NER has been talking about Emergency Preparedness for the last few years. We’ve visited with members at their association meetings (MAHSLIN, HSLIC, SEMCO, ARIHSL, NAHSL) and presented on the different resources available to put together a preparedness plan.

NER conducted an assessment of members’ activities in preparedness planning, here are some figures:

• 76% of you reported not having a preparedness plan

• 84% of you indicated you’d be interested in assistance in developing continuity of service plans.

As part of its battery of training and professional development opportunities being offered this winter, NER is announcing a course on Developing Your Library Continuity of Service Plan.

Through the course we hope to assist NER members in developing their own plans for handling emergencies. The course is designed to meet via Adobe Connect sessions–many of you have already participated in our other Connecting with the NER sessions. The course will follow a 10-Step Process to Service Continuity Planning developed by the NN/LM National Coordinator. To provide an opportunity for librarians to work together, the class will also use the Moodle online learning platform as a collaborative virtual space for working through exercises and Steps that will serve to help build your own Service Continuity Plan

Here are the details:

Schedule

• Adobe Connect Session 1: January 27^th
• Adobe Connect Session 2: February 11th
• Adobe Connect Session 3: Feb 24th
• Adobe Connect Session 4: March 4th

Sessions will start at 2:00p.m. and may last until 3:30.

Adobe Connect Session will also operate with an audio telephone conferencing system

Course Objectives:

• Participants will be introduced to the basic elements of a service continuity plan.

• Participants will learn how to:

· Conduct a risk assessment

· Assure personal safety

· Identify core services and resources

· Plan for remote service and resource provision

· Identify print and unique resources and prioritize resource recovery

• Participants will be able to develop and complete a service continuity plan for their own library.

8 MLA CE Credits have been approved!.

Javier and Penny will be the course instructors. The course is only available to NER member libraries. As with all NER offerings, the course is free of charge.

Participants will need access to workstations that enable the use of Adobe Connect as well as be able to telephone into the conferencing system.

To register, please contact Martha Pearson at martha.pearson@umassmed.edu. In your email please include: Your name, institution address with phone number and zip code and the name of the course (Developing Your Library Continuity of Service Plan).

Details on how to access the teleconference and Adobe Connect session will be forwarded upon registration.

Act fast and spread the word!

Health Information Outreach and Community Engagement: 

Lessons Learned from the Experts

Thursday, February 12, 2009 / 2 – 3:30 PM

Engaging your community with health information outreach projects is rewarding, meaningful work. Come learn from the experiences of experts in health information outreach and community engagement. Each speaker has led a successful health information outreach subcontract from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/ New England Region. The program is intended for anyone interested in pursuing funding or interested in learning more about how to engage the local community in effective health information outreach.

*Earn 1.5 Medical Library Association CE units

The Experts:

Beth Schneider, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Project: Access to Resources for Community Health (ARCH) / Head Start CAPIC Collaboration

Marianne Burke, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Project: Connecting Patients, Providers, and the Community with Quality Health Information Outreach

Anne Conner, Littleton Regional Hospital, Littleton, NH
Project: Northern New Hampshire Health Information Outreach

Participants will:

a)      Learn about three successful health information outreach projects

b)      Learn how to plan and implement a successful health information outreach project

c)       Know about the process of applying for funding from the NN/LM

d)      Be aware of the rewards and challenges of conducting a health information outreach project

e)      Gain knowledge about project evaluation

Registration:

Registration is free and on a first come, first serve basis.  Session will be limited to fifty participants.

To register, please contact Martha Pearson at martha.pearson@umassmed.edu.

In your email please include: 

• Name
• Institution / address with zip code / phone / e-mail
• Name of the program (Health Information Outreach and Community Engagement:  Lessons Learned from the Experts). 

Details of how to access the teleconference and Adobe Connect session will be forwarded at registration.

Free Online Distance Education Opportunity

Stay up to date professionally without leaving your desk! The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region (NN/LM NER), continues its free distant education classes on health information topics.

Each session is held via teleconference and has an online component via Adobe Connect. All you need to participate is a phone near a computer with Internet access.

Public Health Online Resources - Virtual Tour of PHPartners.org

Presenter: Hathy Simpson
Date: February 3, 2009
Time: 10:00 – 11:30 AM
Description:
This session will provide an overview of public health information resources available from the public health web portal, PHPartners.org. The Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce website, http://PHPartners.org, provides access to selected online public health resources from government agencies, health science libraries, and professional and research organizations. Hathy Simpson, Public Health Coordinator for the NER and Content Developer for PHPartners.org, will highlight information resources tailored to the public health workforce including resources on health education and promotion, data and statistics, legislation and policy, jobs and careers, public health news, environmental health, nutrition, and more!

Registration:
Registration is free and on a first come, first serve basis.

To register, please contact Martha Pearson at martha.pearson@umassmed.edu. Details of how to access the teleconference and Adobe Connect session will be forwarded upon registration.