CamSig Minutes MLA Annual  Meeting
May 22, 2007
CamSig website: http://camsig.mlanet.org/ 

Present: Mariana Lapidus, Julie Whelan, Marilyn Rosen, Sue Murray, Lita  Anglin, Ruth Ann Gildea, Kelli Ham, Karen Vargas, Anelia Boshnakova, Irma Pulatova, Lilian Hoffecker

We introduced ourselves:

  1. Mariana teaches electives on herbals and pharmaceuticals with Pharmacy professors.  She teaches Pharmacy and Health Sciences students.
  2. Suzanne Murray  from the Consumer Health Information Service, Toronto Public Library. She works with the Canadian health network, does health talks, has web guides to CAM on their homepage
  3. Marilyn Rosen, University of Rochester Medical Center, teaches a section of a CAM elective, on resources in CAM.
  4. Karen Vargas teaches a course called :”Will duct tape cure my warts?”  and is from South Central Consumer Health
  5. Lita Anglin is a family health librarian in an outpatient children’s hematology/oncology clinic, I think.  She works with families and doctors on CAM.  There is yoga for kids, and massage, at her place.
  6. RuthAnn Guldea, from Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I.  She has a background in energy healing.  She says psychiatry, the field she works in, is a little conservative.
  7. Kelli Ham NNLM consumer health co-ordinator, Pacific region.  She teaches an evidence based resource class for public librarians.  Used to be for health sciences and public, but now they are splitting it up.
  8. Julie Whelan Harvard Medical School, does a class on herbs and dietary supplements, CME accredited.  She is working on a systematic review on use of herbs by different ethnic groups.
  9. Anelia Boshnakova is from the NHS University College London Trust, and gave a presentation today in the History of Medicine session
  10. Lilian Hoffecker , special collection caretaker (also gave a talk as per above) , at University of Colorado, Dennison Library.  She developed a class on finding culturally relevant health information, and published  a paper in JERMAL 2006, a review of different databases.

Possible topics for next year’s program at MLA:

  1. Difference between providing EBM CAM for public and professionals; where do you find EBM CAM for consumers
  2. Overcoming skepticism – professionals vs. practitioners, the gap between them. Lilian said that in Colorado an MD is chair of integrative medical center. 
  3. Bridging the Gap between indigenous tribes, native tribes, and their medicine.  Cross cultural medicine.   Lou La Freda was mentioned, from new Mexico, in regard to health services.  Tribal libraries are being taught allopathic medicine.
  4. Regulation of dietary supplements in US and Canada.
  5. Children and alternative medicine- make doctors listen to families.  Pediatric CAM.  Dr. Kemper, now at Wake Forest University, wrote textbook on this.
  6. Pet CAM too!
  7. Collection development and CAM.  Public libraries collect best sellers, but what are the best sources?  Challenges to the collection- do you give people what they want, or the best sources.  Do you use disclaimers? 
  8. Patient-physician communication on CAM. 

   Just some thoughts: friends of alternative and complementary therapies in Canada,   for practitioners and public.

Discussion of our website, and listserv.

  1. Kelli Ham might be interested in looking at our website.
  2. Short history given of the website- Julie Whelan has been editing and adding to it since it went to the MLA site.

It was decided that we would keep the website, and the listserv. Blogs and wikis were discussed, but no one wanted to take responsibility for them.
Julie Whelan  said she would do what she could for the website.

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER HEALTH ON THE INTERNET  has a good article on CAM.

Final rendition of ideas for next year’s program:

  1. evidence based CAM for consumers: collaborate with CAPHIS or Public Libraries Section
  2. Tribal medicine – collaborate with Public Health Section
  3. Skepticism, bridging the gap – collaborate with Hospital Libraries Section, Research section, Nursing, Cancer
  4. Collection development – collaborate with Collection Development Section
  5. Patient-physician communication-
  6. “Mind the Gap” or “Bridging the evidence gap”. This would be about getting monies to fund research in CAM, and also the differences in criteria for evaluating CAM versus allopathic therapies.  Also, the way herbs are judged more harshly in terms of their adverse effects or interactions than mainstream drugs.

Idea was presented for having Tai Chi in the morning at next year’s MLA.  Ruth Ann will bring up the idea for that, or yoga.  Someone called it Tai Chi for the Timid.

Mariana and Ruth Ann will remain as co-chairs of the CamSig.

Emails of those present:
Sue Murray- smurray@torontopubliclibrary.ca
Lita Anglin – anglin@library.med.nyu.edu
Ruth Ann Gildea – rgildea@butler.org
Kelli Ham – kkham@library.ucla.edu
Julie Whelan – Julia_Whelan@hms.harvard.edu
Mariana Lapidus – Mariania.lapidus@mcphs.edu
Karen Vargas – Karen.Vargas@exch.librarytmc.edu  
Anelia Boshnakova – anelia.boshnakova@uclh.nhs.uk
Irma Pulatova – ipulatova@calvalryhospital.org
Lilian Hoffecker – lilian.hoffecker@uchsc.edu 
Marilyn Rosen – Marilyn_Rosen@urmc.rochester.edu

Meeting adjourned at 6 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilyn Rosen