[I]magine a hypothetical situation where a young, single mother of two growing children, living in a remote area of Canada, learns of a recurrence of her cancer. In extremis, she makes a phone call to a hospital librarian. This is an extreme and graphic example of the importance of open access to evidence-based information. Imagine how this problem is compounded by the challenges of waiting lists and poor health care coverage! Fortunately, there are a number of excellent consumer information tools and websites - view them directly or search for them using a search engine - that will help this female patient....Finally, it must be stressed, that health librarians are important allies for physicians in providing evidence-based care. We are trained to lead the patient to the most pertinent information based on our knowledge of sources and our ability to interpret the patient"s clinical question. When at a distance, easy open access to information is humane.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 1/27/2006 10:08:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
