Terri Ottosen <tottosen@hshsl.umaryland.edu> is the primary contact.

Description: This hands-on class will cover the health information seeking behavior of consumers and the role of the librarian in the provision of health information for the public. Come learn about the evolution of consumer health, health literacy and the e-patient. Participants will be equipped with knowledge of top consumer health sites, e-patient resources and collection development core lists. We will discuss creative ideas for health information outreach. The class will wrap up with an opportunity to explore effective marketing approaches and develop an elevator speech.

Educational Objective: Participants will: 1) Gain knowledge about health information seeking behaviors 2) Be able to test readability of health resources and recognize the need for easy to read health information 3) Know how to evaluate online health information and become familiar with quality health information resources 5) Learn about collection development for consumer health 6) Learn important skills for marketing their library’s services and resources 7) Learn about health information outreach and the power of community partnerships

Agenda:

The in-person course can be customized for a 2, 3 or 4 hour version. For the online version, students will have a month to complete the course and counts for 8 MLA CE contact hours.  Students may log in to Moodle 24/7.  The class will also include a 2 hour mid session and 2 hour wrap up session on Adobe Connect.  During the 2 hour mid session, students will have the opportunity to evaluate the quality of two consumer health web resources.  The wrap up session will address any questions that arose during forums and online discussions during the class.  

Need for This Course: The instructors are frequently e-mailed from medical librarians through out the country with requests to take the class. The distance learning class will provide a format to reach librarians all throughout the country.

The instructional methods used include Lecture, Discussion, and Hands-on Exercises.

Participant Materials: http://nnlm.gov/training/consumer/apple/

Additional Evaluation: We will use the Medical Library Association evaluation.