This proposal describes how the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences (HLHS), University of Iowa will assist the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), a program of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) with its mission of advancing the progress of medicine and improving the health of the public by: 1) providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and, 2) improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. Located within the Greater Midwest Region (GMR), the Hardin Library proposes to serve as the Regional Medical Library for one of the largest and most diverse regions in the Network using leadership, partnerships and innovations as the backbone of the network. The RML will actively involve network members in supporting the mission through training and awards. The GMR includes ten states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. All states in the Greater Midwest Region have pockets large and small of poverty and medically underserved areas in both urban and rural communities. With tools from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) we can now drill down to counties within states to help us to identify those areas that are economically and medically underserved and to target these communities in our outreach in order to improve their access to health and medical information. We are requesting $6.5 million over a 5-year period for this proposal.
Promoting and training health professionals and consumers on quality health resources and tools will enhance the public health by ensuring that all individuals have equal access to information. The focus of the proposal is on medically underserved communities and individuals and the health professionals that work in these communities or with the individuals.
