Health Sciences Librarian, Health Sciences Library, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY,
Head, Health Sciences Library, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY,
J Med Libr Assoc. 2019 Apr;107(2):232-237. doi: 10.5195/jmla.2019.564. Epub 2019 Apr 1.
Public librarians are in a unique position to assist the general public with health information inquiries. However, public librarians might not have the training, detailed knowledge, and confidence to provide high-quality health information.
The authors created and delivered three workshops to public librarians in Suffolk County, New York, highlighting several National Library of Medicine resources. Each workshop focused on a different topic: general consumer health resources, genetics health resources, and environmental/toxicology resources. At the end of each workshop, participants were asked to complete the Training Session Evaluation form provided by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM). All participants reported that they learned a new skill or about a new tool, that their ability to locate online health information improved, and that they planned to use the knowledge they gained in the future. Online tutorials covering the major resources from each workshop were created and made accessible to the public on several organizations' websites. Virtual reference services were initiated for public librarians who need further assistance with these resources and will continue to be provided on an ongoing basis. Financial support for the equipment and software utilized in each of these tasks was awarded by NNLM.
Based on attendance and participant feedback, this model of health information outreach appears to have been successful in furthering the educational needs of public librarians and may be useful to others in creating a similar program in their communities.
公共图书馆员处于独特的位置，可以帮助公众查询健康信息。然而，公共图书馆员可能没有提供高质量健康信息所需的培训、详细知识和信心。
作者在纽约州萨福克县为公共图书馆员创建并提供了三个研讨会，重点介绍了国家医学图书馆的几个资源。每个研讨会都侧重于一个不同的主题：一般消费者健康资源、遗传学健康资源和环境/毒理学资源。在每个研讨会结束时，参与者被要求完成国家医学图书馆网络（NNLM）提供的培训课程评估表。所有参与者都报告说，他们学到了一项新技能或新工具，他们定位在线健康信息的能力得到了提高，他们计划在未来使用他们所获得的知识。涵盖每个研讨会主要资源的在线教程已创建，并可在多个组织的网站上访问。为需要进一步了解这些资源的公共图书馆员启动了虚拟参考服务，并将继续在持续的基础上提供。NNLM 为这些任务中使用的设备和软件提供了资金支持。
根据出席人数和参与者的反馈，这种健康信息外展模式似乎成功地满足了公共图书馆员的教育需求，并且对于在其社区中创建类似计划的其他人可能也很有用。
