 UK National electronic Library for Health
The Information for Health
strategy announced the creation of a National electronic
Library for Health. The aims of the NeLH are to:
- provide easy access to best
current knowledge and
- improve health and
healthcare, clinical practice and patient choice.
The NeLH is organised on three
floors:
- Know-how,
- Knowledge,
- Knowledge management skills
and resources.
In the initial strategy
document a fourth floor was described - the Patient floor. Its
information will now be provided by NHS
Direct Online .
There is also an atrium where
users can find the help desk for their special interest and
where there is an opportunity to share ideas with other
members of their profession. Also in the atrium are links to
the Virtual Branch Libraries of the NeLH which cover specific
topics.
Providing Quality Assured
Knowledge
The contents of the NeLH will
be based on a single Knowledge Platform.
The NeLH, advised by the R&D
programme ,
has decided not to include reports of primary research which
are often biased and inaccurate but instead to include
quality assured knowledge, namely systematic reviews of
primary research which have:
- Distilled the findings
into a single report
- Purified the findings by
detecting bias and poor quality research
- Developed systems to keep
the knowledge up to date
The NeLH knowledge and know
how platform will consist of
Virtual Branch Libraries
These are special collections
of particular interest and relevance to clinicians, patients
and managers. By the end of 2002 these branch libraries will
cover
- All types of health
problems
- All public health and
healthcare management topics
- Health issues of children,
old people and other groups
Select which of the Virtual
Branch Libraries covered in this first phase of the library
you would like to visit from the list below:
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Coronary heart disease
- Cancer
- Mental health
- Learning disability
- Public health
- Managers
- Health informatics
- Screening
- Communicable disease
Cybersociety Portals
The NeLH is working with
professional societies and Colleges to allow each healthcare
professional to find help on the web and in the NeLH about
their own professional task.
NHS
Direct Online
Information for patients,
carers and the public much of which will also be useful to
clinicians and managers and the search engine of the NeLH
will search not the knowledge and khow-how platform but also
NHS Direct Online.
Project Management
The NeLH will be a programme of
different projects. Currently there is a project to set up
this programme. More details are available.
Muir Gray
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