e-HLbc provides an update on STAT!Ref negotiations; Shannon Long is announced as the new Management Committee health sector representative; the Training Committee holds a Training Materials Contest; and much more.

STAT!Ref Update

In Summer 2009 e-HLbc, working collaboratively with Alberta’s consortium the Health Knowledge Network (HKN), began negotiating a boutique license to STAT!Ref for post-secondary and health libraries across western Canada. Providing a collection of 66 medical e-Book titles, STAT!Ref ranked highly in the New Product Selection Survey and was recommended for further investigation by the e-HLbc Negotiation Advisory Team and Management Committee.

After multiple rounds of negotiation with the vendor, e-HLbc distributed a survey to member libraries to solicit feedback on their interest in the license given the  pricing established by the vendor.

Despite the 33% savings off of list price, e-HLbc members stated that the price and projected annual increases of a STAT!Ref license was unaffordable for the majority of libraries. Certainly, the national and international economic downturn has forced libraries in BC and across Canada to tighten their belts and think strategically about how best to maintain and build their collections. "Our library has a significant cut in funding for the next budget year,” one librarian commented. “Consequently, we can't afford any new licenses this year. If this were better economic times we might be interested in this product."

While e-HLbc will not be moving forward with this license, due to low member interest, we will continue to identify cost-effective opportunities for libraries to build their collections and provide stellar resources to health students, researchers, and practitioners across the province.

New Health Sector Management Committee Member

e-HLbc extends a warm welcome to Shannon Long who joins the Management Committee as a representative from the Health Sector. Shannon is a Librarian for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and works out of the Richmond Hospital. She studied psychology and archaeology at SFU, then obtained her MLIS degree from UBC in 1999.  Shannon served on the board of directors for HLABC from 2000-2006 and is now Treasurer for the Canadian Health Libraries Association.

Training Materials Contest

Have you created training materials to help users get the most out of resources available through e-HLbc? Why not share them?

Share your training materials with colleagues and help improve users’ skills. Submit your screencasts, factsheets, worksheets, and other learning objects to e-HLbc by February 15, 2009. They will be posted, attributed to you, on the e-HLbc website.

Two winners (one health and one post-secondary librarian), selected by the Training Committee, will each win a $50 gift certificate to Chapters. Go to the contest submission form to enter to your materials.

A New Face at the e-HLbc Administrative Centre

Welcome to Kat Siddle, a new librarian working part-time at the e-HLbc Administrative Centre. Kat is a recent graduate of UBC's School of Library and Information Studies. When not working on e-HLbc projects, she can be found at many of the lower mainland's college and public libraries (as well as on AskAway's Virtual Reference Desk). "I love working with the e-HLbc Administrative Centre at the BC ELN office for its quirky staff, friendly atmosphere and unique consortial perspective on libraries," Kat says. We’re extremely pleased to have Kat on board, and look forward to working with her.

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