Submitted by Linda A. Draper
Shiffman Medical Library, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Since 2004, Shiffman Medical Library staff members, under the guidance of former director and principal investigator for this project Ellen Marks, have been actively developing an online directory of health services for the state of Michigan — Michigan Go Local. We've come to realize the importance of local collaborators, specifically public libraries.
Public libraries are frequently one of the initial sources of reliable health information for consumers. In 2008, Michigan Go Local staff, namely our primary selectors/reviewers, Jill Turner and Suzanne Van Pelt, added more than 600 public libraries and branches to the database indexed with these terms: healthy living, exercise and physical fitness, nutrition and health for children, infants and toddlers, men, seniors, teens and women.
Some of these public libraries use their websites to promote sources of unbiased information as a public service that their patrons can rely on for timely content. As of our October 2008 poster, we identified 15 Michigan libraries that prominently link to both MedlinePlus.gov and Michigan Go Local.
Public Library Model
One public library has elevated its services with an excellent model for other libraries — Royal Oak Public Library through the leadership of its director, Metta Lansdale. The library launched the Royal Oak Health Information Portal in 2007. Funding from a Greater Midwest Region subcontract provided the means to hold several lectures by local health professionals and offer library computer workshops on searching for reliable health information. Its web interface is a "first stop for reliable health information" with MedlinePlus, PubMed and Michigan Go Local as key resources. Librarians from Beaumont Hospital and Wayne State University were partners in making this a successful endeavor. Royal Oak's library patrons have responded very positively to this collection of health-related resources.
Selected Data
Some the statistical information that we featured on the poster were: number of records in the Michigan Go Local database (11,045 in October 2008, and 11,939 as of January 2009); more than 15,000 annual visitors to the website; top counties searched were Wayne, Kalamazoo and Oakland; and top health topics were smoking, allergy and hepatitis. We thank Deborah Charbonneau for her assistance with analyzing the web statistics generated.
More Library Outreach
During the coming year, one primary goal is to expand the promotion of Michigan Go Local. A related objective is to specifically increase the number of public libraries that prominently promote MedlinePlus and Michigan Go Local. We plan to connect with more public libraries to share information about these resources. We will collaborate with them to help shape Michigan Go Local to better serve their unique library constituents.