Consumer Health Information Services and Programs

M. Sandra Wood, MLS, MBA, is Librarian Emerita, Penn State University Libraries, and a Fellow of the Medical Library Association. Ms. Wood is founding and current editor of Medical Reference Services Quarterly (in its 34th volume). She was a librarian for over thirty-five years at the George T. Harrell Library, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University, specializing in reference, education, and database services. Ms. Wood has written or edited more than 12 books, the latest two entitled Health Sciences Librarianship and Successful Library Fundraising: Best Practices (both with Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014).

Consumer Health programs can be challenging to get started and to maintain, but M. Sandra Wood has come to the rescue. Consumer Health Information Services and Programs is a collection of writings that looks at a variety of successful consumer health programs and allows the reader to benefit from their experience. Each chapter focuses on a different program and offers background information, a description of the program, and information about lessons learned. People directly involved with these programs share their experience and discuss best practices they have learned. What did it take to get started? What worked? What didn’t? How did they fund their program? What kind of partnerships were formed? All of this is covered and much more. Chapters are clearly labeled so that you can easily find specific sections and simply skim the information you need. However, I highly recommend reading all of this book. There is so much to be learned here. Not only does the reader benefit from the information offered, but it’s hard not to be excited and inspired by the wonderful programs that are detailed in this book. Whether you are looking at starting a new consumer health program or reassessing an existing one, this book is great place to start.

• List of IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsChapter 1. A Most ResourceFULL Consumer Health Information CenterCara MarcusChapter 2. The University of Tennessee Medical Center’s Preston Medical Library and Health Information Center StorySandy Oelschlegel, Martha Earl, and Kelsey LeonardChapter 3. Health InfoNet of AlabamaKay Hogan SmithChapter 4. Consumer Health Information Service in the Public LibraryBarbara M. BibelChapter 5. Rewards and Challenges of Children’s Health Education: An Ongoing Community Partnership to Reach Local PreschoolersDeidra Woodson and Donna F. TimmChapter 6. Collaborative Outreach Between a Hospital Library and a Public LibraryMargot Malachowski, Anne Gancarz, and Ellen BrassilChapter 7. Consumer Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs Library NetworkPriscilla L. Stephenson, Teresa R. Coady, Diane K. Kromke, Laurie A. Barnett, and Cornelia E. CamererChapter 8. The Learning Center: A Cancer Consumer Health Library at MD Anderson Cancer CenterElizabeth BrackeenChapter 9. The Big Health Library Umbrella: Our Mandate to Provide Information for All Literacy AbilitiesJackie DavisIndexAbout the Editor and Contributors