Hello and welcome to the 2022-2023 Executive Committee members!
Please join me in congratulating Jorge Perez (University of Miami) as Vice-President/President Elect. Jorge has been an integral part of FHSLA and has previously served as Webmaster. We are also welcoming Dottie Kelly (Baycare Health System) as Treasurer, Pamela Herring (UCF) as Webmaster, Ardis Hanson (USF) as Chair, Continuing Education; and Victoria Rodrigues (Orlando Health), as Co-editor, Blog/Social Media. We’d like to thank out outgoing executive committee members Tim Kirchner, Co-editor of the Newsletter, Blog and Social Media (State College of Florida); and Melinda Johnson (Nova Southeastern), Treasurer for their service and commitment to FHSLA. We are continuing our partnership with the Tampa Bay Library Consortium providing health information programming to TBLC members. If you have a great idea for a presentation, please contact co-chairs Mary Katherine Haver at marykatherine.haver@moffitt.org or Tara Brigham at brigham.tara@mayo.edu for more information. We are also planning a return to an in-person meeting for 2023, and we are excited to be able to see everyone again! Check the FHSLA blog for updates, opportunities, member and resource spotlights and other information. Please contact our blog editors, Janet and Victoria, with news from your library. FHSLA is a statewide, grassroots organization staffed by volunteers from health science libraries across Florida. Please consider volunteering for one of our committees or for an executive committee position. We are happy to speak with you about service opportunities with FHSLA. Susan Harnett, MLS, AHIP-D Medical Librarian Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville
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This month, we are pleased to feature a column by Jaclyn Castek, MLIS, AHIP about her experience achieving Senior Membership in the Academy of Health Information Professionals. Congratulations Jaclyn! Last year I became a Senior Member of the Association of Health Information Professionals (AHIP). For those who have not applied for AHIP, there is a lengthy list of requirements you must meet in order to become a member. While Continuing Education Credits do go a long way, there are many other professional activities you must complete in order to have your application approved. If it wasn’t for my involvement with FHSLA, SCMLA and the Tampa Bay Area Medical Library Network (TaBaMLN) I would probably still be trying to earn enough points. I have served on several different committees and have been President of both FHSLA and TaBaMLN. While serving on an organizations board of officers in any capacity will earn you points, I feel that serving as president really helped me understand how organizations work and what people hope to get out of them. Not only that, it also gave me skills that I used in my role as a leader at my organization and helped connect me to other professionals in hospital libraries. For more information about membership in AHIP, please visit https://www.mlanet.org/academy
![]() Dear Readers, This month, FHLSA Alert is pleased to feature an article by Stephanie Harris, MLS, AHIP. Stephanie's story showcases how valuable the skills acquired in an MLS program are and how a degree in Library Science can be used outside of a traditional library setting. Happy Reading! When I accepted a job at my current organization, I was hired as an embedded research librarian. My job was to do extensive literature reviews on designated topics to identify gaps in the research and to support the information needs of the PhDs, MDs, and research nurses in my department. My department is unique in that there is no bench or clinical research. It is really focused on behavioral research on whole-person health (mind/body/spirit/social connections) of patients, the healthcare workforce, and the greater community. You can read more about my department and original job experience here: Embedded Librarianship in a Unique Setting: Hospital-Based Whole-Person Health Research: Journal of Hospital Librarianship: Vol 19, No 1 (tandfonline.com)
And then came the restructuring. My position was going to be eliminated, but my leadership was (thankfully) eager to keep me around and they transitioned me into the role of novice research scientist. Though my professional career has always been focused on healthcare, starting in medical publishing and concentrating in medical librarianship, I was an English and journalism student in undergrad, and felt entirely unprepared to take on a role as a researcher. I immediately delved into the online world of research support and tried to learn research statistics by Googling and taking online courses (which is not the best way to learn statistics, by the way). I learned all I could from my generous colleagues. But truly, I found I knew more than I thought I did based on my experience critically appraising articles. I knew what contributed to a good study design. I knew how to recognize limitations. I was aware of how science is conducted and what I would need to be able to write up my study results. My first study was a survey study of nurses’ religious beliefs to see if there were any correlations with well-being and burnout within our faith-based organization. I wrote the protocol and the informed consent, used my skills with survey software to electronically capture the data, and with the support of nursing administration, launched my study in Central Florida. With the help of my mentors and staff statisticians, I navigated the data output, did my best to analyze what I was seeing, and drew conclusions. I authored two papers based on my small survey study and after many revisions and feedback from Reviewer #2 that almost made me cry, both were accepted for publication (see citations below). I have used my experience as a librarian to be able to find literature to support studies, to write well-referenced and organized papers, and to engage as an author on my first (still underway) scoping review. I find my strengths in being able to skillfully navigate the online environment, use technology, and quickly gauge relevance of articles have all been assets to me in my job. I’ve also realized that years of skimming through thousands of articles actually made an impression in my brain of what constitutes a good research paper. I have truly benefitted from knowledgeable and collaborative colleagues who have mentored me through my fledgling research career. I think that is a skill that librarians have as well: learning from each other. Although not technically a librarian anymore, I still engage in continuing education and professional organizations like FHSLA because I value what I learn from my librarian colleagues and I’m able to leverage that knowledge and those skills in my current career. Papers: Harris, S., & Tao, H. (2021). The Impact of US Nurses’ Personal Religious and Spiritual Beliefs on Their Mental Well-Being and Burnout: A Path Analysis. Journal of Religion and Health, 61, 1772-91. Harris, S. L., Green, J. F., Tao, H., & Robinson, P. S. (2021). Examining Associations with Mental, Well-Being and Faith in Nurses (LIFT). JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 51(2), 106-113. ![]() Are you looking for an opportunity to be more involved? Do you enjoy writing? Do you need AHIP points? If you answered yes to the above questions, this opportunity may be just what you are looking for! FHSLA welcomes members to participate on the newly formed- Blog committee. Members of the blog committee are charged with providing content for the FHSLA Alert blog.
Specific duties include: -Produce minimum of 5 blog posts per calendar year. Topic suggestions include developments in information management (such as new technologies and roles, marketing strategies, inter-consortia communication), information services (such as new resources or products), instruction or instructional design initiatives, leadership and management (topics could be funding opportunities or marketing strategies), patient/consumer health, evidence based practice and research in library science, and general information related to the medical/health sciences library profession. Topics will be agreed upon by committee member and committee chair/co-chairs. Committee members are eligible for 5 AHIP points per year. Please contact Janet Chan if you are interested in becoming a member. janetchan@usf.edu |
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