Remote Users of Health Sciences Libraries

PROVIDING INFORMATION SERVICES TO REMOTE USERS is not a new concept for health sciences librarians. Most health care professionals practice in hospitals and clinics remote from a health sciences library. However, trends in today’s health care management systems, education initiatives, and the rise in consumerism challenge health sciences librarians to evaluate and extend their services more than ever before using new technologies. This article explores the variety of innovations in service models implemented over the last twenty-five years that health sciences librarians have initiated to extend library services and information beyond the walls of the library. INTRODUCTION Gone are the days when a health sciences library was the sacrosanct property of the physician. Describing the increasing use of health sciences libraries by allied health professionals and the lay public, Estelle Brodman (1974) predicted that libraries would need to keep pace with the demands of these consumers, in addition to those of their traditional client, the physician. Since Brodman’s article, the literature is increasingly concerned with the new definition ofthe health sciences library user and, of late, much of the attention focuses on the latest breed of health sciences library userPhyllis C. Sclf, Information Resources & Media, Tonipkins-McCaw Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Box 980582. Richmond, VA 23298-0582 Barbara A. Wright, Outrc-ach Services, Virginia Commonwealth University, Box 980.582, Richmond, VA 23298-0582 Jessica L. U’augh, Outreach Services, Virginia Commonwealth University, Box 980582, Richmond, VA 252984582 LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 47, No. 1, Summer 1998, pp. 75-90 01998 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois i.e.; the remote user or the person (provider or lay person) who seeks medical information off-site via computer. The expectations of this new breed of user and the accommodations (both traditional and innovative) being made to meet those needs by health sciences libraries as described in the literature will be the focus of this article, in addition to several challenges facing health sciences libraries in their attempts to meet these needs in the digital age. WHOmi THESE ‘‘FhwrE:USERS’’ SCIENCES OF HEALTH INFORMUION? The people who constitute this class of health sciences library clients include the traditional academic health care provider, such as the physician faculty member; the nonacademic health care provider, such as the community physician or allied health practitioner; and the nonhealth care