Mary Reinertson-Sand, MLS

Mary Reinertson-Sand will be marking 24 years this year as an employee for the University of North Dakota (UND). Currently, she is an information specialist for the Health Workforce Information Center at the Center for Rural Health at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, in Grand Forks. In this position, which she began in October 2008, Reinertson-Sand responds to information requests by telephone and email from users desiring information on workforce issues. She develops topic pages on workforce resources and is responsible for collection development, indexing workforce documents, doing customized searches, as well as exhibiting at various conferences.

From January 2003 – September 2008, Reinertson-Sand worked as an information specialist for the Rural Assistance Center at the Center for Rural Health at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences. In this position, Reinertson-Sand responded to information requests by telephone and email from users desiring information on rural health issues. She developed information guides on health and human services resources and was responsible for collection development, indexing rural health newsletters, doing customized searches, as well as exhibiting at various conferences.

From October 1990 – January 2003, Reinertson-Sand worked as the manager of the Nursing Learning Resource Center at the UND College of Nursing. She was responsible for administering and supervising the center, working with faculty and students in providing media needed for classes, hiring and supervising student assistants, collection development, reference assistance, conducting media instruction, cataloging media, and attending, exhibiting and presenting at various conferences.

From June 1985 – October 1990, Reinertson-Sand worked as the geology librarian at the UND geology department. She developed procedures and policies for the library, supervised student assistants, conducted tours, provided reference assistance, supervised the U.S. Geological Survey map depository program, and was instrumental in assisting in the remodeling of the Geology Library. She received the UND Meritorious Service Award for her work in May 1989.

Prior to working at UND, Reinertson-Sand worked at the Grand Forks Public Library for a year and was an elementary substitute teacher and teacher aide for three years for the Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, Minn., and Thompson, N.D. Public School Districts.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education in 1981 from UND, her Bachelor of Science degree in library science in 1984 from UND, and her Master of Library Service degree in 1990 from the University of Alabama. Mary has lived in North Dakota all her life.

She currently holds membership in the North Dakota Library Association, where she has held numerous offices. She has had several articles published in local, regional and national magazines, and has been a reviewer as well as co-author of two books for children on North Dakota.

Established in 1980, the Center for Rural Health is one of the nation's most experienced rural health organizations. It has developed a full complement of programs to assist researchers, educators, policymakers, health care providers and, most importantly, rural residents to address changing rural environments by identifying and researching rural health issues, analyzing health policy, strengthening local capabilities, developing community-based alternatives, and advocating for rural concerns.

Contact Information:

Tel:	(701) 777-6026
Email:	mrsand@medicine.nodak.edu
Web site:	http://ruralhealth.und.edu

Projects

• Health Workforce Information Center -- Provides free access to the most recent resources on the nation’s health workforce in one easy-to-use online location.
• Rural Assistance Center -- The Rural Assistance Center (RAC) is a national rural health and human services information portal.

Publications

• Resource Roundup from the Rural Assistance Center: State Pages, Reinertson-Sand, M., Summer 2006
  
• Saving Time with WebSite Watcher, Niemeier, M., & Reinertson-Sand, M., The Good Stuff: The Official Magazine of the North Dakota Library Association, 36(3), 28 2006
  

Presentations

• Overview of the Health Workforce Information Center
  Presented by Reinertson-Sand, M. on Sep 17, 2009 at the 2009 Nebraska Rural Health Association conference, Kearney, NE.
  
• Finding Funds for Health Information Technology (HIT)
  Presented by Gabriel, H., Spencer, K., & Reinertson-Sand, M. on Mar 20, 2007 at the 2007 Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Mandan, ND.
  
• Analysis of the Rural Health Literature Indexed in PubMed and in the Rural Assistance Center Documents Index
  Presented by Gabriel, H., Niemeier, M., Reinertson-Sand, M., Sande, K., & Spencer, K. on May 20, 2005 at the National Rural Health Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.
  
• Emerging Issues in Rural American Health: An Evaluation of the Rural Assistance Center
  Presented by Kruger, G., Sande, K., Niemeier, M., Reinertson-Sand, M., & Spencer, K. on May 20, 2004 at the National Rural Health Association Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.
  
• The Rural Assistance Center
  Presented by Niemeier, M. & Reinertson-Sand, M. on Sep 25, 2003 at the North Dakota Library Association Annual Conference, Bismarck, ND.