The February 27, 2002 meeting of the Colorado Council of Medical Librarians will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the Gates Room of the Central Denver Public Library. The Central Denver Public Library (DPL) building is a favorite of architect Michael Graves, who designed both the building itself and the interior decor. He received the 2001 Gold Medal Award of the American Institute of Architects. If you haven't seen the building, new as of 1995, here's your chance! Come and enjoy a guided tour, learn about the architecture and the art. See the fossils, and the Legacy Table from the Summit of the Eight Conference held here in 1997. Learn about the many special collections the library owns, from art and photography of the early west to classic films on video, and much, much more.
And while you're there, you'll learn about the great consumer health resources that the library provides. As the Colorado Resource Center, the DPL's materials are available to all Colorado residents with a DPL card. That includes most CCML members and their library customers, too. DPL is working on some exciting new service initiatives, so come and learn about how you can take advantage of them for your own information needs and those of your customers. Refreshments will be served.
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Just in case you haven't heard the good news, we have a new President- Elect for CCML. I am very pleased to announce that Margaret Bandy has agreed to take on the job. As many of you know, there was more than some difficulty finding a candidate this year. They say that good things come to those who wait.
We should be very happy that Margaret has stepped forward to lead us for the next two years. Having served as our President in 1983, she is coming back for a second round. Is that ded-ication and commit-ment, or what?
Margaret has been active in CCML for many years and probably has served on every committee at least twice. We are fortunate to have such an experienced person consent to lead us again. Thank you, Margaret.
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Like most notable presidents Margaret was born in a small log cabin in Illinois. Even as a child she had a love of books and libraries. One time, when some pages of a book got wet, she felt so bad that she trudged for miles through the snow to return the book to the library and then chopped wood to pay the fine. The wood happened to be from a cherry tree. When confronted, she could not tell a lie and confessed to the deed.
Her academic career started at Mt. Mary's, a small women's college in WI. From Mt. Mary she went on to get an MA in English at Loyola in Chicago. After that she got her M.A.L.S. from Dominican University in River Forest, IL. Margaret moved to Connecticut and worked at the Yale medical library. While there she met Charles who was at the medical library at the University of Connecticut. Margaret also worked at UConn before they moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota. While in ND, Margaret worked in the Public Library. They moved to Colorado in 1978 and she started at St. Joseph's in February 1979. She has been there ever since. Ironically, her father worried that she would never settle down when she only worked a year at Yale and then a year at UConn.
Charles and Margaret just returned from a trip to NYC where they celebrated Margaret's birthday by going to the theater to see "Mama Mia" and "The Lion King." Margaret enjoys the theater, books, amazon.com and e-bay. She thinks CCML is a great organization. CCML really helped her out when she first started working in Colorado, both professionally and socially. She is glad to have the opportunity to serve as President-Elect again.
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This is a classic tale of the Southern Lady who hitched up her skirts and found herself in the Wild West.
Pat was raised in central Louisiana. In 1965, she received her MLS from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Her first jobs were in the libraries of Central Louisiana State Hospital, the Medical College of Virginia and Bowman Gray School of Medicine.
Being married to a physician in the military meant that Pat and her young family had the opportunity to live in Hawaii for several years. After moving to Denver, Pat was the librarian at Rocky Mountain Hospital and in 1986 and 1987, she was Coordinator of the Denver Area Health Science Library Consortium (DAHSLC). Making a career change in 1988, Pat ran her own business, Hospital Library Services, which provided temporary personnel for libraries in the city. Pat started working for Porter Adventist Hospital in 1990 and became Library Coordinator in 1994.
You may notice in the CCML directory that Pat has been a loyal member since 1978. Several colleagues who have sat on committees with her have remarked that they will miss her warm personality and down-to-earth approach.
On a personal note, Pat and her husband, Mike, have two sons. Nathan and his wife, Brandy, live in Denver. Douglas is finishing up a degree in architecture at the University of Nebraska. Pat and Mike love to travel, and have visited places all over the world. Interspersed with the more exotic trips are regular visits to her mother who still lives at home in Louisiana. They are also avid bird watchers and enjoy reading.
Although Pat has retired from her library career, she is not idly lounging around the house eating bonbons and reading romance novels. She has found employment working with Mike as office manager and "general flunky", as she describes it. Lucky Mike!
Pat will be missed by all who have been lucky enough to have worked with her. Her professionalism, low key demeanor and subtle sense of humor made her a colleague we valued for so many years. Thanks Pat, and all the best in the next chapter of your life.
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As promised in my last column, here are the numerical results of the survey I conducted in November on journal donation policies - what is actually happening in the medical library world, whatever the philosophies discussed in the last issue. I had a total of 55 responses from ccmlnet, MCMLA-L, and MEDLIB-L; the percentages below are based on the number of usable answers I received for each question (an idea I picked up from the MLA Benchmarking Study).
The first six questions are pretty straightforward, on donation policies:
|
|
Yes
|
Sometimes |
No |
Total
|
|
1) Do you accept donations of journals
from patrons? |
48 (91%) |
5 (9%) |
0 (0%) |
53 |
|
2) Do you use
them to fill in gaps in your own subscriptions? |
48 (92%) |
1 (2%) |
3 (6%) |
52 |
|
3) Do you use
them to extend holdings from your subscriptions backwards? |
28 (55%) |
6 (12%) |
17 (33%) |
51 |
|
4) Do you use
them to extend holdings of canceled subscriptions forward? |
26 (54%) |
5 (10%) |
17 (35%) |
48 |
|
5) Do you make
donated titles that you don't subscribe to available as archival holdings? |
24 (46%) |
10 (19%) |
18 (35%) |
52 |
|
6) Do you
accept donations on a per-issue basis and make them available immediately? |
36 (71%) |
6 (12%) |
9 (18%) |
51 |
#6 is what I had thought would be the most controversial - the one in most danger of violating Good Faith. Yet, nearly 3/4 of the respondents are doing it.
Of course, #6 is problematical with regard to reliability of the donors, and so I asked, "7) For #6, how do you encourage donors to donate regularly?" A few wondered themselves how to do this; a few more brought up some interesting ideas (a total of 35 answers, sometimes more than one from a single respondent):
The most popular methods? The top response (9 responses, or 26%) is not really a method at all - the donors are self-motivated to give reliably (lucky you!). Second place, with 7 responses (20%) is to thank them, thank them, thank them (the word "effusively" appeared at least once; another great phrase was "conspicuous appreciation".
A number of people took "8) Do you only accept or shelve journals a certain amount of time after publication? How long?" to refer to retention policy, so I didn't use those answers. 19 may have understood what I really meant, which had to do with the amount of lag time between publication of a given journal issue and making it freely available - the same principle behind publishers "embargoing" issues for 6 months to 2 years before making them available free online. 17 of these (89%) have no such policy. One (5%) receives each issue when the donor gets the next one. Another (5%) shelves the issues once they're two years old (unless that's their retention policy for donated journals - I wasn't sure).
"Other restrictions on use" (#9) brought in 53 responses, 37 of which (70%) were that there were no restrictions. Two (4%) don't circulate donations. Five (9%) don't lend from these through ILL. Two (4%) don't list donated titles, especially unreliable ones (which also impacts ILL usage). One (2%) only uses donations to fill gaps. Another (2%) doesn't provide TOC service on donated titles. Finally, 3 (6%) put donated titles in a separate location from their regular journals - in one case, on a "go ahead and take it if you want it" basis.
The last question was whether the library has a journal donation policy. 32 (68%) of the 47 respondents don't; 11 (23%) do. A collection of these (minus names) is available on request. Looking ahead, 4 (9%) are developing or planning policies as we speak.
Taken all in all, donations are definitely a force - if not a powerful one - in building journal collections. If we thank, thank, and thank our donors (besides the other strategies), they can become a more reliable resource for both the donors and our other users.
(P.S. - Having learned that writing this column is merely a tradition, not a requirement, for the CCML President - and one that may be putting off potential candidates - this is likely my last President's Column. Unless I just happen to think of something else I want to say.)
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Jenny Garcia, MLS
Librarian
Westwood College of Technology
3150 S. Sheridan Blvd
Denver, CO 80227
Phone: 303-934-1122 ext 752
Fax: 303-937-7534
jgarcia@westwood.edu
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Recently, there have been several personnel changes at St. Mary Corwin Hospital in Pueblo. I have followed Sandy Hudock as the managing/liaison librarian from the University of Southern Colorado. Sandy had been in charge of the library since USC became involved in its management in 1998. Sandy and Shannon O'Grady worked on a Hewlett Packard grant to develop the Finney Memorial Library website in 2000.
Shannon, who has been concurrently working at SMC and USC while completing coursework toward her MLIS degree at the University of Denver since 1999, started an internship in the fall, assisting with the installation of computers granted to public libraries by the Gates Foundation. Shannon will be finishing her masters degree coursework and working for the Gates Foundation as well as working part time for SMC library through the end of June.
Shannon is spearheading the planning and procurement of patient information kiosks with interactive health tutorials at SMC, which are being funded through El Pomar and Packard Foundation grants.
Teah McMullen has replaced Shannon at SMC and is working full time this Spring as well as finishing her final semester as an undergraduate at USC, majoring in Psychology. Teah was the recipient of the Outstanding Student Employee award in 2000 while she was working in the reference department at USC library.
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Coming soon to the Isabel T. Anderson Collection: a collection of disaster plans and other related documents gathered by the Disaster Planning Task Force, which was chaired by Jenny Garcia.
Paul Blomquist is resumng his duties as our Colorado Library Political Action Committee representative. COLPAC works to make sure library legislation in Colorado benefits Colorado libraries and their users.
Be sure to read the proposed Bylaws changes found elsewhere in this mailing. They are aimed at making the job of CCML President-Elect/President/Past President less burdensome, so that we will have more candidates for the job in the future. We will vote on these changes at the April Annual Meeting.
Carol Vervalin died at her parents' home in Boulder, CO, on January 2nd. Carol had just recently moved to Boulder from Grand Junction where she had lived since 1994. Carol worked at Denison Library (UCHSC) from 1984-1994. She started as extension librarian, then became Head of Reference until 1991. She remained in Reference as a Senior Instructor until 1994. Carol was active in CCML. Members of CCML may remember serving with her on the Education Committee.
Carol was an artist as well as a librarian and a number of her works were displayed at Denison in 1997. She had a wonderful, quirky sense of humor and often amused coworkers with her jokes and unique view of the world. She loved the out of doors and once hosted a Denison gathering at her family's mountain cabin.
Survivors include her parents, Eugene and Lorene (Joyce) Vervalin of Boulder, her brother, Michael Vervalin of Highlands Ranch, and her 2 daughters, Mikaila (Mikki) Hoppe and Blair (Bonnie) Wade.
No services are planned at this time. Contributions may be made in her name to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, 2355 55th St., Boulder, CO 80301.
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CCML is planning a teleconference for our annual meeting on April 24th, 2002, 9a.m.-11:45a.m. This will allow for greater participation of members and guests who would not be able to travel to Denver. Would you be willing to coordinate the remote site in your area?
Here's what you'd need to do to participate:
Lynne would also like to know - because CCML is on a tight budget - would your institution or another institution that will attend the program, share costs for the room? (If there are costs for booking a teleconference room.)
Let Lynne know if you're willing to give it a try!
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In 2001, CCML brought you programs with topics from Personal Diversity to Treating the US Olympic Team, vendor updates, MLA teleconferences, the CCML e-mail discussion group, 6 issues of Council Quotes, and the popular Trivia Bowl. DON'T MISS OUT NEXT YEAR!
The Membership Committee urges you to return your membership renewal forms and payment no later than March 31st. If you have not received your renewal notice, please use the form at http://www.ccmlnet.org/membership_form.html, and indicate that it is a renewal membership. Contact Amanda Enyeart at (303) 861-6398 or enyeart.amanda@tchden.org with questions. Completed forms and payment can be sent to:
CCML
P.O. Box 101058
Denver, Colorado 80210-1058
[NOTE: For complete information see printed Council Quotes.]
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Thanks to some researchers in Missouri, the pig in your future may now be in some form other than baked and spiral cut. By "knocking out" a specific gene from the DNA of a miniature swine, they think that they're on the track of making it possible to transplant organs from such little porkers into you and me.
There is a constant shortage of organs for people in real need, so this (xenotransplantation) might be seen as a positive thing, at least by many Homo sapiens. The exception, of course, would be those who see virtually every scientific advance (other than the technology allowing satellite and internet broadcast of their messages) as inherently satanic. OK. No pig parts for them.
As with any new development, the danger of unintended consequences has to be taken into consideration. I receive the pig spleen. Will I then finish each conversation with "Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!"? Will I be inexplicably more attracted than in the past to rotting pumpkin shells and slop? Would that be bad? Would very many people notice the difference?
Now that the floodgates are opening, it won't just be swine. Any animal becomes fair game (poor choice of phrase) as a production line for people parts. It could get very interesting.
Suppose someone received a freshly grown tabby pituitary? Would we find that individual taking long naps while lying in the sunshine on the kitchen windowsill? Would she tend to turn up her nose at any human contact unless she chose to initiate it? Would she trade golf for hours of batting at a dangling ball of twine? Would she charge into the kitchen each time the electric can opener hummed? AND...it would be best to avoid even thinking about the potential kitty litter complications.
What about the heart, or some other useful part, of a golden retriever? "Grandpa, I'm glad to see you, too...that's right, OK...good boy...all right, just stop licking. I mean it! Calm down...I was only gone for ten minutes. Thanks, but I don't play tennis...oh, I see. There you go, fetch...look out for the patio door! Oooh, that had to hurt. Why don't you bring it back in your hand this time? Oh geeze, it's just dripping. Hey! Don't even look at my leg like that. NO!"
The chimps are our closest relatives on the tree of life, aren't they? (this is a rhetorical question) That should produce quite a smooth transition, one would think. That would be true until some MD or CEO begins riding around the office on one of those little mini-wheel bicycles, or roller skating at break-neck speed up and down the halls, screeching at the top of his lungs. Banana peels would be everywhere, and hours would be wasted (?) while the staff took turns being groomed by the lucky transplantee.
Hamsters? Where in the world are you going to find a wheel big enough to accommodate the burning urge to run in place felt by some six foot four inch former pro football player with a brand new (admittedly tiny) liver? If you found one in some obscure catalog, would your managed care plan or Medicare cover it? Not likely, without a serious battle, and hamsters are not noted for their feistiness.
Once the techniques are perfected, and assuming no change in the essential insecurity of your average American male, would any healthy male horse (stallion to those of you from Kentucky) be safe from the surgeon's knife? Without going into the gruesome details, it's a safe bet that only some sort of lottery system combined with a massive equine breeding initiative could come close to dealing with the demand.
Ferrets are said by their fanciers to possess exceptional intelligence and cunning (and by others to provide an excellent, chill fighting outer layer over a fleece shell). The rumor is that they have already been used for transplants, with anonymous fingers pointing to the annual meeting of the American Bar Association, and to various state legislatures, for proof.
You never know what valuable part might be hiding in one of our friends from the north. "Does he have to wear that tuxedo all the time now? ...And he looks really goofy waddling around like that with his arms by his sides. Did I tell you that our electric bill was up by over 80%? Every time I turn around I have to pull his head out of the freezer. Are you as sick of fish three meals a day as I am?"
Porpoises are thought by some to be cleverly hiding intelligence at least equal to that of the average human. (is that really supposed to be impressive?) If they are used, we might find politics changed in a major way: "Ladies and gentlemen...the senator will now leap through a flaming hoop, then dive to the bottom, build up speed, and try to break the Congressional record for a vertical leap out of the water. (much splashing, ooohing, aaaahing, and applause). She will be happy to answer your questions, honking the horn once for 'yes', twice for 'no,' and three times if your question is in any way critical, and therefore unpatriotic. First, however, the senator has a brief opening statement regarding our tariff arrangements with our friends in Latin America:"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Not a terribly significant drop-off in clarity, if you think about it.
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See http://www.healthfinder.gov/library/nho/nhosearch.asp for all National Health Observances.
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Need your reference questions answered quickly and right now? NLM Region 4 librarians are invited to use a new, online, real-time reference service provided by the Denison Memorial Library. Just click on the Live Reference link to chat online with a librarian in real time!!! http://denison.uchsc.edu/askalibrarian.html
Live Reference
Connect to Live Reference to find out more and give this service a whirl! Ask a real question or a made up one just for practice.
The service is available Monday - Friday from 2 pm - 4 pm in the initial phase and will be expanded at a later date. Connect to the service today! http://denison.uchsc.edu/askalibrarian.html
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| Council Quotes is a bimonthly publication of the Colorado Council of Medical Librarians (CCML). CCML / P.O. Box 101058 / Denver, CO 80210-1058. Subscription is a benefit of membership. Editor, Lynne Fox; Assistant Editor, Jeff Kuntzman; Contributors, CCML members. |
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This page was last updated on 29 Jan 02.
Direct questions about this page to Lynne Fox.
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