Stamp Club Cards from Stampin Up

A few weeks ago I made these three lovely cards at Stamp Club. Love the butterfly one!

Kaszazz Scrapbooking Workshop

A few weeks ago I made this gorgeous layout at a Kaszazz workshop. Now to find phottos to fill it!

Book: Songs of the Humpback Whale

Summary: Jane had always lived in somebody's shadow. Escaping a childhood of abuse by marrying oceanographer Oliver Jones, she finds herself taking second place to his increasingly successful career. However, when her daughter Rebecca is similarly treated, Jane's dramatic stand takes them all by surprise.

Leaving Oliver and his whale tapes behind in San Diego, Jane and Rebecca set out to drive across America to Uncle Joley and the sanctuary of the Massachusetts apple orchard where he works. Joley directs Jane across the United States in a series of letters waiting for her in designated post offices. Each letter gives concise directions to the next post office; each letter provides Jane with a chance to reflect on her forgotten past.

Oliver, used to tracking male humpback whales across vast oceans, now has the task of tracking his wife across a continent. To do so he must learn to see the world-and even himself-through her eyes.

What I thought: I really struggled with this one. Too much jumping back and forth and I didn't really connect with anyone. Need to have a bit of a Picoult break I think and then go for one that I haven't read yet which has high reviews (like The Pact).  In fairness this was her first and I know she gets better!

Book: Educating Alice

Summary: A footloose city slicker who couldn't tell a bull from a cow was hardly the ideal candidate to answer an ad for a governess on a Mackay cattle station. But Alice Greenup was game for anything, until she was bowled over by a handsome young jackeroo with a devastating smile. It was the start of a whole new way of life as Alice gave up her city life to embrace the bush and all that came with it: horses, cattle, the obsession with rain - and the correct way to wear a hat.

After overcoming more than a few obstacles, the unlikely couple eventually married, moving to Rick's family farm near Kingaroy. Determined to make their own future, they gambled their dreams on a vast property called 'Jumma'. It was a huge risk but with a lot of love, blood, sweat and tears, they were on their way.

But one morning they almost lost it all. When Alice's horse bucked her out of the saddle in remote bushland, she was gravely injured. Rick was forced to leave her lying alone, drifting in and out of consciousness, to gallop home for help. What followed would test their love to the limit ...

What I thought: Loved it! A great story.

Book: Matilda is Missing

Summary: Garry Hartshorn and Softie Monaghan were never love's young dream. Not even on their wedding day.

Softie was sophisticated, a career woman, who owned a nice apartment overlooking St Kilda Beach. Garry had a few rough edges, plus one failed marriage and an assortment of jobs under his belt. But Softie's body clock was ticking, and Garry wanted children ...

So they got married, and produced the only thing they ever had in common. Matilda.

Now, two years later, their golden-haired child is at the centre of a bitter bitter divorce and custody battle. Both parents insist that her well-being is the only thing they care about. Yet, in truth, Matilda was always the one most likely to become lost.

What I thought: Brilliant!  Horrible subject matter but a riveting read. Highly recommend, couldn't put it down.

Book: Redstone Station

Summary: Alice Wilson is happy to be returning home to Redstone Station after two years at Ag College. On various placements at farms and stations during her college days she's been shocked by some of the attitudes to women. By contrast, her grandfather Sam has always treated her as an equal.

For his part, Sam is delighted to have his granddaughter back on board. In shaping Alice he and his wife tried to avoid the mistakes they made bringing up her mother, Lara, and Alice has more than lived up to their expectations, graduating from college with flying colours. Sam now sees Alice as the key to taking Redstone Station into a successful future.

Exceptionally hard-working, with an instinctive understanding of animals and a natural aptitude for farming, Alice is determined to justify her grandfather's faith in her. But will the arrival of stockman Jeremy, a good-looking larrikin with a bad boy reputation, throw her - and the path of Redstone Station - off track?


What I thought: Good book but the main character was far too reserved. Needed more of her inner strength or something. But still a good read. Loved the larrikin! Will give the author another try.

Book: Back to the Pilliga

Summary: It was always expected that Lachie Sinclair and his brothers would one day take over the family property, Kamilaroi. But when tragedy strikes, Lachlan blames his father and angrily renounces any future for him at Kamilaroi.

Moving to the city, Lachie joins the police force and quickly rises through the ranks. But after being injured in a gunfight he decides to go out on his own as a private investigator.

When a wealthy society woman asks Lachie to lead the search for her missing daughter, he reluctantly agrees. Early indications are that the woman's captors are hiding her in the Pilliga region, meaning Lachie must return to his roots in order to try and save her life ...


What I thought: I did enjoy this one but the author is very old (yes old) so at times the writing is a bit formal and stilted or something. Still a great read though!

Book: Home before sundown

Summary: Coming home can break your heart . . . or change your life.

For Bella Fairburn, a girl from the bush, her new life in Europe is a dream come true. But news of her beloved father's heart attack brings Bella rushing back to Australia along with her aunt Liz, an acclaimed musician who's been living in London for the past thirty years.

Coming home is fraught with emotional danger for both Bella and Liz. While Bella is confident she can deal with drought, bushfires and bogged cattle, she dreads facing her neighbour. Gabe Mitchell is the man she once hoped to marry, but he's also the man who broke her heart.

And for Liz, Mullinjim holds a painful secret that must never be revealed . . .

In the rugged beauty of the outback, new futures beckon, but Bella and Liz must first confront the heartaches of the past.

What I thought: I didn't realise this actually followed on from a previous book I read so that was a pleasant surprise. It was a great little rural romance. There are just too many books and not enough time! 

Book: Theodore Boone - The Accused

Summary: Theodore Boone is the thirteen year old who knows more about the law than most adult lawyers. He certainly never expected to be the victim of crime himself. But then his bike is vandalised, he's attacked while doing his homework and, worst of all, framed for a robbery.

When stolen computer equipment turns up in Theo's school locker, the police start leaning on him hard. And he is the only suspect. What if he is found guilty What about his dreams of becoming a lawyer

In a race against time, aided by his renegade uncle, Ike, Theo must find the real felon and reveal the true motivation behind the crimes of which he stands accused.

What I thought: Another nice quick simple read. Looking forward to book #4 in the series.

Book: The Sunburnt Country

Summary: Jonelle Baxter is a young woman in a man's world – a tough, hardworking motor mechanic from an idyllic country family. But lately things in her perfect life have been changing, and her workshop isn't the only local business that's struggling.

Daniel Tyler is new in town, posted from the city to manage the community bank. As he tries to rein in the spiralling debts of Bundara, he uncovers all sorts of personal dramas and challenges.

The last thing Jonny and Dan need is an unwanted attraction to each other. She has enough problems just keeping her livelihood going and he's fighting pressures that stretch all the way to Perth. It's going to take more than a good drop of rain to break the drought and bring change in love and in life.

What I thought: Another great rural romance. Fiona Palmer is one of my favourites and once again I was swept up in the story and ready to move to the real country (I just live in pretend country).

The Value Proposition - research, marketing, advocacy

Back in July I headed over to Adelaide the the Health Libraries Australia PD Day. It was great for a couple of reasons. Firstly I helped to organise the event with the HLA Executive. That meant I got to physically meet people who I had only ever spoken to via teleconference. we had a face to face meeting the day before so that was nice. Secondly, I got to spend a night in a big hotel by myself! Haven't been to any library events interstate in over 4 years! Thirdly, I got to learn lots, meet new people and speak to vendors. Here are my notes from the day:

Andrew McDougall - SGS Economics (disclaimer is that I am helping to coordinate the survey he talked about)

He started with lots of talk about the public libraries survey he did and how info was gathered etc. Then when onto the HLI/ALIA Life and Death one from last year. He then tried to explain about opportunity costs etc. and how these are derived (got a bit lost in there).

Then he spoke about the current survey. 300 health libraries in Australia of which 48 responded (which is 16%). Of those 48 only 27 could have cost benefit analysis applied (9%). He is still working out ratios but at the minute it looks like 2:1. For every $1 you spend you get $2 back etc. He thinks this may creep closer to $3. We are just looking at getting some more answers from last year’s survey and there was an issue with states (WA, SA and QLD) and using the same IP address so this is being explored to pull further numbers out. Another interesting fact was that 25-30% of potential users use health libraries (we definitely need to do something on marketing, I know we aren’t that good here.)

He also said about the limitations of the survey (hard to qualitatively find answers/expensive; long survey due to multiple stakeholders wanting input).

Finally he spoke about the case studies which will tie everything in together. The template is still being worked on as it had to expand to include more info. 

Ruth Sladek - Search skills of Librarians

This was really interesting as years ago I participated in the research so was great to hear the findings.  

Medline not sufficient eg. need to search grey literature

 Oceanic ancestry group (MESH) not intuitive or specific

90% of searches underpinning Cochrane contain errors

Large overestimation of librarians' search skills - only found 53.2% of relevant literature

BUT their gold standard would be different from what others' gold standards are.

Ask yourself:

How well do I search?

When does it matter?

How do I know how well I search?

How do I improve my searching?

Who should assess my competency?

If hard for health librarians what about end users?

Lowitja Filter launched for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. (Search filters on intranet?)

PubMed has Medline and non-Medline components. Filters through PubMed free. Medline not.

Cheryl Hamill - One tribe - many tribes? 

Collaborative report with Melanie Kammermann; Lindsay Harris and Kathleen Gray 

Take a BYTE out of medical misinformation (MLA Poster - LIW 2014?)

Keep calm and ask a Librarian (LIW 2014)

Librarian lego figure

Position descriptions in Health Sciences Libraries (MLA Book, Dockit #16)

What we do? Evaluate; acquire; organise; retrieve; teach; support; deliver; enable discovery

Many intangibles in libraries - not all about stats

Certified Health Informatician Australasia - we are aiming for self regulation 

Narelle Hampe & Suzanne Lewis - ePortfolios to enhance PD

Record; Store; Facilitate; Reflection

Training needs analysis and pre-implementation survey

Evaluate platform - used Pebble Pad as hosted externally; web based; if staff leave they can maintain subscription individually at $45 per year

Sarah Hayman, CareSearch

Getting information of the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant (LIW 2014)

Flinders filters:

Heart failure

Lung cancer

Residential aged care

Dementia

Primary health care

Contraception (not yet released)

Bereavement (under development)

Other filters:

SIGN Scottish Intercollegiate Guidleines Network

InterTASC

PubMed Clinical Queries

McMaster University Health

"evidence-based" search =  known effectiveness

removes individual search builder

limitations - one database and quality of that database

no such thing as a perfect search

Megan Neumann - Single click results

Lib Guides - tabs: Books; Jnls; Databases; Lit searches

Lit searches are pre defined "dumb down searches" as a quick product for clinicians

Sue McKerracher - Advocacy

We say "special" libraries.

They say "industry" libraries

Turn survey into infographic

Quote dollar for dollar on everything

Protecting the users - not our jobs

Health library standards?

Patient care & journey - use these words

Accreditation

Weaving in qualitative narrative

individual patient stories (doctor searches child + battery; librarian searches child + foreign object)