Regional Meetings: San Francisco, CE 4, October 1966

The MLA's interest in education started early, but a committee devoted to the design and offering of continuing education courses did not begin until 1957. At least four different committees organized courses before the Continuing Education Committee was created in 1962. The records have been divided into five series, beginning with the precursor committees to the Continuing Education Committee. Beginning in 1958 the Refresher Course Committee offered courses based on the Handbook of Medical Library Practice at the annual meeting. The files of the Refresher Course committee originated from chairpersons Ruth Mann and Wesley Draper, and from Sylvia Habala, a member of the committee. Dr. Estelle Brodman led the Committee on Advanced Seminars in 1960 and continued MLA's education efforts. In 1961 the committee developped refresher courses for librarians from large libraries (those over 10,000 volumes) and librarians from smaller institutions took a Workshop for Small Medical Libraries. The Seminar Committee and the Committee on Post-Graduate Institute replaced the Committee on Advanced Seminars in 1962. The Committee on Post-Graduate Institute, with the aid of a training grant from NIH, jointly sponsored with the University of Illinois Medical School, a one-week Institute on Developments in Medical Library Administration at the University of Illinois Medical School on June 9-15, 1962, immediately after the MLA meeting in Chicago. The Seminar Committee, chaired by Dr. David Kronick, offered all day seminars at the annual meeting in 1962. More importantly, the committee recommended the appointment of a Committee on Continuing Education. The files of Dr. Estelle Brodman's committee and Wilma Troxel, the committee's consultant are located in this series. Brodman's files are organized chronologically and Troxel's files are arranged by her subject headings. Included are follow-up evaluations of meeting participants, completed in 1966. The series primarily focuses on the records of the Continuing Education Committee. The papers consist of the general records of the committee, organized by chairperson. A standard format for these records existed from 1962 until 1972. After 1972 each chairperson developed his or her own filing system; in most cases these have been followed. The records include information on committee business, the development of new courses, review of existing courses, and the practical details of offering a particular course in any one year. The committee gave up many of its more mundane tasks with the establishment of the position of the Director of Education at MLA Headquarters in 1972. The committee concentrated instead on policy issues. After 1972, Education Division records should be consulted in conjunction with committee files. Several ad hoc committees assisted or evaluated the efforts of the Continuing Education Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee on Education Grants, chaired by Robert Lentz, prepared a research grant request to identify the needs for continuing education in medical librarianship. The committee prepared two grant applications to the National Library of Medicine, of which one was funded. The Advisory Council on Continuing Education, created in 1967, monitored the manpower grant on Educational Needs in Medical Librarianship given to the MLA. Kronick, Alan Rees, and Sheila Saferstein, a research assistant, studied the grant activity. One folder from the MLA Study Commission on Education is also included in this series. Published syllabi used in courses are included in the series. All known courses are listed in the finding guide to provide an index of continuing education committee offerings. Information on the general design and content of the courses is located at the end of the series. Correspondence with the course developers, background material for the syllabi, and instructor's manuals are included. Material is organized by course number.