An operational view of the role of health librarians in informatics

ABSTRACT

The National Library of Medicine is currently funding the Pilot Connections project to promote and support use of the INTERNET in community health care settings. With previous networking applications of this kind largely confined to academic and research environments, the health librarian has emerged as the agent with the unique knowledge and skills to participate in and manage organizational change. An experiment in applied informatics, the Pilot Connections project shows how health librarians should be aware of the expanding opportunities that exist for them to help their organizations cope more effectively with the external trends and forces currently affecting the role and value of information.