Colorado Association of Libraries wins ALA President’s Award for Advocacy

Congrats to CAL!

The Colorado Association of Libraries is the recipient of the 2013 ALA President’s Award for Advocacy, sponsored by United for Libraries.

The Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) won for its 2012 campaign “Literacy Through Libraries: A Dollar Does It.” The campaign was to restore state funding for libraries; although a funding mechanism in the state budget had existed since 2001, the line item had gone unfunded for years due to budget constraints. This left Colorado as one of only a few states with no direct support of libraries.

CAL requested one dollar per capita, for a total of $5.2 million statewide. The legislative committee that designed the request felt that it was unlikely the full amount would be received, but the goal was to receive any funding possible, and re-establish libraries as a priority in the state budget. The campaign information with the theme was distributed statewide to library directors, trustees, friends and foundations. CAL heard from supporters across the state who stepped up on behalf of libraries, and was notified that the joint budget committee approved a motion to include $2 million to fund the State Grants to Libraries Act for only the second time in 10 years.

“We are gratified that our legislators responded to the targeted message and campaign carried on by so many library advocates in Colorado,” said Robin Gard of the CAL Legislative Committee. “We have made every effort to establish on-going relationships with state lawmakers through sharing the library’s role in helping Coloradans succeed.”

The ALA President’s Award for Advocacy, sponsored by United for Libraries, includes $1,000 to the winning state campaign for the further development of citizens across the state as advocates. CAL will be recognized at the Opening General Session of the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, Ill.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association that supports citizens who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries. United for Libraries brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information or to join United for Libraries, visit the United for Libraries website or contact Jillian Kalonick at (312) 280-2161 or jkalonick@ala.org.

Conspiracy Theory Starter Kit

 

            “Museum Find Proves Exotic ‘big Cat’ Prowled British Countryside a Century Ago” the headline on a news item at the Science Daily web site tells us.  Anyone who’s been around house cats over the years and really paid attention should find this chilling.  Where did the ‘big’ ones go and who is secretly breeding them and stoking their natural hatred of humans?  That’s what is undoubtedly happening.   They’re coming.

            Those who are concerned about the proliferation and increasing prominence of conspiracy theories and denials of one supposedly settled bit of science or history after another need to rethink their approach.  In the increasingly fragmented world of…news??…one of the most effective ways to gain some notoriety (and who doesn’t want that?) is to either come up with a fresh conspiracy theory or to double-down on an existing one.  Science offers a daily truckload of possibilities.

            What’s behind this strange call for “marriage equality” that’s slowly taking hold in the U.S.?  Prominent TV “thinkers” have already put forward the notion that the ultimate goal is to allow human/animal unions.  Their proof?  Let me help.

            “Humans Passing Drug Resistance to Wildlife in Protected Areas in Africa.” Thanks to a study in EcoHealth for the tip.  How exactly is this “passing” accomplished?  Don’t allow yourself to think about the fact that it involves a banded mongoose. Extrapolate if you must (and you should).

            It gets worse.  “Humans Feel Empathy for Robots: fMRI Scans Show Similar Brain Functions When Robots are Treated the Same as Humans.”  The excessively named Astrid Rosenthal-von der Putten and others at the University of Duisburg Essen are responsible for letting this news get out.  If it makes people feel warm and fuzzy to treat a machine like a human, civil unions are an inevitable result.  What could possibly come from that except more robots…and fewer humans?  That’s the goal.  The government is most likely behind it.

            More proof?  “Robot Hands Gain a Gentler Touch: Tactile Sensing Technology Builds on Tiny Barometer Chips.” As if the gentle and no doubt very pleasant touch isn’t dangerous enough, just try to avoid it.  The technology developed at Harvard(!) produces “a robot that knows what it’s touching…it can pick up a key and use it to unlock a door.” Graduate student Leif Jentoft is the co-creator of this thing, and it’s easy to picture his Friday evening date.

            Here’s a gift to a couple of conspiracy groups.  You’re welcome.  “Maya Long Count Calendar Calibrated to Modern European Calendar Using Carbon-14 Dating.” Featuring what are clearly random numbers, this study in Scientific Reports fails to acknowledge the space alien origin of both the Mayans’ origins and also their subsequent disappearance.  Then it throws in the Carbon-14 dating smokescreen which is always dredged up to supply “evidence” or even “proof” when questions arise about the brief history of Earth, the universe, and important items of old clothing. 

            The goal of animals and/or robots to eliminate us, cleverly masked by the above mentioned steps toward one type of intimate connection or another, is inadvertently given away in “Self-Medication in Animals Much More Widespread Than Believed.”  Aha!  So much for insecticides and various poisons designed to control their feverish hyper-breeding.  The gentle-touch robots can crank out antidotes and paw-friendly syringes at a rate we can only imagine, allowing the animals to counter our every move.  At the same time, the animals clearly don’t recognize the danger inherent in their nefarious deal with their cyber-partners.  Once we’re out of the way, what purpose will any form of carbon-based life serve? Think about it Rags and Fluffy.

            In the meantime, humans continue to ignore the clear danger, treating pets with far too much deference and even favoritism.  “Parents Tend to Share More Bacteria With Family Dogs Than Children.” The awkwardly written headline gives the impression that parents actually share children with family dogs, but not as much as they share bacteria.  Well, usually not.  What Rob Knight and others at the University of Colorado Boulder found is that “the microbial connection seems to be stronger between parents and family dogs than between parents and their children.” Shameful.  Dogs are more than capable of locating and ingesting bacteria on their own. 

            We are our own worst enemy…almost…except for all of those others.

            Furthermore…just a second…uh oh.  Never mind.

Agenda for April 19th CCML Business Meeting

COLORADO COUNCIL OF MEDICAL LIBRARIANS

GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUSINESS MEETING

April 19, 2013

Rocky Vista University – Parker, Colorado

AGENDA

Call to Order	Dana Abbey
Approve of February 2013 meeting minutes	All
Approve Treasurer’s report	All
Reports
President-Elect	Melissa Kovac
Secretary	Peggy Cruse
Treasurer	Erin Palazzolo
Awards Committee	Lisa Traditi
Bylaws Committee	Shandra Protzko
CQ Blog Editor	Melissa Kovac
Education Committee	Melissa DeSantis
Fundraising	Lynne Fox
Internet Committee	Jeff Kuntzman
Library Cooperation Committee	Sara Katsh
Membership Committee	Debra Taylor
Nominating Committee	Deb Weaver
Consumer Health	Dana Abbey
Old Business	All
New Business	All
Recognition of Service	Dana Abbey
Recognition of New Officers	Dana Abbey

2013 Graber Award Recipient

Established in 2002, the Marla Graber Award for Excellence and Achievement is awarded annually to recognize CCML members who have made outstanding contributions to CCML and to health sciences librarianship at the local level.

The CCML Awards Committee takes great pleasure in announcing this year’s recipient, Jeff Kuntzman.

Jeff’s roles in CCML since he joined in 1997 have included Treasurer (1999-2000), Council Quotes Assistant Editor (1999-2001) and Editor (2002-2004), and Internet Committee member (2002-2010) and chair (2011 to present).  He was also instrumental in handling technical aspects of CCML-hosted MCMLA meetings.  Other key roles have included bringing CCML’s print union journal catalog (Journal Locator) online very early in the evolution of the technology, a complex and labor-intensive endeavor, but critical for resource sharing among CCML member libraries, regardless of DOCLINE or OCLC ILL participation.  Jeff has also long served as CCML’s discussion list owner/operator/troubleshooter.  He has overseen two CCML website redesign projects, most recently implementing (taming?) Wild Apricot, which has revolutionized, streamlined, and added exciting functionality to the site.

In his day job as Head, Library I.T., Health Sciences Library, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Jeff has implemented many technical advances that have benefited not only the Health Sciences Library but the members of the MedConnect library group, composed of CCML member libraries.  MedConnect is the group that has shared the IMPULSE OPAC and Innovative Interfaces Millennium ILS for many years.

In ALL of these roles, Jeff has provided expert, quiet leadership and handled technical challenges so calmly and expertly that he makes it look easy and makes all our lives SO much easier.

To quote Jeff’s nomination letter, “Jeff has been an important, contributing member of our organization.  We may even have to admit that we’ve exploited his desire to stay out of the limelight by pressing him to tackle some pretty challenging tasks.  Fortunately, he’s always game to accomplish the next big job on our behalf…Jeff should step into the limelight and take a bow!”

The CCML Awards Committee
Lisa Traditi, Chair
Margaret Bandy
Elaine Connell
Sara Katsh

New Articles on Scholarly Communication

Scholars Increasingly Use Online Resources, Survey Finds, but They Value Traditional Formats Too The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 8, 2013

Scientific Articles Accepted (Personal Checks, Too)  The New York Times, April 7, 2013

Investigating journals: The dark side of publishing Nature, March 27, 2013

 

Proposed Bylaws Change – Vote at April 19th Meeting

Dear CCML Membership,

For those of you attending the CCML General Membership meeting on April 19, 2013, there will be a vote for a proposed bylaws change. The Executive Committee would like to add language instituting a quorum for executive committee meetings. Currently, our bylaws only address a quorum for General Membership meetings. The proposed language:

A quorum of at least 50 percent of Executive Committee members shall be required for the transaction of business, including approval of minutes, treasurers report, and the annual budget. In the absence of a quorum, all business shall be tabled until a quorum is present; however, reports and announcements maybe made for informational purposes.

Click here for the complete CCML bylaws.

Click here for more information on the April 19th meeting. Please note starting time of 9:00am!

My wife sent me this for some unknown reason.  Anyone see any value in it??

What is the financial value of your library?

Betsy Kelly, Claire Hamasu and Barb Jones wrote “Applying Return on Investment (ROI) in Libraries” for Journal of Library Administration (52:8, 656-671, 2012).

The article was featured in the January 2013 issue of Informed Librarian Online (www.informedlibrarian.com) and can be found at http://ow.ly/jiknZ.

After reading this article, you may want to figure out your ROI and then submit your data to the  Library Value Calculator.

(From Betsy Kelly, National Network of Libraries of Medicine MidContinental Region, http://nnlm.gov/mcr/)

April 19, 2013, CCML meeting

Rocky Vista University will be jumpin’ on April 19!  Join us there at 9 for refreshments (kindly ordered by Erin Palazzolo and laboriously laid out by Erin and yours truly) and elbow-rubbing, then stick around for our speaker and the general meeting.  The agenda is as follows:

9:00-9:30              Networking and refreshments

9:30-10:30           Main program

Debra Judy, policy director for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, will speak about Colorado’s health benefit exchange and the ways consumers have participated and can continue to participate in its development, refinement, and establishment. She will also discuss what the exchange will mean for consumers and how they might take advantage of it.

10:30-10:45         Break

10:45-11:45         Business meeting

Our meeting will take place in the slightly-creepy-sounding Anatomy Theater, which is on the third floor.

The Rocky Vista campus is at 8401 S. Chambers Rd. in Parker; for directions, please see the Rocky Vista site at http://www.rvu.edu/maps.asp.  It is best to park on the north side of the building (the side with the flag pole), but if there is no space there, you may park on the other side.  Please note, though, that the front entrance is the only entrance that is accessible without a badge. Parking is free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MLA honors 2 CCML members! (again)

At the May 2013 MLA/oneHEALTH meeting in Boston, our very own Roz Dudden will be honored with the Marcia C. Noyes Award, MLA’s highest professional distinction.  The award “recognizes a career that has resulted in lasting, outstanding contributions to health sciences librarianship.”  We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

And Margaret Bandy has been awarded the Janet Doe Lectureship for 2014, another lofty honor.  The lectureship “is awarded to an individual for his or her unique perspective on the history or philosophy of medical librarianship.”  Congratulations, Margaret!

Margaret and Roz are recipients of many past MLA awards as well, not the least of which was the Ida and George Eliot Prize they shared last year for their important book, The Medical Library Association Guide to Managing Health Care Libraries.