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No. 109 | |
January/February 2002 |
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Arkansas Library Profile: Background: Arkansas Children's Hospital is the only pediatric medical center in the state of Arkansas. Patient age ranges from birth to twenty-one years old, and patients come from every county of the state and other states in the country. Each year, more than 250,000 patients are treated in the hospital and in the out-patient clinics. Arkansas Children's Hospital established a resource room for patients in the early 1990's and a pamphlet collection was maintained. But usage was low due to the lack of knowledge about its existence among patients and hospital staff. In July 1992, the ACH administration made a decision to fund an information center within the Medical Library, and in April 1993, the Family Resource Library was established as a center for pediatric consumer health information, and information on its existence was publicized throughout ACH. The Family Resource Library's mission is to provide patients, health professionals and the general public with information about pediatric health, growth and development. Resources: Although the focus of Family Resource Library's collection is on children's health, adult health materials to serve the health information needs of hospital staff and the community are also collected. At present, the Family Resource Library houses over 800 consumer health books, 300 consumer health videos, 500 pamphlets, and 20 journal subscriptions. Electronic resources include Web access to the Health Reference Center database and the National Organization of Rare Diseases Database, and local access to the Clinical Reference System's Pediatric Advisor and Behavioral Advisor databases. Pediatric Advisor and Behavioral Advisor are two pamphlet databases covering common childhood illnesses in English and Spanish. Due to a growing number of Spanish speaking patients in the hospital, there has been an urgent need for Spanish health information. These databases and some selected Spanish Health web sites have certainly answered this need. The Family Resource Library also has its own web site listing both library resources and Internet consumer health resources at: http://www.archildrens.org/gotohosp/gotolibrary.html. Successful consumer health service is determined by many factors. In addition to a strong collection, interview skills and search strategies are also of particular importance. In an article on consumer health information [1], it was mentioned that when the patient is newly diagnosed, very basic information covering diverse aspects of the disease is needed. After the patient has been involved in the treatment, information needs may become more complex and focused. The interviewing done by the staff enables them to assess the extent of users' current knowledge and their need for further information. Based on these initial findings, library staff formulates a search strategy that is likely to yield the best result. Usually the place to start is with sources of general and broad coverage, such as the Health Reference Center database, consumer health books, and web sites, then, move on to medical books and MEDLINE databases for specific treatment information. Whenever possible, two items from different sources are selected so that the reader can have a balanced point of view. To evaluate the services provided through the Family Resource Library, a reference question log analysis was recently conducted. Main findings from April 1998 to April 2000 revealed a high success rate of reference transactions and identified the top 5 frequently requested subjects: birth defects, heart disease, psychology, cancer, and respiratory diseases. Requests came from patients, employees, school nurses, and people in the community. The log also identified the Health Reference Center database as the mostly often used source due to its large selection of health related journals, and full-text books. The National Organization of Rare Diseases Database was another heavily used source, with over 1,500 pamphlets on birth defects, rare diseases, their causes, diagnosis, and treatments. In addition to consumer health literature, visitors also have access to the medical collection and databases in the Medical Library since the two libraries are located in the same building. Some medical textbooks provide specific clinical information on recent advances in treatments, complications and outcomes that cannot be found in consumer health literature. In addition, many parents of children with chronic illness already have extensive knowledge of the disease and want to use the medical literature for updated clinical information. Some parents are health care professionals and are quite familiar with medical database searching. Having both libraries in the same location allows users to access medical information at different levels as necessary. With the rapid development of computer technology, the Internet has become a valuable tool for distributing consumer health information. Web sites sponsored by government agencies and medical associations are providing accurate medical information to consumers in a timely fashion. In the Family Resource Library, the Internet is used as a secondary tool to compliment local resources. The origin and currency of each source is carefully evaluated, and visitors are told that the printout comes from a web site. Visitors can also use library computers themselves to search local databases or the Internet. Library staff will show them how to navigate the Internet and refer them to their health care providers if they have further questions about the medical information located. Access for all: When the Family Resource Library was first established, it was intended for hospital patients and their families. Former Medical Director, Dr. Betty Lowe, experienced the power of information first hand and she had a bigger dream for the library. Once, a young patient's father showed her a crumbled and yellowed note she had given him a year ago, telling him the things he needed to do for his child . He told her he followed everything she wrote and the kid was doing better than ever. Dr. Lowe believed that well-informed parents are better prepared to care for their children and to keep them in good health. She envisioned an information center to serve all children in Arkansas and urged the library to grow in size and services. Today with the help of the Internet, the Library is able to reach a broader audience:
Just as they say "it takes a village to raise a child", it takes more than a hospital to keep Arkansas children in good health. Libraries should be a part of it too, and we CAN make a difference. Reference: 1: R. Lewis, Consumer health information: challenges from the patient perspective. Colorado Libraries. Summer 1994: 8-10. Arkansas Children's Hospital Library Manager: Lily Liu
Hours: 8:00-4:30, Monday-Friday
Biographic information: Lily Liu received her MLS from the School of Library
and Information Sciences at Texas Women's University in 1993. she has
worked at UAMS Library as a Cataloging Assistant and at St. Vincent Infirmary
Medical Center as a medical librarian. She started working as a medical
librarian at Arkansas Children's Hospital Library in March 1997, managing
both the Medical Library and the Family Resource Library. News Editor's note:
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