Bay Path University hosts session on trans* health information

On Friday, December 5th, Bay Path's Hatch Library hosted our quarterly winter meeting. In addition to our regular business meeting and institutional updates, we had a presentation from recent Simmons MLS graduate Lani Blechman, about the health information needs of trans* individuals. For our full meeting minutes, visit here and for a list of the resources highlighted by Lani, visit here.

WHMIC teams up with MAHSLIN to offer continuing education event

MAHSLIN partnered up with the Western Massachusetts Health Information Consortium Collaborative (WMHIC) to host a CE event, Ninja Strategies and Labyrinthine Travels in Librarianship.

Details on the program follow:

Location: Baystate Health Conference Center
Date: Friday, September 26

Time: 9:00am-12:45pm

Session 1:
Ninja Teaching: Stealth Strategies to Conquer Any Teaching Scenario In this interactive session, participants will identify effective teaching strategies and practice implementing them. The session will focus on three common teaching scenarios for librarians, including:
1. One-to-One (e.g., Medical resident walks into the library and asks for a tutorial)
2. Small Group Instruction (e.g., A group of five nurses ask for assistance in researching a quality improvement project)
3. Classroom (e.g., Faculty asks for an introduction to library services for incoming allied health students)
Presented by:  Rebecca Blanchard, PhD, MEd, from Baystate Health, Academic Affairs Division. Dr. Blanchard is the director of medical education and research, and focuses her efforts on developing innovative educational curricula, conducting education research, and developing the academic prowess of faculty and staff. She also conducts "ninja teaching" (teaching faculty and staff when they don't realize it) on education and education research.

View the powerpoint from this session here. 

Session 2:
The Use of Labyrinths in Stress Reduction Presented by:  Donna Zucker, RN, PhD, FAAN, from University of Massachusetts, School of Nursing.

Dr. Zucker researches the prevention of communicable diseases and the efficacy of behavioral modifications for those at high risk of addiction, contracting hepatitis C or HIV.  With the Sheriff's Office of Hampshire County she has initiated two programs with incarcerated offenders:  a peer education program to prevent the spread of communicable diseases and the development of a labyrinth walking curriculum.  In this latter project, Dr. Zucker worked with a landscape architecture student to develop an outdoor labyrinth at the county jail.  Currently she is completing a labyrinth walking study in high stress library environments.  Data indicates that labyrinth walking is highly satisfying and reduces stress.  Participants will have an opportunity to walk a portable labyrinth.

View the powerpoint from this session here. Find a labyrinth near you here.

GCC hosts summer meeting

On Friday, June 6th, Greenfield Community College hosted the WMHIC group for the summer quarterly meeting. Following the business meeting and institutional updates, GCC librarian, Liza Harrington, and GCC science faculty, Amanda Hyde, presented on their ACRL Assessment in Action project from the past year. Slides from their presentation are available here, and their full report (as well as the poster they presented at ALA Annual 2014) is available on the GCC library website.

Mt. Holyoke hosts an Affordable Care Act Information Session

This past Friday, WMHIC members gathered at the Mt. Holyoke College Library to admire their Chihuly statue and learn about the Affordable Care Act. Heather Goodhind, MPH (Navigator Coordinator at Caring Health Center), and Christie Hager, the regional director for region 1 of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, presented. The full text of our minutes available here.