As a medical librarian in Wisconsin, I was thrilled to be an active planner and participant in the Medical Library Association Conference held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! It was especially meaningful to connect with so many Wisconsin colleagues at a national conference. It was so fun to collaborate, learn, and eat together! I’m deeply grateful to the Wisconsin Health Science Library Association for its financial support for my and so many other WHSLA members’ conference experiences. Thank you!
One of the memorable aspects of the MLA ‘26 conference was
how much conference coordinators and participants leaned into cheese puns to
celebrate being in the Dairy State! Visitors to the Hospitality booth were
welcomed to adopt their cheese name (based on the first initial of your real first
and last name) and decorate their badge with cheesy stickers. But, all the
“cultured” collaborations weren’t just about cheese. I especially liked the NLM
Update where Ken Koyle, NNLM Program Director, said that he didn’t have any
cheese puns, but the conference lacked beer puns and he didn’t want to “let
that opportunity Pabst us by!”
Beyond the playful local puns, the conference also offered
the kind of substantive professional learning that makes MLA a valuable
learning experience. There was an opportunity to attend a wide variety of paper
sessions; I’ll report on one. In “From Brie-f Comments to Lasting Revisions:
Librarian Peer Review in Action” Melissa Rethlefsen from University of New
Mexico and her colleagues reported on their project to assess the differences
between librarians and non-librarians in their peer review comments and analyze
the comparative impact of the comments on how authors decided to revise their
manuscripts. They analyzed manuscripts with at least one librarian peer
reviewer and that were ultimately published. They found that librarians tended
to focus on the methodology piece and barely talked about the results and
discussion in contrast to non-librarian reviewers. They found there was no
significant difference between whether the comments were made by librarians or
non-librarians on whether authors made changes to their manuscript. The project
team hopes to continue their research by looking at articles that were rejected
to see if there were significant differences in how the authors reacted to
comments made by librarians vs. non-librarians.
MLA’s first-ever AI Prompt-a-Thon offered me a contrast from
scholarly communication to emerging tools and skills for medical librarians. In
the session, attendees worked in teams of 2-5. We worked through two scenarios
and developed prompts using the CLEAR prompting framework to interact with a
variety of AI products. Once developed, our prompts were submitted through a
form and were scored in real-time based on the adherence to the CLEAR (Concise, Logical,
Explicit, Adaptive, and Reflective) framework. For an added bit of fun,
teams whose prompts scored highest won a prize. My team tied for first in the
PubMed Search Strategy scenario and I was awarded an Ebola virus plush toy. That
was a unique conference experience and I suspect the AI Prompt-a-Thon will be
repeated! Just a little tip if you ever have the opportunity to attend: be sure
to bring a laptop as working on a phone is challenging.
While I appreciated the opportunity to learn as an attendee,
I was also grateful to contribute to the program as a panelist at Adaptation
and Navigation: Collections in a Time of Change, one of the Collection
Development symposia. My co-panelists and I first outlined the content of two
executive orders which revoked previous executive orders and align with a shift
away from diversity-focused programs to merit-based opportunities. Then we
demonstrated how ACGME and LCME accreditation requirements have evolved in
response to state laws and federal actions. Nicole Thies-Mahon, Meredith
Solomon and I then spoke about our different organizations’ experiences on how
federal and state policy changes related to DEI have impacted our collections
and practices. Each librarian had a different perspective and reflected on the
different cultures in their organizations in how they are adapting.
My individual participation was just one part of a larger
Wisconsin librarian presence throughout MLA ’26. I want to take this
opportunity to recognize and thank all the Wisconsin librarians who helped with
the planning and execution of MLA ‘26! The Local Assistance
Committee (LAC) participated in various conference planning aspects
including developing the Dining Guide, writing blog posts, coordinating
volunteers and hospitality, planning the local service project, and
highlighting museums and libraries in the area.
One of the LAC’s accomplishments was planning an awesome presentation at the J.R.R.
Tolkien archives at Marquette University! The Tolkien archives tour was “sold
out” quickly, but a few registrants had to cancel last minute due to flight
delays. Fortunately, we were able to fill their spots to maximize participation
for a fantastic event! Prior to the tour, I didn’t ever consider why the
Tolkien manuscripts are at Marquette University. William Ready, library
director from 1956 to 1963 had a vision to collect Catholic authors’
manuscripts for the new library. Soon after it was published, he recognized that
The Lord of the Rings was a work of genius and he contacted Tolkien, a
life-long Catholic, with what we now know to be a relatively modest offer to
purchase the manuscripts (less than
$5,000). Ready was the first to reach out with an offer and Tolkien thought
it was best he’d ever get. How astounding, but how fortunate for Marquette
University!
I was also pleased to have a role in the planning and
execution of the My Very Own Blanket Local Service Project. MLA conference
attendees came together at a blanket-making party and created 75 no-sew fleece
blankets. An additional five blankets crafted by members prior to the
conference raised the total to 80 hand-made blankets that were donated to
Robyn’s Nest, a core support program of Children’s Wisconsin that provides
essential resources to families involved in foster care. MLA’s presence
positively impacted on the community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and left tangible
reminders for children in foster care. I thank WHSLA also for the generous
donation to the cause, having supported 10 blanket kits for the event!
Next year’s MLA conference is going to be in Denver, CO and their convention center has a 40-foot blue bear peering in through the windows. MLA ’26 conference attendees found a “growing bear” promotional item in their conference bags. That little blue bear was a fun reminder that MLA conferences often leave us with both professional inspiration and memorable moments of joviality. So, for one last bit of fun from MLA ’26, I put my Denver blue bear in a two-gallon container of water for a couple of weeks. The package promised that the approximately two-inch bear could grow up to 600% depending on how big a container of water you’d put it in, but mine only grew to about four inches. I wonder if I put it in a swimming pool how big it would get!
The MLA ‘26 conference was a joyous and engaging experience! I am grateful for the opportunity to represent Wisconsin, learn from colleagues across the profession, and bring the inspiration of MLA ’26 back to WHSLA. Thank you again, WHSLA, for your support!
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