Philadelphia Regional Chapter – 2009/10 ANNUAL REPORT
Submitted April 23, 2010
The Board of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Medical Library Association met four times since April’s annual meeting. The Board’s transition meeting was held on July 14, 2009, and attended by outgoing and incoming board members. Subsequent meetings included an informal Chapter breakfast, held at the “3 by the Sea” Tri-Chapter Conference on October 8th, and meetings in Philadelphia on November 13th, 2009, and January 19th, 2010. As reported by Treasurer Linda Katz, as of January 19th, 2010, the Chapter’s net worth (rounded to whole numbers) is $24,204. This figure includes $6228 (profit plus seed money) from 3 by the Sea, and $4350 in corporate donations. The investment account is currently valued at $5732 and the regular bank account has a balance of $18,472. (Last year’s total assets were $17,854; thus our treasury has grown by $6350 as of January.)
The Annual Business Meeting & Reception will take place on April 27th at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. As of April 22nd, 40 individuals have registered to attend.
The following represents the activities of the Chapter for the period of May 2009 through April 2010, relative to the strategic plans and goals of MLA, as well as the President’s priorities:
MLA Goal 1: Recruitment, Membership, and Leadership in the Profession
New Committee Chairs were welcomed at the July 2009 Transition Meeting: Etheldra Templeton, Parliamentarian/Nominating Committee Chair; Andrea Kenyon as Chair Elect/Program Chair; and Lydia Witman as Membership Chair.
Additional turnover occurred as Barbara Henry resigned as Chapter Council Alternative in July, 2009. Nancy Calabretta accepted the nomination, and was appointed by the Board .to serve the remainder of the existing 2008-2011 term. In March of 2010, Secretary Cheryl Panka-Bryman resigned as Secretary; Priscilla Stephenson accepted the Board’s appointment to complete the remaining year of the 2009-2011 term.
Lydia Witman (Membership Chair) completed a recruitment project at the “3 by the Sea” Tri-Chapter Conference (October ’09), compiling videotape interviews of Chapter members. This is available online via the 3 by the Sea website (https://3bythesea.pbworks.com/Health-Sciences-Librarian-Recruitment-Project), and is also linked from the Chapter’s website. We foresee these as being a valuable tool in promoting and publicizing our Chapter, and in furthering our goal of increasing membership and participation. Ms. Witman also represented the Chapter at “Rush@Hagerty,” Drexel University’s annual professional association gathering for their iSchool students, held on April 13th, 2010.
Forty-nine Chapter members are also members of the Academy of Health Information Professionals.
In March, the Nominating Committee prepared a slate of officers for the 2010 election. Nominees were Gary Kaplan as Chair Elect/Program Committee Chair, and Mitzi Killeem as Treasurer. The election slate was distributed via the listserv. Voters were given the option of voting either electronically via e-mail or by paper ballot via post. The Nominating Committee will report results to the membership at the Annual Meeting.
Online membership renewal for 2010 was activated on Acteva in December, 2009. As of this writing, 88 members had renewed, including 6 new members. Subsequent efforts have been contacting members who have not yet renewed. The membership directory and Membership Chair’s databases have been backed up, and are in the process of being updated and weeded. Increasing membership remains a key objective for the upcoming year, especially to eligible members in Western and Northeast Pennsylvania outside the immediate Philadelphia area. While our Chapter is relatively small, the Board was unanimous in its desire to remain a separate MLA Chapter, rather than merge with another, larger chapter. Thus membership-building strategies will be crucial for our Chapter’s long-term viability.
MLA Goal 2: Life Long Learning
The Chapter partnered with the New York-New Jersey and MidAtlantic Chapters to present a unique learning experience, and worked together to produce the “3 by the Sea Tri-Chapter Conference,” (http://3bythesea.pbworks.com/) in Atlantic City, NJ, October 5-8, 2009. The Conference featured top-notch CE opportunities, as well as high quality, innovative programming. The conference was also a financial success, netting an overall profit of $18,150, which was distributed according the agreed-upon formula (42.23% to MAC, 34.76% to NY/NJ, and 22% to PHIL). A Group to Go dividend of $1,001 was also divided, and an $881 Acteva registration credit was split between PHIL and MAC Chapters. Feedback received was very positive from the 253 attendees.
Philadelphia Chapter members assumed leadership positions on the Finance, Program, and Communications Committees, and numerous members volunteered to make the program a success. Cynthia McClellan, Chapter Chair, represented the Chapter on the Steering Committee.
In programming activities, the Chapter’s primary focus was on producing the 3 by the Sea Conference. In addition to this, we organized and hosted events that were available to us for free or at a low cost. These have included webcasts and presentations by in-person trainers, and have capitalized on the rich resources available through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. We are grateful to Jeanette de Richemond, Chair of the Education & Credentialing Committee, for working hard to make these programs a success. We also thank our member institutions, particularly Drexel, the University of Pennsylvania for providing space in which to hold these events.
The Chapter hosted an MLA Educational Webcast, “Cut the Cord: Connecting to our Mobile Users,” on Wednesday, November 18th. A second MLA Webcast, “Understanding the Electronic Health Record Maze and Health Sciences Librarians’ Roles” was held on March 24th. Free CE events were hosted on November 30th, 2009 (PubMed “Clinics” in the morning, and NLM’s Consumer Health Databases in the afternoon), and a full day of PubMed training was held on April 23rd. All events were widely publicized via the Chapter’s website, discussion board, LinkedIn, Twitter, and by cross-posting throughout the region.
The Chapter’s Annual Meeting will be held April 27th at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and will feature speakers Karen Slutsky, RN and Dominic Parone, RN, both of whom are ER nurses from Cooper University Hospital. They will talk about their recent medical relief work in Haiti, which promises to be an engaging topic. Awards will also be presented, with a reception following the meeting. Those who wish to arrive early are invited to visit the Mütter Museum, and view its latest exhibit, Corporeal Manifestations! The Chapter thanks Program Chair Andrea Kenyon for her hard work on arranging this not-to-be missed program, and to the College for hosting us.
Katie Ingersoll, an MLIS student at the University of Pittsburgh, was selected to receive the Bea Davis Scholarship Award. She also works as a Bibliographic Assistant at Temple University’s Ginsburg Health Sciences Library. Katie intends to use the funds to explore opportunities in health sciences librarianship through attendance at MLA ’10 in Washington, D.C. Dan Kipnis, former Chapter officer and exemplary colleague and professional, was selected to receive the Chapter Achievement Award. He currently serves as Senior Education Librarian at the Scott Memorial Library, Thomas Jefferson University.
The Chapter also thanks and recognizes outgoing board members Etheldra Templeton, Esther Dell, Ellen Justice and Sheryl Panka-Bryman, as well as outstanding contributions of Chapter members Nancy Calabretta, Micki McIntyre, Gina Kaiser, and Gary Kaplan.
MLA Goal 3: Advocacy
The Chapter was pleased to contribute $2000 in support of the upcoming Value of Hospital Libraries Study of the Middle Atlantic Region of the National Library of Medicine. We are delighted to support this valuable initiative, as collection and dissemination of the resulting data will be extremely valuable to the profession.
In November, 2009, the Chair submitted a Letter of Support relating to the “MAR Leadership Institute,” a joint project proposal aiming to coordinate regional leadership training. We enthusiastically support this effort, as if offers an exciting opportunity to promote and nurture leadership skills within our membership and the profession. Anne Seymour, Chapter Council Representative, has been asked to serve on the planning committee, and we anticipate other Board and Chapter members will become involved as the project moves forward. Detailed information is available at http://nnlm.gov/mar/funding/leadership.html .
MLA Goal 4: Creating and Communicating our Knowledge
Rachel Resnick, Chair of the Communications Committee, produced three beautiful issues of the Chronicle this year: a Summer 2009 (v. 27, no. 2) issue in July; a Fall issue (v.27, no. 3) in November 2009; and a Winter issue (v. 28, no.1) in March, 2010. This popular and attractive publication provides an excellent means of creating and communicating our knowledge. It is also a “green” publication, published solely on the Chapter’s website in html and .pdf formats. Ms. Resnick also continues to administer the Chapter and Board of Directors discussion boards. She has also created a group for the Philadelphia Regional Chapter in LinkedIn (a professional networking site), and has also created a presence on Twitter. Her creativity and talents are highly valued by the Chapter.
Webmaster Gary Kaplan continues to administer the Chapter’s webpage, which is in blog format. It is a vital, popular, and attractive communication tool, and accessed often and regularly by Chapter members. The Board has made recent efforts to communicate more effectively, expanding its utilization of online tools and Web 2.0 technology; Gary’s expertise in this area has been invaluable, and is very much appreciated.
The Board also chose to pitch in to actively support communication within the profession by supporting the upcoming Roundtable Luncheon at MLA in DC. The Chapter donated a ticket to the MLA pool for a first-time attendee to attend this event ($54), which is not included in the general Conference registration.
MLA Goal 5: Building a Network of Partners
As also stated under MLA Goal 2 (Life Long Learning), the Philadelphia Regional Chapter collaborated with the New York-New Jersey and MidAtlantic Chapters to present the “3 by the Sea” Tri-Chapter Conference, communicating across geographical and chapter lines in order to facilitate a high-quality educational and networking experience. Through these efforts, we have built bridges and solidified relationships with our regional colleagues, paving the way for additional networking opportunities and cooperative projects in the future.
Christina Daley, our incoming Development Chair hit the ground running, stepping in as Co-Chair as Ellen Justice began her maternity leave. (We congratulate Ms. Justice on the birth of her son. Conrad Carson Lane, who was born in February!) Both of them have done a wonderful job in building and cultivating relationships with our sponsors over the past year. As of this writing, we have received $3250 in contributions. Our Gold sponsors ($500-$749 contribution) include the American College of Physicians, Elsevier, and Rittenhouse Book Distributors; our Silver sponsors ($300-$499) are Lyrasis and HSLC. Bronze sponsors (contributions up to $299.00) are the American Association for Cancer Research, the New England Journal of Medicine, ExamMaster, EBSCO, Natural Standard, and GourmetGiftBaskets.com. We are very pleased that we have three confirmed vendors attending our annual meeting this year. We cannot overstate our gratitude regarding these important partners.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia McClellan, Chair
Esther Y. Dell, AHIP Liaison
Andrea Kenyon, Chair Elect/Program Committee Chair
Etheldra Templeton, Nominating Committee Chair/Parliamentarian
Priscilla Stephenson (2010-2011); Sheryl Panka-Bryman (2009-2010), Secretary
Linda M. G. Katz, Treasurer
Joan R. McKenzie. Archives Committee Chair
Lenore Hardy, By-Laws Committee Chair
Anne K. Seymour, Chapter Council Representative
Nancy Calabretta, Chapter Council Alternate
Rachel R. Resnick, Communications Committee Chair
Ellen Justice & Christina Daley, Development Committee Co-Chairs,
Jeanette de Richemond, Education & Credentialing Committee Chair
Stephanie Ferretti, Government Relations Committee Chair
Lydia Witman, Membership Committee Chair
Gary Kaplan, Webmaster
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