Healthy Living is Just a Click Away - July 2003
The Ithaca Journal
July 17, 2003
by Suzanne Smith Jablonski, Executive Director of the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation
Are you looking online for advice on staying healthy and answers to questions on health topics but are tired of sifting through thousands of web sites?
Credible, reliable information is right at your fingertips, on the Tompkins County Public Library's Health Information Center web site www.tcpl.org/Health.
Founded in 2001, the center was established to meet an ever-growing hunger for health information. According to recent studies, the average doctor's office visit in this country lasts 12 minutes. With limited time to ask questions, the more patients are informed about specific medical conditions affecting their health, the smarter the questions they will ask their doctors.
A common response is to hop online, type a condition or topic into your search engine and see what comes up. Unfortunately, you cannot be sure what you will find.
The quality of health information on the Internet varies, and must be evaluated to ensure that it is current, reliable and unbiased. The library's health information center can help you find the most dependable information available.
This fall, thanks to a grant from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) will debut "Links for Healthy Living," a series of workshops to train individuals on where to find answers and how to make sense of what they discover.
There are a host of electronic resources and databases accessible via the Tompkins County Public Library Web site. Some are available to; others simply require you to enter the identification number from your valid TCPL library card.
The National Library of Medicine's MEDLINEplus is a gateway to health news, topical features, drug information, a medical encyclopedia and dictionary, databases, directories, links to clinical trials and other resources.
The health reference center offers articles from journals and related periodicals, while AltHealthWatch and Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database showcase the latest in complementary, alternative and integrative medicine. The health information center Web site also includes links to local health and human services providers.
If you don't have your own computer, you can come to the library and use one of the two work stations specially designated for health information. Located within the center at the back of the library, these computer work stations provide you with the privacy to search comfortably.
The "Links for Healthy Living" workshops are only a small part of the library's vision for the Health Information Center.
Our patrons told us that having reference services available online, in person, or on the telephone to help locate clear, dependable health information was invaluable. Currently the center is staffed by a part-time library assistant. The library is still working to attract individual, corporate and foundation donations in order to reinstate funding for a full-time librarian. Further, the library hopes to provide lectures, health screenings, co-sponsored programs and outreach services to our patrons and our community.
There is clearly a need for these services, but, because of inconsistent finding, progress toward building this vital center has been slower than we would have hoped.
Links for Healthy Living has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. N01-LM-3521.
Workshops will take place at the following locations:
Thursday, September 18
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Caroline Community Library
Caroline Town Hall
2670 Slaterville Road
Slaterville Springs
Friday, September 19
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Lansing Community Library Center
Old Town Hall
27 Auburn RoadLansing
Saturday, September 20
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Tompkins County Public Library
101 East Green Street
Ithaca
Thursday, October 2
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Tompkins County Public Library
101 East Green Street
Ithaca
For Teens! How to Find Good Information on the Internet
Friday, October 3
4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC)
318 North Albany Street
Ithaca
Saturday, October 4
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Danby Community Library
Danby Town Hall
1830 Danby Road
Danby
To register for a workshop, please visit our Web page at http://www.tcpl.org/Health/workshop.html and sign up using the online form. You may also register by e-mailing health@tcpl.org or by calling Patricia Lia at 272-4557, extension 250.
