The message I heard over and over again was technology in service of the library user and library staff. There is no substitute for knowing what your users want, but, as I’ve always said, we have to stay at least one step ahead of some our users and show others that technology has moved beyond…
Conference Report – Leslie Menz
Thank you so very much to the 2013 Syed Maghrabi Scholarship Committee for awarding me a scholarship to Midwest Chapter MLA 2013 Navigating a River of Information October 4 through October 8, 2013 in East Peoria, IL. It was an honor to be chosen. The conference was held on the banks of the Illinois River at the…
Illinois’ New Concealed-Carry Law
Hope everyone had a nice holiday. I’m sure many of you are aware that Illinois’ new concealed-carry law, which allows concealed carry by those individuals not deemed as posing a threat to the public, went into effect on January 1. As this article from the Springfield State Journal-Register notes, the law will not have much impact on…
Articles From ILA Newsletter of December 23, 2013
When you have a chance, please take a look at the following two articles from the latest edition of the Illinois Library Association’s newsletter. “For Illinois Senators, An Odd Public Friendship” This article discusses the unusual bipartisanship between Illinois’s U.S. Senators, Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk. (Such bipartisanship is uncommon in “split delegations”, or sets…
Grassroots Advocacy
The bumper sticker above was created by Susan Shelly and posted on MedLib-L. Another great suggestion from Dina McKelvy is: Does your doctor use a library? Don’t you think they should? Get the message out any way you can, hospital libraries are important!
Illinois Library Association Call for Proposals
The 2014 ILA Annual Conference will take place at the Prairie Capital Convention Center, Springfield, IL, on October 14 -16, 2014. They are now soliciting program proposals: Call for Proposals The 2014 ILA Annual Conference theme, Kickstarting Connections, Creativity, Community, focuses on how libraries align ideas, passion, and commitment to cultivate connections and create imaginative approaches, methods,…
Legislative update from ILA–2014 action agenda
When you have a chance, please take a look at the 2014 action agenda proposed by the Illinois Library Association. http://www.ila.org/advocacy/public-policy-initiatives These cover general issues and goals, rather than specific legislation. Also, note that there are currently no initiatives tailored specifically to hospital and medical libraries. (This point came up at the ILA conference back…
2014 HSLI Conference November 13-14, Champaign Illinois
Mark your calendars for November 13-14, 2014 for the HSLI annual conference. The 2014 meeting will be held in at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign, Illinois. The theme for the meeting is “Communicate and Advocate”.
ILEAD U: Illinois Libraries Explore, Apply and Discover, The 21st Century Technology Tools
The State Library will host ILEAD U: Illinois Libraries Explore, Apply and Discover, The 21st Century Technology Tools Institute for Illinois Library Staff at the University of Illinois Springfield on March 24-27, June 23-26 and October 27-30, 2014. The ILEAD U Steering Committee is looking for participants, mentors and instructors to implement web technologies that…
WIU awarded LSTA Grant for Nursing Resources
In May, WIU was awarded a Back to Books Grant LSTA Grant through the Illinois State Library. The grant was titled Nursing Resources for a Rural Academic Library, we were awarded the maximum award of $5000. Eighty-five titles were purchased. Please take a look at the title that were purchased with Illinois state funds. These…