SCRLC Reports Online, December 2004

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

At the Annual Meeting, the membership elected Bernadette Hodge, Librarian at the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, to represent special libraries for a first term 2005 – 2009. We are delighted to have her join the Board. Here is some information about Bernadette and NYCAMH:

· Bernadette D. Hodge, MLS, MS, RN

Librarian/Information Specialist

In 1991 I earned a Master’s in Library Science at the New York State University at Albany, School of Information Science. Prior to my librarian career, I had an eighteen- year nursing career in clinical, teaching and administrative positions in hospital, public health, and collegial settings and earned a Master’s in Nursing at Russell Sage College, Troy, N.Y. Since 1993 I have been the Librarian/Information Specialist at the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine & Health (NYCAMH), located in Cooperstown, N.Y. where I integrate my nursing and education background with my health science librarian skills to provide information services to the Center’s multidiscipline professional staff.

During 2001-2003 I worked part time as a Reference Librarian at the Fulton Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, N.Y., teaching library resources and served as liaison to the nursing division. Member of SLA, UNYOC/MVLA, and NYLA.

Publications:

Grassroots to Grassfed: Libraries Partner with Local Organizations to Address the Information Needs of Farming Communities in Upstate New York. Hodge, B. and Tanner, R. (2003) in Outreach Services in Academic and Special Libraries, eds. Kelsey, P. and Kelsey S. The Haworth Information Press, Binghamton, NY and co published in (2003) The Reference Librarian, No. 82, 107-124.

Information Seeking Behavior of Occupational Health Nurses: How Nurses Keep Current with Health Information. Lathey, J.W. and Hodge, B. (2001) AAOHN Journal, 49(2), 87-95.

An Occupational Health Nursing Education Program: Relevance to Nurses in Nonoccupational Practice Settings. Hodge, B., Ackerman, S., Evans, C., Erb, T. and Cook, M.L.W. (2002) AAOHN Journal, 50(6), 257-261.

About NYCAMH:

The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine & Health was established 1988 in response to the recognition of the unacceptable high rates of occupational injury and illness in New York State’s agricultural industry. The NYCAMH Library & Information Center houses a unique collection of resources that support the Center’s legislated mandate to provide research into the causes and prevention of agricultural injury and illness, education and prevention activities within the farm community, education of professionals serving the farm community, and clinical help for farm-related health problems.

Library resources include books, journals, videos, and databases on topics relevant to agricultural health and safety such as arthritis, asthma, Farmers’ Lung Disease, hearing loss, injury, stress, toxicology, and zoonosis. The library catalog is a searchable database, which recently has been made available at each staff’s desktop via the office intranet. Linked into this newly networked catalog is an automated circulation system that will allow staff to check materials out from their offices. Information services are also provided to the greater community of health and safety professionals and educators, colleges and schools, students, community organizations, and farmers. A newly established website www.nycamh.com provides information and links to other agricultural health and safety resources. Email contact via info@nycamh.com has increased the library’s information dissemination capability to worldwide.

· We were very sad to lose Diana Robinson from the NY Fire Academy Library when her term on the Board ended this year. Diana has been a stalwart, concerned member of the Board for five years, always asking good questions and offering good advice. Like many special libraries, Diana’s has lost staff and she was no longer able to give us the same time for Board work. Thank you Diana for all your hard work!

· There was some other good news and bad news about the Board. The bad news? In November, we learned that Susan Currie, who represents Cornell on the Board, had resigned her job and would need to relinquish her seat. The good news? Susan has taken a position at Associate Director for Public Services at Binghamton University and will stay on the SCRLC Finance Committee. The other good news? Lynn Brown, Associate Director at the Johnson School of Management Library will replace Susan in 2005. So farewell to Susan (sort of ) and many thanks for great work on the Board, and welcome to Lynn. (JC)

Board Meetings

At their meeting on October 8, the Board approved the following:

• An LSTA proposal for continuing education activities related to The Library as Space or The Library as Service?
• The Resource Sharing Subsidy for regional libraries for 2003/2004. These funds help support the costs of libraries sharing resources with each other in the SCRLC region.

At their December 3 meeting, and subsequent conference call on December 8, the Board transacted the following business:

• Approved the Audit for 2003-2004. Once again, there was a clean audit with complimentary remarks from the Auditor.
• Accepted a new process for evaluating the Executive Director.
• Approved a new Long Term Disability policy with The Hartford Company.
• Elected Lynn Brown to fulfill the term of Susan Currie to represent Cornell University. Lynn is Associate Director of the Johnson School of Management Library and the Nestle Library in the School of Hotel Administration.
• Elected the following Officers of the SCRLC Board of Trustees:
• Marilyn Dunn, Hartwick College, President
• Ristiina Wigg, Southern Tier Library System, Vice President
• Karen Creenan, Finger Lakes Library System, Treasurer
• Stephen Crandall, Alfred University, Secretary.
• Accepted the report of the Review Panel recommending the distribution of RBDB funds for 2005.
• Discussed the Board Retreat to be held on February 14, 2005. The Board will begin work on the next Plan of Service due in 2006 by doing an environmental scan. (JC)