By Gladstone Payton
Congressional Affairs Officer, IMLS
Libraries play an important role in connecting people to information about their health; in fact more than 28 million people used a library computer for health information in one year. Library staff across the country are making an effort to learn everything they can about quality health information resources.
In fact, on Tuesday, February 18, many New Jersey librarians dialed in on a snowy morning to join their one of their congressmen, Representative Rush Holt (NJ) along with IMLS Director Susan Hildreth, New Jersey State Librarian Mary Chute, HHS Region II Director Dr. Jaime Torres and Cognosante Supervisor Bob O’Hara on a conference call with the goal of helping New Jersey library users navigate the wide range of health information available. Director Hildreth spoke to the intensified demand for information computer services as people looked for health insurance information and also to the partnerships that assisted in managing the increased health care information traffic at libraries nationwide.
Representative Holt’s goal for the teleconference was to ensure that librarians in his congressional district and across the state had the most up-to-date resources in addressing patron needs in advance of the March 31 deadline for health insurance open enrollment. By holding the teleconference, Representative Holt helped to continue connecting federal, local and private sector experts to the New Jersey library community and its customers.
You can find more information on the workshop including a recording and presentation materials on Representative Holt’s official webpage here.
And, you can find more webinars and health information resources at http://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/ehealth.html