MEDICAL INFORMATICS SECTION
MLA MIDYEAR REPORT 2006/07

The MIS Bylaws Committee sent bylaws revisions to MLA in August. Many revisions were cosmetic. The major revision necessary to comply with MLA bylaws involves the section's ability to vote by "distributed ballot." The revisions will be posted on the web for members to view before voting on them at the annual meeting in Philadelphia 2007.

Goal 1: Recruitment, Membership and Leadership in the Profession
Objective 1: Increase MI Section membership
79 members have joined MIS in 2006
42 members have joined MIS since June 2006, when our iteration of the membership committee started monitoring additions
Objective 3: Obtain the section members list quarterly
MIS section members list obtained from MLA headquarters quarterly
Objective 4: Send letters to new members and encourage participation
The membership committee sends a welcome email to new members and encourages active participation in the section.
New MIS members have joined MIS committees and are active
Objective 5: Provide a slate of qualified candidates
We are in the process of holding the election. E. Whipple is assisting C. Arnott Smith in a strong slate of candidates. The nominating committee has posted descriptions and duties of each office on the website.
We submitted M. Ascher as the MIS nominating committee nominee. Unfortunately, she was not selected. Four MIS members were elected to the Nominating Committee: K. Alpi, M. Banks, E. Eaton, and D. Rand.
Objective 6: Maintain the listserv
Listserv information has been updated on the MIS website.
New members are added quarterly and the list is administered as needed.

Goal 2: Life Long Learning
Objective 1: Provide strong sponsored programs at the annual conference
An invited speaker session was developed (see Objective 2.) We worked with other sections and special interest groups and are involved in the maximum number of sessions allowed. The section is co-sponsoring a contributed paper session with the Educational Media & Technology and Public Services Sections titled 1,776 Uses of Technology. Four papers from a pool of 18 were selected. MIS is also co-sponsoring an invited speaker session with the Molecular Biology and Genomics Special Interest Group titled Revolutionizing Discovery through Text Mining. The speaker, K.B. Cohen, is the Biomedical Text Mining Group Lead at the Center for Computational Pharmacology, at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Objective 2: Identify technology experts to identify "new technologies"
Five technology experts (S.Honey, W. McLendon, B. Ragon, E. Schnell, and E. Stanley) have agreed to be the panel of experts. Each panelist will be allowed to comment on top technologies, provide recommendations for library planning, and summarize trends. MIS is considering similar sessions annually, perhaps with the same experts.
Objective 4: Keep track of MIS members' participation in meeting activities
After conference participant information is provided. Member names and times of presentations will be posted on the MIS website.

Goal 3: Advocacy
Objective 2: Contribute to the Donald A.B. Lindberg Research Fund
MIS made two donations to the Lindberg Fellowship: one from MIS for $2,000 and one in memory of Jean Sayre, a former MIS Chair for $1,000.
Objective 3: Post the MLA Career Development Grant recipients
Ellen Justice, Christiana Hospital Library, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, DE, received the MIS grant and plans to use her funds to participate in a workshop that will increase her level of expertise in evidence-based medicine. This information has been posted on the MIS website.

Goal 4: Creating and Communicating our Knowledge
Objective 1: Collaborate with other MLA sections and (SIGs)
MIS is co-sponsoring and working with the Molecular Biology and Genomics SIG to help develop a symposium for MLA 2008. The symposium is titled "State of the art: successes, challenges, and realities of library involvement in bioinformatics."
Objective 2: Provide up-to-date and archival MIS data on the webpage.
Nic Cecchino the MIS webmaster has expertly and efficiently updated the website as new information is received and reviewed.
A. Form a web committee
Nic now has help from his new committee member, Jennifer Diehl. Jennifer has reviewed the MIS website for consistency and checked the links to make sure all connections are working.

Goal 5: Building a Network of Partners
Objective 1: Sponsor a program of experts on "new technologies"
See Goal 2, Objective 2. This program is proceeding as expected.

MOTION
This report is informational and requires no action by the Board of Directors

Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Kerdolff, Chair, Medical Informatics Section

Officers & Committee personnel 2006-2007:
Marie T. Ascher (6/06-5/07) Bylaws Chair
Janis Brown (6/06-5/07) Chair-elect/Program Chair
Cecchino, Nic (12/03-5/07) Webmaster
Colleen Cuddy (6/05-5/07) Secretary/Treasurer
Sadie Honey (6/06-5/07) Membership Chair
Kathy Kerdolff (6/06-5/07) MIS Section Chair
Susan Lessick (6/05-5/07) Section Council Representative
Brenda L.Seago (6/04-5/06) Government Relations Liaison
Catherine Arnott Smith (6/06-5/07) Nominating Committee/Past Chair
Lisa K. Traditi (6/04-5/07) Prof. Develop. Liaison/CE Chair

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