Lynn M. Fortney, MLS Board of Directors, MLA, 2000 – 2003 Chair, Southern Chapter/MLA, 2001 Vice President & Director, Biomedical Division EBSCO Information Services The Medical Library Association

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, The Medical Library Association An Association of Health Information Professionals n Why do health librarians have an organization apart from the American Library Association or the Special Library Association? n Important past initiatives n Organizational structure n Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) n Current and future initiatives

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, History of MLA n Founded in 1898 by four librarians and four physicians n Early goals & projects u Exchange of duplicate journals u Developing “public medical library collections” u Creating a Union Catalog n Early meetings held in conjunction with AMA to assure good attendance

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Notable past initiatives n Ongoing - MLA Exchange n 1930’s - Campaign against the high cost of German periodicals n 1940s – MLA Bomb Plan u Create “Shadow libraries” in caves for safety

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Notable past initiatives n Standards n Professional credentialing programs n Continuing professional education n International cooperation

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA’s Organizational Structure n Membership u 3,610 individual members u 1,048 institutional members

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA’s Organizational Structure n Headquarters (Chicago, IL) established in 1961 n Operating Budget - $2,655,711 FY 2000/01 u Annual meeting income u Membership dues u Publications u Administration

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA’s Organizational Structure n 14 Standing Committees u Subcommittees u Ad hoc task forces n 23 Sections u 17 Special Interest Groups (SIGS) n 14 Chapters (regional groups)

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA Governance – elected officers n The “Presidents” u Current President (Carol Jenkins) u Immediate Past President (Michael Homan) u President-Elect (Linda Watson) n The “Directors” – nine in all n Executive Director (Carla Funk) u Nonvoting, ex officio

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Role of the Board of Directors n Goals and objectives set by the President, approved by the Board n Issues/ projects referred to the Board for action by Committees, Chapters, Sections or by individual members n Board deliberates and acts upon motions

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Appointed officials n T. Scott Plutchak, AHIP, Editor, Bulletin of the Medical Library Association Bulletin of the Medical Library Association n Beverly Murphy, AHIP, Editor, MLA NewsMLA News n Scott Garrison, MLANET Editor n Valerie G. Rankow, MEDLIB-L CoordinatorMEDLIB-L n Lucretia W. McClure, AHIP, Parliamentarian n Millie M. Moore, Sergeant-at-Arms

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Committees n Executive committee n Nominating Committee n 14 standing committees u Various subcommittees n Ad Hoc Committees and Task Forces Ad Hoc Committees and Task Forces

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Sections n Cancer Librarians Cancer Librarians n Chiropractic Libraries n Collection Development Collection Development n Consumer and Patient Health Information Consumer and Patient Health Information n Corporate Information Services Corporate Information Services n Dental Dental n Educational Media and Technologies Educational Media and Technologies n Federal Libraries Federal Libraries n History of the Health Sciences History of the Health Sciences n Hospital Libraries| Hospital Libraries n International Cooperation International Cooperation n Leadership and Management Leadership and Management n Medical Informatics Medical Informatics n Medical Library Education Medical Library Education n Medical Society Libraries n Nursing and Allied Health Resources Nursing and Allied Health Resources n Pharmacy and Drug Information Pharmacy and Drug Information n Public Health/Health Administration Public Health/Health Administration n Public Services Public Services n Relevant Issues Relevant Issues n Research Research n Technical Services Technical Services n Veterinary Medical Libraries Veterinary Medical Libraries

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Section Governance n Joining a section is optional n Sections have elected officers n Section Council n Sections contribute substantially to annual meeting programming n May have special initiatives, but must be sanctioned by MLA

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Special Interest Groups (SIGS) Special Interest Groups (SIGS) n African American Medical Librarians Alliance n Clinical Librarians n Complementary Medicine Complementary Medicine n Department of the Army Medical Command Libraries n Department of Veterans Affairs Librarians n Geriatrics/Gerontology Geriatrics/Gerontology n Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Health Sciences Librarians Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Health Sciences Librarians n Mental Health Mental Health n Molecular Biology and Genomics Molecular Biology and Genomics n Osteopathic Libraries n Outreach n Pediatric Librarians n Primary Care (formerly Family Practice) n Problem-Based Learning n Rehabilitation Hospital n Vision Science Vision Science n White House Conference on Library and Information Services

14 Chapters Regional groups, independent of MLA

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Chapter Governance n Quasi-affiliated with MLA n Chapter Chair elected for one- year term u Usually involves a three-year commitment n Other officers and committees n Annual meetings n Chapter Sharing Roundtables n MLA’s Chapter Council u

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA Publications

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA Books Publishing Program Books n Current Practice in Health Science Librarianship u 8 volumes n The Medical Library Association Guide to Managing Health Care Libraries

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA Books Publishing Program Books n DocKits DocKits u Packets of materials n BibKits BibKits u Annotated bibliographies

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Other MLA Publications n MLA Exchange List MLA Exchange List n Making a Difference: Communications ToolKit Making a Difference: Communications ToolKit n Marketing Information Marketing Information n Standards and Other Publications Standards and Other Publications

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Deciphering MedSpeak Brochure n Over 30,000 distributed to date n Recently revised n Includes ten most useful health websites n Full text on MLANET

Lynn Fortney - ALIA,

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Standards and Practices n Librarian's Guide to JCAHO Accreditation Librarian's Guide to JCAHO Accreditation n Value of the Hospital Library Fact Sheet Value of the Hospital Library Fact Sheet n Standards for Hospital Libraries Standards for Hospital Libraries n Challenge to Action: Planning and Evaluation Guidelines for Academic Health Sciences Libraries Challenge to Action: Planning and Evaluation Guidelines for Academic Health Sciences Libraries n Standards for Chiropractic College Libraries Standards for Chiropractic College Libraries

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Honors and Awards Scholarships and Fellowships n 16 different honors and awards are bestowed by MLA u Many others by Sections and Chapters n 10 grants or scholarships available

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Professional Credentialing n 1949 – original Code for the Training and Certification of Medical Librarians u Three levels n 1964 revision required: u A graduate degree in library science u Plus an approved medical libraries course u Or passing the Certification Exam

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Professional Credentialing n 1974 revision required: u Graduate degree and certification exam u Two years of professional experience u Recertification required every five years

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) n Professional Development and career recognition program n Peer reviewed n Based on: u Academic preparation u Professional experience u Professional accomplishments n Application & renewal process

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) n MLA membership is not required n 4 levels u Provisional, Member, Senior Member, Distinguished Member n Masters Degree u ALA- accredited OR Council on Post-Secondary Accreditation n Must be renewed every five years

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Consumer Health Credential Program Consumer Health Credential Program u improve health information services for consumers u create partners in the delivery of consumer health information u increase access to consumer health courses n Who can participate? u medical librarians, public librarians, librarians working in consumer health libraries, allied health professionals

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Continuing Education n 1958 – 12 “Refresher courses” offered the day prior to the start of the Annual Meeting n Platform for Change Platform for Change u Seven essential areas of knowledge n Educational Clearinghouse Educational Clearinghouse u Lists courses approved for MLA Continuing Education (CE) contact hours.

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Current or Ongoing Research u MLA/Hay Group Study (completed) u The Value of Using Library and Information Services Study (in progress) u Benchmarking Initiative

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA/Hay Group Study u Medical librarians receive lower salaries than IT professionals while performing similar roles u Most medical librarians receive IT support but are still primarily responsible for many IT duties u available online at

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, The Value of Using Library and Information Services Study n Studies the value and economic benefit of medical libraries in hospitals and health care institutions n Contracted with the University of Maryland n Targeted toward upper management

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Benchmarking Network n Beta test n Benchmarking Network Implementation Task Force u Define and develop a set of outcomes measures u Evaluate the success of the Benchmarking Network u Consult with Headquarters staff on product development

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Diversity Initiatives n Minority Recruitment Program n Increase in annual MLA Minority Scholarship n ALA Spectrum Initiative Scholarship

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Information Issues and Policies u Funding issues u Technology issues u Telecommunications u Information Access u Intellectual Property and Copyright n MLA Position Statements MLA Position Statements

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, The Annual Meeting n Early meetings attended only by library directors u Most heavily represented were medical society libraries and physicians u Strong emphasis on the history of medicine

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, The Annual Meeting n 2001 at Walt Disney World in Florida u Attended by 1650 registrants u 600 Exhibitors

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, The First Annual Meeting in 1898 was 2 ½ hours long Set Annual Meeting Schedule Thursday – Board of Directors meets Friday – CE courses & more Board meetings Saturday – Chapter & Section Council meetings, Committee Meetings, Symposium & CE courses. The official meeting program starts with The Welcome Reception in the Exhibit Hall

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Sunday: Committee meetings, New Members Breakfast and Section business meetings start at 7 AM Presidential Address, 1 st Plenary Session Chapter Sharing Roundtable Luncheon 1 st Business Meeting, Section Programming International Visitors Reception, Library School Reunions, Friends of NLM Reception Set Annual Meeting Schedule

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Monday Committee Meetings and Sunrise Seminars start at 7 AM Janet Doe Lecture, Section Programming Awards Luncheon and Ceremony Legislative Update; Poster Sessions; Informal Meetings; NLM Update Hospital Libraries Section Reception, SIG meetings; President’s Reception, Armadillo Ball Set Annual Meeting Schedule

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Tuesday Committee Meetings and Sunrise Seminars start at 7 AM 2 nd Plenary Session; 2 nd Business Meeting and President’s Inaugural Address Section Business Meetings start at 12:30 Section programming; more Section Business Meetings; SIG/Informal Meetings Farewell Party Set Annual Meeting Schedule

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Wednesday Committee Meetings and more SIG/Informal Meetings start at 7 AM Section Programming 3 rd Plenary Session “Official” Programming concludes at noon Board of Directors meeting, CE courses, Symposia in afternoon Set Annual Meeting Schedule

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, MLA’s Most Important Initiatives n MLA Exchange (ongoing) n Advocating for consumer health n Standards for health sciences libraries n Copyright n National Health Information Policies n Professional credentialing n Continuing education

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Next Year….

Lynn Fortney - ALIA, Professionals Providing Quality Information for Improved Health “ For more than a century, the Medical Library Association has served society, through its members and programs, by providing quality information for better health care, the education of health professionals, the conduct of research, and the public’s understanding of health.”