The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) announced that UNMC’s McGoogan Library of Medicine has been selected to receive the 2004 NCLIS Blue Ribbon Consumer Health Information Recognition Award for Libraries for Nebraska.
This prestigious award will be presented today (Oct. 22) at 3:30 p.m., during a reception at the McGoogan Library of Medicine. Outstanding libraries in 37 states are being recognized by NCLIS in 2004 for their contribution to health awareness and health education.
“The purpose of the award is to help increase awareness of healthy lifestyles,” said NCLIS Chair Beth Fitzsimmons of Ann Arbor, Mich. “Millions of Americans are diagnosed each year with chronic diseases, which in many cases could have been avoided, had the individuals followed healthier lifestyles.
“For many individuals, we now know how to prevent or delay the onset of the major chronic diseases, and we know a lot about how to slow the progress of these diseases for the 175 million Americans who already live with these chronic conditions. Libraries are a natural location for disseminating health information, and the efforts of the McGoogan Library, and especially its Consumer Health Information Resource Service (CHIRS), have been outstanding in carrying out this function.”
The nomination for the NCLIS Blue Ribbon Award came from Rod Wagner, director of the Nebraska Library Commission, with the final decision made by NCLIS on the basis of the program’s potential impact, innovativeness, and replicability. Wagner said the award is being presented because the commission wants to recognize the McGoogan Library of Medicine’s efforts in providing accurate, useful consumer health information to the people of Nebraska, and the CHIRS program exemplifies the role libraries can play in increasing awareness of consumer health-related issues and encouraging healthy lifestyles.
Both the program’s design for working within the structure of the Nebraska Library System to improve delivery of consumer health information to Nebraskans and the expert medical librarian backup provided for questions that cannot be answered at the local level have enabled Nebraska to strengthen and build its consumer health information services across the state, resulting in a healthier, well-informed community of users, said Nancy Woelfl, Ph.D., director of the McGoogan Library of Medicine.
Through its provision of training and consultation to allow Nebraska public librarians to deliver first-line services in the community, Dr. Woelfl said the McGoogan Library’s CHIRS program serves as a resource for all Nebraska citizens.
“CHIRS shares its expertise with a wide-ranging group of users and information providers,” Dr. Woelfl said. “It epitomizes the concept of knowledge development and knowledge sharing, two of the basic tenets of professional librarianship.”
Carl Smith, M.D., professor and chairman of the UNMC Obstetrics and Gynecology Department and president of the Olson Center for Women’s Health, had high praise for the McGoogan Library of Medicine. “I have had numerous interactions with Dr. Woelfl and her staff — all of them positive. They are very receptive to new ideas and partnerships and are as committed to providing information to consumers as they are to medical professionals. The CHIRS program is professionally run and easily accessible to patients and other consumers. The Health Questions Web site is medically accurate and extremely user friendly.
“The Olson Center’s most recent interaction with the library was in the creation and distribution of a series of educational bookmarks about women’s health information. These have been well received by area libraries and their consumers. This innovative approach to improving the health of women exemplifies the commitment to the consumer.”
Robin Kammandel, former executive director of the Metro Omaha Medical Society (MOMS), praised the McGoogan Library of Medicine for providing key material for the MOMS Web site. She said: “Over the years, I have watched the McGoogan Library and its staff provide local, regional and national leadership in the development and delivery of information services. One can never have enough partners in the effort to reach and inform the public. The McGoogan Library is to be commended not only for its latest efforts but for 19 years of service.”
Each month, about 40 consumers tap into the CHIRS program for health information, Dr. Woelfl said. One consumer who uses CHIRS on a regular basis is Reid Kenedy, a 66-year-old retiree from Omaha who has been living with multiple sclerosis for the past 15 years.
“If you have something wrong, and you really want to find out and study it, the place to go is the UNMC library,” Kenedy said. “I find articles there that I could never find any place else, and the librarians are more helpful than any I’ve ever dealt with.”
CHIRS began in January 1985 as a cooperative venture between three independent groups and agencies. The cooperative members included the McGoogan Library of Medicine, the Nebraska Library Commission, and more than 70 public libraries in the state.
Dr. Woelfl said the original objectives of CHIRS have not wavered since its implementation: to provide educational and consultation services to non-health science librarians; and to serve as a health information resource library for the state of Nebraska. The aim of the service is to provide health information, free of charge, to residents of the state of Nebraska no matter their location. CHIRS information is provided for informational purposes only. It is important to always consult with your individual health care provider for specific medical questions.
To access CHIRS, call 402-559-6221 or 1-866-800-5209 (toll-free outside of Omaha); e-mail askus@unmc.edu; or go to the CHIRS Web site at http://www.unmc.edu/library/consumer and click on “Contact CHIRS” to fill out an online request form.