Some 2,300 health-sciences librarians convened May 22-27 at the Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia to celebrate the centennial of the Medical Library Association in the city of its founding. Following a kickoff birthday bash, MLA President Rachael Anderson observed that after 100 years "our center still holds, we still promote our core values."
New applications for those values in the managed-care environment, said Anderson, are needed to "convey to the public that librarians are their connection to health-care information." Conference programs and exhibits reinforced this growing emphasis on consumer health issues and on cooperation with academic, public, and school libraries.
A series of videotaped "Centennial Moments" marking MLA milestones were among the conference highlights. Plenary session speakers included journalist Laurie Garrett, who gave a shocking account of the breakdown of health care in the former Soviet Union, and physician-humorist John Morreall, who observed that "laughter is physiologically good for you" and then delivered a healthy dose.
Posted June 1, 1998.