Category: Educational Opportunities

Free Consumer Health Online Class

Health & Wellness @ the Library: The Essentials of Providing Consumer Health Services is a FREE online 4 week class from February 27, 2012 – March 23, 2012 taught by Kelli Ham and is approved for 12 MLA CE.  

 Course Description (from the website):

This online course defines the core competencies of providing consumer health information services and then dives directly into the essential skills and knowledge that library staff need to build those competencies. The course starts by preparing you with tools to learn the demographics and health status of people in your community. Together we will examine issues of literacy, health literacy, and the health information needs of special populations. By understanding the needs of your own community and the information-seeking behaviors of users, you will be prepared with the right tools and resources even before the questions are asked.

From there we will explore authoritative resources for just about any type of health question, apps and mobile health technologies, how people are using social networking for health questions, and how to create fun and informative health-related programming for different age groups and special populations in your community. Participants will learn about core print reference and other materials for library collections, quality web resources beyond the major sites, and tips for helping library users evaluate health materials they encounter on their own.

A new topic area each week will expand on familiar concepts and provide exposure to new concepts, techniques and resources to take your skills to the next level. At the beginning of Week 2, participants will start to explore topic areas for their final project.

For more information go to: http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/class_details.html?class_id=377

Free Webinar on Licensing

The MidContinental blog posted information about the ALCTS webinar: The Black, White, and Gray Areas of Licensing: a review and update for librarians and publishers.

The webinar is FREE and is February 29, 2012 11am Pacific, noon Mountain, 1pm Central, and 2pm Eastern.

The presenters are Becky Albitz, Electronic Resources Librarian at Pennsylvania State University, Bob Boissy, Manager of Account Development & Strategic Alliances for Springer, and Tracy Thompson-Przylucki, Executive Director of NELLCO. 

The presenters will discuss library licensing issues and answer pre-submitted questions.  Webinar attendees will be asked to submit questions upon registration. 

For additional information including links to the registration page, please click on the following link: 
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/022912.cfm

ALCTS webinars are recorded and registrants receive a link to the recording shortly following the live event.
For questions about registration, contact ALA Registration by calling 1-800-545-2433 and press 5 or email
registration[atsign]ala[dot]org. For all other questions or comments related to the webinars, contact Julie Reese, ALCTS Events Manager at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5034 or alctsce[atsign]ala[dot]org.

Internet Librarian Conference: Discount Available

The 2011 Internet Librarian Conference will be held October 17-19 in Monterey, California.  Uusally the cost for the 3 day event is usually $499 but you can get a group discounted admission of $299 (a savings of $200) if you register through Marty Magee, NNLM MidContinental Region.  You must register no later than September 1, 2011.  For more information on how to register for the conference at a discount and contact information go to the MidContinental Region News blog post, Internet Librarian 2011 – Conference discount available at $299.

Even at a discounted registration price, you may want your institution to help fund some of the conference.  Check out the, “Why I Must Go To Monterey” document on the Internet Librarian 2011 site. As they say, “Sometimes all it takes to get permission is using the right words.”  They have created a draft memo for you to use to try and sell your administration on paying for you to attend. (I am sure also explaining how you are able to secure a $200 registration discount can’t hurt either.)  The draft memo is a bit long for memo to your boss, it is definitely a draft.  You will need to edit it so that it takes on the proper tone of your administration yet still convey the importance of attending the meeting.  Personally, I would also edit it so that it is no more than 1 page.  In my experience, memos longer than 1 page don’t get read.  But I applaud the Internet Librarian conference for providing a sample memo, and I would rather that sample be longer with as much information so that potential attendees can edit it as necessary.  Better to have more information and cut down than not enough information.

Finally, since I am talking about discounted registration and justifying your presence at the Internet Librarian Conference, I am going to make a shameless plug promoting MLA 2012 Fund Your Meeting Contest.  Two $400 awards will be given out to help pay for registration or travel expenses to the 2012 meeting in Seattle.  All you have to do to win is submit the most original, funny, interesting, or beth method you used to get funding from your institution to attend a meeting.  Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2T8K9LJ to enter before November 1, 2011.  To read other people’s submissions to get ideas as to how you can try and convince your administration to pay or help pay for you to go to MLA, go to http://mla2012contest.wikispaces.com/.

Don’t Know Much About eScience?

So what were you doing on January 20, 2011?  If you were attending the GMR’s webinar on eScience then you are ahead of the game.  If you are like me and can’t remember what you had for breakfast but are pretty certain you didn’t attend the webinar then you will be happy to know that the program recording and resources are available on GMR’s Online Education page. 

About the course:

e-Science is an emerging research methodology with an emphasis upon data and networks. As researchers in biomedicine and other health-related disciplines increasingly utilize today’s technology in their work, they produce immense amounts of data that can, ideally, be shared and repurposed to speed up scientific discovery. Similarly, they use networking tools to find, develop and work in a collaborative environment no longer constrained by geographical limitations. Can health sciences librarians with their skills in information management and organization, as well as success in building partnerships across areas, find a role in this new area? The answer is “YES!” Presenter: Sally Gore.

Unfortunately there was a audio problem during recording BUT it was captioned.