The Medical Library Association Guide to Developing Consumer Health, Paperback

The Medical Library Association Guide to Developing Consumer Health Collections guides both library graduate school students and seasoned librarians from academic, health sciences, and public libraries, to develop, maintain, nurture, and advertise consumer health collections. This authoritative guide from the respected Medical Library Association covers all that is involved in developing a new consumer health library including: -Conducting community needs assessments and forging community partnerships -Concerns about physical space, computers, and materials -Funding, budgeting, and staffing -Privacy and confidentiality concerns -Publicity and advertising This book guides both graduate library school students and seasoned librarians from all types of libraries--academic, health center, hospital, public, and school--to develop, maintain and nurture not only consumer health collections, but also community partnerships and outreach programs. Examples of librarians' innovative and creative consumer health initiatives are included. Chapters include all that is involved in developing a consumer health collection including conducting community needs assessments; concerns about physical space, computers, and materials; budgeting, licensing, and staffing; privacy and confidentiality concerns; and community partnership and outreach.

About the Author:

Claire B. Joseph is director of the Medical Library at South Nassau Communities Hospital, Oceanside, Long Island, New York. She has been a librarian for more than 40 years and a health sciences librarian for nearly 30 years. She is active in the Medical Library Association, serving as Chair of the Hospital Libraries Section, Chair-Elect of the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, Secretary of the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section, and Chair of the New York--New Jersey Chapter, along with serving on a variety of committees. In addition, she is Book Review Editor for the Journal of Hospital Librarianship.