Promoting Health Information Literacy to the Wider Community : The Mini-Med School Experience

Kloda, Lorie A. (2006) Promoting Health Information Literacy to the Wider Community : The Mini-Med School Experience
. In Proceedings Canadian Health Libraries Association Conference 2006 : "Pearls of Wisdom", Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada).

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Abstract

1) Program Objective : Collaboration with the University’s Mini-Med School to reach members of the community and to provide support for health information literacy.

2) Setting : McGill University has offered Mini-Med School, an outreach initiative to educate the public about medical science for the past 5 years.

3) Participants : Each year, McGill Mini-Med School registers to capacity with over 400 participants. Of these, a small proportion registered for an additional workshop led by a librarian.

4) Program : While it is widely agreed that information literacy skills should be fostered in institutions of higher education, little is known about attempts to teach about information literacy outside of academia. This year, the Library offered optional, hands-on workshops, on “Finding Health Information Online” to all Mini-Med School participants. A life sciences librarian designed and coordinated the workshops, while consumer health librarians from affiliated hospitals assisted in the delivery. Feedback was obtained from all participants using a paper and pencil questionnaire.

5) Results : While a modest number of participants chose to take the hands-on workshop, the response to the instruction was overwhelmingly positive.

6) Conclusion : By collaborating with faculty and staff to deliver health information literacy initiatives to the greater community, librarians have the opportunity to not only reach a broader group of users, but to foster partnerships with researchers in their own institution. The promotion of health information literacy through existing outreach programs such as Mini-Med School is a potential source of increased visibility within and without the university.

Keywords:	Mini-Medical School, outreach, health sciences librarianship, health information literacy, health literacy, workshops, consumer health information
Subjects:	B. Information use and sociology of information. > BA. Use and impact of information. A. Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information. > AC. Relationship of LIS with other fields . C. Users, literacy and reading. > CD. User training, promotion, activities, education. B. Information use and sociology of information. > BG. Information dissemination and diffusion.
ID Code:	6532
Deposited By:	Kloda, Lorie A.
Deposited On:	20 June 2006
Alternative Locations:	http://www.chla-absc.ca/2006/kloda2.ppt
All fields:	Show all fields

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