Outreach to health professionals in a rural area

An outreach project which juxtaposed technology (Grateful Med) and a human intermediary (a circuit librarian) to serve health professionals in a rural area of Illinois is described. The five goals of the project were: promote Grateful Med as a clinical tool; introduce circuit librarianship to Illinois; heighten the awareness of health professionals to the value of timely information services; increase the visibility of the resource library; and evaluate the impact of the two components, Grateful Med and circuit librarianship. While the project was well-received and enjoyed short-term success, sustaining the same level of information activity post-project has not been achieved. Insuring utilization of health information by remote health professionals may be characterized as a Sisyphean task.     

Benchmarking in health care: using the Internet to identify resources

Benchmarking is a quality improvement tool that is increasingly being applied to the health care field and to the libraries within that field. Using mostly resources assessible at no charge through the Internet, a collection of information was compiled on benchmarking and its applications. Sources could be identified in several formats including books, journals and articles, multi-media materials, and organizations.     

Journal searching in non-MEDLINE resources on Internet Web sites

Internet access to the medical journal literature is absorbing the attention of all relevant parties, i.e., publishers, journal vendors, librarians, commercial providers, government agencies, and end users. Journal content on the Web sites spans the range from advertising and ordering information for the print version, to table of contents and abstracts, to downloadable full text and graphics of articles. The searching parameters for systems other than MEDLINE also differ extensively with a wide variety of features and resulting retrieval. This discussion reviews a selection of providers of medical information (particularly the journal literature) on the Internet, making a comparison of what is available on Web sites and how it can be searched.     

The literary works of Sir William Osler

A paper read at the first regular meeting of the Osler Society of McGill University, October 19, 1921.     

Academic health sciences library Website navigation: an analysis of forty-one Websites and their navigation tools.

BACKGROUND: The analysis included forty-one academic health sciences library (HSL) Websites as captured in the first two weeks of January 2001. Home pages and persistent navigational tools (PNTs) were analyzed for layout, technology, and links, and other general site metrics were taken. METHODS: Websites were selected based on rank in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, with regional and resource libraries given preference on the basis that these libraries are recognized as leaders in their regions and would be the most reasonable source of standards for best practice. A three-page evaluation tool was developed based on previous similar studies. All forty-one sites were evaluated in four specific areas: library general information, Website aids and tools, library services, and electronic resources. Metrics taken for electronic resources included orientation of bibliographic databases alphabetically by title or by subject area and with links to specifically named databases. RESULTS: Based on the results, a formula for determining obligatory links was developed, listing items that should appear on all academic HSL Web home pages and PNTs. CONCLUSIONS: These obligatory links demonstrate a series of best practices that may be followed in the design and construction of academic HSL Websites.