Understanding Healthcare Information (Facet Publications (All Titles as Published))

In an age of internet resource guides, which suffer from the malaise of being outdated before they are published, this book addresses the information chain in its entirety, providing a timeless way of understanding healthcare information resources. The book takes a holistic approach in its consideration of healthcare information with the aim of building an overall understanding of healthcare information within the information society. The contents cover the domain of healthcare information; its organisational structures and history, and the nature of its resources and the factors affecting them. It looks at examples of healthcare information resources from the perspective of different user groups, including healthcare professionals and consumers and goes on to highlight areas of research into healthcare information, including evaluation studies, user studies, impact, bibliometrics, metadata and web 2.0. This title features themes such as: healthcare information background, nature and drivers for change; healthcare information resources, users and services; and, healthcare information research. This book is written primarily for students of library and information science (LIS), studying either at masters or advanced undergraduate level, and also for practising information professionals and specialists who want to develop their knowledge and bring their skills up to date. It would also be of interest to anyone working in the field of library and information science wishing to understand healthcare information, especially public librarians, who are increasingly called on to advise on health resources, as well as anyone interested in 'healthcare literacy'.