Promoting Improved Access to Consumer Health Information

Abstract

“Do you have any information on lupus?” “What are the side effects of Prozac?” “I want to find an herbal remedy for arthritis.” Questions such as these are asked each day across the country at public library reference desks. The boom of interest in consumer health, fueled by changes in society and the medical system itself, has strained the infrastructure for dissemination of such information, including at the local public library. In response to this problem, medical libraries, led by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), have explored methods of partnering with public libraries to provide improved consumer health information for their clientele. Cooperation between medical and public libraries has proven to be quite effective.