Program management and policy issues in information outreach: lessons from Tribal Connections

With the advent of the Internet, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities in the Pacific Northwest have new opportunities to access high quality and relevant health information. The Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library (PNRML), regional headquarters of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, a program sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, sought to facilitate that access and worked with a selected group of sixteen tribes and native village consortia. The steps were: (1) work with AI/AN communities to arrive at mutually-agreeable health information connectivity objectives and long-term solutions, (2) provide funding to AI/AN communities to ensure Internet connectivity and the presence of Internet workstations for health workers and for the public, and (3) train in effective health information seeking. Community-based approaches helped the PNRML adjust policies and practice for improved information outreach to AI/AN communities in the region. The project participants, collaborating with our staff, successfully carried out many of the community goals and, at the same time, we gained insight about the variables that were barriers or facilitators of success. While we are coming at outreach from a library perspective, the policy and method lessons we learned could apply to a broad variety of outreach endeavors.