Especially for American Indians and Alaska Natives

American Indians and Alaska Natives are encouraged to start at MedlinePlus.gov, the National Library of Medicine's consumer health portal site, when investigating health information topics.

Tribal Connections

The Tribal Connection Project of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine began in 1998 and lasted until 2006. The Tribal Connections web site, archived at tribalconnections.org, was a project reporting and outreach tool that assisted 16 American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages in the Pacific Northwest. Each community was awarded funding from the National Library of Medicine to improve Internet connectivity and access to web-based health resources. The Tribal Connections web site published reports about activities and accomplishments achieved by each community.

As it matured, the web site added a news component, and published articles by Native journalists and health professionals on Native health, wellness and lifestyle. Content included columns from Native American health specialists that combined western and Indian approaches to healing and healthy living and that focus on nutrition and diet. In addition, we sought Indian writers who have an interest in writing health news articles for Tribal Connections. Roy Sahali, now retired from the University of Washington, was Project Manager for Tribal Connections. He distributed all original editorial content published on the web site to Indian publications across the country to reprint at no cost, since many Indian publications do not have staff health writers.

Other Resources

• http://native.outreachconnect.info/ - Native Health Information Wiki is a publicly accessible wiki to provide a collaborative space for health information initiatives with Native peoples (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians).
• http://americanindianhealth.nlm.nih.gov/ - National Library of Medicine web resource on American Indian Health. This resource is designed to bring together health and medical resources pertinent to the American Indian population including policies, consumer health information, and research. Links are provided to an assortment of documents, web sites, databases, and other resources.
• http://www.arctichealth.org/ - The Arctic Health Web site is a central source for information on diverse aspects of the Arctic environment and the health of northern peoples.
• http://www.reznetnews.org/ - Reznet is a Native American and American Indian news, information and entertainment Web site that also trains and mentors Native American college students around the country as they prepare for journalism careers.
• http://www.uihi.org/ - The Urban Indian Health Institute provides centralized nationwide management of health surveillance, research, and policy considerations regarding the health status deficiencies affecting urban American Indians and Alaska Natives.
• http://www.aaip.org/ - Association of American Indian Physicians, Patty Iron Cloud national Native Youth Initiative.

For other training opportunities and materials, please visit the NN/LM PNR's training page.

Network Membership

Tribal Organizations and communities are welcome to join the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. There is no cost to join and membership entitles you to a variety of benefits:

• Access to health information experts. To find other network members near you, search our member directory. You can also call the Regional Medical Library office to be referred to an Regional Medical Librarian. Call us toll-free at 1-800-338-7657.
• Eligibility for funding opportunities for health information outreach projects and activities. Regional Medical Librarians can assist with proposal development and refer you to others who have successfully received funding in the past.
• Use of promotional materials for National Library of Medicine resources you can use for outreach projects, at health fairs or health-related displays in your library.