 Message From the President
Linda Watson, MLS, AHIP, FMLA
President, Assoc of Academic Health Science Libraries
Director, Health Sciences Libraries
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
President’s Message #9 – July 2008
AAHSL Committee Appointments
Look for the call soon from President-Elect Julia Sollenberger for committee assignments. There are many opportunities to get involved in AAHSL.
Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee (Chair Julia Sollenberger, Carol Jenkins and Linda Walton) have put together a terrific slate for consideration at our November business meeting: Candidate for President-Elect Connie Poole (Southern Illinois University); Candidate for Board Member MJ Tooey (University of Maryland).
IT Roadmap
In June and July, the Board held a number of conference calls with headquarters staff Marlis and Louise and with Jim Shedlock (Information Technology Officer) and Tom Singarella (Technology Consultant) to determine how best to move the recommendations of the IT Roadmap along with a focus on enhancing member services. More details will be available in August as we review what additional web-related services might be provided by Headquarters. So stay tuned and thank you for your patience!
Advocacy
In May, the Joint AAHSL/Publisher Liaison Task Force held an initial planning meeting in Chicago with representatives of a number of STM publisher and editor organizations to discuss the formation of a new collaboration emphasizing open communication and shared common interests around the grand challenges and opportunities of scholarly communication. The Board recently approved funding for a second meeting to take place in August/September to further the discussion of how to develop a sustainable mechanism for ongoing conversation and action. You will hear more details soon about this important new initiative directly from co-chairs Michael Homan and Gail Yokote.
Charting the Future Committee
Committee members began sharing trend documents on the AAHSL list earlier this year and are working on ways to integrate those documents into a permanent site to which AAHSL members can refer. The Committee is also planning the most effective ways to update our Building on Success document.
Annual Statistics
You should have received your print copy of the Annual Statistics by now with its accompanying CD-ROM of supplemental information. The main survey was completed by 122 of us; 114 completed the Salary Survey, 107 the Descriptive Statistics Survey and 93 the Services & Resources Profile Survey. Gary and the staff at Buffalo are now working on enhancements to the web portal survey tool. Thanks to Gary Byrd and his committee and to Headquarters staff for all their hard work on this.
Annual Meeting Plans
The AAMC meeting is October 31-November 5 in San Antonio, and you should each have received the preliminary program in the mail from AAMC. You must register before you can reserve a hotel room in one of the conference hotels – you can do both online. The major plenaries will take place at the Convention Center but most of the AAHSL events (and others) take place in the Hyatt. Our full AAHSL schedule will be coming out shortly and will follow past years patterns, and most of our committees are meeting, but here are some highlights.
IME Posters: The AAHSL/LiME Joint Task Force will have another poster this year updating their work. In addition, I have reserved a spot for a general AAHSL poster as well so that we can highlight the 25th Anniversary of the Matheson-Cooper Report and other activities. I will be asking for volunteers who want to work with me on this and who can help staff it. As you recall, we did a similar exhibit for AAHSL’s 25th Anniversary, so there may be elements from that poster that can be incorporated in this one.
Saturday Workshop: Stay tuned for registration information for the workshop on the value of libraries and return on investment in academic health sciences libraries. Our hard work at the workshop will be rewarded by a reception that evening at Briscoe Library at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center - San Antonio hosted by Rajia Tobia and her staff.
Sunday CAS Session: Be sure to mark your calendars for this session from 10:30-12:00 on NIH Public Access Policy Compliance. Pat Thibodeau will represent the academic health sciences library view.
Sunday New/Interim Directors Luncheon hosted by President-Elect Julia Sollenberger and the Board. Invitations have been sent to 19 newcomers!
Monday Matheson Lecture. I invited Nina to join us in San Antonio, but unfortunately she had other commitments. She is very pleased that Nancy Lorenzi has agreed to give the lecture.
Monday Meetings also include a Statistics Update, our AAHSL business meeting, and the AAHSL/GIR reception.
Hope your summers are going well, and that you’ve had at least some time to relax with friends and family!
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