OVERVIEW:

Health InfoNet of Alabama, a cooperative consumer health information service of the UAB Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences and the public libraries, has been selected as a participant in the National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus “Go Local” program. 

The National Library of Medicine, a part of the National Institutes of Health, created MedlinePlus (www.medlineplus.gov) in 1998 to assist consumers in locating authoritative health information, with extensive information from the National Institutes of Health and other trusted sources on over 650 diseases and conditions. In 2002, the “Go Local” project was begun, providing links on MedlinePlus to take users to information about health services in local geographic areas. These links include Web sites from hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, support groups, health screening providers and many others.

The Health InfoNet Web site (www.healthinfonet.org) currently includes a database of local health resources that, with the implementation of this “Go Local” project in the state, will be expanded to include health resources from across Alabama. This webpage has been set up to provide information and documentation for librarians and other parties interested in volunteering to assist with this effort. For more information about Health InfoNet and the MedlinePlus “Go Local” initiative, please click on the links below or contact project director Kay Hogan Smith at 205-934-2231.

• Health InfoNet Go Local Proposal (Submitted and approved April 2004)
• Project Meeting Notes/Presentations

PROJECT INFORMATION & RESOURCES

• Interactive Tutorial 1 (for selectors): Creating a new record.
• Interactive Tutorial 2 (for selectors): What to do with a returned record.
• Alabama Go Local Region Designation & Unrepresented Counties (pdf)
  (See a county that you would like to volunteer as a selector? If so please contact: khogan@uab.edu)
• Alabama Go Local Initiative Presentation
• NLM MedlinePlus Go Local Resources Page
• Recommended Core List of Health-Related Books & Journals for Alabama Public Libraries (pdf)