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ERIC Number: EJ859486
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 35
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1523-4320
EISSN: N/A
School and Public Youth Librarians as Health Information Gatekeepers: Research from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas
Lukenbill, Bill; Immroth, Barbara
School Library Media Research, v12 2009
This study investigated how school and public librarians can become better disseminators of health information and improve health information literacy in small and rural communities in a selected research area. We used the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas as our study area, composed of the economically depressed Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy counties, populated largely by people of Mexican descent. We used a Delphi method in which an expert panel of school and public librarians (N = 19) responded to three rounds of questions regarding how school and public librarians might become active as disseminators of health information in their communities for K-12 youth and their caregivers. Generally the panel held that (1) health information is lacking in their communities; (2) school and public librarians can play important roles in making health information available; (3) school and public librarians can network with other agencies in promoting and disseminating health information for K-12 youth; (4) resource availability will limit how much librarians can become involved in the dissemination of health information; (5) participants are not willing to assume a health-information "gatekeeper" role; and (6) library staffs needed training in health information resources. We included recommendations for future research in health literacy. (Contains 9 tables.)
American Association of School Librarians. Available from: American Library Association. 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Tel: 800-545-2433; Web site: http://www.ala.org/aasl/slmr
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education; Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A