Good afternoon, everyone. You may be aware that the 11th edition of the
HLG Directory of Health Library & Information Services in the UK and
Republic of Ireland (which I had the honour of editing!) is dated 2002/2003.
The Committee is now thinking about the next edition.
The HLG Membership Survey of 2002 suggested that the general opinion of the
Directory was high with a number saying that it was invaluable, essential or
words to that effect. Quite a few also suggested that it should now be on
line. The HLG committee have discussed this idea and feel that the time
has come to move to an online free version. FACET who published the last
edition accept that we may go forward in this way but would be happy to
publish a printed version if we wanted to produce one. It is likely that
NeLH may work with us and jointly fund the project. It is also possible
that we may be able to sell mailing labels to offset some of the cost.
Before we go any further, we thought it worth checking with the membership
that you agree that this is the way forward and indeed that there is still a
need for a directory, bearing in mind that other websites cover some of the
same ground. There is, though, as far as I'm aware no one website which
brings together NHS, government, academic and voluntary library and
information services in the Health sector.
If we go ahead we will update/modify the categories of content as some of it
seems outdated now but we will consult with you about that at a later date.
Should we, for example, include an expertise section - e.g. is the Library
considered as a centre of expertise in a subject. Searchability would
obviously be improved; options for indexing in a printed
directory are inevitably limited.
I look forward to your comments.
Julie
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