United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

FAQ
DOCLINE -- MedlinePlus Consumer Health Libraries

Question: How do I list my library on the MedlinePlus Consumer Health Libraries page?
Answer:

The Consumer Health Libraries pages direct MedlinePlus visitors to local libraries that provide services to consumers. Libraries that list themselves in MedlinePlus should expect increased traffic to their listed web site and should expect to respond to consumer health inquiries in person and by telephone.

To list your library on the MedlinePlus Consumer Health Libraries Page:

  1. From the DOCLINE main menu, select Institutions.
  2. Select Update <LIBID>, where <LIBID> is your institution's LIBID. Your library's institution record is displayed.
  3. Select Services & Fees from the sidebar on the left.
  4. Select Other Services from the sidebar -OR- Scroll down to the Other Services area.
  5. Click Yes to Authorizes listing in MedlinePlus Consumer Health Libraries Directory.
  6. Indicate whether your library provides the listed services for each of the user populations. (Checked = Yes)
  7. Click Save.

The MedlinePlus Consumer Health libraries page is updated weekly, Monday nights at midnight. The information displayed in MedlinePlus comes from the Institution Address and Internet Address fields in DOCLINE. To ensure that your library's information is complete and accurate, please follow these steps:

  1. Verify the URL address which will display in MedlinePlus. A complete URL (including "http://") should be entered. MedlinePlus will display a single URL based upon the order shown below.

    1. Consumer Health Home Page
    2. Library Home Page
    3. Institution Home Page
    4. OPAC Home Page
    5. If none of the above are entered, then no URL is displayed

    For example, if there is no Consumer Health home page, then the Library home page URL would display.

  2. Verify your Institution name and address (Address on the sidebar). The Institution Address should appear as you would like it to be displayed in an online directory listing.

    • We recommend Title Case rather than UPPERCASE
    • The Institution address should not contain department level information (e.g. ILL Department)
    • US libraries should verify that their zip codes displays full ZIP+4 number. To find your ZIP+4 address, go to http://www.usps.com/zip4/.

  3. Verify your library's main phone number in the Phone field of the Institution Address.

    Note: An example of a Phone Number is 555-1212. The Ext. field should include only numbers, not "X" or "ext."

  4. Verify your consumer health contact information (People on the sidebar). This information is not displayed in MedlinePlus, but will be helpful to other libraries with questions or referrals.
Related Questions:
How do I update my MedlinePlus Consumer Health Libraries Display?

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/doc_cons_health_lib.html

Last reviewed: 17 September 2008
Last updated: 17 September 2008
First published: 26 January 2004
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanence Not Guaranteed