NLM Announces Plan to Increase Public Access to Health Information on the Internet

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Thirty-Seven Public Libraries Chosen to Assist in Public Education Campaign

Important Note to Editor: A library in your community has been chosen to participate in this program (see list attached to this release). After the July 27-28 meeting (see below) photographs and more information about the project will be available from the National Library of Medicine Office of Public Information.

(Washington, D.C., Tuesday, July 28, 1998) -- Noting that "the Internet offers the public one of the most cost-effective opportunities for accessing timely and critical health information," Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine -- the world's largest medical library -- announced that 37 public libraries would take part in a multi- state pilot project designed to increase public awareness of and access to health information via the Internet.

The project will evaluate the degree to which public libraries and the Internet can help meet the health informational needs of the public Dr. Lindberg said, "These 37 public libraries will help us to determine the feasibility of mounting these programs in public libraries nationwide."

"This initiative was prompted, in part, by growing public enthusiasm and thirst for medical information," noted Dr. Lindberg. "For more than 25 years, MEDLINE has been one way in which health professionals have attempted to keep up with what's new in their field. Last year, Vice-President Al Gore extended this same ability to all when he conducted the first free MEDLINE search on the Internet. Since then, public interest in MEDLINE has skyrocketed. The number of searches on MEDLINE has increased ten-fold. About 7 million searches took place annually before the first free MEDLINE search. There are about 120 million annually now. And, about one-third of the searches are being done by consumers -- indicative of the increasing public appetite for health information."

"Informed consumers are better patients," he added, "and MEDLINE is the world's largest database of peer-reviewed information." He noted that this public education campaign would not be possible without the cooperation of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Public Library Association -- a Division of the American Library Association -- and the Medical Library Association.

Librarians from each of the pilot public libraries -- chosen to represent a range of geographic locations, community sizes, and diverse populations -- will attend a kick-off meeting at the National Library of Medicine on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD on July 27-28, 1998.

Lindberg announced that the 37 public libraries selected to participate in the pilot project include:

• Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, AL
• Martin Luther King Memorial Library,Washington, DC
• Ocmulgee Regional Public Library, Eastman, GA
• Cherokee Regional Library, LaFayette, GA
• Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA
• Hall County Public Library, Gainesville, GA
• Coastal Plain Regional Library, Tifton, GA
• Baltimore County Public Library, Reisterstown, MD
• Dorchester County Public Library, Cambridge, MD
• Eastern Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD
• Wicomico County Free Library, Salisbury, MD
• Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD
• Kent County Public Library, Chestertown, MD
• Talbot County Free Library, Easton, MD
• Worcester County Library, Snow Hill, MD
• Wheaton Regional Library, Wheaton, MD
• New York Public Library (Mid-Manhattan), New York, NY
• New York Public Library - CHOICES, New York, NY
• Rochester Public Library, Rochester, NY
• White Plains Public Library, White Plains, NY
• James V. Brown Library, Williamsport, PA
• Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC
• Mt. Pleasant Regional Library, Mt. Pleasant, SC
• Memphis/Shelby County Public Library and Information Center, Memphis, TN
• Alexander Memorial Library, Cotulla, TX
• Jourdanton Community Library, Jourdanton, TX
• Universal City Public Library, Universal City, TX
• Castroville Public Library, Castroville, TX
• Boerne Public Library, Boerne, TX
• Dittlinger Memorial Library, New Braufels, TX
• El Progreso Memorial Library, Uvalde, TX
• Houston Public Library, Houston, TX
• San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio, TX
• Alamo Area Library System, San Antonio, TX
• Laredo Public Library, Laredo, TX
• Arlington County Public Library, Arlington, VA
• Fairfax County Public Library, Alexandria, VA

MEDLINE can be accessed on the Internet at: www.nlm.nih.gov

Last updated: 29 April 2004
First published: 07 May 2002
Permanence level: Permanent: Stable Content