Access to current high quality audiovisuals and the equipment necessary to utilize them in training programs for health professionals was determined to be a major need in the rural five county area served by the proposed project. The importance of audiovisuals in the health care field continues to grow; they are used for instruction of students and employees and for the continuing education of professional staff. Audiovisuals are expensive; and are difficult to access as the mechanisms for sharing have not been developed as they have been for books and journals. The Audiovisual Cooperative for Education (ACE) was formed with the assistance of two medical library consortia and includes ten hospitals and one academic institution within central California. The long-term objective identified by members of ACE is to improve access to, and utilization of, audiovisual resources for education and training of health professionals. The proposed project is designed to assist ACE in achieving this objective. Specifically, the grant funds would be used to: 1) make AV equipment compatible among members; 2) upgrade and enlarge the shared pool of AV software; 3) improve access to AV software by health educators, students, and participants; 4) provide training in the use of AV's and in the use of maintenance of AV equipment; 5) implement procedures for reviewing, evaluating, selecting, and purchasing AV software; and 6) evaluate and improve methods of assessing AV needs at members institutions. Through the use of a consortial arrangement (ACE), member institutions are committed to purchase compatible AV hardware, share AV software, and continue activities beyond the period of federal funding.
