National Library News

December 1995, vol. 27, no. 12

The Health Knowledge Network

The Health Knowledge Network (HKN) originated as an information transfer project involving the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library and University Information Enterprises at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary Medical Library in a collaborative venture. Start-up funding came from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the faculties of medicine and other health-related faculties on both campuses. Additional funding support was provided by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

The mission of the HKN is to promote quality health care and excellence in scholarly enquiry by anticipating and responding to the information needs of health-care researchers and professionals in Alberta and the Territories by providing timely, equitable access to health sciences literature. The HKN allows health-care professionals to use biblio-graphic databases, including MEDLINE, from any electronically supported location via either a modem pool or the Internet. There are currently four databases available on the HKN (MEDLINE, CINAHL, CancerLit, and Health), and there are plans to include additional bibliographic databases, full-text resources, consumer health information, and continuing education resources.

From a technical point of view, the HKN consists of two mirrored UNIX servers, one at the University of Alberta and one at the University of Calgary situated in the Foothills Provincial General Hospital. The HKN is using OVID search software. Although the two servers are currently mirrored, one of the HKN's goals is to mount less-used resources on one of the servers and provide transparent access. This will conserve computing space and allow the two university libraries to purchase databases jointly and provide completely networked access to both campuses.

The University of Calgary and the University of Alberta have signed an agreement to create the HKN as a joint venture. There is a single marketing office and a marketing and development librarian who works exclusively for the HKN, and thus for both universities. A single management group, consisting of members from the library administration and medical libraries of both institutions, was also established.

The initial reason for the HKN was the wish to provide networked remote access to the medical databases for the two campuses. A logical extension was to provide access to the affiliated teaching hospitals of each institution. It was agreed that a provincial initiative would gain the support of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. Currently, the HKN is available at both campuses, most of the major hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary, and the provincial department, Alberta Health. In considering the expansion of the service beyond Edmonton and Calgary, the HKN is investigating a number of pilot projects that include sites in rural Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

For more information, contact:

Della Jacobson
HKN Marketing and Account Manager
Ring House #1
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2E2
Telephone: (403) 492-8348
Fax: (403) 492-6185
Internet: hkn@ualberta.ca