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Hypothesis, vol. 30, no. 1, Fall/Winter 2018                                                                          58                                  

Reflections on the 2018 MLA Annual Meeting  
Elizabeth Kellermeyer, MSLS 
Biomedical Research Librarian 
National Jewish Health 
Denver, CO 
kellermeyerl@njhealth.org 
 

I was honored to receive the travel award from the Research Section to help fund my 

attendance at the 2018 MLA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. While a lot of information 

and connections are available online, attending this conference in person is a reminder of 

the value in community. There are many intangible benefits to being able to meet new 

people and connect over shared values and exciting ideas.  

I was very strongly affected by the themes of diversity, inclusion, and social justice that 

emerged from the conference. Atlanta, the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr. and home 

of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, was a fitting setting for these ideas that ran as an 

undercurrent through many sessions, presentations, and discussions at the conference. 

While a general commitment to diversity is nothing groundbreaking, there was more 

urgency to the messaging this year—less of a friendly reminder to be welcoming and more 

of a call to action. 

In particular, the theme was prominent in this year’s Janet Doe Lecture, presented by 

Elaine R. Martin, “Social Justice and the Medical Librarian.” In her riveting talk, Elaine laid 

out an argument for medical librarianship developing a new professional orientation, one 

focused on recognizing societal injustices and their effect on access to information and 

healthcare and to be inspired to advocate on behalf of the patrons we serve. 

Beverly Murphy gave her first address as the incoming President. “In the 120th year of the 

association I am proud and honored to be the first African American president of the 

Medical Library Association,” she stated.  “I want to thank you….for giving me this honor 

and opportunity and in doing so, taking a positive stance, considering the world that we 

are living in today.” She emphasized that she wanted her time as president to be an 

extended conversation with all members, drawing strength from the collective expertise 

and knowledge of our members. 

Both speakers extolled the importance of education and in being thoughtful and 

purposeful about reaching out to the next generation of medical librarians to ensure we 

build a community that is as diverse as the ones we serve. Their messages are powerful 

and left me both humbled and inspired. Moving forward, matters of diversity and inclusion 

can be big motivators for research. What challenges and disparities are we witness to and 

how can we bring these topics to the forefront of discussion? Research that brings them 



Research Section Spotlight 

   

Hypothesis, vol. 30, no. 1, Fall/Winter 2018                                                                          59                                  

into focus or that uses them as a backdrop against which we can understand other issues 

will be crucial in defining our role in librarianship in the coming years.  

The conference was an excellent place to collect information from disparate places about a 

particular topic. For instance, I have been learning more about the systematic review 

process and I was able to enhance my knowledge by taking a CE course on identifying 

clinical trials for systematic reviews, attending a sponsored Lunch and Learn about how 

the Joanna Briggs Institute conducts systematic reviews, and comparing features of 

systematic review software by talking directly to vendors and seeing product 

demonstrations. While presenting my poster, “Covidence vs. Rayyan: A Comparison of 

Systematic Review Tools,” I had the opportunity to talk directly with other librarians with 

similar interests and questions, generating a lot of discussion and opportunities for 

continued collaboration. 

It was also a chance to meet with groups and people that I otherwise primarily know 

through online interactions. This included new committees I will serve on, an introduction 

to the Rising Stars program, and section meetings. I collaborated on my first research 

project this past year, “Measuring Impostor Phenomenon among Health Sciences 

Librarians,” led by Jill Barr-Walker. Our group presented initial findings at a program 

session and it was great to meet with my co-authors in person and to showcase our work 

to colleagues. One of the conference highlights for me was getting to hear about the 

research undertaken by medical librarians across the country.  I am planning on doing 

more research in the upcoming year, and was accepted into the MLA Research and 

Training Institute to further that goal. The conference offered a first introduction to this 

year’s cohort during a session by Project Director Susan Lessick, who provided an 

overview and answered questions. 

Of course, some of the most prominent discussions this year focused on the proposed MLA 

restructuring. The Communities Strategic Goal Task Force presented their proposed 

model of MLA architecture, including the dissolution of Sections and SIGS as they currently 

exist. They are reimagining interests being organized around what are tentatively called 

“Affinity Groups” and “Domains of Practice” and discontinuing section dues. I was able to 

attend several forums—a general one, and two held at Section meetings—where 

representatives from the task force fielded questions and engaged in discussion with 

members. It was very beneficial to attend these in-person, as the general atmosphere was 

starkly different between groups, and conversations about how the restructuring would 

work continued among members throughout the conference. This was an excellent 

opportunity for me to be able to hear diverse perspectives and gain an understanding 

about some of the history of MLA and how the impending changes will affect different 

groups. 



Research Section Spotlight 

   

Hypothesis, vol. 30, no. 1, Fall/Winter 2018                                                                          60                                  

I am grateful for the opportunity to attend this year’s annual conference; what I learned 

will help shape my research goals and inform my future interactions with MLA and my 

colleagues. 

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National Library of Medicine (US). Digital Collections [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): 
Three vignettes demonstrating light projection apparatus. In Oculus artificialis 

teledioptricus, 1685-86. 
Available from: 

http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101435223

http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101435223

