Have you heard of the National Network of Libraries for Health? Chances are you haven't - unless you're on the task force which is working to create it. This dedicated group has been enthusiastically co-chaired since 2003 by Patrick Ellis, Head of the W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library.The National Network of Libraries for Health (NNLH) originated as a proposal by the Canadian Health Libraries Association to build a network that would support health information initiatives for health practitioners across the country. According to its official vision statement, the NNLH "will ensure that all health care providers in Canada will have equal access to the best information for patient care. It is designed to fit the Canadian health care model and fill in the information gaps inherent in a complex health delivery system."
Patrick Ellis and members of the Task Force are currently working up a business plan for the NNLH, with fiscal support from the Public Health Agency, the National Research Council, and the Canadian Nurses Association. Drafting a national model will be the next step, integrating existing provincial models such as the Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Partnership and the Atlantic Health Knowledge Partnership. Ellis and his colleagues have also been looking closely at comparable international organizations, in particular the U.K. National Library for Health and the U.S. National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
"Health care delivery is knowledge based," says Ellis. "We all want our health care providers to have the best possible patient care information. In Canada we have a patchwork of library and knowledge resources. With the growth of electronic publications, we have the opportunity of making sure the health literature that
supports clinical decision making will be available for all."
The NNLH initiative received a huge boost recently in a guest editorial written by Sir J.A. Muir Gray for the Canadian Medical Association Journal (18 July 2006, vol.175 iss. 2). Sir Muir wrote, "I have watched with admiration and have benefited from Canadian developments, from the introduction of evidence-based medicine to the advances in knowledge translation and implementation. It has always seemed paradoxical that Canada, a country that is the fount of so much good work in these areas, does not have a national libraryÉWe look forward to learning from yet another Canadian initiative." If Muir's and Ellis' hopes are realized, the National Network of Libraries for Health will soon be a reality in Canada.
For more information about the National Network of Libraries for Health, visit their website.