Provide Outreach

The NN/LM PNR equips and encourages Network members to extend their services and expertise to groups, agencies, and institutions beyond their traditional reach. By developing and expanding collaborations, the Network works to accomplish its primary goals-to improve the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health, and to provide all health professionals with equal access to biomedical information.

What NN/LM PNR Can Do For You

• Provide consultation and support for you to partner and collaborate with agencies in your community to provide health information services. Assist with planning and evaluating outreach.
  
  
• Provide training and professional development opportunities so you can update your skills or learn new techniques in providing health information. We use the train-the-trainer model to equip you to train your staff or clients regarding health information issues. Training sessions cover a range of topics - from utilizing National Library of Medicine resources, evaluating health information for quality, to using evaluation methods to measure your impact within your organization.
  
  
  • Trainers from the National Training Center and Clearininghouse come to the Pacific Northwest on a regular basis to offer in-depth training. The schedule of these classes along with many of our class materials are available here: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/training/
    
    
  • Here is a calendar of events listing where regional NN/LM staff will be offering training sessions or staffing exhibits throughout the region.
• 
  
• Provide funding for health information outreach projects in your community. To find out about funding opportunities visit this page, which also includes descriptions of current and past projects so you get an idea of the types of activities we fund: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/funding/
• 
  
• Provide promotional materials for the National Library of Medicine's resources for your use in your presentations, classes, or exhibits. We can also provide exhibit structures for your use.
  • 
    
  • Here are images of some of the promotional materials available for your outreach use: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/services/promo.html
  • 
    
  • The Information Rx Project educates and assists physicians in prescribing health information to their patients through MedlinePlus. Visit the Information Rx Tool Kit to learn more about the outreach activities designed specifically for health sciences libraries or any organization that provides health information to the public.

What You Can Do For Others

• Offer presentations and training sessions about health information issues in your community. You can use NN/LM curriculum, materials created by other Network members, or create your own. There are links to training materials from several of our web pages:
  • 
    
  • Our regional training page - http://nnlm.gov/pnr/training
  • Curriculum materials aimed at public libraries - http://nnlm.gov/outreach/community/
  • National Training Center and Clearinghouse database of educational materials - http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/clearinghouse/
    
    
• Receive funding to provide health information outreach. Target audiences may include underserved/underrepresented groups, health professionals, consumers, public libraries, or public health agencies. To see what funding opportunities are available and to see what others have done, visit this link for descriptions of recently funded projects: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/funding/
  
  
• Exhibit at community health fairs or professional conferences to promote the National Library of Medicine's resources as well as your projects and services. Funding for exhibits may be available.
  
  
• Make yourself known as a health information expert in your community - here's an example of a recent campaign in Montana:
• http://nnlm.gov/pnr/dragonfly/2006/03/20/whats_your_story/