AFRO-NETS> National electronic Library for Health goes live

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@harare.iafrica.com>]

National electronic Library for Health goes live
------------------------------------------------

Source: BMJ 2000; 321:1309 (25 November )
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7272/1309

The NHS National electronic Library for Health went on line beginning 
of December. A pilot version of the library was launched to coincide 
with the first conference of the NHS Information Authority. The li-
brary, whose declared aim is to become one of the great libraries of 
the world, has been designed primarily to provide health profession-
als with easy and fast access to best current knowledge. It will also 
provide data direct to the public, however. 

The library's goal in its first phase it is to provide clinicians 
with access to information within 15 seconds, with a longer term goal 
of reducing the wait to one second. One of the main features of the 
library will be its ability to act as a quality filter so that the 
data accessed through the site, for both clinicians and the public, 
will not only be the best current knowledge, but will also be free of 
bias and conflict of interest. It is designed to help patients and 
the public navigate their way through the huge amount of health data 
now available on the internet, much of it of poor quality. It will 
also assist with information overload on the internet. 

The library's website is:
http://www.nhs.uk/nelh

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