Medical Library Association

Section Council

Annual Report 2002/2003

Goal 1: Professional Development

d. develops and promulgates standards and educational policies for health sciences library and information professionals, such as Platform for Change.

The Section Council Standards Committee is polling Sections which have not completed standards to offer assistance and are in contact with the Section Council webmaster with the intent to post a resources list for developing standards on the Section Council website.  That list is nearing completion and is expected to be posted in Fall 2003. They have advised the Veterinary Medical Libraries Section on  procedures for developing standards and have put forth a motion to Council to approve a proposal by VMLS to write standards for the ideal academic veterinary medical library.  That proposal was approved by Section Council and a vote is in progress by the MLA Board of Directors.

The Section Council liaison to the MLA Continuing Education Committee presented the results of a survey taken by the Technical Services Section regarding the CE needs of their members.  Education on describing/classifying electronic materials was identified as the most important need.  As a result, a workshop on this topic is being developed for the 2004 Annual Meeting.

Goal 2: Advocacy

d. recruits qualified individuals into the profession

The Section Council Communications Committee chair is also the Section Council liaison to the Core MLA Membership committee and has guided this committee to focus on ways to recruit and retain members of Sections (and concurrently members of MLA).  The liaison submitted in March 2003 a draft description of the responsibilities of this position for the MLA Membership Committee’s manual, a work in progress.

The SC Communications Committee has made a motion that each new individual member of MLA be permitted to join one Section free of charge for their first year of membership.  That motion passed Section Council and was approved by the MLA Board of Directors at the Winter 2002 Board Meeting.

The previous chair of this committee has transferred the Section Council quilt and Section quilt squares to the current chair.  Five hundred additional bookmarks, with a listing of all Section names have been printed and will be distributed to all new members at the New Members Breakfast and others at the Section Council booth in San Diego.  The committee chair contacted Chapters having Spring meetings to offer Section Council bookmarks for distribution.  Bookmarks were mailed to the Hawaii Chapter to distribute and advertise Section membership. Section membership stickers of all Sections having a quilt square have also been printed and will be distributed at Section business meetings and the Section Council exhibit booth.

Goal 3: Organization

a. maintains a continuous strategic planning process that conveys the purpose and vision of the profession

The Council Chair traveled to the Greater Philadelphia chapter meeting to obtain member comments on the proposed MLA Strategic Plan and produced a report on those activities.

d. develops, evaluates, and enhances programs and services responsive to members’ needs

The Section Council SIG/Section Review Committee chair was contacted by a student regarding the formation of a Student SIG, but interest waned and no action was taken.  Discussions were held with the Medical Education Section regarding sponsorship of a possible Student SIG, but the Section expressed concern that Section membership would be reduced with the formation of such a group. 

A motion was made to the Section Council SIG/Section Review Committee for the creation of a new SIG on Assessment and Benchmarking.  The required signatures of those interested in such a SIG were submitted and a vote was put to Section Council.  After discussion by the Sections, this motion was approved.  Lyn Dennison and Linda Garr Markwell will convene a meeting of this new SIG at MLA 2003 in San Diego.

The new Section Council election schedule is in place, but still generating much confusion and questions. The Chair has continued to address this issue and communicated numerous times with Section Chairs regarding Section election of Section Council representatives and representatives-elect.  The Section Directory has been updated to include dates that representatives-elect are to be on the Section officer election ballots and reminders have been sent out via email to all Sections, which need to elect representatives-elect this year.

Two planning sessions for Section Program planners were held during the Dallas MLA'02 meeting. The Call for Papers was distributed at that meeting and appeared in the MLA News August 2002 and in MLA Focus. The electronic submissions process was continued. Several new procedures were adopted this year:  simultaneous start times for Section Program papers to allow the possibility of going from one concurrent Section Program to another to hear a paper of interest (in response to frequent annual meeting attendees' requests); separate paper and poster submissions processes (ie, submit to one or the other; "rejected" papers would not be referred as potential posters); and requiring blinded and structured abstracts.

Although there was initial concern that the San Diego site could not support as many Section Programs as in the past, we were able to accommodate many more than expected. A record number of paper submissions were received this year. There are 30 Section Program sessions scheduled for San Diego. Out of 203 contributed paper abstracts submitted, 87 were accepted and 116 rejected. (and 155 out of 170 poster abstracts submitted were accepted).

All acceptance letters and audiovisual request letters have been sent, and moderator guidelines will be distributed.This coming year, work will begin on a procedures manual for the activities of the Section Council NPC Liaisons.

The Section Council NPC 2004 liaison met with the rest of the NPC 2004 members in Dallas in May 2003 to determine a theme for MLA 2004 and make some preliminary plans for the programming.  In addition, the liaison met with program planners from two Sections in preparation for holding such meetings in San Diego.  NPC 2004 activities have continued throughout the year via email and telephone conference calls.  In February, the Section Council liaison contacted all Sections to ask for reports on program planners for 2004.  Two meetings are planned for San Diego.  The theme of the Washington, D.C. meeting will be introduced and a general discussion will be held about program planning.  An additional brainstorming meeting will be held to discuss partnering for sessions.  Activity will continue throughout the coming summer as Sections solicit contributed papers, review abstracts and make final plans for Section programs to ensure MLA 2004 is a success.

Three Section Council liaisons to a joint committee to plan a Symposium on Mentoring for MLA 2003 have just about completed their work.   Mentoring: Sharing Experiences for Professional Growth will take place on Wednesday morning, May 7, 2003, from 9 AM until noon with an introduction to the program by Patricia Thibodeau, MLA Incoming President.  Karen Garmen, Ph.D. will deliver a keynote address, introduced by Debbie Sibley.  There will then be a short break.  This will be followed by a panel discussion with Sue Tombley, Ruth Holst and Rick Forsman, introduced by Paula Raimondo.  Jean Shipman will then facilitate a Town Meeting, entertaining questions from the audience.  Linda Markwell, Chapter Council Chair and Norma Funkhouser, Section Council Chair will make closing remarks.

e. fosters effective communication within the association and with external constituencies

The MLA Board has been kept updated on activities of the Sister Library Project, with the forwarding of a final report to be given at the San Diego Board Meeting.

Goal 6: Information Technology           

a. uses technology to improve communication among members and to enhance remote access to association services and programs

The Section Council Website Committee has made progress on a review of Section websites for accuracy and timeliness.  They have created a list of suggested information to be placed on Section websites, e.g. Bylaws.  They have created a draft checklist of items and shared it with MLA Headquarters staff. 

The committee has fostered research for free hosting of Section websites by MLA headquarters.  The MLA Board approved a motion calling for the Finance Executive Committee (FEC) to address all issues on MLANET website hosting and prepare an implementation plan for the May 2003 Board Meeting.  The Chair of the Section Council Website Committee has been consulting with the FEC on this.

The Committee has also been encouraging the development of Section materials for the Knowledge Marketplace / Toolbox and suggested a collection of pathfinders or documents on medical topics contributed by Section and Chapters members.

This report is informational and requires no action by the MLA Board of Directors.

Norma Field Funkhouser

Chair, Section Council

March 24, 2003

*ending term on Council in May 2003

**will stay on Council as vice-chair, not representing any Section

***new rep-elect, elected in Spring 2003, will take office in May 2003