Greetings to all- I'm heading into my 3rd and final year as coordinator
(and am also heading to Amsterdam for Christmas, so wanted to get this
message out before packing and preparation craziness ensues) and wanted to
send a final holiday message to all of our wonderful MEDLIB-L subscribers,
participants, and stalkers.

Thanks for all your support of the profession over this past year (and many
previous years)- the enthusiasm of MEDLIB-L membership is a wonderful
thing: an invaluable resource and a unique way of spreading our wealth of
knowledge and resources around the profession and around the world. List
participation is a figurative- and perhaps in some cases a literal -
lifesaver for many of our underserved and under-resourced colleagues.

I hope that MEDLIB-L has a prosperous and successful new year- and that we
look for opportunities as members to advocate and encourage the development
and growth of this resource. For myself whenever I hear of some whiz-kid
developing a 'revolution' in resource sharing- #canhazpdf, whatever the new
thing is, and whatever the last thing was- i immediately thing
*grumble*"Medical librarians have been doing that, and more, forever with
MEDLIB-L" *grumble*. Sharing resources is fine- sharing knowledge and
expertise is more important, and no-one has created an app for that!

In the new year, I'm going to try and go out on a high note by trying to
personally recruit one new member a month to join MEDLIB-L: if a few score
or more members would consider making the same pledge, I think that we
could go a long way to ensuring this listserv's long-term future. Let me
know if you are interested by tweeting using #MEDLIBL1month1member

And finally, the obligatory periodical reminder of listerv guidelines.
Below are some of the rules that keep this community healthy, borderline
efficient and occasionally sane:


- *Reference questions:* precede your subject with "*Ref Q:*" or "*?*" For
reference queries, MEDLIB-L should be used as the avenue of LAST RESORT.
Please exhaust all of your local resources, including the phone, before
turning to MEDLIB-L. When you send a reference query, INDICATE THE SOURCES
YOU HAVE ALREADY CONSULTED so your generous and kind colleagues will not
duplicate your efforts.
- *Answers:* precede the subject with an exclamation point: "*!*"
- *ILL requests* : precede the title you need with "*ILL:* "; do not make
multiple ILL requests in a single message unless from same source title.
ILL REQUESTS should be confined to emergencies, or to titles unavailable
through regular interlibrary loan networks. Please observe all copyright
regulations when requesting loans.  See: Medical Library Association:
Copyright Law and Fair Use Position Statement
- *Citation verifications:* precede your subject with "*VERIF:*"
- *Job available:* "JOB POSTING - POSITION TITLE, GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION"
- *Messages to entertain:*  Think twice about posting; then precede your
subject with  "*CHAT:*"
- *Thank you messages:* precede subject with "*THANKS*." NOTE: Send thanks
to individuals, not the whole list, unless informational to halt others
from continuing to fill a request.
Happy holidays, and I hope everyone has a wonderful new year in 2018

Richard James (MEDLIB-L Coordinator)
#MEDLIBL1month1member