Digital Document Delivery in West Virginia: Supporting Health CareEducation through Technology

The Health Sciences Library at West Virginia University has transformed several traditional services through digital technologies; reaching out to not only our local campuses but also to the various parts of our rural state. Digital document delivery via the Web provides access to current health care information to faculty, staff, and students who find it more convenient to receive requested articles electronically without coming to the library; the Rural Health Education Rotation students in the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy completing their field assignments at numerous sites throughout the state; clinical/field faculty and hospitals throughout West Virginia; and health care practitioners in various areas of the state. While our initial efforts have included home grown systems utilizing various basic software, procedures, methodologies, we continue to explore what is being used elsewhere as well as staying abreast of new open-source products in addition to commercial software developments, e.g. Prospero, Relais Express, Ariel enhancements, etc. We, in fact, are beginning to test new products designed for digital document delivery management and expect to see continued improvement/refinement in how we provide electronic document delivery.

The vast majority of articles that the Health Sciences Library borrows or lends are sent directly to the user's desktop. The issues involved in getting full-text documents to the user's desktop, the collaborative efforts involved, the software/hardware requirements, and the user education necessary for successfully utilizing digital information will be explored. Electronic information delivery is no longer the wave of the future but a service deemed essential by academic library users and those charged with supporting health care education in West Virginia.

The WVU Health Sciences Library supports the information needs of ". . .the students, faculty, and staff of the HSC, its related institutions, the WVU community, and the health care providers of the state." (mission statement) We are an integral part of and a fully participating partner in health care education in our state. See how our HSL has utilized the latest technological advances in providing electronic information delivery.

Nancy J. Wasson
PO Box 9801
Morgantown, WV 26506
USA
Phone: 304 293-1926
Fax: 304 293-5995
Email: nwasson@wvu.edu