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Oct
30
Posted by karencoghlan on October 30th, 2018
Posted in: Blog
Tags: community engagement, Data, hospital librarians, science, science librarians, Training
Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity both attend and to give a lightning talk at the North American Health Science Libraries, Inc. (NASHL) annual conference in Manchester, NH. The theme was Remaining Strong in an Ever-Changing Landscape. It was a way to network and celebrate NAHSL’s 60 years of membership. For those who are not familiar, NAHSL is a regional Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MLA). At the annual conference, there were three days of programming which include favorites such as: keynote speakers, continuing education, dinner at a museum, posters, paper talks, lightning talks, and a 60’s themed banquet. I highly recommend this conference as a way to meet up and exchange ideas with fellow colleagues.
I was able to participate not just as an attendee, but also as a speaker. It was a new experience for me, but I sincerely enjoy the project that is the topic. The talk was about NNLM’s Online Concurrent Wikipedia edit-a-thon that occurred in the spring and the lessons learned. I found out I enjoy the lightning talk format – 5 minutes with about 10 slides and time for questions from the audience. The trick is preparation. Thank goodness for my NNLM Wikipedia working group members and coworkers. Their input and creative ideas were invaluable. I also have to give a shout out to my UMass-Worcester coworkers who gave invaluable insights in timing, presentation flow and slide visibility and not to mention support. The good news is the presentation went well after I got over my initial nervousness. I stayed within the time limit, was able to answer the questions and hopefully encouraged people to participate in the next edit-a-thon. Thank you all for your help! Without your support, the lighting presentation would not be the success that it was.
Just as a reminder – the next NNLM online nationwide Wikipedia edit-a-thon is on November 7th, 2018 from 10:00AM – 8:00PM EST #cite NLM. We need your help to make Wikipedia an evidence based resource. Training and support are provided so even if you are new to edit-a-thon’s you can become a Wikipedia editor. For more information please see the NNLM webpage at https://nnlm.gov/ or the NNLM Wikipedia dashboard .
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