Papers, Lightning Talks & Posters

For the full conference program, view the Midwest Chapter/MLA 2026 Conference Paper, Lightning Talk and Poster Presentation Program (PDF). The program will be continually updated throughout the conference.

View the contributed presentation materials in Zenodo, the online repository for our chapter conference. 

* Indicates Research Award Candidate.

Thursday, October 22, 2026

Paper Session 1:  10:30 AM - 11:45 AM (CT) / 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM (ET)

  1. Librarian burnout - prevention and control: scaling instructional support through a course management system. Katie Blocksidge, Anna Biszaha, Kerry Dhakal
  2. * What do librarians care about?: insights from three years of MLA conference presentations. Michelle Rau, Emily Vardell
  3. Enhancing liaison teamwork through inclusive hiring and onboarding. Lisa McGuire, Elizabeth Weinfurter
  4. Evidence Synthesis Across the Health Sciences: Librarian Experiences Outside Medicine, Gina Genova

Poster Session:  11:45 AM to 12:15 PM (CT) / 12:45 PM to 1:15 PM (ET)

  1. Lifelong learning, cultivating curiosity: thriving after a mid-career shift. Sarah Joseph
  2. * Post-mortem health data governance: information stewardship and regulatory gaps across the patient data lifecycle. Jasmine Lee, Khan Inan
  3. Smart health cards in practice: a comparative evaluation of user benefits, limitations, and implementation challenges across healthcare systems. Jasmine Lee
  4. Teaching evidence in the age of AI: strategies for engaging students without discouraging innovation. Whitney Sproul
  5. A tale of two campuses: establishing library liaison services for regional nursing programs. David Sye

Paper Session 2:  2:15 PM to 3:30 PM (CT) / 3:15 PM to 4:30 PM (ET)

  1. * Developing robust information literacy instructional skills among nursing science faculty through scaffolding and train the trainer techniques. Karen Harag
  2. Seeing humanity in health: library partnerships that promote patient values, cultural sensitivity, and wellbeing. Vida Vaughn  
  3. * Exploring the ALA-accredited library and information sciences (LIS) graduate programs concentrating in health sciences librarianship. Kerry Dhakal, Sarah Norman
  4. Empowering educators and librarians: pedagogical strategies for teaching verifiable RAG-evidence synthesis. Howard Rodriguez-Mori        
  5. * Health information ecosystems and institutional trust: implications for health sciences librarianship. Kayle Vermillion       

Friday, October 23, 2026

Paper Session 3:  10:30 AM to 11:45 AM (CT) / 11:30 AM to 12:45 PM (ET)

  1. * Librarian involvement in dental & oral health systematic reviews. Melissa Ernst, Jessica Hollister, Jennifer Balchunas, Emily Harris
  2. Optimizing medical research with LLMs & RAGs: targeted strategies and prompts for Copilot, ChatGTP, & NotebookLM. Howard Rodriguez-Mori
  3. * End-of-life concerns, curiosity and conversation: the role of libraries in the Death Cafe movement. Jarrod Irwin
  4. * Explicitly teaching graduate health science students to use the literature review process as a tool for critical thinking. Kate Powers

    Lightning Session:  12:45 PM to 1:55 PM (CT) / 1:45 PM to 2:55 PM (ET)

    1. Integrating medical librarians into a mortuary science program. Brooke Olson, Merete Christianson, Ryn Gagen
    2. A dual-elective approach to preparing students Spanish-speaking populations. Juli McCarroll
    3. Collaboration and community: an oral history of the development of a campus interdisciplinary research complex. Judith Smith, Mark MacEachern, Chase Masters, Suprita Nagali
    4. What librarians should know about the FDA application process for medical devices. Irene Viridiana Eckhart
    5. Inquiry and equity: health sciences librarians and community partners coming together to support high school student success. Laurel Mueller, Nicole Thomas
    6. * Better together: the power of evidence synthesis apprenticing. Brooke Olson, Merete Christianson, Ryn Gagen, Melissa Ernst, Nicole Theis-Mahan, Sarah Jane Brown
    7. * Curious about age ranges: "older adult" criteria in systematic reviews. Megan Jaskowiak
    8. * Introspection: library science student involvement with evidence synthesis. ZhengKai Ng

    Paper Session 4:   2:00 PM to 3:15 PM (CT) / 3:00 PM to 4:15 PM

    1. Creating a librarian led research block for internal medicine residents. Amy Rohmiller
    2. Caring by design: comfy corners, wellness tables, and user-centered spaces. Amanda Williams, Laura Davison, Tiffney Gipson-Goodwin
    3. * Bots and bicuspid brains: evaluating dental student artificial intelligence use. Melissa Ernst, Nicole Theis-Mahon, Brooke Olson, Merete Christianson
    4. * From curiosity to credibility: building a framework for educational research in health sciences librarianship. Amy Blevins, Joey Nicholson, John Cyrus, Molly Knapp, Mark MacEachern, Laura Menard, Brandon Patterson, Nena Schvaneveldt, Emily Vardell, Laura Zeigen
    5. A seed walked into a library... Samantha Loster
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