WHSLA member to take national post at Ascension Libraries

Elissa Kinzelman-Vesely, WHSLA and SWHSL member, will be leaving Wisconsin to take a post for all Ascension Libraries across the country. Congratulations Elissa! 

Elissa's new role as National Program Manager – Clinical Library Services for Ascension will begin in October 2018. This new position has been tasked to, in Elissa's words, "evaluate electronic resources across Ascension to standardize resources and eliminate disparities between hospital/library sites. I'll get to know Ascension librarians across the system and help embed them on high-level Ascension work teams". Another bonus of the job is she'll be able to relocate and be closer to her family while working "virtually". 

If you see Elissa at the Midwest Chapter/MLA conference next weekend in Cleveland be sure to congratulate her, or drop her a line via email. 

I personally would like to thank Elissa for all her work for WHSLA over the last 15 years. We'll miss you, Elissa! 

The Keepers

Thanks to Jennifer Deal for letting me know about a new podcast series called "The Keepers."   This series launched in early September, focusing on "stories of activist archivists, rogue librarians, curators, collectors and historians."  

Additionally, listeners are invited to contribute to this project by sending in their own stories of avid collectors, archiving communities, or protectors of information to be potentially featured as Keeper of the Day.  

Maybe we'll see some WHSLA members there over the course of the year!

WHSLA member presentations at Midwest Chapter/MLA in Cleveland

WHSLA members will be presenting their work in Cleveland next weekend. If you're at the conference, why not stop by and show them a little love?

Did I leave anyone out?

====================================
Sunday, October 7
Paper Session 2 (Room: Cattleya)
1:48-2:05 pm

Librarian Involvement in Implementing Self-Directed Learning (SDL) in the Medical School Curriculum

• Elizabeth Suelzer, MLIS, Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries (WHSLA member)
• Johnathon Neist, MLIS, Office of Educational Improvement
• Patricia Hurlbut MSEd, MT, Office of Educational Improvement
• Sally Twinning, PhD, Department of Biochemistry
• Medical College of Wisconsin

Going to Cleveland? Stop by our 2019 Milwaukee conference publicity table!

It's hard to believe that next week will be the annual Midwest Chapter/Medical Library Association conference. 2018's annual meeting will be in lovely Cleveland, home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Drew Carey, and lots of other cool, Midwestern activities. 

If you're headed to Cleveland next week, stop by the 2019 Milwaukee meeting table staffed by your fellow WHSLA, SWHSL, and Midwest Chapter/MLA members. Remember that the 2019 conference will be here in Milwaukee from October 4-7, 2019. Discover, Connect, and Collaborate! Did I mention there will be raffles and giveaways at the Milwaukee table?

Follow along as we announce program details and social events via our website: Midwest Chapter/MLA, WHSLA, and SWHSL 2019 Annual Meeting.  

http://midwestmla.org/conference2019/

Controversy at Cochrane as co-founder is expelled and some board members resign in protest

Thanks to Barb Ruggeri for sharing this news item about a brewing controversy at Cochrane. Two news outlets have picked it up this week:

• Cochrane Collaboration Expels Cofounder, Prompts Resignations

• Evidence-based medicine group in turmoil after expulsion of co-founder

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/evidence-based-medicine-group-turmoil-after-expulsion-co-founder

Finding Your Niche in Big Data

A few weeks ago I finished up a class from NNLM titled Big Data in Healthcare: Exploring Emerging Roles. I relished this opportunity to dig into something that I have little knowledge of and even less experience with. From readings to group discussions and analysis, we had an interesting several weeks. 

Some of our culminating essays will be published in NNLM's "Midwest Matters" blog. You can read my post, "Big Data in Healthcare: Finding Your Niche" here. 

If you're interested in research data and big data related to health care, NNLM's RD3 data initiative has a list of what classes and training opportunities are coming up. 

https://news.nnlm.gov/gmr/2018/09/big-data-in-healthcare-finding-your-niche/

Diversity and Inclusion in Medical Schools - a rosy picture?

I ran across this article from Scientific American not too long ago. Diversity in medical schools and residencies is something to be celebrated. What patient wouldn't want to see a physician that looks like herself or himself and speaks their own language. But is it as easy as that?

Jennifer Tsai reports that many medical students feel pressure to hide what makes them different and unique. Whether that is their sexual orientation,  what specialties they are interested in pursuing, or even something as innocuous as how they wear jewelry.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dfataustralianaid/10720756393

A sneak peek at 2019's WHSLA/SWHSL/Midwest Chapter MLA conference logo

Here is a sneak peak at our 2019 conference logo. Liz Suelzer and her Publicity Committee have been hard at work. Looks great! 

The rest of your conference planning groups are hard at work on our Midwest Chapter MLA/WHSLA/SWHSL conference to be held next fall in Milwaukee. We're planning an event we hope you'll want to come to. 

More info soon...

Fake content - that's easy for a librarian to spot, right?

We've all heard a lot about fake news, Russian trolls, and other ways news and social media sites have been manipulated. Do you think it's easy to spot a deceptive post? I was confident that I would easily find them all in this recent New York Times article. But it wasn't as easy as I thought. How will you do?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/04/technology/facebook-influence-campaigns-quiz.html 

Reporters Keith Collins and Sheera Frenkel report that one strategy used by these groups is to post seemingly innocuous content to begin with and to build up a base of readers. Then the content starts to shift into much more polarized issues and views. The image below is a good example of that strategy. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/04/technology/facebook-influence-campaigns-quiz.html

Back to school

I am among the many students who went back to school this week.  I'm excited that I have just five classes left to earn my Bachelor's of Information Science and Technology in the spring!  

Of course, when I tell people this, they think this means I'll be done with school next year, and that's not the case.  I intend to go on for my MLIS.  This inevitably leads to the dreaded and annoying question, "Why do you need a master's degree to be a librarian?"

There's really no short answer to this question, but I do my best to explain what library work entails.

Most of you reading this are probably already established in the profession.  Do you still get this question?  How do you answer it?