Rachel Resnick
“It was the best of times [several mla-phil members were promoted, published, graduated, and honored; others contributed their first articles to the Chronicle],
It was the worst of times [several members are still looking for work],
It was the age of wisdom [record numbers of the unemployed used their public libraries to discover and apply for jobs],
It was the age of foolishness [legislation was introduced in Pennsylvania to severely cut public library services], …
It was the season of Light [record numbers of articles were submitted to PubMedCentral], It was the season of Darkness [Elsevier published a fake journal for Merck], ….”*
In this issue of the Chronicle, we take a look back our Chapter’s Annual Business Meeting and Reception and at MLA’s Annual Conference. Marie FitzSimmons brings us news from MLA ’09 on the NIH Public Access initiative; she is joined by Karen Albert, Barbara Cavanaugh, Christine Chastain-Warheit, Gary Kaplan, Rebecca Landau, and Gary Childs, who provided their reflections on the conference.
We congratulate our Chapter’s AHIP members as well as those members who were honored in other ways: read the details in this issue’s Member & Library News column.
Looking ahead, we have 3 by the Sea, the tri-chapter meeting, in October; read the promotional message in this issue, and check the Calendar as well for additional events and educational opportunities. New Chapter officers take the reins on July 14, and we welcome Lydia Witman, our new Membership Chair. Lydia is featured in this issue, while information regarding other changes of the guard is contained in the Annual Meeting recap.
For you techies, we have a few offerings: a new TechnoHumanist column, an update from member Dot Berenbrok regarding SirsiDynix, and information about how you can hack into your library’s OPAC and … well, you’ll just have to read about it below. We haven’t forgotten you folks in reference: new member Crystal Knapp contributed an article on a very successful CE program about the HCUP database. Those of you who need to look up from a book or a computer every once in awhile will be interested to read Lenore Hardy’s recap of an SLA program on international librarianship. And I pitched in as well with an article about another SLA event on the job market.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue: writing, editing, proofreading. It’s really a testament to the pride you take in your Chapter. If you are interested in helping out on the Chronicle, we could use someone to format the issue for the web and in PDF. If you’re interested, please contact me: rachel.r.resnick@gmail.com. Gary and I can train you.
*Adapted from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
The deadline for the fall issue of the Chronicle (Vol. 27, No. 3) is November 1.
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