Current access to health information in Zambia: a survey of selected health institutions

OBJECTIVE: To assess the current situation of access to information by health staff at selected central, provincial, district hospitals and health centres in Zambia. METHODS: Government and non-governmental institutions were visited in the Lusaka Urban District and nine rural districts in the North-Western, Western and Central Provinces of Zambia in 2001. Thirty interviews were held with provincial and district health directors, medical doctors, nurses and clinical officers in district hospitals and rural and urban health centres. In 2006, a follow-up visit was undertaken to the health centres in the Lusaka Urban District in Lusaka Province and the Sesheke District in the Western Province. RESULTS: There is limited access to health information for health workers in Zambia. In hospitals and health centres, where there is access, it is usually provided in an ad hoc manner without a central policy from the government. In all the places visited, there was also an overwhelming expressed need for different types of information relating to the professional or personal needs of health care workers. CONCLUSIONS: The study found that access to information was very poor. There were some excellent examples of local initiatives showing that, even under difficult financial and infrastructural circumstances, it was feasible to improve health workers' access to information by using low technology, information access initiatives. These existing local initiatives deserve to be scaled up, while new initiatives should be adopted to improve access to information in a much more structured way. Of paramount importance is the formulation and implementation of an information policy that will guarantee the provision of health information to Zambian health workers.     

The health periodicals database: full-text access to consumer and technical health information

The HEALTH PERIODICALS DATABASE, produced by the Information Access Company, is a unique online file which provides full-text access to both general interest health-related literature and key technical resources in the medical field. Available on DIALOG and CompuServe, the database is described as a useful tool for information on the health, fitness, and nutrition industries. Special features of the database are reviewed and comparisons are made with resources of similar scope.     

The hospital library: access to information for rural health professionals

This article examines some recent literature about the low physician-population ratios in rural areas. In an attempt to discover those factors which seem to preclude successful health care delivery in rural areas, it discusses a definition of the city as the place where the maximum lines of communication converge. A new concept, the "invisible city," is proposed, and the health care community in the United States is seen as an example. The library of the rural hospital, then, is defined as the location of the rural health professional's primary entrance into his own invisible city by means of professional communication through the biomedical literature.     

Public library computer training for older adults to access high-quality Internet health information

An innovative experiment to develop and evaluate a public library computer training program to teach older adults to access and use high-quality Internet health information involved a productive collaboration among public libraries, the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a Library and Information Science (LIS) academic program at a state university. One hundred and thirty-one older adults aged 54–89 participated in the study between September 2007 and July 2008. Key findings include: a) participants had overwhelmingly positive perceptions of the training program; b) after learning about two NIH websites (http://nihseniorhealth.gov and http://medlineplus.gov) from the training, many participants started using these online resources to find high-quality health and medical information and, further, to guide their decision making regarding a health- or medically-related matter; and c) computer anxiety significantly decreased (p < .001) while computer interest and efficacy significantly increased (p = .001 and p < .001, respectively) from pre- to post-training, suggesting statistically significant improvements in computer attitudes between pre- and post-training. The findings have implications for public libraries, LIS academic programs, and other organizations interested in providing similar programs in their communities.     

Facilitating access to consumer health information: a collaborative approach employing applied research

Responsibility for the provision of consumer health information typically lies within the public library domain or the health sciences library arena. In many communities, both types of libraries provide support for consumer health information services, often with varying levels of expertise. Public library employees may or may not be trained in the use of health and biomedical information resources. Conversely, health sciences library staff may or may not be familiar with information needs of the lay public within their community. To offset these potential differences, a model was developed to assess the health information needs of community members and to provide training for public library staff regarding use of relevant electronic consumer health information resources.     

生命科学信息的公共获取

从范围、成本、渠道、机制、法律等方面分析了阻碍生命科学信息公共获取的影响因素,提出了实现生命科学信息零障碍获取的建议。     

Gaining access to everyday life information seeking

The discursive viewpoint adopted by many researchers who study everyday life information seeking allows for a shift in focus away from the individual as a unit of analysis toward a more general understanding of the broader cultural conditions within which individuals operate. However, the data employed by such researchers often consist of the testimony or observed actions of individuals. This paradox provides a point from which to reflect on the process of gaining access or entry to everyday life information seekers as research participants. This article presents the authors’ reflections on their experiences of conducting separate library and information science studies of three diverse populations: pregnant women, members of a self-help support group, and preschool children. The article’s premise is that theory and research practice are intertwined and that attending to issues of gaining access is essential for the development of both. Access is an emergent process dependent on the characteristics of the researcher, the participants, and the research context.     

Computer-assisted user access to science information in an academic institute

Questions about the creation and functioning of a computer-assisted information system (CAIS) that includes an integrated databank on scientific research in geology are examined. The system serves the staff of scientific organizations with the use of multi-aspect request processing. Using the example of the CAIS for the scientific research of the Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the RAS (IGEM RAS), the basics of the interaction of the system infrastructure components, their composition, methodological principles of formation and functioning of a unified information communication system are presented. In particular, the CAIS carries out the spatial integration of documentographic and factographic heterogeneous data according to geographic information system technology. The composition, structure, and functions of the specialized linguistic support of the system are described. The methodological fundamentals for the solution of the task of ore deposit prediction in the CAIS are used as an example.     

The level of Internet access and ICT training for health information professionals in sub-Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are important tools for development. Despite its significant growth on a global scale, Internet access is limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Few studies have explored Internet access, use of electronic resources and ICT training among health information professionals in Africa. OBJECTIVE: The study assessed Internet access, use of electronic resources and ICT training among health information professionals in SSA. METHODS: A 26-item self-administered questionnaire in English and French was used for data collection. The questionnaire was completed by health information professionals from five Listservs and delegates at the 10th biannual Congress of the Association of Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA). RESULTS: A total of 121 respondents participated in the study and, of those, 68% lived in their countries' capital. The majority (85.1%) had Internet access at work and 40.8% used cybercafes as alternative access points. Slightly less than two-thirds (61.2%) first learned to use ICT through self-teaching, whilst 70.2% had not received any formal training in the previous year. Eighty-eight per cent of respondents required further ICT training. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: In SSA, freely available digital information resources are underutilized by health information professionals. ICT training is recommended to optimize use of digital resources. To harness these resources, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations must play a key role.     

State Data Centers: improving access to census information

"The U.S. Bureau of the Census created the State Data Center program in 1978 to improve public access to census information. This article discusses the background, structure, and services of that program; the role of libraries in the program; and future directions in State Data Center/library relationships. The appendix lists contact person names, as well as addresses and telephone numbers for State Data Center lead agencies."     

社会化网络环境下数字信息资源的开放存取

介绍了社会化网络的内涵与特点及其对数字信息资源开放存取的影响,构建了基于社会化网络的数字信息资源开放存取的结构框架。     

Regional health library service in northern Ireland

The regional medical library service provided to physicians, hospitals, nurses, social workers, and health care administrators throughout Northern Ireland by the Queen's University of Belfast is described. A brief outline of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom is given, and the library service is described in terms of collections, cataloging, interlibrary loan, and reference.     

Making the case to fund networked access to electronic information services

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