Meeting Minutes
STATE ADVISORY COUNCIL ON
LIBRARIES
Elmwood Christian Church, Elmwood, NE
June 26, 2009
MINUTES
DRAFT : Minutes subject to change at the November 20, 2009 meeting
Advisory Council members present: Patty Birch, Pam
ohmfalk, Ceri Daniels, Kathy Ellerton, Steve Fosselman, Joan Giesecke, Cindy
Gitt, Pat Gross, Gretchen Healy, Pat Leach, Marty Magee, Trine McBride, MeMe
Smith, Ellen Weed and Glenda Willnerd. Commission Staff: Maria Medrano-Nehls,
Richard Miller, Mary Jo Ryan, and Rod Wagner.
Welcome and
Introductions
Pat Gross welcomed members to the meeting. Pat also thanked
Pastor Mike for the use of the church facilities and thanked the women's church
group for providing lunch. Introductions were made around the table.
Approval of the Agenda: A motion was made by MeMe
Smith and seconded by Marty Magee to approve the agenda. Motion approved.
Approval of Minutes (March 13, 2009): Pat Leach
stated that page 5 should read "Arnold Heights branch library is due to move
into the new school facility this fall." Glenda Willnerd stated that page 8
should read "the school district's enrollment has increased past 34,000
students." Pat Gross stated that
page 5 should read "she had been informed by her superintendent that she would
be assigned responsibilities for another school library in addition to her
current library." A motion was made by Ceri Daniels and seconded by Patty Birch
to approve the minutes with corrections. Motion approved.
Reports/Discussion
Nebraska Library
Commission Reports
Federal Library Programs Update
LSTA Reauthorization and Priorities - Rod Wagner stated
that the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) is up for reauthorization
this year and legislation is expected later in the year. Senator Jack Reed from
Rhode Island is expected to introduce the reauthorization legislation in the
Senate. At the upcoming ALA conference, the ALA Legislative Committee will lead
discussion about the legislation process. The LSTA appropriation for the
upcoming federal fiscal year starting October 1 is not close to being worked
out. The Obama administration has recommended a slight increase in LSTA
appropriations.
National Library Legislative Day - Rod Wagner stated that
National Library Legislative Day was held in May in Washington D.C.
Nebraska library representatives included
Library Commission members Jean Ahrens and Carol Spencer. There were also
representatives from the Nebraska Library Association - Jenni Puchalla, NLA
legislative committee chair, and from the Nebraska Educational Media Association
- Robin Schrack, NEMA president. Brenda Ealey, Southeast Library System
Administrator and Kathy Tooker, Eastern Library System Director also
participated in National Library Legislative Day. Wagner said that legislative
day is a good opportunity to meet and talk with Nebraska's congressional
delegation - usually the senator's or representative's staff person who covers
education and library issues. Legislative day participants discuss current
library related legislation and policies. Briefings held prior to legislative
day provide updates on the status of current legislation. Next year, June 24-30,
2010, ALA's annual conference will be held in Washington D.C. Legislative Day
will be held as part of the annual conference allowing more people to
participate.
2009-2011 State Biennium Budget - Rod Wagner reported that
the Library Commission's biennium state fund's appropriation is equal to its
appropriation level for the current fiscal year, which is in-line with
appropriations for most state agencies.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - Library Components
- Rod Wagner reported that libraries are as eligible entities in several federal
economic stimulus programs, but are not specifically targeted for funds.
Programs that libraries can participate in are available on a competitive
application basis. Early this year, the American Library Association asked state
library agencies to identify projects in their states that could be helped with
stimulus funds. Nebraska's response included 39 public libraries and one
community college library that were at some stage in planning for a future
facility project, though some were not "shovel ready" as intended by
legislation. Library projects included new library buildings, major renovations,
remodeling, and energy conservation. The Nebraska Energy department will have
over a two-year span around $40 million dollars in additional funds for energy
related projects. Some of these funds will be available for public facilities.
Public libraries may also benefit from economic stimulus funding for expanding
and upgrading broadband services with priority for rural areas. Broadband grant
funds will be awarded through the Department of Commerce and Department of
Agriculture. Successful broadband projects will need to include benefits for
schools, libraries, and health care. Library Commission staff have participated
in conference calls and meetings to obtain information about broadband grant
funding and other economic stimulus programs. Commission staff has also met with
Tom Rolfes from the Nebraska Information Technology Commission to discuss
library broadband service needs and options.
Rod Wagner stated that a portion of the economic stimulus
funds are for use at the discretion of the Governor. Governor Heineman chose to
use Nebraska's allocation for K-12 education funding. Because the stimulus funds
will replace state funds that would otherwise be budgeted for aid to schools,
the stimulus funds will help address the state's tax revenue shortfall. Pat
Gross stated that the stimulus money for K-12 schools has made the state aid to
schools unfair and unbalanced. Three schools in the panhandle will receive
increases and the rest of the schools will lose money in the state aid formula.
Millard public schools will receive $18 million while Scottsbluff schools will
have $810,000 reduced from their state aid and Gering will lose $19,000. Lincoln
and Omaha public schools will receive an increase in the millions from state aid
funding.
Librarians for the 21st Century Grant
Application Status - Mary Jo Ryan stated that the Library Commission's
application for a Librarians for the 21st Century grant. Mary Jo
stated that there were many more applications submitted than approved for grant
funding. The IMLS awarded about 30 grants and all went to universities, except
two regional library systems and three public libraries. There were a couple of
grants that went to education associations and one state library which was part
of a consortium of five state libraries.
Mary Jo stated that not receiving a grant was
disappointing. Two of the grant reviewers gave Nebraska's application the
highest possible scores and others rated the Commission's application in the mid
range. Some of the comments mentioned that the application didn't have a strong
enough diversity component, and that the application lacked specific details
about how to assure the program was utilized. Mary Jo said information about
grants and the recipients could be found at www.imls.gov. Mary Jo said we need to
re-consider our needs and ask what we can do to make our project more fundable.
Maria Medrano-Nehls asked if they gave any recommendations as to what they were
looking for when they stated we didn't focus enough on diversity. Mary Jo stated
that the one comment on diversity was that we were not specific enough about how
we would contact the Hispanic groups. Mary Jo said that she was surprised by the
comment because she thought the application was very specific. Mary Jo stated
the next grant application due date is December 15, 2009.
Steve Fosselman asked if completion of the community
college library services program courses translates into anything for the next
step in library science education. Does the program lead to certification? Marty
Magee stated that the program is now called Library Information Services
program. There are six classes and four of the classes are transferable for an
undergraduate degree.
Pam Bohmfalk asked it behooves a public library to
encourage staff that are non-MLS and are always going to be in a non-MLS
position to take these classes and is there going to be some kind of
certification designation for the library staff or library. Pam asked why staff
should go through the LIS program instead of the certification process. Does
this program diminish the basic skills class? Does the program make the student
become a more professional staff person? What is the staff's incentive to enroll
and complete the program?
Marty Magee stated that if a person applies for a library
job and has a certificate showing the completion of the program and the other
person doesn't, who would the library hire? Most likely the library is going to
choose the person with the better education and although it's not an MLS it is
an asset and benefit for libraries. Maria Medrano-Nehls stated that she has
completed the courses and can say that a lot of the comments made during
discussion by people working in small libraries were that they were thankful to
be taking the classes. They learned things they didn't know before because it
wasn't in their regular job duties to know. The courses also gave them
confidence to talk with library board members and foundation members because
they now possessed knowledge and information that supported their
responsibilities and work in the library. They could say "I learned this and we
shouldn't be doing this or our policy doesn't look right." Maria said that when
she read those comments she thought it was great because these are people who
probably never stood up and said a thing because they didn't feel confident
enough with their knowledge, but now that they have gained knowledge they are
pushing to use what they learned.
Mary Jo Ryan said that currently all the basic skills
courses must be completed to be certified but the LIS classes can be taken and
substituted for the basic skills courses. Mary Jo stated that a session will be
held during the NLA/NEMA conference to discuss public library accreditation. The
session will provide information about the accreditation review process and
serve as a chance for suggestions for accreditation guidelines changes. If you
think that having your staff receive an LIS certificate should increase your
level of accreditation you should speak about that too. Maria stated that persons who have completed the program up to now have
never received a certificate or anything verifying that they completed the
program. Rod Wagner stated that he talked with Eric Jones at Central Community
College about this and Dr. Jones is aware of the issue. It should be possible to
produce a document that gives recognition to those who have completed the
library courses.
Rod Wagner responded to Steve Fosselman's question by
saying that an LIS designation in the certification program has been discussed
but not acted on. Rod said that how completion of LIS courses could be
recognized in public library accreditation hasn't been addressed. Pam Bohmfalk
asked if it was possible given that there is such a slant toward granting money
to higher education that there might be a possibility for the Library Commission
to partner with some institution of higher learning. Maybe it would be wise to
work with Central Community College to collaborate on a grant. Pat Gross stated
that these education opportunities were not in place twenty years ago so it was
good that the Library Commission offered the four basic skills courses for
certification. Pat stated that the LIS program should be strongly supported and
promoted to keep librarians in the field. It is important to have money for
scholarships because most library staff or libraries can't afford to pay for
their staff to take the LIS or MLS classes.
Mary Jo stated that because the Commission did not receive
a federal grant the Commission's doesn't have funding for scholarships for
library science education scholarships. Mary Jo said that the Commission hears
from many people on a weekly basis who are looking for scholarships. Some are
students half way through a program but can't afford to pay for classes or
books. Pam Bohmfalk stated that the Nebraska Library Association has two
scholarships that they offer each year. At last weeks' board meeting they were
told only one application was received for one of the scholarships and no
applications for the other. The scholarships are not huge amounts but can be
used to pay for library science classes. One of the scholarships is for $1,000
and the other is for $250. MeMe Smith said that one year she applied for the
$1,000 scholarship and received it as well as the $250 scholarship because no
one applied for it. The applications for these scholarships can be found on
http://www.nebraskalibraries.org/.
Marty Magee recommended that all available scholarships for further education or
to attend a conference, and memberships, be posted on the Library Commissions
web site.
Nebraska Library Association - Mary Jo Ryan stated that the
Nebraska Library Commission partnered with the Nebraska Library Association and
received a grant from an anonymous foundation. The foundation provided $10,000
to be used for student internships. Twenty libraries applied for the internships
and ten received a $1,000 grant. Libraries awarded a grant can be seen at
/news/content/2460.html.
Libraries described great ideas on how to use their intern. Pam Bohmfalk
said it was a great experience to make these internship grants available. Pam
said it is very important to offer scholarships and internships so it makes it
more imperative that we seek funds to make these happen. Mary Jo Ryan stated
that Kathryn Brockmeier is the Commission staff member who wrote the grant which
will allow the ten internships to be possible.
Pam Bohmfalk reported that the Nebraska Library Association
had very successful spring meetings. The NLA board held a planning session prior
to last week's board meeting. In early June the NLA issued a web survey to
members asking for their input. Many responded to the survey. The board reviewed
survey responses and brought in vice-chairs of sections and roundtables and got
input from them. The NLA is planning and preparing for the annual conference in
LaVista at the new conference center. NLA is trying to keep conference costs to
a minimum. Many people say they don't attend conference because it's too
expensive but Pam believes this is one of the least expensive conferences she
has ever attended. The conference will include sessions covering many topics.
Pam said librarians tend to sell themselves short in what their combined energy
and education is really worth. If you look at the conference that lawyers, city
officials and utility people attend ours is very cheap. MeMe Smith stated that
library directors should encourage their city council to include money in
library budgets for library staff to attend conference and not just for the
director.
Pam stated that no one has been nominated for the awards
given by NLA. These awards are an opportunity to recognize people who have made
contributions to our profession and/or the body of literature of Nebraska or
writing about Nebraska. Rod Wagner asked if the citations committee takes
initiative in identifying people for the awards. Pam said the citations
committee can initiate nomination of a suggested person. MeMe Smith asked who
awards information is sent to. The response was that this information goes out
on e-mail listservs. Pam stated it is very important that library boards,
trustees, and foundations receive this information. Pam stated that the
editorial committee was charged with changing the
NLAQ from a paper journal to
electronic journal and they are on track to making the change with the first
issue of 2010. There will continue to be an avenue for people who would like a
print copy.
Nebraska Educational Media Association: Glenda Willnerd
stated that NEMA president Robin Schrack attended the National Library
Legislative Day in Washington, D.C. NEMA
recently held elections and the new officers are: Betty Meyer - President-Elect;
Lynn Wragge - Treasurer; Laura Pietsche & Stacy Lickting - Board
members-at-large.
This spring NEMA awarded scholarships to: Jackie Davis -
workshop scholarship to attend NETA; Courtney Pentland - continuing education
scholarship; and Theresa Fosnell - presenter scholarship for AASL
NEMA appointed Judy Henning and Lori Umstead to attend the
Learning4Life training seminar. The training summit is part of the
implementation plan for the Standards for the 21st Century Learner.
NEMA will celebrate its 40th Anniversary on
December 1, 2009, activities are being planned to celebrate the occasion. NEMA
will be co-sponsoring the Mid-West 21st Century School Librarians
Conference on June 14 & 15, 2010, in Omaha. Keynote speakers will be Cassandra
Barnett, AASL President-Elect and Pam Berger, editor of
Information Searcher.
Serving Nebraska: using social networking technology and
strategies -
Pat Gross stated that public librarians have a different
need to learn about technology in comparison to school librarians. Pat said
media specialists attempt to stay current with all the new technology and forms
of networking. Many schools will not hire media specialists who do not have
technology knowledge and skills. Pat noted articles in the meeting packets on
technologies for marketing and social networking tools. Pat said that many of
the new networking programs and new technologies are resources both public and
school libraries could use to keep up with patrons needs. Pat said that
technology provides many ways to communicate. New forms of networking, like
Facebook and Twitter, are things children and teens know and use to communicate
with each other. Unfortunately, many librarians have no knowledge of or do not
use these new technologies. Pat Gross said that it is imperative that we learn
about these new technologies so that we can teach young people the correct way
to use these networking programs.
Mary Jo Ryan said library staff could use these network
programs to share information, get advice, give advice, or just to meet other
librarians. Joan Giesecke said that UNL offers students and staff the ability to
rate books and add subject tags to the actual reference to the library catalog.
Pat Leach said that Lincoln City Libraries allows patrons to add reviews to
books they have read. Pat also stated that she has a blog on the library's
homepage which allows the public to leave her messages. Pat said she is
concerned that people don't understand the difference between personal and
public when using blogs, MySpace and Facebook. Pat said some people don't
understand that everything going on those network sites becomes available to the
public.
Mary Jo Ryan presented a slide show on the "Geek the
Library" program developed by OCLC and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. Geek the Library is an advocacy marketing initiative. Rod Wagner
stated that two libraries were chosen to pilot the program and test marketing
ideas. The two pilot communities are Savannah, Georgia, and Des Moines, Iowa.
OCLC is promoting social networking as an effective approach to market library
services.
Pam Bohmfalk stated that social networks provide an
opportunity to collect information from patrons. People can respond to surveys
or questions online and are more likely to post comments on a blog or Facebook
page than on a piece of paper that is handed to them at the library.
Council Roundtable
Pat Gross stated that Deb Carlson was unable to attend the
council meeting due to a meeting with the Scottsbluff public library's
architect. Pat said that the library held a community meeting on Tuesday to
present plans for the library building project. Pat stated that Gering public
library completed its children's summer reading program. The Panhandle Library
System will hold its annual meeting in July. The Panhandle Library System and
NEMA will hold a joint training program on August 4. Pat stated that she has
been assigned an additional media center to oversee.
MeMe Smith reported that the Schuyler public library
recently installed computer reservation and print management software with grant
money the library received. During June the library is declaring an amnesty on
fines to encourage people with outstanding fines to renew their library card and
return to using the library. MeMe said the library has a local youth working for
them who is paid with economic stimulus funds from Nebraska Workforce
Development. The library also has a community service worker. The library is
still struggling to get its building project off the ground. Patty Birch
congratulated MeMe on her recent graduation from the University of
Missouri-Columbia, master's degree in library science program.
Patty Birch reported that Mid-Plains Community College is
advertising for a librarian for the McCook Community College which is under the
umbrella of Mid-Plains Community College. Patty spoke to the Dean at McCook
Community College and he said they do not want to replace the librarian with
someone who has a MLS degree or a person with that much education because they
feel they could handle it with their tech person. What they want to do is hire a
person from the North Platte, Mid-Plains College to be the MLS Librarian to
supervise the tech person at the McCook College. Patty believes that the tech
person should take the LIS program so that they would have some understanding of
library services.
Patty stated that Skype is a valuable tool. She used Skype
to work with Marty Magee and Carrie Turner in collaborating on library and
information service courses. The instructors have met as a group to discuss the
program but instructors develop their own class materials.
Patty stated that in her school media specialists are
encouraging school staff to be thinking about standards and 21st
century learning. Patty stated that she has been taking classes on different
forms of social networking to get up to speed because teachers will come to the
media specialist to ask how to use social networking technologies.
Marty Magee passed out some pamphlets and reported that she
recently attended the Medical Library Association conference in Hawaii. The
National Library of Medicine has developed a web site with short tutorials with
various medical topics including Medicare & Medical Resources for the Consumer
Health Librarian, MedlinePlus and GoLocal updates, and MyMedicationList. These
tutorials can be accessed at
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/dist_edu.html
Marty stated that there are also webinars available for
free. Webinars are offered once a month on different National Library of
Medicine databases. Next month's topic will be toxicology. Marty stated that
grants are available from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. The
grants focus on health information literacy, hospital library advocacy, and
emergency preparation. NetLibrary recently ordered 90 eBooks with topics on
library management and technical topics.
Pat Leach reported that Lincoln City Libraries recently
received a grant to update its strategic plan. Pat stated that she recently
received a link to the Columbus, Ohio, Metropolitan Library annual report. The
Columbus library placed its annual report online. The report has a clever
design. Lincoln City Libraries may do
something similar. She thinks this will be a good way to get elected officials
to read the annual report.
Pat stated that on August 18, when the school year begins,
there will be a new public library branch located in the new Arnold elementary
school. The new library is located in an area separated from the city by the
airport and interstate and though there was a library in the location it was
located in an old building. The new library will be open during after school
hours and evenings and is separate from the school media room.
Pat noted the national volunteerism initiative and said
that Lincoln City Libraries is looking for volunteers who would like to put
together a promotional package. Pat said she started a blog on the library's web
page. Pat stated she welcomes volunteers, interns or people from Nebraska
Workforce Development because they bring in fresh ideas and positive attitudes.
The challenge for Lincoln City Libraries is that during economically hard times
people question adding a new service, or buying new materials. Pat said that she
tries to come up with ways to convey that during difficult times you can't stand
still.
Pam Bohmfalk reported that Hastings has a group conducting
a feasibility study on renovating the Hastings public library. Pam said the
library has issued many new library cards this summer. Pam said she is not sure
where the new library card holders are coming from but she thinks some of the
people are probably employees of the company building a new power plant and
their families. Pam stated that the summer reading program was well attended.
Pam recently had the opportunity to teach a computer class for the 55 Plus
program sponsored by the local hospital. Each class was well attended. Pam said
they are having fun with their adult summer reading program. This week the
library held its first annual pie contest. People brought pies which were
judged. Pie and ice cream were sold with money going to the library to purchase
prizes for the adult summer reading group.
Joan Giesecke reported that the UNL libraries will lose
five positions. The UNK library will either lose a few positions or attempt to
reduce costs in other ways. The UNO library may eliminate some staff positions
in response to budget cuts. Joan recently attended an Association of Research
Libraries meeting. She said there are 123 research libraries in the country and
36 have lost staff due to budget cuts. Joan reported that the UNL libraries have
some carry over funding that will be used to renovate part of the periodical
reading room. Half of the room will be turned into mobile computing furniture
and equipment. Steve Shorb, Library Dean at UNO, has taken a one-year leave of
absence to take a position at New York University.
Ellen Weed reported that Norfolk Regional Center recently
installed a new elevator and will be replacing windows. The library was
repainted and new boarder was added. The library received a donation from a past
employee to pay for the improvements. The facility has 90 residents but there
are many prison inmates who are awaiting a spot at the Norfolk regional center.
Ellen said the library has been funded at the same level for the past ten years.
The library lost about one-third of their materials in order to make the library
appropriate for residents. The library is also available to staff. Ellen
encourages the residents to continue to utilize the library upon their release.
Richard Miller stated that the United We Stand and Serve
volunteer program is being promoted by President Obama. President Obama is
trying to get people to volunteer in the hopes that people will volunteer as a
way of life.
Richard said there is a program held by the U.S. Department
of Education called Summer Learning which has a
history of innovation and a proven track record of developing, evaluating, and
promoting summer learning programs designed to improve student achievement and
support positive youth development. Sally Snyder was asked to present at a
broadcast for parents called
Education News that Parents Can Use on June 16
which is part of the summer learning program. The idea of the broadcast was to
give parents ideas to do with and for their kids during the summer so they
wouldn't go back to school having forgot all that they had learned.
Trine McBride reported that the
Ord public library received a Library Improvement Grant from the Library
Commission to purchase a new automation system ( Apollo Biblionix) .
The staff has had training on the new system and now that the staff has had
experience using it they like it. The library is a testing center for the local
college for courses such as the CNA and other medical programs. Once the new
hospital is built the testing will be held there. Trine said she is a little
torn about the testing site being moved but she hopes this will free the library
up for more families to use.
Kathy Ellerton reported that
there are several new library buildings in the Northeast library system region
and more libraries are planning to build or remodel their libraries.
Steve Fosselman reported that the
City of Grand Island had to use financial reserves due to a shortage of
revenues. The city administrator decided to reduce the city budget and restore
the financial reserve. Steve expects budget increases will be lower than the
last few years. He is not sure what future budgets will be like. Steve said he
and his staff know the value of their services. Steve will be preparing a
detailed library budget to show the needs for library services and justify the
library's budget request.
Steve recently had a complaint
from a person about the homeless man in the ladies restroom, homeless people
eating in the lobby. Steve said the few homeless men that frequent the library
come in the mornings grab a book or two and hold their own reading club. Steve
said he assured he would handle the restroom problem but her other complaints
were not viable so he would not take action on them. She felt the homeless men
where someone she didn't want her children around. Steve said there are many
people who don't look homeless but are and we hire them, they volunteer for us
and other organizations. Steve attempts to treat everyone who visits his library
the same. Steve believes the public and staffs perception defines the role of
the library.
Glenda Willnerd reported that
Lincoln public schools media department is ordering a new software program. In
August, media specialist will have training on the new program. Glenda stated
that they have one media specialist who retired and another one who took a
classroom position. There are about 50 media specialists in the Lincoln public
school system. Lincoln public schools are partnering with the family literacy
program to hold a program where 10 students with learning problems are invited
along with their parents to a session where kids are in one room learning
reading skills and parents are in another being taught literacy skills and other
things that can help their child. These classes are being held at cultural
centers and funded by Lincoln Public Schools federal program.
Gretchen Healy reported that she
hasn't heard much information from the Little Priest Tribal library. Gretchen
stated the college is still looking for a Dean and have been for the last six
months. It usually takes up to a year to hire a Dean so she's not sure where
they are in the process. The library received an $11,000 budget cut which was
smaller than Gretchen thought it would be. The library did receive $25,000
appropriation from the tribe which will allow them to hire another person. The
bad part is that they took away some of the college support staff from the
library so that leaves 3 people to run the library. Gretchen said they will
probably have to cut hours of operation due to the small staff. Gretchen stated
that she is currently editing the joint dissertation by the Omaha Tribal
Historian and a friend of hers. They are doing the dissertation for a college in
California. This will be the first time the story of the Omaha tribe will be
told about the people by the people. The title of the book is
Grandfather Remembers and should be
out in a couple of years. It will probably be on CD and be very visual and the
appended audience will be the Omaha people. The Omaha tribe is the most studied
tribe ever but the people have never been able to tell their story their way.
Cindy Gitt reported that Pam
Soreide, Holdrege library director, initiated
some library re-organization activities. The library's children's area has been
re-arranged. This led to a decision to purchase newer copies of some of the
books in the children's area. The library's adult area is now being
re-organized. These changes will also result in space for teens closer to
Cindy's work area. A new Playstation 2, television, games and other items have
been purchased. The internet area has been expanded and additional computers
have been installed. Cindy continues to have Gamers Saturdays with about two
dozen teens in attendance. Space re-organization has allowed for a children's
story and activity room. Cindy stated that the library had good attendance for
the summer reading program.
Maria Medrano-Nehls expressed
appreciation to Marty Magee for the information resources she shares at council
meetings. Maria's husband is on a liver transplant list and Marty's health
information resources are especially helpful. Maria said she uses the health
information sites to monitor her husband's health so that when she takes him for
medical appointments she has a list of questions to ask. Maria stated she
recently took her husband to see his doctor and took her list of questions. The
doctor asked her where she was getting all this information. She told him that
she knew someone from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine who educates
and publicizes sources for consumer health information. The doctor admitted that
he knew nothing of the national network. Maria said that she asked for his
e-mail address and sent him health information resource web sites.
Ceri Daniels reported that at the
law office they have three new attorneys. The new attorneys are officed in
Omaha. Ceri is working with the new attorneys to learn what they want and need.
Ceri said in the ten years that she has worked at the law office she has watched
phone calls decrease and e-mail increase. There is a significant change in work
with this trend as e-mail increases expectation of timely response.
Recommendations and Resolutions:
There were no recommendations or
resolutions.
Adjournment: A Motion was made by
Steve Fosselman and seconded by Joan
Giesecke to adjourn the meeting at 1:45 p.m. Motion approved.