Those of you who attended our Town Hall Meeting last Friday (26 February). Heard presentations on Health IT and their current implementation at the states and hospital level. NER and NAHSL are hosting several sites for the next MLA Webcast on the Electronic Health Record:

MLA’s Educational Webcast: Now’s the Time: Understanding the Electronic Health Record Maze and Health Sciences Librarians’ Roles

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m., Eastern time.

The goal of this program is to clarify the terminology surrounding the emerging electronic health information environment and to illustrate how and why health sciences librarians can and should become engaged with the efforts to achieve the national 2014 goal of instituting an electronic health record for each person in the United States.
Program Objectives

* To remove the ambiguity and confusion revolving around the electronic health environment. Technology, management, and the exchange of health information will be discussed.
* To illustrate the emerging electronic health information environment by profiling working electronic medical records (EMRs), electronic health records (EHRs), and personal health records (PHRs).
* To highlight the recent involvement health sciences librarians have had with EMRs, EHRs, and PHRs.

Sites: Lamar Soutter Library in Worcester: Register online!

Watch the NAHSL Blog for details on registering for the session at other sites.

Dan Willson, NN/LM National Coordinator for Emergency Preparedness, has recently created a screencast discussing the importance of disaster planning in libraries and why libraries should put together an emergency preparedness or service continuity plan. (more…)

NER Regional Advisory Council and Associations Planning Meeting

On July 24, 2009 health science library leaders were convened as part of the annual NER RAC meeting. The RAC meeting is held regularly to gather feedback for NER programs. The overall goal of this year’s meeting was to gather leaders of the region’s health science library associations, RAC participants, and Resource Library directors to identify areas of need and to possibly draw a plan that combines the work of all constituents to work together towards meeting those needs.

24 librarians from the region and 6 NER staff attended the meeting moderated by an outside facilitator. Through large and small group exercises the group discussed our roles and needs in the areas of education and training, advocacy and outreach, and resource sharing and consortial arrangements. (more…)

NLM recently announced its newly selected Associate Fellows for the 2009-2010 Year. This is a good time to think about recent library school graduates interested in the health sciences and pass along information about the program. There is plenty of time to consider the program and apply before the next deadline: February 5, 2010

The National Library of Medicine Associate Fellowship Program is a stipended one-year postgraduate training fellowship. The program is designed to provide a broad foundation in health sciences information services and to prepare librarians for future leadership roles in health sciences libraries and in health services research. The Associate Fellows are introduced to a wide range of technologies and skills used in managing information at a national library. There is a second year option for placement at an academic health center or other health care organization.

Fellows receive training through a curriculum that introduces them to 18 functional units at the National Library of Medicine. A project-based component has Fellows create and follow a self-directed course of study on topics facing the modern library and information management environment.

Recent graduates of an ALA-approved library/information science Master’s program–earned by August of the year of appointment or within 2 years–are eligible.

More information on the program including further details about eligibility and how to apply are available at NLM’s Associate Fellowship Progam page. See the page to read about the current group of Fellows and a link to the list of more than 10 years of Fellows cohorts.