EMTS Centennial Exhibit: Memories: Surveys

Surveys: Charles Greenberg

Memories
In terms of EMTS lore, I will try to share a few impressions on the evolution of our section.
Like most of us, I was a willing victim of mentoring into EMTS in 1992 by former EMTS Chair Jim Curtis, who was my original supervisor as Head of Reference at Columbia. That I have followed him into both EMTS Chairpersonship and Columbia reference seems to predict that I will be on my way to NC any day now.
But actually I soon decided to establish a distict EMTS culture of my own by suggesting and volunteering to coordinate the EMTS Learning Center in the planning stages of the 1994 San Antonio annual meeting, which happened to be the same year I served as Chair-elect and program planner for EMTS. Did I really know what I was getting into?
I remember showing up in San Antonio with a borrowed A/V hardcase weighing a ton and filled to the gills with software I had begged, borrowed or ...no, I didn't do that! I optimistically printed 2,000 copies of a software descrition/selection guide and carried all of them with me, displacing some of my clothing from my bulging suitcase. (I fondly recall this period as youthful naivite) What do I remember?

I felt absolutely foolish trudging into the San Antonio Convention Center with this 100 lb.+ shiny case .....
Without other EMTS members to help set up, it wouldn't have happened.
We were a hit with MLA and program planner Renee Carey, who has been our "fairy godmother" ever since in guiding us through equipment and space requests, MLA and commercial sponsorship (now you don't think we get all those equipment quantity upgrades just on charm alone?)
so many leftover software guides.

Here are the highlights of subsequent years of the EMTS/MLA Learning Center:

1995- Washington, DC
This was the annual meeting that overlapped with the ICML, and attendance at the Learning Center was certainly international and enthusiastic.

The only uncomfortable part was that the LC was near the Hotel loading dock, which made for alot of noise and truck exhaust during the setup and breakdown.

We cut down on the number of printed guides, but still ended up throwing out alot.

1996- Kansas City
The local librarian in KC, Marlene and one of her colleagues, did alot of work with the setup.

The Internet Center and Learning Center were next to each other, resulting in many persons sitting down to access email and then being told they were in the wrong area.

Our computers got bigger and better. We had more than two dozen programs and a marquee sign listing what was on what station at a given time. Still, the logistics of so many stand-along programs was a pain.

1996 was the first year we created a user feedback WWW page for the LC, courtesy of Eric Schnell and the "bones" EMTS site. We listed the feedback page address on the front of the LC booklet, and the convenience of the Internet Center next door caused us to think users would have time for feedback. Yet we didn't really receive any comments.

1997- Seattle
I was very fortunate to have a planning committee for the LC, which brought fresh responsibility into the activity. Melissa DeSantis from UT San Antonio and Julie VanDyke from Duke were really great co-chairs and helped alot with the setup. Again, Eric helped with an update of the LC Feedback page, which was featured in the LC booklet.

We did a better nomination process of exemplary programs and decided to limit the total to about a dozen, acknowledging that most librarians walked in last year and said something like "show me anything new." Julie, Melissa and I ranked our top ten choices out of about 20 nominees and agreed on the majority. We did end up with 10, mostly new programs not appearing before at the LC.

By the time Julie, Melissa, and I arrived to setup, the computers were all up and included TCP-IP, though we hadn't asked for it. On the other hand, the sound speakers were a little late to arrive, but everything happened on time.

Our secret weapon last year was Julie's fiancee Scott, who helped us to cope with Windows 95.

With some of the Learning Center "old guard" absent from the scene (Phil Arney, Diane Futrelle, Betsy Morris), the appearance of new blood in Melissa and Julie was a factor in the success of the LC.

Plans are well underway for the Centennial edition of the Learning Center, and MLA continues to treat this activity as a gem to be supported and nurtured in order to demonstrate commitment to member education and models of innovation the relationship between medical schools and libraries.

Charlie

Memories	In terms of EMTS lore, I will try to share a few impressions on the evolution of our section. Like most of us, I was a willing victim of mentoring into EMTS in 1992 by former EMTS Chair Jim Curtis, who was my original supervisor as Head of Reference at Columbia. That I have followed him into both EMTS Chairpersonship and Columbia reference seems to predict that I will be on my way to NC any day now. But actually I soon decided to establish a distict EMTS culture of my own by suggesting and volunteering to coordinate the EMTS Learning Center in the planning stages of the 1994 San Antonio annual meeting, which happened to be the same year I served as Chair-elect and program planner for EMTS. Did I really know what I was getting into? I remember showing up in San Antonio with a borrowed A/V hardcase weighing a ton and filled to the gills with software I had begged, borrowed or ...no, I didn't do that! I optimistically printed 2,000 copies of a software descrition/selection guide and carried all of them with me, displacing some of my clothing from my bulging suitcase. (I fondly recall this period as youthful naivite) What do I remember? I felt absolutely foolish trudging into the San Antonio Convention Center with this 100 lb.+ shiny case ..... Without other EMTS members to help set up, it wouldn't have happened. We were a hit with MLA and program planner Renee Carey, who has been our "fairy godmother" ever since in guiding us through equipment and space requests, MLA and commercial sponsorship (now you don't think we get all those equipment quantity upgrades just on charm alone?) so many leftover software guides. Here are the highlights of subsequent years of the EMTS/MLA Learning Center: 1995- Washington, DC This was the annual meeting that overlapped with the ICML, and attendance at the Learning Center was certainly international and enthusiastic. The only uncomfortable part was that the LC was near the Hotel loading dock, which made for alot of noise and truck exhaust during the setup and breakdown. We cut down on the number of printed guides, but still ended up throwing out alot. 1996- Kansas City The local librarian in KC, Marlene and one of her colleagues, did alot of work with the setup. The Internet Center and Learning Center were next to each other, resulting in many persons sitting down to access email and then being told they were in the wrong area. Our computers got bigger and better. We had more than two dozen programs and a marquee sign listing what was on what station at a given time. Still, the logistics of so many stand-along programs was a pain. 1996 was the first year we created a user feedback WWW page for the LC, courtesy of Eric Schnell and the "bones" EMTS site. We listed the feedback page address on the front of the LC booklet, and the convenience of the Internet Center next door caused us to think users would have time for feedback. Yet we didn't really receive any comments. 1997- Seattle I was very fortunate to have a planning committee for the LC, which brought fresh responsibility into the activity. Melissa DeSantis from UT San Antonio and Julie VanDyke from Duke were really great co-chairs and helped alot with the setup. Again, Eric helped with an update of the LC Feedback page, which was featured in the LC booklet. We did a better nomination process of exemplary programs and decided to limit the total to about a dozen, acknowledging that most librarians walked in last year and said something like "show me anything new." Julie, Melissa and I ranked our top ten choices out of about 20 nominees and agreed on the majority. We did end up with 10, mostly new programs not appearing before at the LC. By the time Julie, Melissa, and I arrived to setup, the computers were all up and included TCP-IP, though we hadn't asked for it. On the other hand, the sound speakers were a little late to arrive, but everything happened on time. Our secret weapon last year was Julie's fiancee Scott, who helped us to cope with Windows 95. With some of the Learning Center "old guard" absent from the scene (Phil Arney, Diane Futrelle, Betsy Morris), the appearance of new blood in Melissa and Julie was a factor in the success of the LC. Plans are well underway for the Centennial edition of the Learning Center, and MLA continues to treat this activity as a gem to be supported and nurtured in order to demonstrate commitment to member education and models of innovation the relationship between medical schools and libraries. Charlie