1. V OLUME 29 I SSUE 2
S P R IN G /S U M M E R 2006
HLABC FORUM
Gems & Pearls
Inside...
Conference Reports from CHLA and cyberspace
Technology tips: Weblogging and Social
bookmarking
Member profile: Linda interviews Julie Mason

2. Page 2 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
2006/07 HLABC T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Executive
President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Treasurer’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
President Website Committee Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Karen MacDonell AGM Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Reports on the CHLA/ABSC 2006 Conference
How to... Live to Tell the Tale! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Vice President A Word to the Wise - It's Worry that Kills, Not Work! . . . 8
Information Literacy Expectations and Perceptions . . . . 10
Diana Hall A Collections View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
An Open Letter to Cool Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Bioinformatics: a Mini Lesson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Secretary
Discover the Leader in You! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Vicki Lee To the Beat of Our Own Drum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Everyone's Two Cents (Survey) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Technology
Treasurer Weblogging for Health Librarians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Anne Allgaier del.icio.us: A Social Bookmarking System . . . . . . . . . . 22
Getting to Know You: Julie Mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
A Conference in Cyberspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
FORUM
Krista Clement
Guest editor: The Forum is published quarterly by the Health Libraries Association of BC
ISSN: 0826-0125
Teresa Lee Submissions and story idea s are we lcom ed.
Publication is not guaranteed and manuscripts may be edited.
Con tact the publishe r:
Website Committee Krista Clement
Em ail: kristac@shaw.ca
Robert Melrose Phone: 250-762-3700
Robyn Joy Ingvallsen
For HLABC membership information, visit our website at www.hlabc.bc.ca or write to:
Anne Allgaier, Tre asurer/Mem bership
Library, Prince George Regional Hospital
1475 Edm onton St. Prince George, BC V2M 1S2
em ail Anne.allgaier@northernhealth.ca
Fees are $25.00 (regular) or $15.00 (student, maximum 2 years) and include the
Forum.

3. HLABC FORUM Page 3
P RESIDENT'S M ESSAGE
Karen Ma cDonell, President, HLABC & Librarian/Co-Manager, College of Physicians &
Surgeons of BC
kma c@m ls.cpsbc.ca
2005-2006 proved to be a year of furious effort in the building of important
library initiatives, namely the 30th annual Canadian Health Library Conference
and the Electronic Health Library of British Columbia, e-HLbc. This coming year
offers all the opportunities and challenges that those initiatives promised. The
CHLA Conference was organized and presented by a highly motivated and
capable team led by Cathy Rayment. Congratulations to the many HLABC
members who contributed to the success of the conference, both by helping to
organize and host it or through their attendance or presentation of their
research.
The challenge now lies in applying the gems we gathered from the conference in
our everyday lives, both professionally and personally. This may involve stopping
an accepted way of doing something and assessing the effect (maybe it wasn't
working to begin with!) as suggested by Sherrilynne Fuller, diving into the abyss
What we learned:
and building a service for a user group that didn't exist before, as did Megan
"Change is an ever present
Crouch, or as Shelley Hourston presented, reaching out to fellow librarians when
element in our life and in
things are rocky and you need to shore up your resilience. The Conference also
our work. Librarians need
touched on issues of user training, consortia building, programme evaluation and
IT implementation, which are core issues for the inaugural year of the Electronic
to learn to lie
Health Library of British Columbia, e-HLbc.
with it."
The HLABC Executive will dedicate a fair bit of our continuing education efforts
this year to helping HLABC members maximize the usefulness of the eHLbc
resources, in accordance with a motion carried at the Spring Annual General
Meeting. For example, a plan is in the works for a workshop that will focus on
new approaches to training users and offer an opportunity for sharing our
experiences with library service promotion and implementation of this new
initiative.
I am looking forward to a year of working with terrific HLABC Executive
members, Diana Hall, Anne Allgaier, Vicki Lee, Teresa Prior, Robert Melrose and
Robyn Ingvallsen (who is graciously standing in for Robert this summer) and hope
to see you at upcoming HLABC meetings and events.

4. Page 4 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
E DITORIAL
Teresa Lee, Librarian, Woodward Library, UBC
teresa.lee @ubc.ca
I have delighted in reading the articles, updates, reports and news items
submitted by colleagues in BC. Many of the articles here comment on the
What we’re gonna do recent CHLA/ABSC conference in Vancouver in various thoughtful – and often
humorous – ways. By all accounts, CHLA/ABSC 2006 Pearls of Wisdom was a
about it:
hit! We in BC should be proud of bringing together health library professionals
"I would like to prepare a
from all over the country and beyond in a gathering that was marked by
copyright info sheet for
excitement, new ideas, and collegiality.
my organization. And I
want to learn Taiko
A conference may take place once a year, but hopefully the connections we
drumming…"
make will endure. Undoubtedly one of the best things about this profession is
its community of professionals. Here's to conference connections!
T REASURER 'S R EPORT
Anne A llgaier, Librarian, Northe rn Hea lth Autho rity
Anne. A llgaier@no rthernhe alth.ca
May 31, 2006
Memberships
Lifetime members: 7
New Members: 3
Sandra Barron
Brenda Chenosky
Danell Clay
Renewed for 2006-07: 45
Membership Total 48
Bank Balance $9,898.41
Mutual Fund Balance $1,736.98
TOTAL $10,328.06

5. HLABC FORUM Page 5
W EBSITE C OMMITTEE R EPORT
Robert Melrose, Librarian, Down Syndrome Research Foundation
melrose@ dsrf.org
Robyn-Joy Ingvallsen, Royal Columbian Hospital
robyn.ingvallse n@frase rhealth.ca
The past year has seen several changes to the HLABC website; we added both
member only access, and an executive only access portion of the site. We have
also joined the world of wikis. Current HLABC members create their username
and password via the splash page of the website (http://www.hlabc.bc.ca/).
Once the membership is confirmed the username and password are accepted by
the system, which then permits access to HLABC minutes, the membership
directory and to the handouts provided by our guest speakers. The website also
had a second level of access created in the past year, an executive only portion.
What we learned:
The HLABC executive section is limited to the members of the current
"I now know how I could
executive. This section holds HLABC working documents, the minutes template,
use a WIKI / RSS feeds in
our logo in a variety of formats and other files that the executive need to share.
my worklife!"
The username and password created for the executive provide them access to
both the membership and executive sections of the site.
Another change to the site has been an upgrade to the content management
system (Typo3) used for mounting the information The upgrade will be better
able to prevent unauthorized access and to detect viruses or bugs. As the
upgrade was applied to the back end of the site there is no change in the public
view. All files were transferred to a new server during the upgrade but please
contact the website committee if you find any of the previous files missing.
HLABC has also launched a wiki at http://hlabc.pbwiki.com. This site has been
created for easy collaboration between members of the Health Libraries
Association of BC (HLABC), as well as members of the Canadian health library
community interested in sharing information and knowledge. Wikis are
collaborative software that allows sharing without unnecessary cluttering up of
your e-mail inbox. To find out more about wikis, go to Wikipedia: Wikis. Or to
find out more about how to edit a wiki, go to WikiStyle at
http://yummy.pbwiki.com/WikiStyle. To edit information, contact the web
committee for password access. Feel free to create a page regarding any HLABC
(or related library) project, or email the web committee at
robyn.ingvallsen-at-fraserhealth.ca to set it up for you!
The website committee has also taken on the role of Forum co-ordinator. This
role involves seeking out guest editors, establishing the submission deadlines and
synchronizing the file transfer between the guest editor and layout editor. This
year the Forum editors were Marjory Jardine for the Fall/Winter edition and
Teresa Lee for the Spring/Summer edition. Krista Clement has been our layout
editor. Thanks to our guest editors and to our layout editor for the wonderful
job they have done with the Forum this past year. Any HLABC member can be a
guest editor, so please consider being the guest editor for the next Fall/Winter
edition of the Forum. Contact either Robert or Robyn for further details.

6. Page 6 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
H IGHLIGHTS
Annual General Meeting – May 16, 2006
Teresa Lee, Librarian, W oodw ard Library, U BC. tere sa.lee@ ubc.ca
Watch HLABC listserv for full Meeting Minutes
What we’re gonna do
about it: 1. Teresa Prior reviewed the past year's highlights and announced Krista
"Practise more evidence Clement as the winner of the newly renamed C.W (Bill) Fraser Professional
based librarianship – Development Grant.
read, critically appraise,
do research…" 2. Teresa Prior also presented the treasurer's report in place of Anne Allgaier.
She noted that HLABC has a large balance.
3. Robert Melrose gave an update on improvements to the HLABC website,
and on the Forum, thanking Marjory Jardine for guest editing the winter issue.
4. Robert Melrose also relayed news about the HLABC History Project which
Lee Perry will supervise. Shirley Lew of SLAIS will assist with recruiting a
student who wishes to complete this as a professional experience project.
5. Charlotte Beck reported on the CHLA Board Meeting. She will continue as
board secretary for another 2 years. She noted that NNLH roundtables are
moving ahead.
6. Cathy Rayment gave a CHLA conference report and thanked the planning
committee. The conference was a great success.
7. New executive for 2006-2007 were welcomed: Karen MacDonell as the new
President, Diana Hall as Vice-President/President Elect. Vicki Lee will
continue as Secretary, Anne Allgaier as Treasurer, Robert Melrose and Robyn
Ingvallsen on the Website Committee, and Krista Clement as Forum Editor.
8. Teresa Prior reported on the official launch of eHLbc on May 16, 2006. John
Gilbert and George Eisler were in attendance. HLABC members who worked
over the years to make this happen were gratified to see their efforts finally
come to fruition. HLABC committed to sponsoring some training sessions
related to the rollout of eHLbc by December.

7. HLABC FORUM Page 7
R EPORTS ON THE CHLA/ABSC 2006 C ONFERENCE
H OW TO P LAN A S UCCESSFUL C ONFERENCE (AND LIVE TO TELL THE
TALE !)
Cathy Rayment, CHLA/ABSC 2006 Conference Planning Committee Chair & Head of
Library Serv ices, BC Can cer Age ncy. craym ent@ bccancer.bc.ca
Start the planning process way before the event! A year-and-a-half is just barely
enough time,especially in a popular place like Vancouver, where hotel venues
often get booked years inadvance. We held our first official planning meeting on
Sept. 23, 2004 – twenty months beforethe event, and we'd already been doing
work well before this!
Recruit a large group of creative, collaborative, well-organized, hard-working,
self-motivated people to do all the actual work. (I have more adjectives and
superlatives that I could reel off, but you get the picture.) The larger the
committee, the better. A large committee can be harder for the Chair to What we learned:
manage, but they do get the job done. Our final conference planning committee "From the keynote speaker
had 20 people, of whom 12 had been involved since the first formal meeting. Dr. Fuller I was reminded
that libraries should try to
Seek advice from others. Talk to previous conference planning committees, and provide answers
read their reports. Read the conference planning manual. Talk to the Board to questions, not just lists
members. The conference planning experience varies from year to year, but of resources that might
much of the process has been documented by others, so use their expertise potentially be useful."
whenever possible.
Hold regular conference planning meetings. An email listserv is a huge blessing
(and also a curse!) for conference planning, but meeting face-to-face is
essential. We held a total of seventeen planning meetings – monthly after the
first couple of widely-spaced meetings, and moving to bi-weekly in the last few
months. Meetings help a large group keep focused, and talking about issues in
person serves to clarify and resolve issues. Do set timelines for meeting agendas,
and try to keep the discussion to the time limits. Serve refreshments whenever
possible!
Communicate, communicate, and communicate! A committee that talks
frequently stays together… and will still be talking to each other by the time the
conference takes place. A dedicated planning committee listserv is a must, and
committee members have to be prepared to read ALL the emails. (You may want
to ask your IT dept. for the largest mailbox size possible, as a lot of
document-sharing goes on.) A private website for the planning committee to
store documents, minutes and other useful information is a terrific asset.

8. Page 8 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
Remember to celebrate your successes – all the way along. Each planning
sub-committee has peak activity levels and accomplishments happening at
different times, so don't forget to toast the little triumphs that occur
throughout the process. If you can celebrate throughout, it makes the going a
bit easier. Have a BIG party at the end.
Conference planning begins and ends with the people involved, and ultimately
What we’re gonna do the committee is what made the conference planning process memorable for
about it: me. Meeting regularly with the planning committee for the past twenty
"Stay on top of months has given me a chance to get to know these talented colleagues in a
technology." way that workplace and professional meetings haven't allowed. This must be
the truest sign of a successful conference planning committee…that you'll miss
one another after the conference ends!
A W ORD TO THE W ISE - IT 'S W ORRY THAT K ILLS, N OT W ORK !
Charlotte Beck, Librarian, Woodward Library, UBC
charlotte.be ck@ub c.ca
One day back in 2004 I agreed to chair the Continuing Education
Subcommittee for the 2006 CHLA/ABSC conference. The next day, while
questioning my sanity, I realized I had been beguiled by the persuasive powers
of Planning Committee Chair, Cathy Rayment, and panic set in.
In which I cross a number of bridges – all of which appear to be burning.
What if we couldn't find any suitable topics? What if the instructors agreed to
teach but failed to show up? What if we couldn't find any suitable and
affordable computer labs? What if we offered the courses, but no one
registered?
In which I realize that many hands make light work.
My first worry proved groundless. My CHLA/ABSC Board responsibilities would
rule out full-time participation in final preparations of the simultaneous CE
events and a co-chair was called for. Christine Marton volunteered and when
she needed to move back to Toronto, Teresa Lee stepped up to the plate to
take on the coordination of the contracts, CE facilities and food breaks, and
the supervision of volunteer monitors. So now there were three co-chairs!
In which I take lessons from the past
Drawing on information from the previous conferences, surveys and on
personal recommendations, we divided the list of key topics of interest among
the co-chairs. Finding instructors for the majority of the courses was not the
problem I had anticipated. Most of the targeted presenters were willing and
available, and contracts were prepared for 13 courses.

9. HLABC FORUM Page 9
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
In the end we offered 12 courses, 5 of which required computer labs. As the
hotel was providing the meeting rooms, our preference was to use UBC Robson,
SFU or BCIT downtown facilities. Unfortunately, these spaces could not be
reserved until about 2 months before the conference andthe nerves could not
withstand this uncertainty. We provisionally booked lab space on the UBC
campus, which was a good thing as our preferred choice, UBC Robson, turned
out to be unavailable for the Friday classes.
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
By March 2006 we had finalized the slate of courses, confirmed commitments
from instructors and paid down-payments on facilities. Now, would people
What we learned:
register? The Toronto conference report was released and judging by their
"Sarah Greenley's
actual CE attendance numbers, we'd over-anticipated registration by 50%! Slow
presentation analysing the
registration kept me awake in the wee hours of the morning and it looked as
pros and cons of
though we would have to cancel half the workshops. However, on April 7th, the
systematic searching vs.
deadline for early bird registration fees, 4 courses became fully booked and we
had to scramble to close off online registration. By Conference time the
literature
remainder of the courses exceeded their break-even targets and normal sleep
surveillance was
patterns returned! elucidating."
Give credit where credit is due
From the start the first-rate hotel facilities and keen staff, the catchy slogan,
and the professionally designed and eye-catching logo all combined to give
impetus to the planning. The Conference Planning Manual and previous planning
committee reports were invaluable in providing clear timelines and insightful
tips. But most important of all was working with a dedicated group of people,
my co-chairs and the planning committee, all equally committed to making the
conference a success. This was the best antidote to an overactive imagination
and the unjustified fear of an apocalypse.

10. Page 10 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
INFORMATION L ITERACY E XPECTATIONS AND P ERCEPTIONS: A
C OMPARISON OF M EDICAL S CHOOL F ACULTY AND S TUDENTS.*
Presented by Lindsay Glynn and Sue Fahey at the Canadian Health Libraries
Association 2006 Annual Conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ana Rosa Blue, Librarian, Lions Gate Hospital, Vancouver Coa stal Health Library
What we’re gonna do
Services, anar osa.blue@ vch.ca
about it:
"Change the way I view
What is information literacy? The American Library Association offers the
leadership activities. following definition: Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring
Encourage my coworkers individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to
and myself to ‘lead from locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." "Information
the ranks' more often." literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines,
to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables
learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more
self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning."
Sue Fahey and Lindsay Glynn set out to investigate information literacy
expectations and perceptions of faculty and students in the Faculty of
Medicine at Memorial University. The object of their survey was to determine
what information literacy skills faculty expect, and perceive, medical
students to possess by the end of their 1st and 4th years of medical school,
and conversely, what information literacy skills medical students expect, and
perceive, they should have acquired by the end of their 1st and 4th years of
medical school.
Memorial University offers no information literacy component in its
curriculum. Nonetheless, at the start of 2006 Fahey and Glynn collected data
via two surveys sent to 243 students and 200 full-time faculty. The anonymous
online surveys ran for 3 weeks. Fahey and Glynn identified 60 competencies in
the following areas: general, PubMed, Cochrane, evidence-based medicine,
ethics and copyright, PDAs, and the Internet. The surveys went out by e-mail,
and the systems office looked after the coding and responses. Analysis of
survey results was done in SPSS by a biostatistician.
The response rate was 7.2% for faculty and 9.2% for students. Glynn and Fahey
puzzled over the low rates, because the expected return rate was 20%. They
speculated that perhaps the surveys were too long, that insufficient reminders
were sent, or the surveys were viewed as unimportant and therefore ignored.
Of the faculty members who did respond, a significant number selected "no
response" to many of the competencies. This was perhaps due to faculty
members' not understanding the questions, not knowing the answer, or simply
quitting before they reached the end.

11. HLABC FORUM Page 11
Two trends were noted: 1) Students had higher expectations of themselves than
did faculty. 2) Students expected to obtain most competencies early in their
education, whereas faculty expected competencies to be gained by the end of
4th year of medical school or in residency.
Despite low response rates, the survey increased the visibility of the library and
led to greater contact between librarians and faculty, resulting in a library
lecture and an assignment being added to the curriculum in the community
health course.
The next steps identified by the authors are to identify actual skill and abilities,
develop competency standards, conduct a similar study in Pharmacy and
What we learned:
Nursing, and compare results with other medical schools. Fahey and Glynn
“ Adult learners have an
calculate that it might take 5 – 10 years to carry out these activities. The
average attention span of
authors plan to publish a more comprehensive report of this survey in the
12 to 20 minutes, then you
future.
need to try another method
This study captures student and faculty perceptions at one Canadian university.
of presentation! (From Jan
It will be interesting to read the final report and to see how other medical
Johnson's ce session on
schools compare. teaching tips)”
* This is a condensed version of an article to appear in The One Person Library,
v. 23, no. 3, July 2006. By permission.
--------
American Library Association, "Presidential Committee on Information Literacy.
Final Report." (Chicago: American Library Association, 1989).
<http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/presidential.htm>.
Accessed on 19 May 2006.
American Library Association, "Information Literacy Competency Standards for
Higher Education." Chicago: American Library Association, 2000, p.2.
Sue Fahey is a reference/instruction librarian, and co-ordinator of the
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Knowledge Information Network. She has a
special interest in information literacy and the role it plays in the delivery of
health. Lindsay Glynn is an instruction coordinator at the Health Sciences Library
at Memorial University. Co-founder and Associate Editor of Evidence Based
Library and Information Practice, Glynn is completing a graduate diploma in
clinical epidemiology. <http://www.chla-absc.ca/2006/>. Accessed on 15 May
2006.
Canadian Health Libraries Association 2006 Conference website,
<http://www.chla-absc.ca/2006/>. Accessed on 15 May 2006.

12. Page 12 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
A C OLLECTIONS V IEW
Lee Perry, Reference/History of Medicine/Collections Librarian, Woodward Library,
UBC
lee.perry@ ubc.ca
How does a collections librarian profit from going to CHLA? I asked myself this
question as I was thinking about my conference experience. A bit of reflection
and a perusal of all the notes I'd taken revealed that it was indeed a
What we’re gonna do
worthwhile experience for me. The role the vendors play in our annual
about it:
meeting is responsible for this to a large extent, although I certainly gleaned
“ Find a creative way to
some useful tidbits from contributed papers by librarians as well.
get information to more
people in the hospital. .... For a collections librarian the vendors at the conference are a great resource.
Read all the handouts I I went armed with several questions, particularly about pricing on specific
received Create a list of eresources. Very seldom can a large institution get this information without
all the websites that I asking directly; the website will give ‘contact us' information only and email
have never heard of and inquiries often result in a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. But I got direct answers
visit them” from the McGraw-Hill representative, and others, which pleased me. And I
discovered interesting things. I have been feeling badly for about two years
Editor - A LL? A mbitious!
about UBC's decision to dump Login as a vendor when we switched to Coutts,
but was relieved to discover through the Login rep that Login in fact supplies
Coutts. (The circuitous route of course takes longer!) Having the Elsevier rep
on site to explain why a number of ejournals on ScienceDirect, formerly
available to us, had mysteriously disappeared was comforting. As it turns out,
it wasn't Elsevier's fault; the societies had withdrawn the rights. CISTI,
though, seems to be flogging the same old books every year (for example,
Canadian Medicinal Crops, 1998.)
The vendors participated also in the contributed papers sessions and I guess
this is all right (as long as we have full disclosure). Sandy Iverson's (EBSCO)
talk was a rundown on ejournals – a good summary pointing out all of the
pitfalls and difficulties. Or was it a pitch for the purchase of an eResource
Management Tool? Never mind, we are currently trying to make one work at
UBC. Brian Lapeer of Dynamed straightened us all out on evidence-based
treatment (on which his product is based) versus other therapies that are out
there, used for millennia, and sometimes featured in textbooks, but haven't
been through the randomized controlled trials mill yet.
But collections librarians love the vendors; we couldn't do our jobs and our
conferences would look much different without them. They treat us very well
and add significantly to making the conference the enjoyable experience it is.
Among the library-contributed papers Bill Poluha's on the development of a
library collection of assessment tools or toolkits for the use of the School of
Medical Rehabilitation at the University of Manitoba drew my attention. This
is something we do not have at Woodward Library, but perhaps we should? Bill
outlined the rather daunting obstacles to purchasing such items. Only
credentialed professionals (such as faculty) can purchase the tools and there

13. HLABC FORUM Page 13
must be a guarantee that they will be used for teaching purposes only. Locked
cabinets and liability-type loan agreements are among the complications for
circulation staff. These items are expensive and the University of Manitoba
library had a special grant, so perhaps it is not something that Woodward will
do. In any event I copied down the titles of the print reference books he
referred to and made sure that we have those!
These are just a few examples of why my conference fees were well-spent. Not
to mention I had fun!
A N O PEN L ETTER TO C OOL T OOLS SUCH AS RSS, W IKIS, AND
B LOGS
Peter T yrrell, Senior Co nsultant, And ornot C onsulting Inc.
ptyrrell@andornot.com What we learned:
“ The term Mashing, and
Dear Tools, that it is the combination
of a different online
It was my pleasure to introduce you to a packed computer lab full of health portals to create a new
librarians that sumptous Friday afternoon in May. May the 12th, I think it was, information base.”
just before CHLA 2006. What a day that was. You were shy at first, but your
easy, breezy sense of fun and fresh scent quickly translated into street cred for
those health lib mavens.
Do you remember how we totally, like, made that wiki together, all of us? At
http://pbwiki.com? Where you can make "a free, password-protected wiki as
easily as a peanut butter sandwich?" Good times. PBWiki, I was told afterwards
that some of them participants smuggled you home and set you up for their own
purposes. You sly devil.
Tools, did we not also set up a blog at http://blogger.com for each and every
one of us? The laughter. The tears. The time I blew my nose and hoped nobody
would notice. We have to hold on to memories like these, Tools, for time is a
cruel mistress. "When I have seen by Time's fell hand defac'd" and all that.
RSS, we will not omit to mention you. How we subscribed! To searches, to
PubMed, to our own blogs, to podcasts! I couldn't believe everyone actually sang
along to the RSS song. Oh yeah, I made that part up. But everyone singing an RSS
song together would have been pretty frickin' awesome.
When I beheld the room suffused with Learn waves, and saw the Savv-o-meter
approaching critical, I felt very proud. Thank you, Tools. Truly, you are so cool.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone who attended!

14. Page 14 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
B IOINFORMATICS: A M INI L ESSON
Sally Taylor, Librarian, Woodward Biomedical Library, UBC
sally.taylor@ ubc.ca
BLAST! No, that's not an expletive but actually one of the tools we learned
about in the CE session Bioinformatics Information Resources presented by Dr.
Joanne Fox, Research Associate and Head of Support & Training at the UBC
What we’re gonna do Bioinformatics Centre. Joanne, who teaches a fourth year microbiology course
about it: on bioinformatics and participates in the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshop
“ I would like to modify series, tailored the session for librarians whose knowledge of genetics may be
the way I teach a few years out-of-date (ahem).
workshops to make them
more exciting for the Bioinformatics is a research field that integrates the use of computers,
participants and make software tools, and databases in an effort to address biological questions. We
sure they get the most tend to think of genes and proteins but bioinformatics could be used to
out of the sessions.” understand cells, entire organisms, and even their interaction with the
environment (an area of research called Systems Biology). Of interest to
health researchers is how diagnosis and treatment could be personalized
based on someone's genetic makeup, a scenario that became possible with the
mapping of the human genome.
Librarians may be heavy users of PubMed but many of us ignore the 20+ other
databases available through the NCBI Entrez search engine. Joanne offered us
no escape but led us gently into the Nucleotide database (aka GenBank), the
database that holds DNA sequences of specific genes. By searching "avian flu,"
we found sequences for the Influenza A virus submitted by researchers who
are studying the virus. One of the powerful features of Entrez is the linking
between databases. Using Links from the GenBank record, we connected to
the Taxonomy Browser for information about the virus, the Protein database
to learn about the protein that is coded by the DNA sequence, and to PubMed
for the bibliographic citation where the authors published the sequence. We
also linked from the GenBank record to Related Sequences, in the same way
you might select Related Articles in PubMed. This is where BLAST comes in.
It's the tool used to identify similar sequences among all the sequences in
GenBank, and is of interest to researchers because related sequences may
share similar biological functions.
Here's an exercise we did in class for you to try.
* Start in familiar territory (i.e. PubMed).
* Search: avian flu genome sequence
* Using Links, find an article that is linked to the Nucleotide database (not all
are).
* Examine the GenBank record; notice that it looks quite different from one in
PubMed.

15. HLABC FORUM Page 15
In the second half of the workshop, Joanne introduced us to three Genome
Browsers, tools that are used to navigate the entire human genome and to
access knowledge attached to the raw sequence. Using the UCSC genome
browser, we navigated the region of the human genome for BRCA1 (Breast
Cancer 1 Gene). Using the browser, we zoomed in and out, and moved along the
genome to find neighbouring genes. We only skimmed the surface of the
browser's functionality but one could appreciate the variety of options available
to researchers with the scientific know-how.
I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. Joanne did a wonderful job of presenting a
complicated set of resources to non-scientists. She used analogies (baking a
cake) and examples (avian flu) that we could easily understand, and her passion
What we learned:
and knowledge of the subject were evident. We also had a chance at the end to
"An opportunity to
talk briefly about Open Access, an important issue to libraries and the scholarly
network and to meet
community. Bioinformatics goes hand in hand with Open Access. Researchers
others, apart from CE and
submit sequences to Open Access databases like GenBank and commonly share
conference speakers and
computer code. The researchers at the UBC Bioinformatics Centre led by Francis
Ouellette are strong proponents for Open Access and typically publish in OA
sessions, is the most
journals.
important aspect of
CHLA/ABSC."
Definitions
* Gene – length of DNA that codes for a specific protein
* Genome – total genetic information of an individual; made-up of all the genes
contained in a single set of chromosomes
* Genomics - the analysis of all genes and transcripts within the genome
* Proteomics – the analysis of the complete set of proteins
Resources
* What is Bioinformatics?
http://bioinformatics.ubc.ca/about/what_is_bioinformatics/
* NCBI databases: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ [click on All Databases]
* Linkage s between NC BI da tabases: http://www.ncbi.nih.gov/Database/datamodel
* UCS C Genom e Brow ser: http://genome.cse.ucsc.edu [click on G enom e Brow ser]
G OSSIP A FTER THE C ONFERENCE.
(what non-attendees had heard about us - wink wink. From the survey - p.18)
Aquarium Reception and Banquet Dinner were both excellent.Pleasant atmosphere and a
friendly conference. Paper quality varied according to individual information needs and
preferences. The program was very good, and the person felt that they got a lot out of
it! Good range of sessions Great kick off for eHLbc. Very specialized presentations that
do not provide the average worker with handy or useful tips for practice once they
return home. [Editor - OUCH!] I heard the Embase session was fantastic. Our designated
Librarian sent around a 'report' of the activities that she did and the different
workshops/lectures types she attended. It seemed really interesting. Our delegate was
very impressed with the reception and banquet facilities. Heard what's happening next
with the CHLA Standards. Posting to the Website, 2 new committees forming.... Great
conference CE session about systematic reviews was excellent. Greenlee presentation on
evidence based products vs systematic reviews particularly good

16. Page 16 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
D ISCOVER THE L EADER IN Y OU ! D EVELOPING AND R EALIZING
YOUR L EADERSHIP P OTENTIAL.
Presented by Laurie Scott, Daniel Phelan and Wayne Glover,
CE Course Offered at the Canadian Health Libraries Association 2006 Annual
Conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ana Rosa Blue, Librarian, Lions Gate Hospital, Vancouver Coa stal Health Library
What we’re gonna do Services, anar osa.blue@ vch.ca
about it:
“ Keep on top of For a synopsis of the course and biographies of the presenters, please visit:
scanning my health http://www.chla-absc.ca/2006/ under the ‘Continuing Education' tab.
information/librarianship
listserves - scan at least Leadership is a fascinating subject. There is much to know and learn. A
the subject lines once a half-day session was insufficient time to do this topic justice. As one of the
day.” winners of the CHLA/ABSC Chapter Scholarship for Leadership Development it
was a thrill to attend Discover the leader in you! Developing and realizing
your leadership potential. I would like to thank Karen MacDonell from the
Medical Library of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. for
supporting the scholarship application, and to the CHLA Board for awarding it.
This workshop solidified my conviction that leaders are: inspirational
visionaries who are ethical and respectful of others. They are effective
communicators with courage and commitment. Leaders are selfless creatures
who empower those around them to fully use their talents. The workshop
explored the following issues: traits of leaders, good leaders vs. good
managers, determining one's own leadership potential, taking on a leadership
role in one's job and professional associations, and leadership institutes.
Traits of leaders include: being good listeners, seeing the big picture and
having a plan, charisma and passion. Leaders are inspiring, forward-looking,
and decisive. They are agents of change, and lifelong learners who never give
up. Leaders are born with an aptitude to lead. As with other aptitudes,
leadership qualities can be developed with guidance and nurturing. This
workshop was one step in the right direction.
Being a good leader is different from being a good manager: Leaders have
traits that make them good managers. The difference between managers and
leaders, according to Warren Bennis, is that: "The manager does things right;
the leader does the right thing."
How to determine one's own leadership potential: To "discover the leader" in
individual participants, the facilitators provided a "Checklist of Leadership
Qualities" so participants could rates themselves, on a scale of 1 to 10. The
checklist served as a good starting point for discovering the leader within.

17. HLABC FORUM Page 17
Taking on a leadership role in one's job and professional associations: A good
way to develop leadership abilities is to participate in one's professional
association. Taking on responsibility is a leadership trait. Participating in an
association provides opportunities for personal development and ways to give
back to your profession. There is no excuse for not getting involved.
Is a leadership institute right for you? A few of the institutes mentioned were
ACRL/Harvard Institute, Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute and the MPLA
Leadership Institute. It is worthwhile investigating institutes provided by one's
organization or local universities, especially business schools. Individuals need to
determine which institute is right for them. An important task of this half-day
course was the personal action plan participants were asked to think about and
act upon once they returned to work. The purpose of the action plan is to
What we learned:
motivate participants to start developing leadership skills and/or take on a
"Working in a corporate
leadership role. The facilitators fulfilled their agenda. But the work of further
environment, I've heard so
discovery and meeting one's leadership potential – to take home what was
much about
learned in the workshop, read more on the topic, get involved in professional
associations, act on one's personal action plan and start cultivating the qualities
evidence-based medicine
of great leaders – depends on the individual.
and its
impact on medical
Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader, Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, c1989. librarianship. I've finally
<http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/features/leader/leader.html>. Accessed 28 got a grasp of what it's all
May 2006. about."
T O THE B EAT OF O UR O WN D RUM
Trina Fyfe, Northern Health Sciences Librarian, Geoffrey R. Weller Library, UNBC
tfyfe@un bc.ca
Since the conference I have been trying to get an estimate for the Sawagi Taiko
drumming group to provide entertainment at a conference I'm helping to
organize in Prince George. Sawagi Taiko was fantastic! I thought their drumming
complemented the conference and our ever evolving roles as health librarians.
On its website the group describes the reason its members play taiko: to
overcome "stereotypes of Asians as quiet and hardworking but basically
mechanical and uncreative." The group states that Sawagi Taiko is the "vehicle
to show the power and creativity of Asian culture, particularly of Asian women."
The group offers "an alternative to the stereotype of Asian women as quiet and
demure."
This outlook translates to our profession well. Traditionally, some would say,
librarians are considered "quiet and hardworking but basically mechanical and
uncreative." The CHLA conference once again proved that this is not the case.
The conference is our vehicle to show our ability to be creative and to make
great contributions to the profession and to the health communities with which
we all work.
For more information about Sawagi Taiko:
http://www.shinnova.com/part/86-sawa

18. Page 18 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
E VERYONE'S T WO C ENTS: RESULTS OF THE POST-CONFERENCE SURVEY
Teresa Lee, Librarian, W oodw ard Library, U BC. tere sa.lee@ ubc.ca
Krista Clem ent, BC C ancer A gency Libra rian, Kelow na BC kclem ent@ bccancer.bc.ca
After the 2006 CHLA/ABSC Conference, an online survey gathered responses
to the event from across the country. The survey ran from May 19 - 29, 2006.
A total of 133 responded, of which 77% had attended the conference. (See
following graphics for full details). Two-thirds of attendees either responded
What we’re gonna do
that they had learned "a significant amount" or "plenty," and named CE
about it:
courses, contributed papers and formal social events as the three most
“ We were thinking of
personally and professionally valuable activities of the conference.
redesigning our
catalogue homepage -
When asked to reflect on one thing they'd learned at the conference,
now we're inspired to do
respondents gave a range of answers, from the copyright CE course and
it.”
practical techniques for gathering grey literature to Dr. Fuller's keynote
remarks and the fact that "BC natives lie about how much rain they get"!
Generally, however, the majority of comments on this question named some
aspect of CE courses, with grey literature, cool tools, systematic reviews and
copyright being the most popular topics. Survey respondents also shared their
specific post-conference resolutions, some of which were to bring "renewed
energy to the work place," to "find some champions to establish an eHealth
Library in Alberta," to apply new technology and training methods," and "to
incorporate a patient focus into the library's role." More conference
comments are in the sidebars throughout this issue of the Forum.
1. Did you attend Conference? Although 133 people entered the survey, most later
questions were answered by 70 or fewer respondents. That’s still triple our usual
Forum we b survey participa tion!!
2. More than half of those not attending the conference, had heard something about
it. Conferences have the potential to benefit even people who didn’t attend them!
Next tim e yo u go to an event, think abo ut w hat you will “take ho me w ith yo u.”
4. How MUCH did you learn?

19. HLABC FORUM Page 19
This question was a 4-point scale. Although most described their learning as
“significant,” the av erage score fell very close to the centre o f the chart. Even m ore
interesting was that early responders were much more likely to say they learned
“plenty,” and the a vera ge score gradua lly droppe d ov er the tim e the survey w as o pen. A
sign that respon dents recalled less at a greate r distance from the event?
6. Do conferences CHANGE
behaviour (or at least
intentions)?
Conference is like New Yea r’s :
abun dant in resolutio ns. A third
of us resolved to a dd MO RE to
our a lread y busy sc hedules. I
wish some evidence-based
research revealed areas of our
busy work which are really not
productive, so I could reso lve to
cut back o n those area s... only one person thou ght so. Cha nge in practice m ight indicate
greater efficiency rather than more w ork - improvements which m ight even reduce
workload? Finally, to those brave folks who withstood temptation and made no
resolutions at all ... hey! Did you think you came to conference just for the social events?
What is this, a party? Get with it and pick up a load of guilt like the rest of us! (Just
kidding)
8. SIGNIFICANCE
Oka y, I apolo gize. I wa nted a ranking FROM 1 to 7 , and m any w ere co nfused . There a re
several ways to read the results. One can look at average scores: definitely continuing
education courses and contributed papers are highly valued. Social events, formal or
informal, are also very important at conference. One also can look at the highest rating
for a single activity, and see that exhibit halls exhibited split personality, some rating
them low, and some rating them high. Perhaps a reflection of the “collections librarian”
viewpoint (see article p.12) I also note that many people were not able to attend vendor
sponsored courses, informal social events, and even the CE. I am intrigued by this table,
but hesitate to draw too many conclusions from it. Clearly there was something for
everyone, and
everyone found
something of
value for
them selve s.

20. Page 20 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
TECHNOLOGY
W EBLOGGING FOR H EALTH L IBRARIANS*
Eugene Barsky, Physiotherapy Outreach Librarian, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre,
UBC eugene.barsky@ubc.ca
Before 1997, the term weblog just didn't exist. By 1999 there were only a few
hundred blogs. Today, the search site Technorati.com tracks almost 29 million
What we’re gonna do of them. Weblogs, or blogs, have been defined as online journals, published
about it: chronologically, with links to and commentary on various issues of interest.
“ Stop doing the clerical
chores” Blogs are easy to create and publish for many reasons. First, one need not
know how to code HTML to create a web page. The software will do that for
you as they all have built-in templates. Second, the weblog writer does not
have to arrange any space on a server as most weblog tools provide free
hosting space. The only work that the weblog writer needs to accomplish is
creating the text. It's that simple. This ease of online publishing has made
weblogs an international phenomenon, and numerous librarians and library
staff (including yours truly - http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/) have
recently created them. Frequently blogs are networked between several
people and several members post thoughts that often revolve around a
common theme.
A January 2005 Pew/Internet memo, "The State of Blogging," found that 27
percent of Internet users said they read blogs - a 58 percent increase from the
previous survey in early 2004. The memo is available at:
(www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_blogging_data.pdf). So yes, this is a
widespread and popular Web trend. Many medical librarians have already
jumped on this web-bandwagon; some of these blogs I read include Michelle
Kraft's "The Krafty Librarian" (http://www.kraftylibrarian.blogspot.com/),
and Dean Giustini's "UBC Academic Search - Google Scholar Blog"
(http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/googlescholar/).
Other library blogs I subscribe to include Gary Price's excellent
"ResourceShelf" (http://www.resourceshelf.com/), and Jenny Levine's "The
Shifted Librarian" (http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/). For entertainment,
I like reading my RSS feed from The International Herald Tribune blogs
(http://blogs.iht.com/).
Those of us who haven't started a weblog, but are considering doing so, might
get started right away (yes, right after finishing this article!). While there are
many weblog software tools available, users may want to try Google's Blogger
(www.blogger.com), MoveableType (www.movabletype.org), or Live Journal
(www.livejournal.com) to get started. All these publishing tools are easy to
use, cost nothing (or next to it), and can have a weblog up and running in a
matter of minutes.

21. HLABC FORUM Page 21
It will take you about ten minutes to start your first blog by going through the
simple steps at Blogger (www.blogger.com). After deciding on a user name and
password, you title your blog and choose a template (which can be changed
anytime) for your page. You also create a profile and this enables others to find
you (and also enables you to locate people with similar interests).
Admittedly, blogging is not for everybody; you have think about content that you
are willing to share. It takes me approximately an hour a day to find content and
write a meaningful post on our blog. It is a good idea to stay focused - if you
maintain a library blog, it should reflect the professional standards you apply to
What we learned:
every other publishing venue. The content you track should be distinctive, the
“ ackkk! i just got back
sort of material that no one else could present more effectively than you. A
from mla so my mind is
lively discussion and presentation help to define a sense of community and
stuffed with mla learnings
identity.
at the moment!!! sorry, but
i can't answer this
If you want to search for other people's posts on their blogs, here are two of the
more robust (in my modest opinion) search engines that specialize in indexing
question at the moment.”
weblogs:
Editor - perhaps we learned
that too many conferences can
* Technorati - http://www.technorati.com/. This is one of the biggies, and it is be too much of a good thing??
able to search through almost 29 million blogs. One of the handy features
include searching for blogs by subject; however this feature is not perfect. For
instance a search for dermatology blogs retrieves only eight hits
(http://www.technorati.com/blogs/dermatology).
* Google Blog Search - http://blogsearch.google.com/. This is a powerful search
engine for self-publishing weblogging content. The good thing is that many of
the standard Google commands are supported. For instance, you can search
blogs by author (inpostauthor:) or by words in title (inblogtitle:). For instance,
let's use some command language to see posts on my blog- inpostauthor:Eugene
Barsky blogurl:http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/
I definitely agree, not everyone is born to blog, but blogging deserves a close
look, not only because of its simplicity, but also because of its potential to open
a communication channel and a new zone for professional practice, particularly
in our specialization of health sciences librarianship.
* This is a condensed version of an article to appear in JCHLA / JABSC 27: 33-34
(2006)

22. Page 22 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
DEL . ICIO . US: A S OCIAL B OOKMARKING S YSTEM
Patricia L. Foster, Library Assistant, Woodward Library, UBC
Scenario: You've accidentally deleted your Firefox profile and with it all of your
carefully collected resource bookmarks! Oh no! Fast forward to a free, stable,
web-based social bookma rking system that can be accessed from any com puter, has a
unique URI for referrals, a subscription feature and metatags for searching. Two such
What we’re gonna do system s are fu rl (http://w ww .furl.net/) and del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/), with
about it: del.icio.us being currently the most popular and a personal favourite.
“ More efficient
collection development”
Del.icio.us is based on a folksonomy tagging system. You may recall taxonomies from
high school biology. A taxonomy is a classification system that categorizes living
organisms by phylum and genus. A folksonomy is similarly a classification system, but
one b ased on ind ividual users' perso nal m eanings. Acc ording to the Wik ipedia entry
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy):
"The freely chosen labels – called tags – help to improve search engine's effectiveness
because content is categorized using a familiar, accessible, and shared vocabulary.
The labeling proce ss is called tagging ."
For each b ook ma rk you add to your a ccou nt you can create a series o f tags. T his
allows other users to search a variety of topics efficiently and subscribe to tags of
interest to them. For example, if you wish to learn more about the popular Ruby
programming language, a subscription to the Ruby tag will direct all new bookmarks
with that tag to be delivered to your account inbox. They can then be added to your
account if you wish to include them in your collection.
Del.icio.us is not just limited to being a collection of favorite websites for
entertainm ent. It can be used, for exa mple, as a resource list for a com pany project,
a professor's reading list for students, or a business professional's referral page that
shows his or her colleagues what is new in their field. An interesting aspect of free
web-based software is that often the
product is repurposed by the user. The user
in fact becomes the developer by finding
new and innovative uses for the software.
Generally the del.icio .us w ebsite is w ell
orga nized a nd intuitiv e for the new user.
The possibilities for uses are inexhaustible.
However, the instructions for setting up a
tag subscription are virtually non-existent
and it took even an experienced webbie like
me a while to figure out how to set up my
inbox to receive entries for the tags I
wished to su bscribe to.

23. HLABC FORUM Page 23
G ETTING TO K NOW Y OU : A M EMBER P ROFILE OF J ULIE M ASON
An inte rview of Julie Mason, (Librarian, Chilliwack Gen eral Ho spital, Fraser H ealth
Authority; Julie.Maso n@frase rhealth.ca)
By our k een re porter Linda How ard (Librarian, Surre y Mem orial, Fraser H ealth A uthority
Linda.Howard@fraserhealth.ca)
Julie Mason is a librarian with the Fraser Health Authority based at Chilliwack
General Hospital. She provides library services to staff, medical residents and
physicians at Chilliwack General Hospital, MSA Hospital in Abbotsford, Mission
Hospital and Hope Hospital. She has held this position for the past 18 months.
Julie has a BA in Speech Sciences and an MLS from UBC. She lives in Abbotsford
with her husband Mike. Linda Howard recently interviewed Julie for the Forum.
Question: What attracted you to librarianship?
What we learned:
Answer: My mother, a teacher, took me to the library often when I was growing
“ Keynote speaker and the
up. We'd bring home 2 or 3 bags full of books! I also spent a lot of time in
websites she mentioned in
libraries as a student. I always felt libraries play a strong role in the community
her presentation. and ....I
and are essential for lifelong learning; this made me feel that librarianship was
always love to hear what
an important profession. I am the eldest of three so I was involved in helping my
Dean and Eugene are up to
sisters do research for their assignments and assisting them with finding
information. Librarianship feels like a natural role for me and it was an obvious
these days...”
choice.
Question: What do you like most about your job?
Answer: There are always challenges—new issues and challenges are emerging
all the time. I enjoy the academic environment, and the staff and residents at
Chilliwack General Hospital seem to really appreciate the work I do. There is
also a sense of camaraderie among the health librarians that I enjoy. This job is
an opportunity for continuous learning.
Question: What is one of the most interesting and challenging questions you
have had recently?
Answer: To find how to calculate the intraocular lens power prior to performing
cataract surgery on patients who have already had Photorefractive Keratectomy
(or Lasik surgery).
Question: Tell me a little about where you grew up.
Answer: I grew up in Richmond and went to school there from kindergarten to
high school. My mother is a teacher, so my family put great emphasis on school
and libraries. I spent a lot of time at Richmond Public Library. Libraries were
the centre of this community.
Question: What are you currently reading?
Answer: I just finished reading "The Kite Runner." I found it moving and
astounding. It wasn't a book you can take lightly.

24. Page 24 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 2
Question: Where did you meet your husband?
Answer: I met Mike via an online dating website—we both noticed that we had
so much in common. We will have been married a year this July.
Question: What do you like to do for fun?
Answer: I really enjoy our home theatre for watching films and television
What we’re gonna do shows. I also enjoy exploring parks and hiking. I am starting to get interested
about it: in artistic photography and am eager to learn more.
"Try to find some
champions to establish Question: What is a recent film that you liked?
an eHealth Library in Answer: We recently rented a DVD called Water. It was about a very young
Alberta." widow in India, early in the 20th century. The movie depicted the struggle
between preserving traditional values and the movement towards human
rights and liberties. It's a beautiful film. Very touching.
Question: Do you have any professional or personal goals you have identified
for the future?
Answer: I would like to further develop my skills as a health sciences librarian
by pursuing continuing education opportunities and reading as much as I can.
As for personal goals, I'm dreaming of touring Europe and Asia someday...
Question: What is one of your most visited web sites?
Answer: So many of the requests I receive have to do with guidelines and
standards of practice, so I find that the CMA Infobase is a website that I use
regularly for clinical practice guidelines.
Thanks for letting me get to know you a little better, Julie!
A C ONFERENCE IN C YBERSPACE
Patricia L. Foster, Library Assistant, Woodward Library, UBC
The HigherEdBlogCon 2006 – "Transforming Academic Communities with New
Tools of the Social Web" (http://www.higheredblogcon.com/) – was an online
conference held April 3-28, 2006. This innovative conference was planned by
participants from 30 North American institutions using wiki social software.
The wiki acted as an online collaborative tool for developing and planning
group projects. The organizers created a weblog which was used as a website
for the conference, with the lectures presented in a variety of formats.
Every kind of social software was in the mix: blogs, wikis, RSS,
podcasting…you name it! The presenters used this social software to connect
with other presenters, librarians, educators, researchers and students.
Interactivity was encouraged by asking virtual conference participants to post
comments on the presentations, discuss them in their own blogs and submit
reviews for future publication. As a professional library assistant and social
software fanatic I was keenly interested in the second week's topic: The
Library & Information Resources

25. HLABC FORUM Page 25
( http://www.higheredblogcon.com/index.php/library-information-resources/ ).
It was right up my alley and I planned on writing a review for my blog once I had
finished the conference. Brian Lamb of UBC Office of Learning Technology offers
some screen shots and commentaries of the conference on his blog: (
http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/brian/archives/024860.html ). The plenary I
participated in was entitled, "Patron's in the Driver's Seat: Give Advanced
Tool-Sets to Library Patrons" (
http://www.higheredblogcon.com/index.php/patrons-in-the-drivers-seat-giving-
advanced-tool-se ts-to-library-patrons/ ) by John Blyberg of Ann Arbor District
Library. There were two issues raised by Blyberg that caught my attention. The
What we learned:
first item I considered was the "virtual card catalogue." As Woodward Library is a
“ That I know much more
biomedical research library, allowing patrons the ability to create their own
than I thought I did (and
inventories of previously used resources as well as items of interest would be of
still have so much more to
great benefit. This has definitely been on the wish list of many a researcher.
learn - ie grey lit)”
Moreover, being able to create lists that the public can then view by going to a
unique URI would be an added bonus. For example, a course instructor would be
able to refer students and colleagues to a URI that features a list of resources he
or she has been looking at.
The second item is the library patron's ability in the future to add content to the
collection. As John Blyberg mentioned this might include historical photographs
and potentially other media such as podcasts of conferences and political
speeches. Recently I attended the Northern Voice 2006 blogging conference
where podcasting and the subsequent posting of these casts on blogs acted as a
record of the event and allowed access to those who were not able to attend
lectures in person.
I enjoyed this style of conferencing. It was very convenient with no travel
involved or high conferences fees. I participated in the lectures and listened to
the podcasts at my convenience and I was also able to initiate some global
conversation on these topics by posting comments and writing about them in my
blog (http://careerspaceezine.com). I googled my name recently and found that
a librarian in Saskatchewan has bookmarked my blog in the social bookmarking
site Furl! However, despite my satisfaction with this experience I still prefer
meeting people in the real world. I would argue that while information is useful
(and addictive) the people who create, research, and explore their own ideas
and inspirations are intriguing in their own right and we miss something of their
personalities in cyberspace. I would suggest that future online conferences be a
combination of cyberspace and "press the flesh."
What we learned at CHLA/ABSC 2006:
"BC natives lie about how much rain they get."