Sharon Dennis has joined the staff of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Pacific Southwest Region as the new Technology Coordinator. This position is being shared by the Pacific Southwest Region (headquartered at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library) and the MidContinental Region (headquartered at the University of Utah Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library).

We are initially sharing the position from July 2007-April 2008 on a pilot basis in order to determine how effective such an arrangement will be in both meeting regional needs and in optimizing the use and talents of NN/LM personnel between regions. We are looking forward to a successful pilot and an arrangement that will continue beyond this initial phase.

How this will work…

Sharon is working out of an office at Eccles in Salt Lake City and is available to us on a daily basis. She will be traveling to the region regularly and meeting with staff each week via teleconferencing technology (video and voice). Sharon can be contacted through email at sdennis@library.ucla.edu. If you want to speak with Sharon and are calling from within the region, use our toll-free number (800.338.7657) then press 5 for the staff directory, and then press 7 for Sharon Dennis. Sharon’s direct line (310.825.9170) is forwarded to the Utah office.

What you can expect…

Sharon will be conducting ongoing activities in our region related to technology. These include assisting us with Adobe® Connect™ events; answering questions from Network members and staff; helping us with our website, podcasting and video events; investigating new technologies; and providing staff inservices/training.

In the coming months, Sharon will be developing surveys for evaluating our website and for determining the videoconferencing capabilities of our resource libraries, offering seminars and classes via Connect, writing newsletter articles, developing a video-on-demand training workshop, and forming a technology working group for the region. She will be attending meetings of our Resource Library Directors and Regional Advisory Committees, and of our Joint MLA Chapters (in February 2008).

A little about Sharon…

Sharon graduated from Houghton College, received her MLS from Drexel University, and has worked in a variety of library environments/positions in a career spanning over 20 years. She has been at Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library since 1992, and with the NN/LM MidContinental Region program since 2003. She brings to the position a wealth of knowledge and experience in the areas of multimedia, educational computing, and general Web-based technologies. Some of you may know of Sharon’s recent work with HEAL, the “Health Education Assets Library,” which is a collaboration between UCLA, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Utah.

Sharon lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and their Siberian husky, Sierra. She enjoys traveling, reading travelogues, and supporting her husband’s interest in electronic vehicles.

Welcome!

We are thrilled to have Sharon join us and to have the opportunity to work with the MidContinental Region on this innovative pilot. We hope it will lead to even more opportunities in the future for NN/LM to facilitate health information access in new and more effective ways. Please join us in welcoming Sharon to the region!