Training sessions completed with visits to MCR and PSR
We visited Claire Hamasu at the University of Utah’s Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library in Salt Lake City on June 18 to meet with the MidContinental Region’s staff, both on site and via their web conferencing tool, Access Grid, to introduce the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response plan. The morning session included Dan’s presentation followed by discussion of regional issues. After a break for lunch, the group re-convened via Access Grid to conduct the table-top exercise, followed by more discussion and goal setting for the region. Since the MCR staff is dispersed among the states in the region, they plan to use Moodle for further planning for training and promotion/marketing. They see the plan as a way to create added value for hospital libraries in addition to providing a way to assist members in continuing essential services and recovering from disaster.
We visited the Pacific Southwest Region’s office at the UCLA Medical Center on June 20, meeting with Heidi Sandstrom, Judy Consales (Library Director), the PSR staff, and invited guests at the Louise Darling Biomedical Library. All participants were available on site, and the meeting began with Dan’s presentation and some discussion of risks particular to the Pacific Southwest Region. The Table-Top exercise was moved to the morning session to that the hospital librarian attending could play a role in the exercise. Following a break for lunch at the library, the group discussed regional issues, including the collaborative environment among the resource and hospital libraries, activities of the three MLA chapters represented in the region, and ideas for promotion and marketing in the region. They agreed that it would be helpful to locate a “point person” among their hospital librarians to be the standard-bearer for promoting NN/LM’s EP&R Plan, and plan to begin implementation almost immediately.
Both groups provided lively discussion and ideas for implementing the plan, and are well-positioned to get the word out to the network members in their regions about the services that are now in place for them in the event of emergency or disaster.
I am currently writing the reports for both meetings and will send them to Claire and to Heidi as soon as possible. Many thanks to Claire, Heidi and all the other RML Associate Directors for their hospitality and for all the excellent planning and implementation of logistics, funding, etc. that made all of these meetings possible. We enjoyed meeting all of the RML groups, and look forward to being able to continue to work with them as The Plan unfolds.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July!
