A Pilot Study of Health Information Resource Use in Rural Public Libraries in Upstate New York

Abstract

Through telephone surveys and follow-up visits, we sought to answer the questions: In rural public libraries, what is the primary resource for health-related queries? Do reported practices match actual practices? Where do rural library staffs learn about health information? We found that 10 percent (average) of reference questions were health related. Depending on the criteria, 30–60 percent of the time, reported practice matched actual practice. For print resources, the average book provided from the reference collection was 15 years old; for nonfiction it was 9 years old. “Self-taught” and “library system” were most cited as resources for learning about health information.