National Network of Libraries of Medicine

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Planning and Evaluating Information Outreach Among Minority Communities: Model Development Based on Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest

Quarterly Report, April-June, 1997

Progress to Date

Catherine Burroughs and Neil Rambo planned for and conducted the outreach evaluation panel discussion at the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting in Seattle, May 26. The panel, "Reaching Out to Minority Communities: Planning and Evaluating for Successful Outreach," was well attended and generated contacts among attendees. Speakers were Fred Wood, moderator; Karen Wallingford, NLM; C. Burroughs; Judith Bendersky, Alaska; and Jo Dorsch, University of Illinois.

Project staff met with F. Wood, Karen Wallingford, and Zoe Stavri several times during the MLA meeting to discuss project emphasis and direction. A decision was made that development of a project description from NLMs point of view would be helpful.

In June F. Wood prepared a Project Description, role definitions for an expert panel and cadre of consultants, and a new budget. With these new materials, C. Burroughs was able to proceed smoothly with contacting consultants and panelists. C. Burroughs prepared a draft list of consultants and panelists and submitted that list to NLM. Sherrilynne Fuller has agreed to chair the panel.

A hierarchy of objectives was agreed upon with staff of the Health Information Programs and Development Office at NLM. The new project description states, "The objectives of NLM-sponsored outreach are to:

increase health professionals awareness of NLMs information products and services;
facilitate health professionals access to and use of biomedical information;
provide training to health professionals about searching electronic databases;
assist health professionals in implementing new information-seeking behaviors; and
help improve the quality of services provided by health professionals to their clients."

Advisors: C. Burroughs began to draw up the list of consultants and panelists, with a defined list of subject specialties in mind.

Literature review and analysis: The literature search that focused very specifically on evaluation of library outreach has been completed. According to the revised project description, it is now assumed that each panelist or consultant will review literature relevant to the project in his or her own field.

Evaluation methods and outreach evaluation: Nancy Press refined lists of input, process, and output variables for information outreach to health professionals serving minority communities.

Project staff prepared a draft of a questionnaire that might be used by librarians when preparing an outreach endeavor with a defined group. Questions were formulated based on our literature search results, with the most help coming from a study that took place in Hawaii. N. Press presented this draft questionnaire at a meeting of the Research and Information Technology Committee of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board on May 1. The questionnaire was positively received and suggestions were made by committee members about the potential use of the questionnaire. Two tribes volunteered to work with the RML on an outreach evaluation endeavor and a third tribe has since contacted N. Press to volunteer.

Outreach to minority communities: The regular RML outreach program has been affected by lessons learned from the project; we have experimented with new questions on our usual evaluation forms and have explored pre-outreach needs assessment surveys.

Currently the University of Alaska Anchorage has an RML subcontract for outreach to Alaskan Native; Maryanne Blake, RML Network Librarian, team-taught with U. of Alaska librarians in May in Alaska. M. Blake has also taught Native American health professionals working on a Breast and Cervical Health Program among Native Americans. M. Blake and N. Press provided a training session for the Swinomish Tribe of Northwest Washington, which provided training to individuals on their own office computers. While these outreach endeavors are part of the on-going RML program, they interface neatly with the Evaluation Project work.

Development of the planning and evaluation guide and the continuing education syllabus: Project staff are considering possible formats for these two deliverables.

Development and testing of outreach and evaluation models: We continue to make excellent contacts within communities where we may want to test our models.

Problems Encountered

With the revised project description, project staff considered changes that would be needed in the timeline of the project. In general, the project has taken longer to initiate than was first assumed. The budget also needed revision, given the altered timeline and the current plan for use of consultants from many disciplines and an advisory panel.

Corrective Action Taken

At quarters end, the timeline and budget were being examined and renegotiated with NLM.