This article was featured in Library Notes, #44 (Spring/Summer 2007).

Each year, the Medical Library Association (MLA) bestows the honor of Fellow status on several of its most accomplished members. Fellows of the association are chosen based on their commitment to furthering MLA's goals and their contributions to the health sciences information profession. Galter Health Sciences Library Director, Jim Shedlock, AHIP, FMLA, was inducted as an MLA Fellow at the Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Monday, May 21, 2007, during the annual meeting of MLA in Philadelphia, PA.

Jim has been a devoted and active member of the association for over thirty years, serving as book review editor (1989-1991) and later as a two-time editorial board member of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association (BMLA), now the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA). In 1996, he was elected to serve on the MLA Board of Directors and was twice elected to MLA's Nominating Committee. He has served as chair of the 2006 National Program Committee for the 2006 annual meeting in Phoenix, AZ, and is the chair of the 2008 Local Assistance Committee for 2008 annual meeting in Chicago, IL. A Distinguished Member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP), Jim was a corecipient of MLA's 1998 Thomson Scientific/Frank Bradway Rogers Information Advancement Award for his contributions to HealthWeb, a Website that provides evaluated noncommercial, health-related resources. He is also a former chair of MLA's Medical Informatics and Medical School Libraries Sections.

Jim can also include among his numerous achievements the honor of being appointed to the National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) Biomedical Library and Informatics Review Committee and the development of the Galter HealthSmart Library, a Web-based system designed to provide easy access to library services and resources. Although the renovation of the Galter Health Sciences Library was completed over a decade ago, his work on the project helped set a standard for library renovation projects that is still referenced today.

Committed to sharing the vast knowledge he has gained throughout his career, Jim has written numerous articles in such publications as Medical Reference Services Quarterly and BMLA and has presented several papers at MLA annual and chapter meetings. Jim has served as a mentor for the National Library of Medicine/Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) Leadership Fellows Program.  Starting in 1995, Jim began service as a regional editor for the AAHSL publication, The Annual Statistics of Medical School Libraries in the United States and Canada.  In 1997 he served one year as interim editor of the AAHSL Annual Statistics and then became Editor in Chief and Chair of the Annual Statistics Editorial Board until 2006.

"Jim has a demonstrated history of notable leadership in MLA, remains an outstanding achiever, has produced significant scholarship, and is held in high regard by his fellow professionals. He exemplifies the qualities, professional and personal, of an MLA Fellow," stated Lynne K. Siemers, Library and Media Services, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC.

MLA Fellows are elected by the Board of Directors, for sustained and outstanding contributions to health sciences librarianship and to the advancement of the purposes of MLA. Fellows may use the initialism "FMLA" following their names. Please join us in congratulating Jim on this fine achievement!

The information in this article is from the May 2007 MLANET Press Releases section.