With the addition of Michelle Burda, Network and Advocacy Coordinator, we are pleased to announce the MAR is now fully staffed.
Michelle will plan Network member programs, with an emphasis on advocacy and changing roles for the information professional; coordinate outreach activities to hospital librarians; and manage the Region’s membership and DOCLINE program.
Michelle has spent the past 17 years in a hospital library, first as a medical librarian, and then as library director. Her most recent position was as reference and consumer health librarian at the UPMC Shadyside Libraries.
To meet the rest of the staff, please see the December 2011 HSLS Update article, “Meet the Staff of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region.”
As a regional medical library, our outreach mandate includes offering awards for specialized projects and technology, along with providing support and training opportunities to health sciences librarians, unaffiliated health professionals and consumer populations. In December, we provided funding (http://nnlm.gov/mar/funding/funded.html), ranging from $2,000-$10,000, for 35 member projects to support such efforts.
Currently, we are in the process of forming our Special Advisory Groups and the Regional Advisory Committee. These groups will provide valuable guidance for MAR programs and activities. In March and April, committee members will meet in Pittsburgh.
~ Renae Barger