Jammin’ with the Information Flow was the theme of the Southern Chapter meeting at the historic Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, October 28 to November 1, 2009. The conference General Sessions kept up with the theme:

  • I’m All Shook Up…How to stay Ahead of the Constantly Changing Medical Information Business by Dr. Scott Strayer.  Dr. Strayer talked about the clinical resources and how clinicians need 2 kinds of tools—one to alert them to new information and one to help them find the information again! (“hunters and foragers”).
  • Future Trends and opportunities in Health Care for Libraries by Dr. Daniel Masys presented us with the challenge to help clinicians “select the right subset of information presented in the most effective way for a given problem or patient”.
  • Health Care in Memphis as Reflected in the Past by Willie Bearden, who drifted off topic to a delightful short history of Memphis, cotton, the blues and the South.

There was plenty of opportunity for Chapter members to participate in the meeting with 2 poster sessions and 2 sessions of contributed papers. In the afternoon of the second day there was a panel discussion on Surviving Hard Times. Several Library Directors talked about budget cuts, walking away from the “Big Deal”, embezzlement, and getting out of the library.

The Hospital Librarians Luncheon featured an excellent talk by Jan Orick from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on the Business of Negotiating for Hospital Librarians. (Jan also pointed us to more resources at the SEA/NNLM website.) Marilyn Teolis from Baptist Hospital in Nashville was named Hospital Librarian of the Year.

MLA held an afternoon session for new members and library school students. It was interesting to note that most of the students were getting their Masters Degree through distance education.

The banquet featured the rockin’ sounds of the Mighty Electric St. Jude Band (formerly Shadyac’s Electric Hair Tonic). The band is volunteer-based and performs solely for the benefit of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Mighty Electric St. Jude Band

Mighty Electric St. Jude Band