The Medical Library at Columbia Hospital has over the years placed a strong emphasis on service to the user. New technological developments are making it possible for health professionals to take a more active role in accessing bibliographic and factual health information. The purpose of this grant application is to acquire the necessary equipment and to develop training expertise needed to initiate an effective end-user searching service. The primary user groups targeted for the service include physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other allied health professionals, and students and interns in all of these fields. Getting health professionals directly involved with their own literature searching will help prepare them for using newer information technologies, such as expert systems, as they become available.
Specific aims of the grant are to install the computer equipment, acquire MEDLINE on CD-ROM, prepare the library staff for training end-users, measure the effectiveness of the training, and reach a target of 50 trained users of the service by the end of the grant period. The methodology emphasizes training the end-user and developing tools to assess the effectiveness of training. Assistance from key personnel in the Computer Information Services and Human Resource departments will ensure the availability of the technical and training expertise needed to achieve a positive result.
