The summer of 2012 is one for the record books indeed. Last summer, HSLI presented a Consumer Health Education resources class for public librarians at LaSalle Public Library after the board meeting. Encouraged by the attendance of the event last summer, HSLI sponsored a MLA CE, “Disasters in an International Context”, before the semiannual Board Meeting at SIUSM, Springfield on July 10. The board members met at SIUSM in Springfield and at Resurrection Medical Center, Chicago, or by teleconference call after the MLA CE. By teleconferencing the board meeting we almost achieved perfect attendance. Our President-Elect, Stacey Knight-Davis delivered a baby boy, Lucian on July 3. Congratulations to the proud parents! In this report, some recent activities and follow-ups will announce our progress so far this year.
Action: The future of Open Access task force is examining the role of hospital libraries in creating digital repositories. A survey to assess open access and scholarly publishing views to members, hospitals, and physicians is planned to determine interest and contributions to maintenance costs. Discussions of the growth and development of Open Access should be ongoing to monitor trends and application to our organization. During October, National Medical Librarians month would be a perfect opportunity to promote Open Access educational events.
An idea about promoting involvement of new members in committee work was discussed by the board. In the future, recipients of the Syed Magrabi scholarship should be invited to serve on the conference planning committee.
Announcements: Holly Ann Burt, GMR, announced that they are recruiting a Technology Coordinator and that Max Anderson, previous Technology Coordinator will be missed. The group purchasing options were presented by Virginia Gale. If any hospital library is unfamiliar with group purchasing, I would suggest contacting Virginia to learn about the advantages. Thanks to her for working with EBSCO and OVID this year. Dianne Olson, treasurer, reported that our 501 (c) (3) non-profit status was reinstated for our organization.
Appointments: Two changes of appointments occurred in 2012. Linda Feinberg is the current HSLI list moderator. Please contact Linda with any change of email address requests. Daneen Richardson was appointed as the new Midwest/MLA liaison. Since HSLI is hosting the Midwest/MLA conference in 2013, we look forward to increasing our communication with Midwest. GMR and HSLI will share an exhibit booth at ILA.
Archives: Progress in organizing the HSLI archives was reported by Miranda Shake, archives chair. The UIUC archive staff is locating our original contract and an inventory of the contents of the files is under development.
Conferences: The Board received updates for three Annual Conferences. The final report for 2011 was given by Virginia Gale, conference chair. Laura Wimmer, current conference chair, opened registration for the 2012 annual conference, “Shaping Our Future”, to be held November 1-2 at the Spring Hill Suites Chicago O’Hare, 8101 West Higgins Road Chicago, Illinois 60631. The continuing education classes will be conducted at Resurrection Medical Center’s Marian Conference Center, 7435 W Talcott Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60631. A shuttle bus is available for transportation between the Hotel and Hospital. Nancy’s Reception will be held at the Hotel complete with poster session and vendors. The Syed Magrabi scholarship is open to attend this conference. Roy Jones, conference coordinator of the joint Midwest. /MLA conference reported that the planning for, “Navigating a River of Information”, to be held in East Peoria in 2013 is underway.
Illinois State Library report: Representatives from the Illinois State Library, Anne Craig, Director and Kathy Bloomberg, Associate Director attended the Board meeting and reported on the RFP progress of the statewide delivery contracts and competitive grants including the popular ILEADU.
Lastly, I would like to wish two of our members a happy retirement. Joy Kennedy and Carol Scherrer entered retirement in 2012. I am looking forward to seeing everyone, networking, and shaping the future at the fall conference.
See you in Chicago.
Fran Kovach