+08:00

The position of Manager, Biological Sciences Library (HEW Level 8)- University of Queensland has been advertised on the UQ internal vacancy list, and on the Seek Website

Closing Date for Applications: 16th January, 2008

Reference Number: 1262716

Minutes of HLA Exec meetings now available

2007-11-09T09:12:00.000+08:00

The minutes of HLA Executive teleconferences held on 12 June and 16 October are now available on the ALIA HLA website. Any feedback can be directed to HLA Executive members. Contact details are available through Vital Link (select Health Libraries Australia under the 'Groups' drop down box).

ACT NOW! Complete the survey on Australian health librarians and Web 2.0

2007-10-31T10:35:00.000+08:00

Endorsed and supported by the HLA Executive, we encourage all Australian Health Libraries to complete this survey.

The survey on Australian health librarians and Web 2.0 is now open and can be accessed here.

A survey was undertaken recently in the US by the MLA Social Networking Software Task Force investigating use of collaborative/social networking tools and services. Results from the original survey of MLA members are reported at the Task Force on Social Networking Software blog.

Libraries Using Evidence and NSW Health, with the support of Health Libraries Australia, are extending this survey to the Australian context. Staff in health libraries across Australia (hospital, academic, special etc) are invited to participate. The Australian data will be used to generate a snapshot of the use of and attitudes towards collaborative/social networking tools and services. Results will provide librarians with evidence to assist in influencing policy and practice at their workplace. Results will be reported in the first instance on the Health LIS 2.0 and Libraries Using Evidence blogs.

We ask that you take a few minutes to complete this brief survey. If you are unsure about something, please email us with your question. The survey will close on 25 November 2007.

Please note: this survey is completely confidential. No identifying information will be released with results.

Your participation is appreciated. Remember - the survey can be accessed here.

Lisa Cotter, Suzanne Lewis and Gillian Wood
projectchili2007@gmail.com

Cunningham Fellowship applications close 30 November 2008

2007-10-31T10:22:00.000+08:00

Applications for MLA's Cunningham Memorial International Fellowship will be accepted up until 30 November 2008.

The award is given annually to citizens or permanent residents from countries outside the United States or Canada who have both an undergraduate degree and a master’s level library degree and are working or preparing to work in a health sciences library in their countries. The program provides a learning experience that may consist of a stay in the United States at one or more medical libraries. Based on a pilot program for the 2007 Cunningham Fellowship, the format and duration of the 2009 program could vary from two weeks up to a period of three months. The Cunningham Fellowship was established in 1967 and named in honor of Eileen Cunningham.

For more information, contact Lisa C. Fried, credentialing, professional recognition, and career coordinator at +1 312.419.9094 x28. Click here for links to a fact sheet and application.

To date, two Australians have been awarded the Fellowship - Francis Bludhorn in 1987 and Saroj Bathia in 2003. Reports of Saroj's experiences are available on the MLA website.

World Congress of Health Professionals Mar 26-29, Perth

2007-10-31T10:11:00.000+08:00

Registration is open for the World Congress of Health Professionals to be held March 26-29 2008 in Perth.

"This world congress represents the first time that all health professions across all sectors, have been invited to meet. It is an opportunity to meet those in the forefront of developments in health, to hear experts share their vision of our future and to network with leaders in health from across the world."

The Congress has five themes:
Global Challenges and World Health
Innovations in Service Delivery
Workforce and Training Developments
Demands and Opportunities
The Impact of New Technology on Health Care

and is hosted by:
The Metropolitan Allied Health Council
The Allied Health Alliance of Western Australia

Register for the 2007 NSW Health Libraries Forum

2007-09-17T23:04:00.000+08:00

The NSW Health Libraries Forum 2007 Committee are pleased to announce Sally Toms of North Coast Area Health Service as the recipient of the Forum sponsorship opportunity for regional librarians. Thanks to Ramsays Medical Books and More, Sally and her colleague Kath O'Meley have $750.00 to help pay for accommodation, travel and registration at the Forum on 8-9 November at Gosford Hospital.

To join Sally and Kath at the Forum, register now at the earlybird rate of $100 (2 days including Forum dinner), and you will go in the draw to win a PDA courtesy of ProQuest.

Register now at: http://nswhlf2007.blogspot.com/.

For enquiries, please contact Suzanne Lewis or Lisa Cotter.

(Posted for Suzanne Lewis)

Web 2.0 & Hospital IT Departments

2007-09-15T10:38:00.000+08:00

Mark Funk has put up an interesting post about hospital IT departments blocking Web 2.0 technologies. This follows on the back of a post by the Krafty Librarian who can't access YouTube and therefore a video for one of the doctors at her organisation.

How many of you have this problem and can't access Web 2.0 technologies? Share your stories using the comments botton.

EBLIP Vol 2, No 3 (2007) now available

2007-09-15T10:32:00.000+08:00

The lastest issue of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice has just been published. Click here to access this open access online publication. Once again, our own Suzanne Lewis, from Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, has contributed another evidence summary to this international journal.

Job ad: Clinical librarian, NT

2007-08-07T20:17:00.000+08:00

This is a great opportunity to establish a new position in the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services Library, based at Royal Darwin Hospital. Working in multidisciplinery teams, the clinical librarian will be focused on ensuring a specialist, clinical information service is delivered to hospital/health facility clinicians through literature searching, critical appraisal, training, and the integration of electronic knowledge resources with clinical workflow.

There are 5 hospital libraries (Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek) and almost 5,000 staff working for the Dept, the biggest in NT. The library is well resourced, dynamic and forward looking.

If you'd like more information about the position please call Anne Ritchie on +61 8 8922 8756 this week to discuss possiblities (after 10/8/08 please contact Bid Rose).

Click here for information about how to apply online.

IFLA Health and Biosciences Standing Committee newsletter

2007-08-06T14:38:00.000+08:00

The current issue of the Newsletter of the IFLA Section of Health and Biosciences Libraries can be found here.

The 'L' word

2007-07-31T21:03:00.000+08:00

There has been a lot of discussion on the MLA's hospital library e-list about the 'L' word. One post recommended a recent article, The New Librarian, in the New York Times July 8 2007, saying "That article put to rest ANY idea I may have had in changing the librarian title, and it was fun to read. Librarians (and the profession) are now 'cool'!"

ALIA's professional development e-list

2007-07-31T20:23:00.000+08:00

Karen Mills was recently appointed as the Professional Development Officer at ALIA national office and she's been busy sending out updates on upcoming PD events on the ALIA professional development e-list. Sign up to aliaCPD to receive notification firsthand.

Job opportunities: Faculty Liaison Librarians, Univesity of Sydney

2007-07-31T20:06:00.000+08:00

The University of Sydney Library is recruiting for two librarians.

Faculty Liaison Librarian (Two positions)
* Health Sciences Library, Cumberland Campus
* Medical Library, Camperdown Campus

The University of Sydney is supported by a dynamic Library system that offers a diverse range of information services to students, staff and the community. The Health and Medical Libraries Division provide services from five libraries on four campuses. These libraries provide a range of services to support the staff and students of the five Faculties of Health.

We are searching for two proactive Faculty Liaison Librarians, with great people skills, to join this motivated, customer-focussed team. One position will be located at the Health Sciences Library at the Cumberland campus, and the other will be located in the Medical Library at the Camperdown campus. A core component of these roles is liaising with staff and students from a specific discipline area to develop and market high quality information services, as well as managing the design, delivery and evaluation of information skills programs.

To succeed, you will be a creative professional who thrives on partnership building and an excellent problem solver within environments of constant change. You will be confident using the Web and databases to find quality information and will keep in touch with trends in digital resource creation. Eligibility for professional membership of ALIA or equivalent, with subsequent relevant work related experience, or an equivalent combination of experience and training is also a must.

These are unique opportunities for innovative, flexible and customer-focussed librarians to take on challenging and autonomous roles that will support the information systems across the Health and Medical Libraries Division; a part of the largest academic library in the Southern Hemisphere.

These positions are full-time continuing, subject to the completion of a satisfactory probation period for new appointees. Membership of a University approved superannuation scheme is a condition of employment for new appointees.

Remuneration package: $67,089 - $72,359 p.a. (which includes a base salary Level 6 $56,691 - $61,145 p.a., leave loading and up to 17% employer's contribution to superannuation)

All applications must be completed online. Specific enquiries about the role can be directed to Libby O'Reilly on (02) 9351 3618. Alternatively, general enquiries can be directed to Sandra Choi on (02) 9351 5880.

Closing date: 5 August 2007

For more information contact Libby 0'Reilly, Director, Health and Medical Libraries, University of Sydney, (p)+61 2 9351 3618, (m)+61 0401715195.

PD event - Bridging the gap: translating research into policy and practice

2007-07-27T11:49:00.000+08:00

Presented by the HLA Regional Committee (Qld), Associate Professor Ann McKibbon from the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University will be presenting the free lecture on knowledge translation, on Tuesday 21 August in the Auditorium, Medical Education Centre, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, 2pm-3pm. Light refreshments will be provided following the presention. ALL WELCOME - no need to RSVP.

For more information click here.

Ann McKibbon BSc, MLS, PhD, is a medical librarian who has been working in the areas of evidence-based medicine, medical informatics, and knowledge translation for more than 25 years at McMaster University inHamilton, ON Canada. Her work includes studies of clinicians using Medline and other information resources as well as the Clinical Queries in PubMED. She received a PhD in medical informatics at the University of Pittsburgh in 2005 and is an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster. She continues her research and teaching in informatics and knowledge translation in the medical school and to other audiences outside the university. She has over 50 peer-reviewed publications and has taught more than 100 workshops to librarians and health professionals. She enjoys making difficult-to-understand topics (e.g., statistics) easily understood and believes strongly that librarians have a major role to play in research inside librarianship and in other disciplines. Taken from:
http://www.bm.cm-uj.krakow.pl/eahil/cec.php

Job advert: Manager, UQ/Mater McAuley Library Service (HEW Level 8)

2007-07-27T11:20:00.000+08:00

THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND LIBRARY
Exciting management opportunity in one of Australia’s premier learning and research institutions.

An exciting opportunity is available for an innovative and energetic Librarian with outstanding leadership and management qualities to take on a senior management role at The University of Queensland Library. The University Library delivers high quality client-focused innovative information products, services and programs that are integrated with and central to the University’s teaching, learning, research and community service activities.

The Role: In the role you will manage the delivery of information services to the UQ Mater/McAuley Library within the context of the Biological and Health Sciences Library Service; participate in overall strategic planning and policy development within the University Library, develop action plans to implement Library policies and strategies; ensure effective communication with clients, and participate in budget formulation and expenditure as well as recruitment, deployment and development of staff. See position description for other duties.

The Person: You should possess a degree and recognised professional library qualifications, sound library management experience and expertise; extensive professional experience in academic, research or special libraries; sound understanding of trends in information service delivery in an educational, research and clinical environment and the ability to work flexibly within a team structure. See selection criteria for further requirements.

Remuneration: This is a continuing full time appointment at HEW Level 8. The remuneration package will be in the range of $78,076 to $ 87,669 per annum, including employer superannuation contributions of up to 17%.

Contact: Obtain the position description and selection criteria online or contact Suzanne Green on (07) 3365 6209 or email. Telephone Lisa Kruesi (07) 3365 5354 to discuss the role.

Send applications to the Joanne Rutherford, Human Resource and Staff Development Coordinator, Library Corporate Services Level 6 Duhig Building, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, or email.

Closing Date for Applications: Tuesday 7th August, 2007

Reference Number: 1313676

EBLIP4 conference papers now available

2007-07-27T11:08:00.000+08:00

The full papers from the Evidence-based Library and Information Practice conference, EBLIP4, are now on the EBLIP4 website. The organisers are working to make podcasts of keynote speakers, such as Andrew Booth and Jonathan Eldredge, available so keep checking the site. A permanent link to the EBLIP4 website can be found under the 'Recent Conferences' column on the HLA Blogs! site.

Your HLA Executive at work

2007-07-05T22:02:00.000+08:00

Keep abreast of the work of the HLA executive; links to the minutes of teleconferences held 13 and 27 March 2007 can be found at http://www.alia.org.au/groups/healthnat/meetings/.

Please direct any questions related to the minutes to HLA Convenor, Heather Todd.

NSW Health Libraries Forum 8-9 Nov 2007

2007-07-05T21:58:00.000+08:00

Northern Sydney Central Coast Health is hosting the 2007 NSW Health Libraries Forum at Gosford Hospital on 8-9 November 2007. This practical and innovative event will consist of papers, posters, workshops and meetings designed to facilitate networking and deliver valuable professional development opportunities. The theme of the conference is "Focus on the User Environment: Techniques and Technologies", and abstracts submitted to date indicate a range of Web 2.0 and other technologies being used to enhance library users' information environment. The call for papers and posters has been extended to July 9 and more information can be found on the Forum blog at http://nswhlf2007.blogspot.com/.

Keep an eye on this site for the program which will be posted shortly and for registrations. The Forum has a focus on health librarianship but will be of interest to librarians from other fields also, and all are welcome to attend.

A bit of light humour

2007-07-01T21:52:00.000+08:00

The Vic Specials are running a competition for the best library jokes (Vic Specials Jun 07 newsletter, p.8) and offered up one to start things off:

A man walks into a library and loudly announces to the librarian: "I would like some bacon and eggs." The librarian, taken aback, replies: "Don’t you know that this is a LIBRARY?" The man, embarrassed, lowers his voice to a barely audible whisper and repeats: "Please can I have some bacon and eggs."

Maybe you'd like to share your best library joke here on the blog.

LIANZA Conference '07

2007-07-01T21:39:00.000+08:00

Some of the papers to be presented at the 2007 LIANZA conference later this year look really interesting. You can find the programme and abstracts at http://www.lianza.org.nz/events/conference2007/programme.html
Please contact me if you're attending and interested in blogging from the conference and/or writing a report for HLA News.

ALIA Board meeting report - May 07

2007-06-30T14:44:00.001+08:00

Click here to view notes from the May '07 ALIA Board meeting. Points of interest include:

no new e-lists to be created until a new policy on list use/responsibilities is finalised
Lesley Piko, an external expert, will be asked to continue on the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Standing Committee with an honorarium
the Governance Standing Committee has commenced a review of Committees and external representation; its next job will be a Board Readiness project
a national event celebrating ALIA's 70th annivesary is being planned for the last quarter in 2007
an Education Summit will be held in early 2008
ALIA Conference guidelines are currently being revised and updated
a review of the PD scheme will occur in the second half of 2007; PD participation currently sits at around 9% of total ALIA members
a qualitative assessment of members needs for training will commence once the results of the surveys on training needs by Dr Gill Hallam (neXus stage 2), CAVAL and AGLIN have been received
the ALIA Core values statement are to be approved without changes; statements on free access to information and professional conduct will be further amended
Board agreed to further fund and seek further sponsorship for Alan Butters work on the development of an international ISO Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) standard [http://www.sybis.com.au/Pages/rfid%20new.html]
The Board identified the following activities as priority for the 2007/08 period:
* Advocacy (noting that it is a federal election year and ALIA's 70th Anniversary could provide an opportunity for engaging with Ministers and Shadow Ministers);
*Education - particularly the development of discussion paper and the Education Summit;
* Supporting ALIA Groups;
* Engaging with members (including through National Advisory Congress meetings);
* Management of the Association's finances;
* Conferences - finalisation of the revised guidelines and working with Committees organising conferences;
* Reviewing the use of Web 2.0 in ALIA services, including setting up a wikis and blogs.
NAC meetings will be held around Australia and a "virtual" NAC meeting, using Web 2.0 technology, will be held in late 2007
survey of members will be held later this yearALIA has been advised that Brisbane along with Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have been short listed as a suitable location for the 2010 IFLA World Congress

How informational professionals add value to their organisations: survey results

2007-06-30T13:20:00.000+08:00

LexisNexis has release the results of a survey carried out in the US on how information professionals add value to their organizations through technology and knowledge management. Ninety three percent (93%) of librarians said they currently use intranets for managing and distributing information, and see collaborative workspaces (57%), wireless (44%), and portals (51%) as very important for the future. Click here to read more, in particular the top five responses to the question: "What is the most successful new initiative/service that you have launched in the past year?"

June issue of HLA News now published

2007-06-30T12:55:00.000+08:00

Members will have received by email the June '07 issue of HLA News. Content includes:

Wireless connectivity (hotspots) at TQEH | Convenor's report | The role of research in Australian library and information studies | A report on presentations given by Tony McSean and Carol Lefebvre to the HLA Regional QLD group | A report from NLA's Innovative Ideas Forum | EBSCO product update | Left Field: 'Where's the evidence' by NICS | Q'Health Libraries' new director | Anne Harrison Award Winner

Thanks again to our sponsor, EBSCO.

As editor, I hope you find HLA News a valuable publication. Feel free to leave your comments on the blog.

HLA News - April 07 issue up on website

2007-06-22T17:07:00.000+08:00

Members would be aware that HLA News is forwarded exclusively to members via email as a PDF attachment.

For interested non-members, the April issue of HLA News can now be viewed on the ALIA HLA newsletter web page. Content includes:

National access to electronic health information | Convenor's report | Searching for Australian grey literature in health | Workshop report: Electronic information in health libraries | HLA symposium report: Information Rx | Book review: Medical Library Downsizing | EBSCO product update | 2007 HLA Executive uncovered | Left Field: Using semantics to generate information | Guidelines for contributors | Call for applications for the Anne Harrison Award.

Australasian Cochrane Centre: Symposium for Australasian Review Authors

2007-06-22T14:36:00.000+08:00

For those of you involved in producing reviews for the Cochrane Collaboration, the 2007 meeting for Australasian contributors coincides with a major update to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and the release of RevMan 5. The Symposium will be held in Brisbane, July 12-13.

There are pre and post workshops including Introduction to RevMan 5 and Developing a Protocol for a Systematic Review.

New issue of CHLA journal available

2007-06-22T14:33:00.000+08:00

Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association Volume 22 Issue 2 Spring 2007 is now available at http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/jchla/jchla2-07.html

Applicants sought for the annual Roger K. Summit International Scholarship

2007-06-22T14:22:00.000+08:00

Thomson Scientific, part of The Thomson Corporation, is seeking applicants for the annual Roger K. Summit International Scholarship. Thomson Scientific awards two scholarships annually, one to a student in the Americas and one in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, or Africa.

The €5,000 Scholarship is awarded to a graduate student enrolled in an accedited library or information science course. A panel of information professionals selects the regional winner after reviewing academic achievement, interest in electronic information services, proficiency using Dialog online services and faculty recommendations.

The deadline for applicants is October 31, 2007.

Applications are available at here.

Australian Health Librarian wins Thomson Scientific-sponsored Info Pro Award

2007-06-22T14:06:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Stephen Due, Chief Librarian at Geelong Hospital/Barwon Health Service, who was named the 2007 Information Professional of the Year by the SLA Australia/-New Zealand Chapter.

The annual award is sponsored by Thomson Scientific and is given to an information professional who has displayed great achievement in the information industry.

From the press release, which you can read in its entirety here, Stephen "has gone above and beyond to share his expertise and knowledge with his colleagues and peers...He has been extremely proactive in advancing the professional status of health librarianship within his organization and through his involvement with industry associations."

Notes from the HLA General Meeting 2 Feb 07

2007-06-05T10:37:00.000+08:00

In an effort to keep members abreast of the HLA Executive's discussions, every effort will be made to get the minutes of meetings up onto the ALIA HLA website. The first to go up are the notes of the HLA General Meeting, held during the HLA Symposium, Information Rx, on 2 February 2007 at Sydney's Darling Harbour Conference Centre.

You can direct any queries or feedback to HLA Convenor,Heather Todd.

Latest SPARC Open Access Newsletter - balancing author and publisher rights

2007-06-04T08:45:00.000+08:00

The June issue of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter "takes a close look at attempts to balance author and publisher rights, primarily in the "author addenda" from CIC, SPARC, and Science Commons, and in the position paper by the ALPSP, AAP/PSP, and STM. The round-up section briefly notes 99 OA developments from May."

As for all those acronyms:
CIC - Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a OA-friendly consortium of 12 research universities
SPARC - Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Constortium
ALPSP - Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
AAP/PSP - Association of American Publishers / Professional/Scholarly Publishing
STM - International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers

You can subscribe and unsubscribe to the newsletter and discussion forum: http://www.arl.org/sparc/publications/soan

The current and back issues can be found at:
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/archive.htm

CINAHL on the OVID platform - the real story

2007-06-03T11:10:00.000+08:00

Check out the Krafty Librarian's blog post regarding the removal of CINAHL from the OVID platform. Make sure you read Scott McFarlane's (OVID VP) comments at the bottom, which aim to set the story straight.

CHLA 2007, Friday 1st June

2007-06-02T12:13:00.001+08:00

The last day of the CHLA conference! The official program closed at the end of the morning sessions, which again were three keynote addresses.
Ingrid Parent, Assistant Deputy Minister, Documentary Heritage Collection Sector, Library and Archives Canada was the first speaker. In her talk, Ingrid focussed on the need for digital archives to be stable since one of the major issues facing any digital archiving of material was to ensure that it would have stable urls to ensure retrieval in the future. There have already been two harvests of government internet domains for archiving of internet pages, and this produced a terrifying amount of data. There are already many collaborative digitisation projects underway, but mass digitisation of print material held in the national archives will begin in the new financial year.
An update from CISTI – partnerships and digital initiatives, was given by CISTI’s Director General, Pam Bjornson. CISTI is part of the National Research Council and has 15 locations around Canada, with its headquarters in Ottawa. A major project is the development of a federal science e-library which involves negotiating government-wide licences of scientific and technical publications. This project, not surprisingly, is very complex, and has been planned for some years. CISTI is also involved in collaborative projects. I’ve already mentioned the National Library for Health; it also works on the OSPRey partnership – a joint submission and peer review system – with Australia’s CSIRO. CISTI’s Doc Delivery service has partnered with My I Library to provide digital ILLs of books – all of CISTI’s e-books are available via My I Library on ILL.
The final speaker for the morning struck a less formal but nonetheless provocative note: “Study says Canadians think cancer news media is blatant product placement wrapped in human melodrama.” The speaker was Alan Cassels, creator of the website Media Doctor Canada (www.mediadoctor.ca) whose main research area focuses on consumer perceptions of health reports in the media. Alan freely admitted that he pinched the idea for his website from an Australian colleague’s site, Media Doctor Australia: (http://www.mediadoctor.org.au/ )
The conference concluded with thanks to the conference committees, and an invitation to delegates to attend next year’s meeting in Nova Scotia.
The afternoon was devoted to more continuing education sessions for those with stamina! The lunchtime session was provided by Embase, during which there was a presentation of how the Emtree heading differ from MeSH, and how they are used in indexing drug-related material.
In the afternoon, John Loy and I conducted an information / demonstration / hands on session in the University of Ottawa Library’s computer lab on Chasing the Sun. This gave interested people the chance to see what it’s actually like and to ask more specific questions. Again, the interest was pleasing, and John and I have many contacts to follow up regarding Canadian participation in the CTS service!
I had two main reasons for attending the CHLA conference – the Chasing the Sun paper and training session, and to take the display material and leaflets about ICML Brisbane 2009. The koalas ran out. Most of the leaflets were taken. I was asked to leave the rest of the leaflets as they’ll be given out at future meetings. Many of our Canadian colleagues are planning to come to Australia – it’s a wonderful opportunity to come, they say! Many Canadian health librarians have also indicated that they’d like to join the CTS service and are keen to work with the UK and Australia in the future. So from my perspective, the conference was an outstanding success. The fact that I also found the papers to be stimulating, encouraging and informative was a bonus, but really to be expected, as health librarianship is much the same in Canada as Australia. In fact, there are many similarities between the two countries. I feel quite at home here – in fact if I weren’t careful, I could end up sounding like a Canadian – eh!

CHLA 2007 Thursday 31st May

2007-06-02T11:24:00.000+08:00

Day two of the CHLA conference opened with the CHLA AGM, so I took that as an excuse to sleep in after the previous night’s effort! The first keynote was at 9.30 am and was given by Jeremy Grimshaw, Director, Clinical Epidemiology Ottawa Health Research Institute. His talk concentrated on the new buzz term : knowledge translation (KT) – how the evidence (knowledge) translates into practice, or changes the way in which clinicians practice. Jeremy started by reminding us that it was nearly 10 years ago in 1998 that Schuster et al wrote of the lack of the use of evidence in practice in the Millbank Memorial Quarterly. He warned of believing some of the hype that can surround research results, (beware of the noise to signal ratio) and felt that the development of clinical practice guidelines has been one of the most positive and helpful development of recent years. Jeremy recommended publications by JP Ioannidis, who’s written a lot on knowledge translation into practice. He particularly recommended his articles in Nature Genetics (2001), Am J Med (2003), J Translational Med (2004) and JAMA (2005).
Second speaker of the morning was Anne Brice from the UK National Library for Health. Anne’s brief was to give a summary of the UK situation, and she amused us mightily by describing the changes and reorganisations the UK NHS has gone through in the last 10 years. John Loy, UK Chasing the Sun Administrator, who’s worked for the NHS for 5 years, has already been through two major reorganisations. NHS staff don’t have business cards any more. Their titles and organisations’ names change too frequently! Anne mentioned the work of Muir Grey in creation of the National Knowledge Service, and that within the NKS, the National Library for Health aims to provide a modern hybrid, network-based, library service for the NHS, providing seamless access to knowledge resources. As an aside, Anne mentioned that she works one day a week on a project known as Duets, based in Oxford. Duets = Database of Unknown Effects of Treatment – that is, a database of what we don’t know! She ended her talk with one or Muir Grey’s beliefs – that what will transform health care in the 21st century is the well-informed patient.
After morning tea there was a panel discussion on the progress of the development of a National Library for Health for Canada. Its development is being driven largely by CHLA with input from other large bodies such as CISTI. This session generated much heated discussion, as it’s clear that there are several models for the NLH and sound justifications for them all. One concern that emerged more than once was the importance of local input / badging of any service. Several delegates feared that local identities may be at risk of being lost. Clearly, Canada and Australia face similar issues in the development of any nation-wide service, and CHLA will be sharing information regarding developments of the Canadian NLH with HLA.
Lunch and Learn with Ovid was a light-hearted update from the local Ovid team, with plenty of trivia questions and prizes. (I didn’t win anything!)
After lunch, I attended a session with three varied papers: the first, an analysis of how well various search engines find open access journals, the second, a summary of classes in Google searching and finally, a fun session on using web 2.0 tools. Not surprisingly, paper 1 reported that open access publications aren’t as easy to find as they could be, and some resources do a better job than others. The sample was small (14 titles), but making allowances for the small number it’s interesting that PubMed was 2.5 times more likely to find OA journals than Medline (searched via Ovid).
Google – the course was developed with the idea “if you can’t beat them, join them” and to instil better searching skills into the users. The course was a success, not only because they were well attended, but also because it raised the profile of the library, the librarians were perceived as “knowing stuff”, and the users came back for training in the more traditional library databases, realising that they needed those skills after all! Hmm.
The Web 2.0 tools paper covered some of the tools that can be used effectively by libraries – blogs, podcasts, rss feeds and instant messaging are right up there. I want to start playing with these toys – I mean tools – and soon!
After the break, John Loy gave a talk on the Chasing the Sun service, with both of us fielding questions afterwards. There’s a lot of interest on the part of Canadian health librarians in the service, and John and I continued discussions after our session and through into the gala dinner at the Arts Centre.
Don’t worry – we stopped enough to enjoy a Shakespearean Troupe’s execution (note the word) of Romeo and Juliet (rap style), and what was probably one of the funniest renditions of the wall scene from Midsummer Night’s dream I’ve ever seen. It had nothing to do with the liquid refreshment at all! Another late night.

CHLA 2007 Wednesday 30th May

2007-06-01T09:56:00.000+08:00

Here is a brief report of what was a very full start to the CHLA conference in Ottawa this week.
As with the MLA conference, there were some continuing education offerings on Monday and Tuesday before the conference proper started on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the UK coordinator of Chasing the Sun, John Loy, and I had a meeting with a lengthy agenda (the usual for our irregular face-to-face meetings!). We discussed the developments in the QuestionPoint software and went through the paper on Chasing the Sun and training session material for later in the conference. There was a 6pm "getting to know you" function for first time attendees to the CHLA meetings, which was fun. As an ice-breaker we were all taught the salsa. I'm a changed woman. The exhibition opened on Tuesday evening. I'd taken most of the display material for the ICML 2009 Brisbane with me, and assembled it in the exhibition area, where even at the opening it attracted quite a bit of attention.
Three keynote speakers supplied the morning programme on Wednesday: Greg Notess from Montana State University spoke on using the best of both web 1.0 and web 2.0. Web 2.0 applications offer some interesting flexibility in the way services can be delivered, and Greg demonstrated a couple of sites / applications which could be useful. See http://www.slideshare.com/ – a site which enables sharing powerpoint slides and Scribd – an alternative to pdf files. Greg also demonstrated embedding files on web pages, which while meaning that the embedded document is always current, it takes away the evidence of where it’s from, giving rise to questions of quality assurance and authenticating sources. Embedded items are not trawled by all search engines.
Greg also mentioned custom search engines such as healia http://www.healia.com/healia/ in the health area, but stressed that these are still in beta stages, so we’ll have to wait to see if they will last in their current forms. However, customisation of search engines will probably be a development to watch.
One interesting beta site is Google Co-op which includes different subject areas, one of which is health. Contributors’ credentials can be seen, and some key organisations such as the Mayo Clinic are starting to get involved. http://www.google.com/coop/
And Greg made some comments about federated search engines: they don’t always do a thorough job and can be superficial, and because of the scope of what they’re doing, they’re SLOW, and don’t always produce the concise results required by a quick search.
Heather Joseph from SPARC – www.arl.org/sparc gave an excellent summary of the state of play in the area of open access publication. She feels that it’s now in the mainstream and is here to stay, but the models of scholarly publication are still undergoing change. Recommended reading on OA and the gains to the community: Steve Lawrence (2001) Nature 411 (6837) 521. Gunther Eysenbach has also published in PLoS Biology. See also the sites of OpenDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories) and DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals). Heather felt that one of the big issues for authors was retaining copyright rights of their articles: SPARC has produced an Author Addendum which authors can add to publishers’ contracts in which they require that the copyright remains with them. (Of course, not all publishers like this approach. Authors unite!)
Cameron Macdonald from NRC Press, a smallish Canadian publisher (his words), had a hard act to follow. As a publisher, he saw his main clients to be the authors, who, of course, want their works to be read. Cameron covered that thorny issue of mandatory open access to publically-funded research results, indicating that publishers did need to cover their costs and somehow these costs need to be met in the publishing continuum. He mentioned the ‘A’ word – Advertising!! and brought up the issue of potential conflicts of interest in peer review. Would OA improve the peer review process?
Three afternoon sessions I attended provided three case studies of provincial health libraries forming consortia of various sizes for various purposes – resource sharing and joint purchasing being the two prime movers. The quote of the afternoon came from the Ontario Public Health Libraries Association: “Availability more than quality determines which information resources will be used.” Not all worthwhile resources are necessarily available on the internet! We know that, but it’s nice to have it confirmed occasionally.
The final session of the day was a reception in the poster area and presentation of poster awards.
Today, someone said that the occasional personal note was okay in a blog. Okay. It's 11.20pm now. Can I go to bed?? Night!
Mary.

MLA 2007, Wednesday 23rd May

2007-05-24T08:49:00.000+08:00

We attended the final plenary session, known as the Joseph Leiter NLM/MLA Lectureship presented by Kent Smith on "Law, Leaders, and Legends of the Modern NLM" on Wednesday. Kent gave a historical account of four major pieces of legislation; spanning the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Act of 1956 through to the creation of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Even though the topic was quite dry, Kent did a very entertaining job of covering the history. All of the key players were introduced and the presentation included their photos. The legendary people included Michael De Bakey, Senator Lister Hill and Senator Claude Petter. Many of the major reports, press releases and descriptions of the actions taken to lobby were detailed. So much has been achieved through the established of the NLM and the National Centre for Biotechnology. The rest of the world has a great deal to be greatful for these achivements, as where would we be without free resources, such as PubMed and NLM Human Genome Resources?
Lisa Kruesi & Mary Peterson

MLA 2007 Tuesday 22nd May

2007-05-23T11:14:00.000+08:00

Tonight, we're summarising two days - the 7am starts plus jet lag equalled two tired ladies last night!

Monday.

Both of us went to the breakfast meeting hosted by BioMed Central on open access publishing. After an explanation of how BioMed Central operates, which I think is familiar territory for most of us, the attendees were split into three groups which discussed different aspects of open access publishing and how it could or was affecting library service:
a) How librarians could collaborate with research administration and funders to set up central university funds for open access charges;
b) Administering funds for open access publication charges: memberships, individual payments, reporting and accountability;
c) How could BioMed Central adapt open access payment models to meet the needs of the medical research community?
The first two questions generated lots of discussion. Essentially, publication of research always has a cost, and which of the two publication models will prove strongest is yet to be determined. However, the move towards more open access publishing will probably be driven by the degree to which it becomes mandatory for publically funded research to be freely available. The discussion also touched on the use of institutional repositories. A highlight of the session was a talk given by Ellen Finnie Duranceau from MIT on the role of the librarian in an open access world, and how we can become actively involved in the publication contiuum.

During the day, there was considerable interest shown at the ICML stand in the Exhibition hall.

The highlight for Mary was the Emerging Technologies panel discussion session in the afternoon. A selection of new technologies was discussed which included web 2.0 and the impact of tagging as a navigational tool - user generated taxonomies or folkonomies which are a form of self cataloguing (cataloguers were warned to block their ears!) with examples brought up by the session web jockey from sites such as del.ici.ous (see the Evergreen Pines catalogue as an example of these alternative possibilites for a catalogue): Mashups, which will be big ( see the Wall of Books). In 2006 OCLC held a contest for the best mashup called Mashing up the Library. Currently, mashups need some programming skills but will become easier as mashup software is developed : Virtual Worlds (see Second Life) which are increasingly being used to provide user education programs. There was a final wrap up discussion which gave the audience a chance to vote (with clickers) on what the thought the greatest technological challenge would be for them in the next year. Interestingly, there was no one issue which stood out, but web 2 and access issues were big ones.

Tuesday was the final day of the exhibition. After the exhibition closed, Lisa attended the International Cooperation Section meeting at the end of the day. Tony McSean gave his report and handed over to the new chairperson. Bruce Madge has taken over from Becky Lyon as the representative on EAHIL. Lisa gave a report on ICML 2009.

For the Chasing the Sun participants among us, Mary had a special all-day meeting with OCLC regarding the new Flash chat screens and their increased functionality, the administration behind the scenes and the streamlining of the international CTS service with the view to its expansion - hopefully after the training session to be held during next week's Canadian Health Libraries Association conference. (Yes, I'll be blogging that one, too.)

During the evening, Mary attended a dinner hosted by NEJM and Lisa attended two dinners, first with health librarians from New Jersey, followed by a second with some British colleagues. Lots of networking underway.

That's all for tonight folks! It's after midnight.

MLA 2007 Sunday, 20th May

2007-05-21T11:03:00.000+08:00

The MLA conference starts in earnest! That means 7am breakfast sessions, even on Sunday mornings. Mary went to hear about the latest coming up with the EndNote bibliography program and ISI's Web of Science. The next version, EndNote X1, will be coming out in the middle of the year, and includes several improvements on the EndNote X version. EndNote web has been developed for use with the Web of Science - it enables students to start learning about the techniques of researching and maintaining records of their references. For those of you who use / teach EndNote, watch out for the announcements of the new version.Lisa went to the Ovid breakfast (7 am) it gave a general update of developments in store: contextual design - Ovid SP. Watch out for more LWW backfiles; in particular nursing, psychology and psychiatry. CINAHL is definitely going from the Ovid platform. New journal titles to come include Disaster Medicine & Public Health Prepardness to help us deal with the next tsunami, 9/11, Sars etc... American Medical News (health press coverage) (we will need to compile the Australian equivalent) and others! EBM will link directly with Cochrane. Our favourite Anatomy.tv (known in the USA as Primal Pictures) now has Neuroanatomy and Anatomy for Acupuncture. It was worth getting up and I really enjoyed my blue-berry bagel. The plenary session covered peer review. The consensus seems to be that the speaker was good, but covered a lot of ground with which we as an occupational group are already familiar. There were special group / section meetings for most of the afternoon, which meant that we had time to visit some of the other exhibitors' stands.This evening was filled by an International Delegates' Reception, the Ovid party on the banks of the Delaware River and finished in one of the ballrooms with classic rock provided by the Bearded Pigs band. Who? Well, here's a hint. One of the guitars is played by Bruce Madge, formerly of the British Medical Association library and President Elect of CILIP. They're all librarians - and they weren't bad!We're posting this before we turn into pumpkins. There's another 7am meeting tomorrow!

MLA 2007 Saturday 19th - Exhibition

2007-05-21T10:39:00.000+08:00

Koala frenzy! THe MLA trade exhibition opened on Saturday 19th May, and the stand for ICML Brisbane 2009 was a big hit! Already at least 300 of the 500 koalas have found good homes. What we're doing is attaching baby koalas to delegates' lanyards to help promote ICML Brisbane 2009 at this meeting. This is working! In addition, we're giving our calendars to start the planning process, as the US delegates need time to put away funds for the big trip. Excitement is in the air as they all consider the possibility of coming to a destination many have only dreamed about. Otherwise, there's a real buzz of activity. For us, it's exciting to be around health information professionals en masse.