Our mission is to improve the public's access to health information so they can make informed decisions about their health. Our programs focus on reaching minorities, senior citizens, and low income populations. To accomplish this, we provide outreach and training to staff at public libraries and other community-based organizations, Network members, healthcare providers, K-12 teachers and staff, college and adult school staff, and health advocacy groups.

Providing Health Reference

• The Librarian's Role in the Provision of Consumer Health Information and Patient Education - Medical Library Association (MLA) policy statement
• Guidelines for Medical, Legal, and Business Responses - developed by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), American Library Association
• Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship - established by MLA

Resources for Consumer Health Collections and Services

• Basic Medical Library Management - resources for the librarian new to providing health information services
• Consumer Health: An Online Manual - everything you need to know for developing and managing a consumer health library
• Consumer Health Workshops for Public Librarians 375 kb - tri-fold brochure with descriptions of free consumer health workshops and other opportunities for public librarians
• Health Information Literacy - resources from MLA
• How Do You Set Up and Run a Consumer Health Library? - from the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS) of MLA
• Multilingual Health Information - an extensive list of multilingual health information resources
• Public Libraries and Community Partners: Working Together to Provide Health Information - a guide to encourage partnerships between public libraries, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and local community-based organizations

Training in Consumer Health Resources

Our staff provides training in the effective use of Internet health information resources, highlighting National Library of Medicine (NLM) and National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) products and services. Our goal is to reach public librarians, health professionals, Network members, and other intermediaries who do not have access to such training so they can help their user populations to find and evaluate health information.

Please visit our Training page for more information on classes, training materials, and distance learning available from the NN/LM PSR and NLM.

Tutorials, Guides and Factsheets

To access useful resources for self-instruction and for teaching others, select from the links below.

• MedlinePlus Basics 467 kb - tri-fold brochure
• MEDLINEplus Basics en Español 167 kb - tri-fold brochure
• MedlinePlus FAQ - frequently asked questions about MedlinePlus
• MedlinePlus Fact Sheet
• Take the MedlinePlus Tour
• PubMed Basics 149 kb - tri-fold brochure to help you search
• PubMed Tutorial - shows you how to search PubMed for journal literature
• Tox Town - an interactive guide about toxic chemicals and environmental health risks you might encounter in everyday life, in everyday places
• NLM Training Manuals - used for PubMed, NLM Gateway and ClinicalTrials.gov training courses
• ClinicalTrials.gov Fact Sheet
• ClinicalTrials.gov FAQ - frequently asked questions about ClinicalTrials.gov
• NLM Gateway Fact Sheet - learn about simultaneous searching of numerous NLM consumer health databases through the NLM Gateway
• Gateway Basics 76 kb - tri-fold brochure shows features of the Gateway and screen examples for searching

Professional Development for Librarians

• Consumer Health Information Specialization Program (MLA) - gain expertise in the area of consumer health information