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Partnership provides online health information

What kind of information do people look for on the Internet? Rating well ahead of Britney Spears or the latest reality TV program, health topics rank first at popular search engines, with some eight out of 10 users investigating a personal health issue online according to a recent study. Finding reliable sources can be a challenge, though, as quality varies widely and commercial sites dominate the web.

In response to this challenge, the Provincial Library System and Holland College Library Services have pooled resources to purchase access to understandable, reliable, up-to-date online information on a wide variety of health related topics. Two new databases, the Health and Wellness Resource Centre and the Health Reference Center Academic, offer information on subjects ranging from common complaints to serious illnesses, drugs, and complementary therapies that may help in treatment.

"The Health and Wellness Resource Centre and the Health Reference Center Academic provide access to a broad range of health related materials," said Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs, Honourable Elmer MacFadyen. "Accessible online using a public library card, the databases will provide Islanders with answers to a broad range of consumer health related questions."

The Health and Wellness Resource Center, jointly licensed by both institutions, offers access to trusted medical reference materials including nearly 400 health/medical journals, hundreds of pamphlets, links to key web sites and 2,200 general interest publications in addition to a broad collection of Thomson Gale reference titles.

Holland College librarian Brenda Brady sees the two databases as a way to ensure that students have access to accurate health information. "This provides a very welcome alternative to a Google-type search where students often retrieve large and unfocussed results," Brady noted. "With the Health and Wellness Resource Centre, we can deliver high quality, relevant information quickly and conveniently."

Health Reference Center Academic, the second database purchased by the Provincial Library Service, is a multi-source database that provides access to the full text of nursing and allied health journals, plus the wide variety of personal health information sources in the award-winning Health Reference Center.

The resources may be found on the "Online Databases" page at http://www.library.pe.ca. Holland College students can access the Health and Wellness Resource Centre at http://www.hollandcollege.com/library/search/databases.asp.

These two new sources of information join a growing number of databases available through the College and the public library service. "Staff and patrons at the library are excited about the possibilities that these sources present," said Allan Groen, Provincial Librarian. "By making information available online, people can use library resources anywhere there is an Internet connection-from the classroom to the boardroom."

For more information about this release, please contact:
Sara Underwood, Media and Communications Officer
Tel: 902-566-9695
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2005