Project Highlight: Courses in Using the National Library of Medicine's Databases
The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) environmental health, toxicology, and medical databases offer a world of resources, but the sheer volume of information can be overwhelming.
In partnership with NLM, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) has developed comprehensive training courses to show health professionals how to access, search, and use the NLM databases. This puts critical health information in their hands more quickly.
Working with NLM, ORISE identified the following target audiences for the courses:
- state public health departments
- occupational medicine clinics
- professional health schools
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Education Institutions from the United States and the Caribbean
The HBCUs/MEIs are a critical group for ensuring that environmental hazard information is available to minority and socio-economically deprived communities. Our special outreach training efforts help to make the NLM data available to communities that might not otherwise gain access to these resources.
In preparing the courses, ORISE:
- analyzes and assesses the content of each database
- identifies users and user needs
- selects the most effective instructional methods
- evaluates performance.
Learn more about our work with NLM in the Worker and Public Health Communication section of this site.