Feedback from meeting - and thank you Jim for nagging!!!

Yvette Tomlinson from DH came to the meeting specifically to address this
agenda item.

In brief, - Prolog, the company that runs Responseline holds 12,500
different titles and 3.3 million items.  They are distributed on behalf of a
range of organisations including a number of DH departments.  These
individual organisations or departments make their own rules about their
publications, i.e. how many are available, to whom and when they are sent
out (often depending on budget).  If  Prolog feels that a reprint is needed
when stocks are running low, they can only notify the relevant body but it
isn't in their power to do much more if the DH or whoever isn't forthcoming.

White Papers can't be made available on the day of issue as their contents
can only be released after they are announced in Parliament, so the net
version is quickest.  Once Parliament has approved the contents, copies are
sent out to Prolog and distributed onwards, all of which takes time.  The
chances of more printed copies being available is pretty slim as there is a
big move towards everything being electronic (which we can always print out
after all!!!) though when one of our group explained she needed printed
copies as her pc was slow and her printer old, the response was that we
should get better equipment!!

New guidance is in preparation to help us to use Responseline more
efficiently .  This will be piloted and then sent to everyone.  Issues to be
included are customer reference numbers, correct use of document numbers,
key words and explanations of how the system works.  It will be called
something like 'How to get the best from Responseline'

Since the meeting I have had further e-conversations with Yvette who has
taken away a whole pile of emails from yourselves.  She is really helpful
and wants to make this work for everyone.  She feels that having feedback
from the field makes her job easier.  The next Health Promotion meeting in
September will
be held at Prolog so we can see how it works for ourselves.

And finally.....................Yvette is keen to meet regularly with
librarians in the medical/healthcare field in the same way as she does with
those of us who work in health promotion.  (We meet quarterly with the DH
and Health Promotion England)  She isn't quite sure how to organise it in
the best way though.  The health prom. group consists of library/information
people who represent either their region or an involved network, - a mix of
strategists and coal face workers.  It seems to work well so maybe a similar
group can be convened from people working in healthcare libraries?  Perhaps
something similar already exists that can be tapped into or maybe you want
to
convene a new group?

I told her we'd get back to her on that, so it's over to you. I'll happily
help if I can.

Yvette Tomlinson:  [log in to unmask] or phone 0207 972 1729.
(Email is more likely to find her)

Janet