Category Archives: Communication

Communication

Learning About Library Associations: Minnesota Association of Law Libraries

Library science is an enormous field, home to every interest you could imagine! This means that there are many organizations out there for you to join, in order to connect with other people who share your professional interests.

So even if you work alone in your library, there are other people out there doing work similar to yours! Each week we will highlight a different library association for you to learn more about, and depending on your work, potentially join! You can also check out our page dedicated to Library Associations.

This week we’ll look at the Minnesota Association of Law Libraries (MALL) which is an organization dedicated to “legal research and information professionals facilitating access to justice and legal information.” MALL is the Minnesota chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). The mission of AALL is to “advance the profession of law librarianship and support the professional growth of its members through leadership and advocacy in the field of legal information and information policy.”

MALL offers scholarships, awards, and grants, holds seasonal meetings, and features a Newsfeed on their website to keep members updated. You can learn more about the history and goals of MALL here,  or check out their Event Calendar. Learn more about membership to MALL here.

Communication

Linking to Library News!

Linking Number 2

There is a whole world of news happening across the profession. Below are a few links to get you started with some of the exciting things happening in the world of Library Science!

 

Communication, General

Take a library trip to Ireland or Cuba!

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Do the dropping temperatures make you itch to get away for awhile? And what would be better than a trip to an interesting location with fellow library colleagues? Even if you can’t go on either of these trips, it’s great to know these opportunities are available!

If you’ve ever thought about going to Ireland, this is your chance! The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) is a division of ALA and “is the premier destination for members to find information and build capacity to serve populations that are served by state library agencies, specialized libraries, library cooperatives, library networks and library consultants among others.” ASCLA is traveling to Ireland May 10th – 17th 2018 and the itinerary looks amazing. You’ll get to visit several different cities, take a literary city walk, go on a writer’s museum tour, visit famous landmarks and even spend a night in a castle! Find more info here.

This next trip is one you may have to enjoy from afar, since the deadline to register was Oct. 20th. Still, it looks like a great opportunity! ALA will be sponsoring a trip to Cuba on March 3rd – 10th 2018. This is a study tour put together especially for U.S. librarians, and of course this itinerary looks incredible too. You’ll get to visit the Provincial Library in Old Havana to learn about Cuba’s library system, tour fortresses and museums, visit publishing houses, and meet members of the Cuban Association of Librarians. If you’ve already signed up for this trip, please send CMLE photos of your adventure!

Have you ever gone on a library sponsored trip? Share your experience in the comments (pictures welcome!)

 

 

http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/ala-havana-book-fair-tour

 

Communication

Learning About Library Associations: Medical Library Association

Library science is an enormous field, home to every interest you could imagine! This means that there are many organizations out there for you to join, in order to connect with other people who share your professional interests.

So even if you work alone in your library, there are other people out there doing work similar to yours! Each week we will highlight a different library association for you to learn more about, and depending on your work, potentially join! You can also check out our page dedicated to Library Associations.

“The Medical Library Association (MLA) believes that quality information is essential for improved health. MLA aspires to be the association of the most visible, valued, and trusted health information experts. To that end, MLA fosters excellence in the professional practice and leadership of health sciences library and information professionals in order to enhance the quality of health care, education, and research throughout the world.”

The core values of the Medical Library Association include:

  • Use of scientific evidence in making health care decisions
  • Public awareness of, access to, and use of high-quality health information
  • Lifelong learning and professional development
  • Advancement of health information research and evidence-based practice
  • Community and collaboration within and outside the profession
  • Irreproachable ethical standards (Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarians)

MLA has a Public Policy Center that does advocacy to “address federal information issues, policies, and legislation of importance to the health sciences library community.” They also have an annual meeting, which will take place in Atlanta in May of 2018. The annual event will feature program sessions, continuing education, exhibitors and more!

MLA offers mentoring, scholarships and grants, several different publications, and communities for member connections. Learn more about joining the Medical Library Association here.

 

 

CMLE, Communication

CMLE Wants You! Let’s do some strategic planning!

Two-people-talking-logoLet’s talk!

We are approaching the end of our strategic plan, and we need some ideas on new directions to take for the next three years.

Our mission is to serve our members, and to share information resources for everyone. We have been expanding the kinds of information sources we provide – from the weekly newsletter,  to the library training podcast, the books/reader’s advisory podcast, the online training programs, the member events, and more.

And now we need to hear from our members. What do you want? What is going to be valuable for you? What kind of library information would be helpful to you?

We know there are a few specific needs across the system:

  • better connections between libraries;
  • more skills, information, and training in advocacy for yourself and your library;
  • an easier way to build library skills of all sorts.

We will be sending out a system-wide survey to everyone, to find out what kinds of ideas and needs you have. For now, we want to build on the work our Board has started, and set up some focus groups to chat with people.

If you have not participated in a focus group before, it might sound intimidating. It’s not. The idea is just to gather a few people together to chat about libraries of the future, and some ideas on how we can continue to work together to make CMLE libraries well-supported and fantastic areas of service to their communities! (No pressure here – we aren’t going to solve all the issues of the library world in an hour session. We are just going to get some ideas and work on being more fabulous!)

If you can come join us for an hour or so, we will give you food and enjoy chatting with you! Let us know what day and time would work for you in November. We will work out some locations to reach out to people across our twelve counties. And if you know of anyone else who would like to express ideas for CMLE, forward this on to them. We are looking to have opinions from anyone who wants to share!

What day/time would generally work for you to chat about CMLE and libraries(required)