Wednesday 30 March 2016

Why going to the Mosaic meeting in Toronto is a great career move....

What is Mosaic 16?

It’s the joint meeting of the Medical Library Association (MLA), the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada (CHLA/ABSC), and the International Clinical Librarian Conference (ICLC)

Why is Mosaic ‘16 Career Gold

Studies show successful professionals advance their career by engaging in networking and education. Must-dos for every career-minded professional is to be active within your Industry, treat mentors right, keep learning, build relationships and stay in touch. Mosaic '16 offers all this and more. Here's what past attendees say about the MLA Annual Meeting:

·         “Attending is indispensable for librarians with a strong role or interest in any health sciences! “
·         “I find attendance to be a much needed professional development power boost and national peer networking opportunity. Absolutely love seeing my long distance professional colleagues in person each year “
·         As a Master s student, I appreciated the learning experiences and support I received at MLA 15 in Austin, TX. learned so much and made wonderful connections with people. “
·         “... an opportunity to hear inspiring speakers, network with colleagues, talk with exhibitors, andexperience geographic treasurers!
·          “... an exceptional place to network, learn, and get exposure to a world of information that is tailored to health sciences librarianship.”
·          “Attending always reminds me of the great work being done by many creative and dedicated librarians. The speakers and programming inspire me. The CE courses advance my skills and knowledge.”
·         “As a first timer, I didn’t know what to expect and I am not the world’s most outgoing person. The people I met were warm, friendly, and engaging. On top of everything else, I learned a lot!
·          “Attending gives you the knowledge, inspiration, and enthusiasm to follow your heart and be a library superstar. “
·          “I have been to other library association meetings --none of them come close to the level of networking and education provided at MLA.”


Register now for Mosaic '16 before the Early Bird discount ends March 31st. Join your colleagues at the largest gathering of medical librarians and health information professionals in the world.  Mosaic'16 is a special joint meeting of the Medical Library Association (MLA), the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada (CHLA/ABSC), and the International Clinical Librarian Conference (ICLC) in Toronto May 13–18, 2016. Come be part of the big picture!

Mosaic'16 offers attendees a wide range of networking opportunities.  A few require advance sign up:


Colleague Connection at Mosaic ’16: Sign up Now Open!
Colleague Connection pairs newer members or first-time meeting attendees with returning, experienced members. Colleague Connection introduces new attendees to the association and helps them get the most out of the meeting. Contacts made through Colleague Connection can lead to lifelong friendships and expand your professional network. Sign up as a mentee or mentor by Friday, April 29.

Job Seekers and Employers: Sign up for the Job Placement Center at Mosaic ’16 in Toronto!
Register for the Mosaic ’16 job placement center by completing the appropriate form for job seekers or for job opportunities by April 25. Contact Tomi Gunn for more information. During the meeting, you can stop by the MLA Job Placement Center on Level One in Room 104A in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to submit your forms.

MLA Resume Clinic
Sign up now for the Mosaic ’16 MLA Resume Clinic! Meeting attendees have the opportunity to have their cover letters, resumes, and CVs reviewed by an experienced health sciences librarian. For the first time, we will also conduct mock interviews on Saturday, May 14. Also for the first time, to support the joint meeting with the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada, we will offer resume clinic services in both English and French.

Experienced professionals interested in reviewing resumes or conducting mock interviews can sign up here. Those interested in having their resume reviewed or having a mock interview, please sign up here. Please contact Emily Vardell with any questions about the clinic.

Opportunity to become a Mosaic '16 conference Blogger or Tweeter!

Do you want to be part of the big picture at Mosaic ’16, the joint meeting of the Medical Library Association (MLA), the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada (CHLA/ABSC), and the International Clinical Librarian Conference (ICLC)?
This is your opportunity to become a conference Blogger or Tweeter!  The blog is linked to the Mosaic ’16 conference website and can also be viewed at: http://www.mlanet.org/p/bl/et/blogid=65
For full descriptions of the categories, and to sign up, complete the online Blogger and Tweeter Application at:

Applications are due by Friday April 8, at 17h00 PT.  Applicants will be contacted by Wednesday April 13.
There are several categories about which you can report, such as:
  • Library Student
  • First Timer
  • Distinguished Member
  • International Clinical Librarian (anyone with an interest in Clinical Librarianship, Informationists, Embedded Librarians)
  • CHLA/ABSC Sessions
  • CHLA/ABSC Activities
  • Correspondant francophone
  • Early Riser
  • Exhibits
  • Continuing Education
  • Plenary Sessions
  • Contributed Content Sessions
  • Poster Sessions
  • MLA Sections
  • MLA SIG’s
  • MLA Activities
  • National Library of Medicine
  • Social Butterfly
  • Your Idea Here
You can start blogging and tweeting right away to highlight portions Mosaic ‘16 that are of particular interest to you and grab the interest of your colleagues.  If you’ll be attending the conference virtually, we’d love to have you report on your experience.
If you have any questions, contact the Mosaic ’16 Blog Co-Editors: Orvie Dingwall orvie.dingwall@umanitoba.caand Elizabeth Moreton emoreton@email.unc.edu


Wednesday 23 March 2016

MLA HINARI/ Research4Life Grant

Information about the new MLA HINARI/Research4Life Grant which is being publicised now in anticipation of Mosaic '16, the joint meeting of MLA, CHLA/ABSC and the International Clinical Librarian Conference.
MLA Librarians Without Borders and the Awards Jury are looking forward to receiving many viable proposals - MLA membership is not a requirement for proposal submission.
For those interested in submitting grants during the next 3 years, who have not previously been involved in HINARI training activities and who will be attending Mosaic '16 in Toronto, we suggest registering for CE305 Librarians without Borders®: HINARI and Internet-Based Information Resources for Health Professionals in Low and Emerging Income Countries.
This course is geared toward individuals from institutions in developed countries with linkages to organizations in HINARI eligible countries or individuals from such nations.  
The objective of the course is for the participants to obtain practical skills for locating, accessing and evaluating HINARI and other Internet-based health information for use in the low/emerging income countries’ environment.   

Please note that the registrations fee is modest ($50 USD) and will include a boxed lunch supplied by the Elsevier Foundation.

Monday 21 March 2016

Book now for the Early Bird rate for the joint MLA, CHLA/ABSC, International Clinical Librarian Conference in Toronto, May 2016

Register by March 31 for Mosaic ’16 and Save $110 with Early Bird Rates

Stay informed and make connections at Mosaic ’16. 

What are your colleagues doing to meet the professional challenges ahead? What can you do to prepare? How can you position yourself within your institution to proactively communicate your professional value?


Find out at Mosaic ’16, the special joint meeting with the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada (CHLA/ABSC), and the International Clinical Librarian Conference (ICLC)

May 13–18 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada. 

Register by March 31 and save $110 with early bird rates.

Thursday 17 March 2016

HDAS redevelopment

If you haven't had a look at the HDAS preview, then do have a look. It's available here: http://alpha.hdas.nice.org.uk/

Some of the features that you can currently use on the preview site are:

Saving strategies
Browsing the thesaurus
Using thesaurus terms in a search
Using limits and fields to refine your search
Re-running searches
Editing existing search rows
Saving results
Exporting results
Access to full-text links

NICE are continuing to add new features, so do bookmark the preview page to keep up-to-date and don't forget to give feedback to the following address: feedbackonhdas@nice.org.uk

Friday 11 March 2016

Twitter tips: how to find people to follow

There are so many people and organisations you can follow on Twitter that it can sometimes be overwhelming. Here are a few tips on how to break that task down.

  • Spend 15 minutes a week dedicated to looking for people and organisations to follow.
  • Go to your “Who to follow” box in Twitter (top right of screen) and click on, “View all”. This will provide you with a long list of suggested accounts to follow.
  • Go to the account of a person or organisation that you follow who has similar interests to you. Click to see who follows them and chances are you’ll find more accounts on the same wave-length as you.
  • Search for hashtag topics on areas that interest you to find new accounts talking about those subjects.

We hope you find these tips helpful. Catch up on all our tips here.

Friday 4 March 2016

Twitter tips: lists

Can't keep up with all the tweets? Did you know you can create lists of different users on Twitter, so that you never miss an important tweet again. For example, if you're following someone who tweets about the latest diabetes evidence, you could add them to a list called, Diabetes Evidence. When you're next online, you can catch up on all those lists/subject areas you're interested in. It's a form of cataloguing your twitter feed and that's second nature to us library folk!

To create one, go to your Twitter lists here. Click on "Create new list" and give it a title. You can also select whether you want your list to be private (only accessible to you) or public (anyone can subscribe to your list). When you've finished, simply save your list.

To add people to your new list, go to their Twitter profile and click on the gear icon. Click on "Add or remove from lists". Select which list you would like to add them to or remove them from.

The next time you want to have a look at your curated Twitter lists, simply click on the Lists tab on your profile.

If you would like to see what lists you have been added to, go back into your lists and click on "Member of".

To subscribe yourself to someone else's list, go to their profile and click on the Lists tab. Open the list you are interested in and click on "Subscribe" in the top left corner.

We hope you find this Twitter tip helpful! Catch up on all our tips here.

Thursday 3 March 2016

Recently published evidence updates

The following Evidence Updates have recently been published, detailing the latest evidence and literature.

Clinical Genetics
Diabetes
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology
Haematology
Hepatobiliary
Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Ophthalmology
Patient Safety & Risk
Renal Services
Rheumatology
Strategy
Urology

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter to find out when an evidence update is hot off the press!

Wednesday 2 March 2016

A day in the life of a clinical librarian

Each month we share what a day in the life of a clinical librarian looks like. This month we've had the great pleasure of interviewing Cathryn from Derby.






Who are you and where do you work?
I am Cathryn James and I work full-time as a Clinical Librarian at Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, based at the Royal Derby Hospital.

How long have you been there?
I have been a Clinical Librarian since 2007, initially employed as a Clinical Librarian working with Pathway Teams in the Trust, however I have now worked with clinical departments for the past six years. Previous to this post I have spent over 30 years being a Librarian- mostly in Nurse Education, University and Government libraries.

What attracted you to Clinical Librarianship?
I was attracted to this role after seeing the post advertised and reading the literature. Having worked in nurse education for many years, I had already got an incredible insight into health care, the workings of the NHS and how nurses care for patients. I love working with very dynamic clinical teams (Department of Renal Medicine, Diabetes & Endocrinology, NICU, Paediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynaecology) who give the most excellent care and who value my role. I enjoy being visible in the departments and am embedded into ward rounds, education meetings, handovers and MDTs. It is very rewarding working with such compassionate clinicians who are always striving to improve patient care. I hope I am able to make a difference and contribute to this.

What does an average day at work involve?
Average day- what is that?? I have my set meetings each week; however as for enquiries these can change at the drop of a hat. I often have to change my daily routine due to a Consultant requiring information to help manage a patient is being cared for in the High Dependency Unit and how quickly they want the information. My “normal” day starts with checking emails, going to MDT, handover and ward rounds. I attend weekly education meetings which usually happen at lunchtime. Literature searching, information skills training and running a couple of journal clubs are also part of my weekly agenda- and not forgetting attending various library meetings. I am currently very committed to supporting the nurse revalidation in my clinical areas.

If you weren’t a Librarian, what would you be?
If I hadn’t been a Librarian, I would have liked to have been a Lawyer!

Tell us a joke or a non-work fact about yourself
I love jokes, however I always struggle to remember them. One I heard last week made me chuckle – why did the Mexican push his wife over the cliff?………drum roll……………TEQUILA!!!

Thanks so much, Cathryn! It's been great hearing all about your world of clinical librarianship!

....

Want to read more? Catch up on all our 'Day in the life' interviews here!