(via Andrea Kepsel, MHSLA 2019 Publicity Chair)
Registration for the 2019 Michigan Health Sciences Libraries Association (MHSLA) Annual Conference is now open! Please join us October 2-4, 2019 at the Radisson at the Capitol in Lansing, MI.
The Michigan Health Sciences Libraries Association is excited to host Shannon Jones (MLIS, MEd, FMLA, AHIP) as our keynote speaker for the 2019 conference. Ms. Jones is the Director of the Medical University of South Carolina Library, and she is a national leader on diversity, equity, and inclusion in libraries. She is an editor on the forthcoming Medical Libraries Association publication Diversity and Inclusion in Libraries: A Call To Action and Strategies For Success. She has presented on a variety of topics, including delivering the continuing education course “Implicit Bias Training for Information Professionals,” at MLA 19, and recently was part of a panel at ALA Annual, “The Sense of Self: How Identity Informs Academic Librarianship.” We are excited to have her as both a presenter and a moderator of the panel “Beyond Cultural Competence: Diversity in Library and Health Sciences.”
We are also excited to offer two panel discussions with a mix of librarians, academics, and vendors. The full list of panelists can be found on the conference website, and topics include:
- Digital Knowledge Infrastructure: A Conversation About Current Challenges and Future Trends presented on Thursday, October 3, 1:30-2:30 pm. This panel is a discussion about the future trends and current challenges in digital knowledge infrastructure broadly – as it impacts information systems, educational paradigms, our organizations, our patrons, and the vendors we work with to provide information.
- Beyond Cultural Competence: Diversity in Library and Health Sciences presented on Friday, October 4, 10:30-11:30 am and moderated by Shannon Jones, our keynote speaker. This panel will discuss some of the ways that a lack of diversity impacts our work as librarians and the work of the clinicians and researchers that we serve, as well as some steps that institutions are taking to address existing imbalances in health sciences related fields.
Conference registration includes a selection of four, two-hour, MLA accredited continuing education courses, a special event at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, meals, time with vendors, and more! For more information, and to register, please visit the conference website.
We hope you will join us this fall to Connect at the Capital!