NLM Professional Development Awards

Are you interested in attending a conference or workshop that you may not have attended before?  The National Libraries of Medicine, Mid-Continental Region, is giving out four professional development awards of up to $1,500 each for the 2013-2014 year.  These awards are geared toward librarians' continued education in the field and proposals must meet some basic requirements:

• Before you apply for the Professional Development Award, please work with your administration to determine, 1) what would be applicable for your position, 2) how it can benefit your institution, and 3) your responsibility within your institution to share your experiences with higher level administration. Document these items in your application. (Question #6)
• Attendance at the conference must take place before April 30, 2014.
• Funds can be used for registration and/or travel.
• This award is intended for educational purposes only, and not for use with professional organization officer/committee commitments.
• Your responsibility to the Mid-Continental Region will be to share your experiences through a newsletter article, presentation, or a way mutually agreed upon with the NN/LM MCR.
• Recipients for the 2013-2014 year will be targeted toward four librarians.
• The applicant's institution must be a Full Network member of the Mid-Continental Region and the applicant must hold a health science library position.

For more information and to see past years' winners, go here.

Interested in applying?  Then, go forth and good luck!

Currently seeking Book Club hosts and hostesses - could this be you?!

Read any good work-related books lately?  Want to shout out from the rooftops what an inspiring read it was?  Or maybe a title has caught your eye but you forgot about it while you were doing 10 other things at the same time?   Well, now is your chance to get on board with the library's book club!  We are looking for 4 people to lead sessions throughout the next fiscal year.  Don't want to lead a session yourself?  Consider a co-leader! The requirements are simple:

1. An interesting book title that is relevant to professional/personal development or focuses on workplace-related themes and popular topics.
2. Keep the budget for books $125 and under (per session).  This may mean finding creative ways to obtain the book if it's a relatively new release and you have more people signed up to read it than the budget can accommodate. 

Past titles that have been discussed in book club:

1. Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
2. Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky
3. Go Put Your Strengths to Work!  by Marcus Buckingham
4. This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson (current selection)

That's it!  Simple, right?  So what are you waiting for?  Peruse the guidelines for the book club if interested, and then sign up for the session you want to lead here! The next session starts in July, so don't delay - sign up today!

MLA 2013: NLM Theater Presentations

The NLM exhibit booth at the Annual Meeting of the Medical Library Association featured theater presentations to bring users up-to-date on several NLM products and services.  

These were recorded and posted on the NLM site.  They are 15-30 minute videos.  Take a look:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj13/mj13_mla_theater_ppt.html

Update from PD Budget team! Read carefully!

The Professional Development Budget Team (Stacey and Rachel G.) would like to make a few important announcements:

•  If you are planning to request funds between now and June 30 (for travel, mileage reimbursements, workshops, etc.), please get those requests to us no later than Monday, May 6.  To make a request, follow this link and select “add a new request". It is very important we get an accurate assessment of all anticipated expenses coming due before the end of the fiscal year.

• We have requested a slot on the agenda for the May 14 all-staff meeting, and will be contacting some of you to provide a brief update on your recent professional development activities. 

•  Stacey is working on a wiki page to outline some details regarding the Book Club, in part to help us determine how much money to set aside for this popular activity in the new fiscal year (which starts July 1st, 2013!).  Page is still under development but the underlying guidelines should stay the same so please take a moment to visit it and familiarize yourself with the process if you are interested in leading a book club session.

If you have any feedback or questions, please let us know.  Thanks!