Getting to know WHSLA member Rita Mitchell

Get to know WHSLA member, Rita Mitchell, of Aurora Sinai Medical Center!

Q. How did you get started in libraries?  

Oh, I get to blame my sister, Eileen Severson, also a WHSLA member!  We were living together when she was working on her MLIS.  I thought her classes sounded interesting so after completing my master’s degree in music I continued with a MLIS degree.  My first library job was as an intern in the Music Library at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Q. How are you/have you been involved with WHSLA?  Why did you join?

I am a newish member.  I joined because being a member is a great way to network with other health librarians and continue to learn. 

Q. What are three personal items currently on your desk.

Coffee mug, cell phone, and a magnet photo of my first cat, Gus.

Q. Do you have a professional goal for 2019? What is it?  

To incorporate activities in my instruction sessions to increase engagement and learning. 

Q. If you could hop on a plane right now, where would you go?  

Geneva, Switzerland.  It is beautiful there in the summer, zero humidity.

  

Q. What is your advice to people who want to get into librarianship?

Shadow at different types of libraries & talk to librarians to find out what they do.  This will help you decide what elective courses to take.  Keep an open mind and be creative – librarianship is changing constantly.

Q. What do you do for fun outside of work?

I am a free-lance musician and I play oboe. I also like to knit, XC ski, camp, cook, bake and hula hoop.  FYI: I just started hooping. I am not very good, but it is a lot of fun!

Q. What book(s) are you currently reading? 

• Less: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer
• 101 Asian dishes you need to cook before you die: discover a new world of flavors in authentic recipes / Jet Tila ; foreword by Alton Brown 
• Poldark Series by Winston Graham

Hospitals disrupting drug shortages

No doubt you've heard about drug shortages in the news, or maybe even from team members at your own institutions. How bad is it? Bad enough that hospitals have started coming together under a new, non-profit drug company, Civica RX. Just this week, Civica RX announced it will begin producing drugs for distribution to it's member hospitals later this year. The first two drugs: antibiotics vancomycin and daptomycin. 

According to a January 2019 article, at least two WI health systems are among the members:

• "The newcomers are Advocate Aurora Health, Allegheny Health Network, Baptist Health South Florida, Franciscan Alliance, Memorial Hermann Health System, NYU Langone Health, Ochsner Health System, Sanford Health, Spectrum Health, St. Luke's University Health Network, Steward Health Care and UnityPoint Health."

I'm really curious how this experiment will go. 


More on Civica RX: 

• Civica Rx will allow hospital members to use wholesalers, CEO says
• How the not-for-profit Civica RX will disrupt the generic drug industry 
• Civica RX starting with 20 generic drugs for hospitals, plans to expand to 100+ 

Lesser known library facts

Here's an article from CNN full of interesting library facts.  

I was most surprised by the idea that library work was once considered to be "too overwhelming" for women, since these days there are more women than men in the profession.  

I have to admit, the idea of a "seaside rest home for those who had broken down in library service" doesn't sound too bad. 

Image © Frank Schulenburg / CC BY-SA 3.0

Upcoming webinars from NNLM: data, LGBTQ+ health, nutrition, predatory publishing and more

Looking for some summer webinars? Here are a few upcoming sessions from NNLM. 

1. What’s in a Data Story? Understanding the Basics of Data Storytelling. [ https://nnlm.gov/class/what-s-data-story-understanding-basics-data-story... ]
“What’s in a Data Story? Understanding the Basics of Data Storytelling” is a one-hour introductory webinar on the fundamentals of effective storytelling using data collected and visualized by librarians for librarians. Data without a story is just a pile of numbers. Data with an effective story becomes an everlasting narrative that people will remember for a long time and without much effort. In this webinar, we’ll look at the basic structure of data storytelling and review exemplars both good and bad of data storytelling. No prior knowledge of the topic is required.


2. Caring for LGBTQ+ Youth. [ https://nnlm.gov/class/caring-lgbtq-youth/11613 ]
Join us for a Pride Month Kernel of Knowledge session presented by Katherine
L Imborek, MD, entitled Caring for LGBTQ+ Youth. This presentation will
detail foundational terms and definitions imperative for respectful
interactions with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning
(LGBTQ+) persons. There will be a specific focus on health care needs
specific to LGBTQ youth.


3. Navigating the publishing landscape: Nuances of open access and “predatory” publishing . [ https://nnlm.gov/class/navigating-publishing-landscape-nuances-open-acce... ] *Description:* This session will demystify the changing landscape of
scholarly publishing, in particular, the rise of open access and
“predatory” publishing. Predatory publishing is a term often used to
describe journal publishers who engage in unethical or deceptive practices in
order to make a profit. Alongside obvious publishing scams, emerging
practices of established publishers, such as cascading and mirror journals,
are also generating confusion and questions from both librarians and authors.


4. Resources for Community Health Workers. [ https://nnlm.gov/class/CHWBoostBox ] Community Health Workers (CHWs) play an important role in connecting their
communities with healthcare and services. This session will provide
information about how Community Health Workers can link their community with
quality health information using resources from the National Library of
Medicine. In addition to appropriate information tools for CHWs, the audience
will learn about projects that have put NLM resources to use in CHW training
and community education.


5. Food for Thought: Exploring Nutrition Information Resources. [ https://nnlm.gov/class/food-thought-exploring-nutrition-information-reso... ] Join us for a self-paced course on nutrition information resources available
through reliable resources such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA),
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), and the National Library of Medicine (NLM).