A Trip to Seattle: The MLA 2017 Annual Conference

MLA ’17

Over Memorial Day weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the annual conference of the Medical Library Association in Seattle, Washington. I was there to present a poster on a study my NYMC colleagues and I are currently undertaking, and also to learn from other librarians about trends in the medical library field.

I had never been to an annual conference before, and I was amazed at how packed the schedule was. Luckily, MLA created an app just for the conference, in addition to their print program, which was invaluable in keeping track of all the sessions offered. From the opening ceremony Saturday night until the end of my poster presentation on Tuesday afternoon, I was constantly on the move from one interesting program to the next! It would take a veerrry long blog post to cover everything, so I’ll just go over some highlights of my trip.

1st Touro Learning Strategies Exchange

(CC0 image)

Despite the terrible weather, I headed to Manhattan on Sunday February 12th to attend the First Annual Touro College Faculty Learning Strategies Exchange Conference.  Although geared toward Professors, I figured there would be content that librarians could benefit from since we teach information literacy, and I was right. I learned a lot that I can apply to make my classes more effective.

Winter Library Staff Development Day

While students are enjoying a little time off between semesters, it’s time for Touro Library Staff to take their place in the classroom for a day of professional development. Tomorrow, Tuesday January 24th, librarians and staff from all of our 12 NYC locations, plus colleagues from Nevada, California, Middletown, and the New York Medical College will be coming together at 500 7th Avenue to exchange updates and information.

To facilitate this process, some library locations will be closed during the day on Tuesday. Please call to confirm hours. 

LOEX Pittsburgh: Library Instruction Conference

View of Pittsburgh from the conference hotel

From May 5-8, I had the exciting opportunity to travel to Pittsburgh, PA to attend the 44th Annual LOEX Conference, “Learning from the Past, Building for the Future.” College instruction librarians from all over the US came together to share new ideas, proven techniques, and inspiration with their colleagues. Over two days, I attended ten different sessions on teaching, pedagogy, and instructional technology. Lest you assume it was all academic journals and stodgy librarians, the workshops I participated in touched on a wide range of topics, including hip-hop with a professional DJ/Librarian, Newtonian physics, and surrealist parlor games.

Guest Post: What do you think of when you hear the word graduation?

photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreTouro/photos

For many graduation signifies the end of an educational journey. It’s the end of classes, study groups, and tests. However, it does not have to be the end of your relationship with Touro. Graduation is not only about no longer being a student; it’s about transitioning into an alumnus. That new title comes with certain perks that go beyond just the occasional reunion.

Lynda.com – Free online training from your public library

Lynda.com is an online learning company that helps users “learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals.” They offer video-based online courses in a variety of professional skills – a valuable resource for anybody looking to land a job, move up in their career, excel in the position they have, or just explore an area of interest. There’s something for just about everyone – I just finished a course on Instructional Design that I really enjoyed, but even if that sounds a little dry to you, there’s plenty of other options. 

Stay Networked….

(image courtesy of MorgueFile)

You’ve graduated, you have your degree….now what?!? Joining a professional network can really help get your career off the ground.  It can put you in touch with the individuals that have the power to hire or it can simply provide you with the inspiration and confidence you need to get out there and start interviewing.

METRO’s 2014 Annual Conference

Professional development is vital for librarians.  It allows us to sharpen our skills, become familiar with innovations in the library and archival worlds, and collaborate with colleagues we don’t usually interact with.  All of this helps us to enhance what we do at our home libraries.  With this in mind, I attended the METRO Annual Conference at the Vertical Campus at Baruch College on January 15^th.