Happy upcoming Medical Librarians Month! The Toronto Health Libraries Association would love to hear about how you are celebrating your medical library, and how you promote awareness throughout your organization.

We will be hosting a virtual event on October 22nd from 2:00 to 3:00 pm via Zoom to showcase the different activities going on in our GTA area health and medical libraries. We invite you to submit your ideas for lightning talks or other short presentations (5-10 minutes maximum) to secretary@thla.ca by October 4th, 2019. This is a great opportunity to get a quick snapshot of what your colleagues are doing and see all the different ways we advertise our programs and services!

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact any of the THLA executive committee members.

The summer is almost over (we can’t believe it either!) and to celebrate, THLA is hosting a get together at the Firkin! We would love to celebrate (or mourn?) the end of summer and the start of fall with all our Toronto area colleagues. 

If you’d like to attend, please let our Secretary know before September 11th so we can ensure we have enough space for you and your crew. Bring your health, library, Toronto-area and/or social loving friends!

Tl;dr:

What: THLA End of Summer Social

Where: Firkin on Bloor (81 Bloor St. East, @ Bloor & Yonge)

When: Thursday September 19, 5:30-8:30

Who: All GTA health sciences, hospital, health library folks! Non-THLA members are welcome and encouraged to join.

How: RSVP to secretary@thla.ca before September 11

Please join us for the Toronto Health Library Association Annual General Meeting and Dinner!

This year, we will be gathering at the Queen and Beaver, on Tuesday April 9th, at 5:30pm

Here is a Map to the venue located at 35 Elm St, Toronto

Why Build A Graphic Medicine Collection?

We are delighted to have Dr. Shelley Wall as our guest speaker who will introduce the field of graphic medicine (the intersection of comics and healthcare), outline its relevance to narrative medicine and health humanities, and point to some key resources for those interested in learning more.

Shelley Wall (MScBMC PhD) is an assistant professor in the Biomedical Communications Graduate Program at the University of Toronto, where she teaches courses in graphic medicine as well as pathological and neuroanatomical illustration. She has been involved in the graphic medicine community for many years—as a creator, scholar, conference organizer, and, most recently, a founding member of the Graphic Medicine International Collective. As Illustrator-in-Residence in the UofT Faculty of Medicine, she offers workshops in graphic medicine and other aspects of the visual health humanities to medical trainees and healthcare professionals.

Please RSVP before Friday April 5th by submitting payment and selecting your dinner options below. The cost to attend is $36 (members); $46 (non-members); $26 (student or retired).

Thank you to those who have already renewed their 2019 membership fees

If you still need to renew your fees, please click here.  If you prefer to pay by cash or cheque at the event, please contact Raluca Serban (treasurer@thla.ca) directly before April 5th with your meal choices. 

We look forward to seeing you on April 9^th! 

THLA AGM

Member $36.00 CAD Non-member $46.00 CAD Students/Retired $26.00 CAD

Entree Menu

The Q&B Hand Chopped Cheese Burger with Bacon Haddock & Chips with Mushy Peas & Tartare Sauce Stilton & Peppercorn Bangers with Mash & Shallot Gravy Mushroom Pithivier with Young Leaves (V) Roast Chicken & Spiced Ratatouille with Parsnip Crisps (GF)

Dessert Menu

Sticky Toffee Pudding Flourless Chocolate Torte (GF) Fat Rascals Cookies & Ice Cream No dessert

The Toronto Health Libraries Association (THLA) is looking for a new President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Webmaster. All of these positions are great opportunities for professional development, to meet fellow health information professionals (including both librarians and library technicians) and to help plan activities for the THLA membership. Come lend us your talents and be a leader in the health information profession.

Duties of the President-Elect: “The President-Elect shall act in the absence of the President, assist the President in the performance of duties, act as Programme Coordinator and perform other duties as assigned by the Executive.” A three year commitment is expected for the position (one year as President-Elect, one year as President, and one year as Past-President). 

Duties of the Secretary: “The Secretary shall keep a record in minutes of the proceedings of Association meetings and shall have custody of all books, records and papers of the Association, except such as shall be in the custody of other persons authorized to have possession by resolution of the Executive Committee.” The Secretary shall be elected for one term of two years, and may elect to serve for a second consecutive term of office. 

Duties of the Treasurer: “The Treasurer shall supervise the collection of, and keep on deposit the funds and securities of the Chapter; keep a full, correct and clear record of the financial transactions of the Chapter, supporting all disbursements with proper vouchers; cause a register of all Members of the Chapter to be maintained; see that the funds of the Chapter are disbursed as directed by the Chapter executive committee; prepare sections within the Chapter Annual Report, as necessary; and perform such other duties as may be designated by the Chapter executive committee from time to time. The Treasurer shall be elected for one term of two years, and may elect to serve for a second consecutive term of office. 

Duties of the Webmaster: “The Webmaster shall maintain the chapter website, and shall attend executive meetings. The Webmaster shall also perform other duties, as required.”The Webmaster will serve a two year term, with unlimited renewals at the agreement of the executive committee members and the appointee.

You can nominate yourself or a colleague who is a THLA member in good standing (written consent of the nominee is required) and include the names and contact information of two THLA members. Please send in your nominations by April 5, 2019. If you have any questions or would like to send in a nomination, please contact the THLA Executive Committee by emailing: president@thla.ca

Please save the date for the Toronto Health Libraries Association Annual General Meeting and Dinner! 

When: Tuesday April 9^th, 2019 at 5:30pm

Where: The Queen and Beaver, 35 Elm St. Toronto

Tickets and further information for this event will be available soon

This year we are pleased to welcome as our keynote speaker, Shelley Wall, AOCAD, MScBMC, PhD.  Dr. Wall is a medical illustrator, and holds a position as faculty mentor with the Collaborative Graduate Program in Women’s Health at the University of Toronto. She is also a member of the Coalition for Research in Women’s Health at the Women’s College Research Institute. Her areas of focus in research include, medical illustration, promoting health literacy and the use of plain language in medicine, and using the visual narrative as a part of health communication. Dr Wall also co-organized the July 2018 conference, Comics & Medicine: Navigating the Margins, held at the University of Toronto.

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations is pleased to announce that it has committed to partner with UNESCO International Year of Indigenous languages, as part of its ongoing work to advance the calls to action that were highlighted in the Canadian government’s Truth and Reconciliation Report, as related to cultural heritage institutions. For more information, please read the CFLA-FCAB press release from March 13, 2019.

As many of you may know, the THLA is teaming up with the GHHLA (Golden Horseshoe Health Libraries Association) to co-host the 2020 CHLA/ABSC conference to be held in Niagara Falls! There will be many opportunities to hone your leadership skills and gain valuable experience organizing our annual conference. Tim Tripp and Jo-Anne Petropoulos have kindly stepped forward to act as Planning Committee co-chairs, but there are lots of sub-committees that still need volunteers to step up:

• Program planning sub-committee: co-led by Zach Osborne and Stephanie Sanger
• Continuing Education sub-committee: co-led by Neera Bhatnagar and Daphne Horn
• Local hospitality sub-committee: led by Laura Banfield
• Volunteer coordination sub-committee: co-led by Sandy Culley and Victoria Chambers
• Partner relations sub-committee: led by Juanita Richardson
• Publicity/PR sub-committee: co-led by Jessica Babineau and Lisa Battistella

There are lots of interesting opportunities for helping out. If you would like to contribute to building this exciting event, please contact: tim.tripp@uhn.ca or president@thla.ca

Come join the THLA for our next Journal Club meeting, on Thursday February 21st, 2019, at Pizzeria Via Mercanti!

We will start gathering at 5:30 pm and the discussion of the article of choice will begin closer to 6:00 pm. Here is a map to the venue located @ 87 Elm St.

Zach Osborne will lead our discussion of the freely available article:

Fobazi Ettarh. “Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe (2018).

All you have to do is read the article, form some opinions about it, and come for some great food, ready to talk!

Please RSVP before Monday February 18th to president@thla.ca

Have you renewed your membership for 2019? If not, you can make your payment online via PayPal on the THLA website here or fill out the membership form and pay by cheque. THLA members in good standing who are participating in Journal Club are eligible for CE credits.

To help you informally appraise the methods and findings of the study, we have put together a list of questions you can use (if you like) for most articles – with no math required! Just download and print this THLA Journal Club Assessment Sheet PDF.

We look forward to seeing you there!

On behalf of the THLA, we invite you to attend this year’s Joint Holiday Social on Tuesday, December 11th at the Arts & Letters Club. All details and tickets available here.

Join your colleagues from special libraries and information centres across Toronto and the GTA to celebrate the holiday season! The evening will feature a professional headshot photographer, words from participating associations, awards, and door prize draws, not to mention food, drinks, and opportunities to connect with others in the Toronto special libraries community.

We are very excited to offer a headshot service with a professional photographer during the Joint Holiday Social. You can learn what is offered in the headshot service and purchase a ticket here.

Tickets:

• Students/Retired/Unwaged: $20 (+ service fee)
• Members of SLA, FIAA, THLA, or OLA-SLC: $30 (+ service fee)
• Non-members: $40 (+ service fee)

This year’s Joint Holiday Social is brought to you by the FIAA (Faculty of Information Alumni Association), SLA Toronto, THLA (Toronto Health Libraries Association), and OLA Special Libraries.

Questions and more information, contact Mary Gu, SLA Toronto’s Interim Programming Director.

The THLA executive committee is pleased to announce the winner of the 2018 Toronto Health Library Association Student Paper Award: Congratulations to Mr. Cecil Greenstreet of the University of Toronto’s iSchool!

The Student Paper award is comprised of a $250 prize and a 2019 THLA membership. Please join us in welcoming Mr. Greenstreet to the THLA!