MAC Messages Number 88:
July/August 2001

Update on MLA Benchmarking Network

The MLA Benchmarking Network is alive and well!! It is making progress even though there have been growing pains. There were a number of meetings about Benchmarking at the MLA Annual Meeting in Orlando. The information gained from the participants in these meetings will be used to bring this project closer to implementation.

The Benchmarking Taskforce worked to:

• Refine the content of the survey, based on the comments from Beta participants.
• Develop ratios that librarians will find useful to have as part of the Benchmarking reports. (e.g. number of FTEs in Library/ number of FTEs in institution)
• Plan for MLA member education about benchmarking. The Benchmarking Chapter Educators (BCEs) have been planning for education at the Fall Chapter meetings.
• Offer for the first time a four hour "Practical Benchmarking" course to train librarians in the most effective strategies for using the data. (from an article submitted to National Network)

The Benchmark Chapter Educators (BCEs) are considering strategies to encourage participation by the MLA Chapter members in the Benchmarking Network. After the Fall Chapter meetings, instructions will be available concerning how and when libraries can enter and/or replace their data in the Network database. ALL hospital librarians are urged to take advantage of this opportunity to participate in what promises to be a useful benchmarking resource. The MLA Benchmark Network needs YOUR hospital's data, Debbie Rand is the new Chair of the Benchmarking Network Implementation Taskforce. Please contact Debbie at rand@lij.edu (or other members of the new Taskforce listed below) with any questions or concerns. The MAC Benchmarking Chapter Educator, Sarah Towner Wright, (wrightst@arlhosp.org) is also happy to address questions or concerns.

There is also a new MLA Benchmarking Network listserv, which has been established to provide a forum for the discussion of benchmarking issues and specifically MLA Benchmark Network issues.

To subscribe to mla-benchmark@mlahq.org:

Send an e-mail message to majordomo@mlahq.org (This address can also be used to send commands to Majordomo.) Type the message "subscribe mla-benchmark" (This will command Majordomo to subscribe the sender to the e-mail discussion list.) Please leave the subject line blank.

Benchmarking Implementation Task Force Members:

Deborah Adams - dadams@botsford.org

Jacque Doyle - jacque.doyle@bannerhealth.com

Rosalind Dudden - duddenr@njc.org

Cheryl Goodwin - cheryl.goodwin@swedish.org

Gretchen Hallerberg - hallerg@ccf.org

Ruth Holtz, MLA Board Liaison - rholst@columbia-stmarys.org

Janice Kaplan - kaplan@harthosp.org

Michael Kronenfeld - mike.kronenfeld@hcs.maricopa.gov

Elizabeth Reid - reide@smh.toronto.on.ca

James Shedlock - j-shedlock@northwestern.edu

Bernie Todd Smith - bernie.todd-smith@viahealth.org

Again, if you have any questions about the Benchmarking Initiative, please contact Sarah Towner Wright, MAC Benchmarking Chapter Educator, wrightst@arlhosp.org, or (703) 558-6524.

Go to the previous article | Go to the next article |
Return to the Table of Contents | Return to the top