Skip to main content
PMC home page
Bulletin of the Medical Library Association logoLink to Bulletin of the Medical Library Association
. 1999 Jul;87(3):329–336.

Public health professionals in the Midwest: a profile of connectivity and information technology skills.

S M Hollander 1, E R Martin 1
PMCID: PMC226593  PMID: 10427435

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess Internet connections and information technology skills of public health workers in the Midwest. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to 713 local health departments (LHDs) in the ten states of the Greater Midwest Region. RESULTS: Three hundred forty-four LHDs (48%) responded. Overall, 85% own a computer that would allow Internet access. Half provide Internet access to some or all staff. Of these, two-thirds use e-mail and half search the Web. One-half are linked to the State Health Department, and 30% are linked to other local health departments. Over half use CDC-Wonder; less than 20% search MEDLINE. Two-thirds of the respondents expressed an interest in MEDLINE training, and three-fourths are interested in learning more about the Internet. Sixty-nine percent of respondents planned to enhance electronic communication capacity within the next year. CONCLUSIONS: Public health practitioners need timely, convenient access to information to aid them in improving the health of the American public. A majority of public health departments in the Midwest are technically capable of connecting to the Internet. This technological capability, combined with an expressed desire by public health agencies to have workers become computer literate, suggests an important role for health sciences librarians.

Full text

PDF
332

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aaron D. J., Sekikawa A., Libman I. M., Iochida L., Barinas-Mitchell E., Laporte R. E. Telepreventive medicine. MD Comput. 1996 Jul-Aug;13(4):335–338. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chambers L. W., Haynes R. B., Pickering R., McKibbon A., Walker-Dilks C. J., Panton L., Goldblatt E. New approaches to addressing information needs in local public health agencies. Can J Public Health. 1991 Mar-Apr;82(2):109–114. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dee C., Blazek R. Information needs of the rural physician: a descriptive study. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1993 Jul;81(3):259–264. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Laporte R. E., Barinas E., Chang Y. F., Libman I. Global epidemiology and public health in the 21st century. Applications of new technology. Ann Epidemiol. 1996 Mar;6(2):162–167. doi: 10.1016/1047-2797(95)00133-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Martin E. R., McDaniels C., Crespo J., Lanier D. Delivering health information services and technologies to urban community health centers: the Chicago AIDS Outreach Project. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1997 Oct;85(4):356–361. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Roper W. L., Baker E. L., Jr, Dyal W. W., Nicola R. M. Strengthening the public health system. Public Health Rep. 1992 Nov-Dec;107(6):609–615. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Self P. C., Sayed E. N., Henry J. K. "Bridging the information gap" for Virginia public health nurses. Public Health Nurs. 1997 Jun;14(3):151–155. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.1997.tb00286.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Wallingford K. T., Ruffin A. B., Ginter K. A., Spann M. L., Johnson F. E., Dutcher G. A., Mehnert R., Nash D. L., Bridgers J. W., Lyon B. J. Outreach activities of the National Library of Medicine: a five-year review. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1996 Apr;84(2 Suppl):1–60. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the Medical Library Association are provided here courtesy of Medical Library Association

RESOURCES