Consumer health information services at Iowa City Public Library

Library Trends, Wntr, 2005 by Candice Smith, Kara Logsden, Maeve Clark

Promotion activities focused on three separate areas. The primary project promotion was at a booth rented at the annual Johnson County Fair. The project was also promoted at other community events, a radio talk show, and through requests for programs from community organizations.

Johnson County Fair We participated in both the 2002 and 2003Johnson County 4-H and FFA fairs. The fair is held for four days in mid-July, and always draws large crowds. Annually the Public Libraries of Johnson County purchases exhibition space at the fair. The Expanding Access project joined with the public libraries to create a larger booth in both 2002 and 2003. One-third of the booth was dedicated to consumer health resources. A laptop computer and large screen showed online health sites, and a PowerPoint presentation was set to automatically run when the laptop was not being used for one-on-one demonstrations. Also, a local company provided a water cooler to dispense free water for anyone who stopped in the booth. The library booth was very popular, and the bandage holders, fans, and water were in high demand.

In addition to the exhibition booth, fair staff also made demonstration space available for organizations to share information about their programs or services. In 2002 the demonstration area was quite simple, consisting of a couple of long tables to set equipment upon and a group of about fifteen chairs located on a corner of the walking path through a main demonstration building. In 2002 we gave four demonstrations and had people stop by for each session. In 2003 the demo area was in the same spot, but this time it was cordoned off and better arranged. We presented three sessions and had people at each one. The demonstrations were based on the class curriculum converted into a PowerPoint presentation.

Other Demonstrations Three demonstrations were given to focus groups, conducted by the NLM, that centered on the MedlinePlus Web site and how to increase awareness and use of it. Attendees of the focus groups were medical office personnel and patients. The librarian's part in the focus groups was to go in at an appointed time and give a ten-minute demonstration of the Web site. The demo was, in essence, a slightly shorter version of that part of the library's regular health class. Not only was this a great opportunity to give back to those who provided the library with the grant money, it also gave librarians feedback on the Web site--what works and what is confusing.

In addition, Kara Logsden presented two computer sessions at the Weber Elementary School Health Fair in Iowa City. The topic for the sessions was "Finding Good Health Information on the Web," and it was geared toward students in the third and fourth grades. Kara was invited back to Weber School's annual Career Day to talk about careers in libraries and different types of subspecialties.

Exhibits and Other Promotions Other promotional activities included library displays throughout the duration of the project, messages played on the Library Channel, and paid advertising on cable television stations that promoted the projects and the availability of consumer health resources at the library. Staff was invited to share information about the project on "The Dottie Ray Show," a local community events program. Information and fans were also distributed at a community-wide ice cream social as a part of Iowa City's Irving B. Weber Days, an annual celebration of Iowa City's local history.