Friday, December 2, 2016


The Ohio Health Library Sciences Association would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest members. If you provided an autobiography and do not see it in the blog please contact Jennifer Feldman, Communications Chair. Send your autobiography to Jennifer at: jfeldma4@kent. Take some time and get to know our new members!


Jessica DeCaro


Jessica DeCaro is a User Services librarian of the Cleveland Health Sciences Library at Case Western Reserve University where she engages with Medical, Nursing, Dental Medicine students, faculty, researchers and staff in a range of services from teaching the ins and outs of navigating library land to systematic review. In her down time at work, enjoys learning about genetics, nutrition and leadership. She is also involved with a variety of committees and responsibilities in MLA, MW/MLA and ALAO. Jessica received her MLIS from Kent State University and attended Hiram College for her undergraduate degree. In her previous iteration, Jessica was a Certified Athletic Trainer, which makes Health Sciences Librarianship a perfect fit.

Jessica enjoys knitting, which she's good at, and painting, which she's not. Her family keeps her laughing, which is helpful since she is completely at the mercy of her two teen's extracurricular activities.

Hannah Schmillen

As the health sciences subject librarian at Ohio University, I am the liaison to the entire college of health sciences and professions which includes five different departments; from global health studies to nursing to physical therapy. Most of my work revolves around research and instruction, but I’m also tasked with collection development for my subject areas. I’m also highly involved in a couple committees/taskforces, including: Graduate Research Series Committee, Learning-Centered Teaching Community of Practice, and the DDA Taskforce.

Given my job responsibilities- I happen to think my job is the best job ever, I am especially interested in instruction- specifically active-learning design. On the flip side, systematic reviews and enhancing the librarian roles into faculty/physician scholarship is hugely of interest to me as well. Finally, I have a research interest in how libraries and librarians market and advertise their work and perform outreach. Personally, I believe marketing strategies could be utilized more in our field.

For my MLIS, I attended the University of Denver and graduated in 2015.

Fun facts:

· I have the cutest mutt named Mosby, who is a German Shepard, Corgi, Basset hound mix.

· We kayak, hike, and hammock together when we have free time.

Carry Waibel

My name is Carrie Waibel, and I am currently the Electronic Resources Specialist at OhioNET, where I have been since 2012. My position involves negotiating, recommending, and coordinating electronic content for academic, public, K-12, and special libraries across the state of Ohio. I am intensely interested in the relationship between libraries and vendors and how conflicting interests influence quality of content, records, and accessibility. I received my BA from Ohio State and obtained an MLS with an Advanced Certification in Digital Libraries from Syracuse University. I currently live about 45 minutes outside of Aspen, Colorado and work remotely full time, with quarterly trips back to Ohio. Part of the reason for this move was my husband taking an Executive Director position at a beautiful county public library, and our love for National Parks – we eloped in Yellowstone in 2015!

Megan Nunemaker

Having recently relocated to Athens, Ohio, I work from my home as the Corporate Librarian for Covance Inc., a contract research organization based in Princeton, NJ. In this capability I manage all electronic resources for Covance. Prior to moving to Ohio, I was a clinical librarian at the University of Virginia. As a librarian, I see my role as supporting my users’ needs, and ensuring that the tools we have support them in their work. I enjoy helping my users have the “ah ha” moment, when they realize how the library can make their work more efficient. When I’m not working, I’m enjoying small-town Athens with my family, which means playing outside, biking, or hosting play-dates.



Thursday, October 27, 2016

Meet our new NN/LM GMR State Liaison, Derek Johnson

Derek joined the National Network of Libraries of Medicine’s Greater Midwest Region (GMR) in October 2016 as the Health Professionals Outreach Librarian and state liaison for Ohio and Indiana. Previously, Derek worked as a consultant conducting competitive intelligence research within the health and wellness industries and as a public health and substance abuse prevention librarian. He was born and raised in the Minneapolis area and moved to Iowa in 2013.

Derek holds a BA in economics from St. John’s University (MN) and is a Beta Phi Mu graduate of St. Catherine University’s MLIS program. He is also currently working on his MBA through the University of Iowa.
He resides in Coralville, IA with his wife and two dogs (mini-goldendoodle and mini poodle).

As the state liaison for Ohio, Derek can help address questions on outreach initiatives and applications for funding projects. For more information on the GMR, please visit: https://nnlm.gov/gmr/about

Thursday, September 15, 2016

President's Message - Fall 2016

OHSLA President
MaryPat Harnegie
I am a warm weather lover and have been enjoying this summer.  I know fall is upon us and so many new things come with it. The OHSLA Fall meeting will be on October 14, 2016 from 9am to 4 pm at the State Library of Ohio, Columbus, OH.  The 4 hour CE class for this meeting will be “Providing Bibliometric Services in the Medical Libraries: Why, what, andhow.”  This is a timely topic as many institutions want to track their institutional scholarly output. Here is the link to the Fall 2016 OHSLA Meeting.

Another fall activity is the Midwest MLA chapter meeting occurring 10/22-10/24/16 at the Des Moines Marriott in Des Moines, IA.  This is a joint meeting with the Midcontinental Chapter of MLA with the theme “Merge and Converge: Sixteen in ‘16”. Some of us will be attending! Here is the meeting link - MCMLA