News

Preston Medical Library Faculty Continue Consumer Health Education in Africa

Nearly one year since conducting global outreach in South Africa, Preston Medical Library faculty returned to Africa to conduct another series of consumer health information workshops. Adding Botswana to their trip, Martha Earl, MSLS, AHIP, Associate Professor, and Cynthia Vaughn, MLIS, Associate Professor, covered topics such as how to find reliable health information as well as a "train the trainer" workshop.

Their first day of classes was held in Gabarone, Botswana, at the University of Botswana, which includes a new medical school. Here Earl and Vaughn taught abbreviated classes about consumer health resources.

The next three days were spent in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they trained librarians how to teach families in their own community to find reliable health information. Vaughn said, "It is exciting to see their energy and passion about consumer health information."

Both trips were sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and theLibrary and Information Association of South Africa. The 2012 trip was initiated by Steven Kerchoff, Information Resource Officer in the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa. Kerchoff approached Vaughn and Earl following an invited speaker session at the 2011 American Library Association Annual Conference, "Consumer Health Information: Library Partnerships that Serve the Community." Earl and Vaughn will present a poster regarding their efforts in South Africa at the Medical Library Association Conference in May 2013.

To learn more about their trip, read Vaughn's blog describing the culture, food and landscape encountered on their journeys.

April 29, 2013