PHIP Award Description

The Public Health Information for Practitioners award allowed the Gibson D. Lewis Library to increase access to information resources for public health practitioners in fifteen rural, medically-underserved areas within its twenty-four county outreach region.  Public Health Information for Practitioners (PHIP) provided training in pertinent databases and other resources applicable to public health professionals.  Handheld computers were also distributed —Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)—to several individuals at each of seven training sites.  Finally, the project gathered and analyzed data regarding the information-seeking habits and information needs of rural public health practitioners in North Texas. 

Project Objectives

• To increase awareness about the availability of freely-accessible public health and medical information on the Internet for public health practitioners in rural North Texas.
• To increase ability to access, evaluate, and search databases and other resources to retrieve information that satisfies information needs of public health practitioners.
• To introduce handheld computers and their potential for access to immediately-available information to rural public health professionals.