Reflections on FHSLA Annual Meeting

As part of the student scholarship, recipients are asked to a reflection on their experience at the FHSLA annual meeting. Below is the follow-up from Emily Hannum,  student scholarship recipient 2024.  Thank you, Emily, for sharing your wonderful experience! 

​By Emily Hannum 

The first day continuing education (CE) course on statistics presented by William Kearns, PhD was a wonderful introduction, or refresher, to many basic (and vital) concepts. The course was well paced for those new to statistics and statistical terminology but also was designed in a way to benefit those of any familiarity or skill level. This CE course left a lingering thought of how these concepts can be and are already applied in areas of librarianship.
  
The ice breaker session in the later part of the day gave an opportunity to move away from one's comfort zone and meet other members of the FHSLA organization. In doing so, attendees were able to identify commonalities in various areas of health science librarianship, such as a focus on peer-reviewed resources and having limited print materials available for checkout. For example, a health science librarian supporting medical students may be unfamiliar with the work of a hospital librarian; in this breakout session members were able to become better informed on the depth and breadth of health sciences librarianship.  

On day two, the sessions What’s New in Your Library and Poster presentations further promoted the interconnectivity within the diverse field of health sciences. The What’s New in Your Library session was a wonderful way to learn about some of the creative ways librarians are engaging with their patrons, while the Poster presentations highlighted some of the larger ongoing projects.  
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The AI panel discussion tied with the statistics CE for the most valuable portion of the meeting. The three panelists provided insightful and diverse information on a topic which is only gaining salience in librarianship. With the themes ranging from ethical use of AI to available AI tools and their capabilities, much framework was developed for those just beginning to dive into AI in librarianship. The meeting overall provided a wonderful opportunity to network, become informed on trending topics in health sciences librarianship, and expand one’s knowledge on the future of librarianship.