GHSLA Update
The Bulletin of the Georgia Health Sciences Library Association
Published 3 times per year
Subscription to print publication included in annual dues2002 Editor: Miriam Hudgins
Mercer University School of Medicine Library & LRC
Update_editor@ghsla.orgGreetings from the President: Spring/Summer 1999, Vol. 19, No. 2
As your new GHSLA president, I welcome and thank you for electing me to this office. I have wanted to be the GHSLA President since I attended the annual GHSLA Meeting at Jekyll Island in the early 90's. At that meeting, Ellen Cooper was the incoming Vice President and Sandra Franklin was the President. I remember having conversations with both of these officers. At the meeting Ellen related to me how she had aspired to be a GHSLA president. I left thinking what a great organization GHSLA was, how nice all the people were and that yes, I wanted to be president. So when I returned to work the next week, I had conversations with Sandra about becoming a GHSLA president. Much to my dismay, she told me that I should first serve on a committee and as an officer before thinking about becoming "President." Sandra's advice was invaluable to me because by being a member of several GHSLA committees and serving on the Executive Board over the past decade as the continuing education chair, as secretary and as vice president, I have learned the workings of the GHSLA organization and I have met and worked with wonderful librarians from all over the state.
I truly believe that GHSLA membership is a good investment in your future. Some of the benefits of membership are the newsletter, the UPDATE, the annual membership directory, the annual meetings, continuing education courses, networking opportunities at annual meetings and the GHSLA new improved web site http://www.emory.edu/WHSCL/REFERENCE/ghsla/. As I write this article, I know that our membership is down. Membership costs you a mere $15.00 and runs through the calendar year Jan.-Dec. If you have not renewed your membership this year, please contact our new membership chair Roxanne Nelson at nelson.r@gain.mercer.edu.
Over the last decade, GHSLA has been ahead of other health sciences library organizations in offering continuing education courses on topics such as creating a web page and evidenced based medicine. Another important achievement has been that the cost of continuing education courses has been affordable to our members. The GHSLA web site had its beginnings in 1995 as a poster session at the Southern Chapter Medical Library Association Meeting in Puerto Rico. GHSLA was one of the first state health sciences library organizations to have its own web site.
With technology constantly advancing our expenses have increased for annual meetings and continuing education courses. Also at our annual meeting at Unicoi in April, a new strategic planning session was conducted. From your imput, new services, such as a listserv, were requested. In order to maintain and offer new services, at the last Executive Board Meeting, we discussed increasing the annual membership dues or raising the annual meeting registration fees. The last GHSLA membership dues increase was over eight years ago. In checking out other state health library organizations, I found that some organizations have categories of membership such as member, student, and institutional and even life. Finally some associations rated membership dues based on salary categories.
To increase the GHSLA membership dues, a vote would be required to make a Bylaws Change. The Executive Board will announce the intent to increase dues at the next annual business meeting in Sea Palms, St. Simons Island March 15-17, 2000. Ballots to vote on dues increase will be mailed out shortly after our annual meeting in St. Simons. We were looking at increasing the present dues from $15.00 to a maximum of $25.00. The Executive Board encourages you to vote in favor of the increase.
On a completely different note, we could increase our annual meeting registration and only offer two C.E. classes at the annual meeting. I would like to hear your opinion about this very important issue. Please contact me at librcb@emory.edu.
- Carolyn M. Brown, President
Last Update: May 2006
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