MLA-Phil

Philadelphia Regional Chapter

This report covers the period between April 2002 and November 2003. There are 176 Chapter members.

Goal 1. Advocacy

a. Recognition

The Chapter honored member achievements by presenting the following awards at the Annual Business Meeting on April 16, 2002: Beatrice Davis Education Award, Certificate of Appreciation, Chapter Achievement Award, and Grant Program for Post-Masters Students. The names of award winners are available on the Web (http://www.mlaphil.org/awards.html).

b. Promotion

A drawing was held for a free membership to MLA during the Fall program on November 8, 2002. The winner was Ann Marie Zglinicki.

c. Cooperation

On November 8, Chapter members participated in a discussion on a draft of MLA’s revised strategic plan. The discussion was led by MLA Board Member, Norma Funkhouser. Plans are underway to co-sponsor a joint program with the Special Libraries Association, Philadelphia Chapter on December 11, 2002. The Chapter is also co-sponsoring A Quintessential Conference that will take place on October 26-28, 2003 in Philadelphia, PA. Three MLA chapters (Middle-Atlantic, New York/New Jersey, and Pittsburgh Regional) and one SLA Chapter (Philadelphia) are also co-sponsoring the event.

Goal 2. Professional Development

a. Continuing Education

Two continuing education workshops were sponsored by the Chapter. The first, “Advanced HTML: Cascading Style Sheets,” was held on May 31, 2002 in Philadelphia. The second, “Making PubMed Work for You,” took place on October 2, 2002 in Philadelphia. Planning is underway for an all-day workshop in spring 2003 that is tentatively titled “Mini Medical School for Librarians.”

b. Programming

The Chapter held its Annual Business Meeting and celebrated its 50th anniversary on April 16, 2002 at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Sixty seven members were in attendance. The guest speaker was MLA President, Carol Jenkins, who presented Chapter Chair Pat Heller with an engraved gavel on behalf of the national organization. Thirty members attended a program titled “Communicating with Physicians,” which was held on November 8, 2002 in Philadelphia.

Goal 3. Information Technology

a. Information Delivery

The Chapter has increased access to its newsletter, The Chronicle, by making it available to anyone with access to the Web. It was previously available electronically to members only.

b. Information Management

The Archives Committee is investigating the feasibility of developing a database for providing access to important Chapter documents.

Goal 4. Leadership

a. Benchmarking

The Chapter Benchmarking Educator will be coordinating participation in MLA’s next benchmarking survey, which is scheduled for February 2003.

b. Informationist Concept

An application for the Majors/MLA Chapter Project of the Year was submitted for the Chapter’s leadership role in organizing the symposium “The Medical Informationist and Other Roles for the Librarian in the 21st Century.” The symposium took place on October 17, 2000 in Philadelphia, PA. The symposium was also published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association 2002 Jan;90(1):21-85.

Goal 5. Organization

a. Planning

The Chapter Board met three times to conduct business. A revision of the Chapter strategic plan will get underway immediately after a draft of the MLA version becomes final.

b. Finance

The Chapter has a balance of $7,641.61 in a checking account. Efforts are underway to increase the level of corporate giving over the previous year.

c. Policies and Procedures

A revised and updated version of the Chapter’s Policy and Procedure Manual was distributed to Chapter Board members on November 8, 2002.

MOTION

This report is informational and requires no action by the Board of Directors.
Chapter Officers:

Chair: Eric P. Delozier
Chair-Elect: Nina P. Long
Treasurer: Linda M.G. Katz
Secretary: Bradley Long
Council Representative: Susan Couch
Council Alternate: Marion C. Chayes

Respectfully submitted by Eric P. Delozier