The Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce: a collaboration to improve and protect the public's health, 1995-2006.
OBJECTIVE
The paper provides a complete accounting of the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce (Partners) initiative since its inception in 1997, including antecedent activities since 1995.


METHODS
A descriptive overview is provided that is based on a review of meeting summaries, published reports, Websites, project reports, databases, usage statistics, and personal experiences from offices in the National Library of Medicine (NLM), six organizations that collaborate formally with NLM on the Partners initiative, and one outside funding partner.


RESULTS
With ten years of experience, the initiative is an effective and unique public-private collaboration that builds on the strengths and needs of the organizations that are involved and the constituencies that they serve. Partners-supported and sponsored projects include satellite broadcasts or Webcasts, training initiatives, Web resource development, a collection of historical literature, and strategies for workforce enumeration and expansion of public health systems research, which provide excellent examples of the benefits realized from collaboration between the public health community and health sciences libraries.


CONCLUSIONS
With continued funding, existing and new Partners-sponsored projects will be able to fulfill many public health information needs. This collaboration provides excellent opportunities to strengthen the partnership between library science and public health in the use of health information and tools for purposes of improving and protecting the public's health.
Cahn
Marjorie A
MA
National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA. nichsr@nlm.nih.gov
Auston
Ione
I
Selden
Catherine R
CR
Cogdill
Keith
K
Baker
Stacy
S
Cavanaugh
Debra
D
Elliott
Sterling
S
Foster
Allison J
AJ
Leep
Carolyn J
CJ
Perez
Debra Joy
DJ
Pomietto
Blakely R
BR
D022126:Access to Information; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration; D016243:Library Collection Development; D009317:National Library of Medicine (U.S.); D009937:Organizational Objectives; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods*; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States