The National Network of Libraries of Medicine's outreach to the public health workforce: 2001-20060

Objective: The paper provides an overview of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine's (NN/LM's) outreach to the public health workforce from 2001 to 2006. Description: NN/LM conducts outreach through the activities of the Regional Medical Library (RML) staff and RML-sponsored projects led by NN/LM members. Between 2001 and 2006, RML staff provided training on information resources and information management for public health personnel at national, state, and local levels. The RMLs also contributed significantly to the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce collaboration. Methods: Data were extracted from telephone interviews with directors of thirty-seven NN/LM-sponsored outreach projects directed. at the public health sector. A review of project reports informed the interviews, which were transcribed and subsequently coded for emergent themes using qualitative analysis software. Results: Analysis of interview data led to the identification of four major themes: training, collaboration, evaluation of outcomes, and challenges. Sixteen subthemes represented specific lessons learned from NN/LM members' outreach to the public health sector. Conclusions: NN/LM conducted extensive information-oriented outreach to the public health workforce during the 2001-to-2006 contract period. Lessons learned from this experience, most notably the value of collaboration and the need for flexibility, continue to influence outreach efforts in the current contract period.