I want to thank the committee for awarding me one of the Syed Maghrabi Scholarships for the 2013 Joint Midwest Chapter MLA/HSLI Conference. This assistance allowed me to attend the conference as a participant as well as a member of the planning committee.
I attended the Saturday morning CE Planning, Conducting, & Publishing Research. Our instructors, Nancy Allee & Jo Dorsch guided us through the steps in preparing oneself to enter the world of research. In the beginning the steps resembled a murky river our fears were diminished with their guidance, hands on activities and assuredness that we could navigate the path on our own. They also sincerely offered to coach us along the path if we have questions.
As the Chair of the Exhibits and Welcome reception, I spend the remainder of Saturday working with the Exhibitors as they registered and prepared for the Welcome & Exhibit reception. I hope all conference registrants were able to attend and enjoy the time with their colleagues and talking with the exhibitors.
Sunday arrived with a bit of sun but a bit chilly. Amongst Sunday’s activities I attended Michelle Kraft presentation, there were also two more exhibit times. We combined the posters with the exhibit times on Sunday to allow the posters to be viewed for a longer period of time. Many interesting topics were covered throughout the 20+ posters. I left with contact information for follow-up questions and discussion concerning a couple of the posters.
Sarah Houghton was very inspiring. She encouraged us to walk outside of our comfort zones to be partners with our local public libraries, introduce ourselves and ask how can we help you. Assist them by educating their staff in how to best retrieve free medical information. Even though a majority of us are under financial constraints we can create spaces & services in new ways without a lot of money being spent.
I found the lightening rounds very interesting. Hearing what others are doing right now in their libraries. The South Dakota conference appears to be shaping up to be beneficial to all that attend.
I appreciate the scholarship which allowed me to attend this regional conference without a huge out of pocket expense. Thank you and I look forward to serving HSLI as the President-Elect for this upcoming year.
Daneen Richardson