Health library consortia in Canada

Patients are empowered by health information

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Introduction

See also Canadian Virtual Health Library , CHLA/ABSC (Canada) and PubMed

"Consortium is a Latin word, meaning 'partnership, association or society' and derives from consors 'partner', itself from con- 'together' and sors 'fate', meaning owner of means or comrade." ~ from Wikipedia entry on Consortium

The idea of health libraries and consortia is linked to a long tradition of collaboration and resource-sharing in librarianship. Canadian academic libraries enjoy a long history of cooperation and partnership, and seen in the formation of national and regional consortia. The nature of this relationship has changed with the massive shift from print to electronic resources. The most significant difference in consortia in Canada is that librarians and groups of libraries pool their resources to negotiate better terms of access agreements. Negotiating user licenses as a group of health libraries is seen to be sound professional practice. Health and hospital libraries, as well as their parent institutions and health authorities, aim to work together to negotiate licensing agreements at lower costs. All health professionals benefit from the increased variety of resources and shared expertise in consortia. In consortia where access to similar resources is provided, libraries share teaching materials, handouts and expertise - and occasionally staffing.

Canadian health library consortia

British Columbia

• e-HLbc: Electronic Health Library of BC: "The vision of the e-HLbc is to provide the entire British Columbia academic and health care community with province-wide, consistent, high quality, cost-effective, equitable, and easily accessible health library resources that will support and improve practice, education, and research."

Health professionals, students, teachers and researchers of member organizations have unrestricted access to e-HLbc resources. Member organizations include all post-secondary institutions providing health education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, all Health Authorities, and the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Alberta

• The Health Knowledge Network (HKN) has licensed health information on behalf of the health and post-secondary sectors in Alberta since 1994 and in Saskatchewan since 1999. HKN continues to investigate different ways to license health information in a multi-library type environment.
• Health Information Network, Calgary Region is an integrated knowledge service for health practitioners, patients and their families. Its members are the Health Sciences Library, University of Calgary and Calgary Health Region. The HSL at UofC and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre also combined
• Other resources/services: CARNA (the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta) provides access to CINAHL as well as document delivery and librarian consultation. (See http://www.nurses.ab.ca/library.html)

Saskatchewan

• SHIRP - Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Partnership: The University of Saskatchewan Library, working in co-operation with the Saskatchewan Academic Health Sciences Network (SAHSN) and the Saskatchewan Health Libraries Association (SHLA) developed an integrated plan for province-wide access to library health resources.

Manitoba

• University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries - http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/health/

Ontario

• Health Science Information Consortium of Toronto shares information and expertise to facilitate access to integrated knowledge-based information services.
• Consortium of Ontario Academic Health Libraries (COAHL) works with the Ontario Hospital eHealth Council and the eHealth Working Group to enable eHealth through information access, and to make a case for a province-wide eHealth Library.
• OntarioMD.ca is a gateway to professional and practice-related services via a single point of entry, for Ontario physicians, medical students and interns.
• OHeLP: Ontario Health Link for Practitioners is a service of the Consortium of Ontario Academic Health Libraries
• The Seniors Health Research Transfer Network is a hybrid, network-based service that provides access to high quality knowledge to long term care (LTC) and community care workers in Ottawa and Waterloo. The goal of the project is to provide access to current information about patient care to those who care for seniors in Ontario.
• Southwestern Ontario Health Libraries Information Network
• Western Ontario Health Knowledge Network works in affiliation with the University of Western Ontario.

Québec

• The Government of Quebec has four university networks called Réseau universitaire intégré de santé – RUIS. RUIS includes McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke and l’Université Laval, and offers specialized, tertiary care, instruction and research support to medical faculties, affiliated teaching hospitals and university health centres.
• The Electronic Resources Consortium of the RUISUM (Université de Montréal Réseau universitaire intégré de santé) and the Faculty of Medicine have a consortium to provide electronic health resources. It provides 40% of the province’s health services, and includes six health and social service agencies serving 3 million people. The online library enables health professionals to access resources such as MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, CINAHL and ejournals. Training is offered through the University Health Library.

Newfoundland and Labrador

• Newfoundland and Labrador Health Knowledge Information Network (NLHKIN) - is a project of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Health Sciences Library and the Faculty of Medicine." The goal of NLHKIN is to deliver the health knowledge information resources needed by physicians, nurses and health professionals across the province.

Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island)

• The Dalhousie University Medical School serves three provinces; a new medical school is being planned for Moncton.
• New Brunswick collaborates with the Université de Sherbrooke to deliver francophone curriculum, and is exploring the delivery of anglophone medical curriculum with Dalhousie.
• New Brunswick Hospital Consortium. Library Services departments at all health authorities have joined in group purchase of ProQuest Nursing.
• Micromedex: provincial license negotiated through the Department of Health and Wellness, and available via the Wellness Network linking all hospitals and Health Authorities.
• Doctors Nova Scotia (formerly The Medical Society of Nova Scotia) - electronic resources for members only.
• Atlantic Health Knowledge Partnership:
• MD Consult consortial deal for one product (MD Consult) for Capital District Health Authority and 6 other health authorities in Nova Scotia, IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie and Memorial libraries, Doctors Nova Scotia and NLHKIN;