by Denise Rumschlag MLS, AHIP
St. Vincent Hospital
Indianapolis, IN

Looking to raise awareness of the library by administration? Want you or your library to move up in the eyes of your institution? Try creating an elevator speech to boost the worth of your work!

This year for National Medical Librarians Month, the Advocacy Working Group of the Regional Advisory Council to the GMR discussed how to advocate our worth to our administrators.  In the past we have looked at ways to market the library to clinicians and consumers; this year we wanted to focus on reaching administration.  Time is in short supply for most of as we multi-task our way through our busy days. So how do we even reach administration when our paths cross only briefly through out the week?  One proven method is to be prepared with an elevator speech. (more…)

I am very happy to report that Max Anderson joined the GMR staff as Technology Coordinator on May 12, 2008, and Samanthi Hewakapuge joined the staff as Consumer Health Coordinator on May 16, 2008. They literally hit the ground running, as they both attended the RML Directors’ meeting on May 16. Now that my 2007 start date is a few months away, I am no longer the newbie, and I think that is terrific news. I thought that I was nimble, since I started my appointment on November 1 and left for AAHSL and NLM Orientation on November 2, but Samanthi was an even quicker study since she started work and went to an NLM meeting on the very same day! Our new colleagues bring significant experience to their work, and they have already begun to make a difference in the GMR office.

Max earned his MLIS from Florida State University in 1999. He worked as Public Access Computer Trainer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and as Educational Services Instructor at SOLINET before coming to GMR. (more…)

By Barbara Platts, MLIS, AHIP
Munson Healthcare
Traverse City, MI

My 3-year journey to explore the feasibility of embracing federated search engine technology, recently culmunated with a trip to the 2008 Computers in Libraries Conference (CIL) in Arlington, Virginia. Thanks to the generous support of a GMR Professional Development Award, I was able to attend a number of sessions specifically related to current federated search engine applications. In addition, I was able to speak with identified vendors to set up trials upon my return from the conference, and network with colleagues who use this technology. (more…)

GMR began a new year on May 1, 2008. We are delighted to announce that we again have multiple funding opportunities for Network members for Year 3 of our contract with the National Library of Medicine (NLM). For a summary, go to: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/current.html

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The GMR is offering sponsorship of webcast sites for the upcoming MLA Webcast: Scholarly Publishing and Open Access: Straight Talk to be held on November 20, 2007. Visit http://nnlm.gov/gmr/funding/mlawebcast.html for detailed information on how to become a sponsored site. (more…)

The GMR is celebrating a member-focused approach to supporting the network by releasing a webpage devoted to advocacy. Here you will find links to advocacy tools from the Medical Library Association (MLA), the American Library Association (ALA), and the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). You can request a class on the topic of evaluation, “Measuring Your Impact”. We have gathered a list of print materials included in our Lending Library. We have mounted the Super Librarian do-it yourself resources along with educational supplements and other promotional items.

October is National Medical Librarians Month. We want you to be prepared.

The GMR Office loves to promote opportunities for librarians to hone their skills. In this instance we have created a vehicle for you to do just that. The Professional Development Award allows a library professional to develop their skills in a manner that will later support their library and ultimately the users. (more…)

Contact: Dawn Mueller
ACRL Production Editor
312-280-2516

For Immediate Release
August 1, 2006

CHICAGO - A new advocacy toolkit from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is now online at http://www.ala.org/marketing. The toolkit will help librarians and library workers to develop their personal powers of persuasion to advance the agenda of the academic library. (more…)