"Library-On-The-Go": Utilizing Technology to Provide Educational Programming (Brief COMMUNICATIONS‪)‬

The Sladen Library at the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) receives numerous requests for training on PubMed and other electronic resources. These requests are driven by the emphasis on evidence-based medicine (EBM), the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education General competencies (specifically for practice-based learning and improvement) [1], and health care professionals' growing awareness of the need to improve their effectiveness in information retrieval. Though educating patrons in the effective use of information resources is one of the Sladen Library's key functions and goals, training was impeded by a lack of space and the time constraints many health care professionals felt. To mitigate these barriers, the library developed the "Library-On-The-Go" project, funded in part by the National Library of Medicine (contract no. N01-LM6-3503) and Friends of the Sladen Library and Lam Archives, to provide training using a mobile cart equipped with laptops and other technology. The project plan was divided into four phases: (1) identifying and purchasing equipment, (2) developing marketing strategies for the "Library-On-The-Go" service, (3) providing training, and (4) performing formative evaluation. This paper describes these elements.