Canadian and Newfoundland Health Statistics

Presented by Shelagh Wotherspoon, Health Sciences Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The health statistics that most people are looking for in our libraries used to be available in print format, but it is all changing now. There is a steady decline in published statistics in print from all sources. Some have ceased publication altogether, and some have changed format, such as cd-rom, www, or pdf files. What you want is not always available, and if it is, it may not be in the format you want.

Shelagh then introduced some useful tools for finding Canadian and Newfoundland health statistics and provided a detailed handout. A sampling of some of the sources introduced include:

Printed Reference Works:

1. Statistics Canada Catalogue
2. Sourcebook of Canadian Health Statistics
3. Canada Year Book
4. Newfoundland Health Review

Online Catalogues and Databases:

1. MUN. Unicorn
2. Medline
3. Pubmed
4. Microlog Canadian Research Index

Printed Publications (Statistics Canada):

1. Canada diseases weekly report
2. Canadian social trends
3. The Health of Canada’s children
4. Health reports
5. Heart disease and stroke in Canada
6. A Portrait of seniors in Canada
7. Smoking behaviour of Canadians
8. World health report

Printed Publications (Newfoundland):

1. Cancer registry report
2. Healthy children, healthy society
3. Newfoundland health for the year 2000 project
4. Report on the health status of Newfoundland and Labrador

Web Sites:

1. Statistics Canada
2. Health Canada
3. Canadian Institute for Health Information
4. World Health Organization
5. Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information
6. Newfoundland Department of Health and Community Services
7. Community Health, St. John’s Region

Canadian Health Libraries Network

Presented by Shaila Mensinkai, Health Care Corporation of St. John’s, Janeway Site.

There is movement towards a national health network, similar to what has been done in the United States and to what is happening in Great Britain.

Two proposals have been made to the Canadian government and are finally starting to get some attention. The Marshall proposal, first formulated in 1995, and the Henderson proposal, presented in 1997.

While Canada has a reputation for its universal health care system, access to health information is limited. The idea behind the network is to address the professionals’ and the consumers’ need for reliable information, with the intention of being able to access what’s out there; to cooperate rather than to duplicate efforts. Both proposals entail a lot of partnerships among libraries and associations. Funding will be needed, however, as most libraries are barely able to handle their own primary clientele now.

There is work ongoing within the various library communities to harmonize the two proposals into one which is wholly supported by the health library community, including the CHLA, ACHI (Advisory Council on Health Info-Structure), CISTI, and ACMC. Individual libraries and library associations are encouraged to lobby the Minister of Health, your local Member of Parliament, and the Cabinet Minister representing your province.

A summary of the project is available, in the Health Libraries Association of BC newsletter, at http://www.library.ubc.ca/hlabc/hlabc212/hlaassis.html.

Canadian Copyright Update 1998

Presented by Nancy Simmons, Copyright Officer, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Libraries tend to use the `fair dealing’ defense to absolve their InterLibrary Loan copying, as they are acting on the patron’s behalf. Bill C-32 is supposed to add exemptions for libraries and put in writing / make into law what librarians have felt all along. However the Bill is not yet completely in effect. Specifically the InterLibrary Loan section has not yet come into force and there is no set date for when it will.

While the act has not changed and fair dealing is still included, the new act explicitly states that libraries may copy on behalf of another person. It also requires that the work copied must be properly cited and the source clearly identified.

For items in digital format, you can send electronically but with the specification that the electronic copy must be deleted as soon as a paper copy is made. You cannot give the patron an electronic copy.

You can do for other libraries what you would do for yourselves. The Bill applies only to non-profit or personal use. It allows for charging only to the extent that you recover your costs (transmission, copying, and reasonable administrative costs).

You are definitely NOT allowed to copy current newspapers and current non-scholarly journals (under one year old). You may not do systematic copying of a work for the same user.

For those libraries which do not have a CANCOPY license, you can only go by the fair dealing provision. You must show good faith in trying to follow it, by stamping materials, posting notices by photocopiers, and having your own copyright policy in place.

For audio-visual materials, there is no CANCOPY license. You must go to the creator of the video (or copyright holder). If you have audio-visual materials in the library, you should also have public performance rights for them.

Materials go into the public domain 50 years after the death of the creator. While US government documents are automatically in the public domain, Canadian government documents are not and require permission from the Queen’s Printer. The mere fact of a document being on the web does not mean it is not copyrighted and that you don’t need permission to print or download it. You should be very careful about printing documents and putting them in your collection without permission. Email permission is acceptable.

New exemptions also include:

• copying a damaged book that cannot be replaced. You must have tried to replace it before copying
• making a backup copy of software
• taping tv and radio news programs for educational/classroom use

Some Canadian Copyright Websites

1. Copyright Bills. Search for the title keyword “copyright”.
2. search the AUCC Site for information on Copyright
3. Canadian Heritage. Copyright Policy Branch

Round Table Update: What’s Going On?

Health Sciences Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

There is currently a Task Group set up to investigate setting up a copy service within the library, whereby the library will do copying for patrons for a fee.

The Library is now set up as a Loansome Doc supplier.

The Ariel system is now set up to send documents to email accounts, not just to other Ariel systems. Copyright provisions prevents sending direct to patrons, but sending must be done via libraries.

Computer search fees have increased to a flat $15 fee, regardless of the time period or whether abstracts are included.

Six provincial libraries have had their holdings updated in the provincial union list on Unicorn. A print product will be produced once a few more updates, including the HCCSJ, are received.

Consumer Health Information

There is a new provincial institute, the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information (NLCHI), which is looking at the health infrastructure (health needs and information, such as a new MCP card and cabling to link all the health regions).

The Associate University Librarian (Health Sciences) approached them regarding consumer health information. They seemed interested and thus a Steering Committee was struck to develop a pilot project proposal for a provincial consumer health resource. Included in the proposal is a 12-month project to hire a librarian, develop a web page for consumer health, and create a database directory listing associations within the province who have consumer health information.

Members of the Steering Committee include representatives from the university (Linda Barnett, chair), the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s (Shaila Mensinkai and Sandra Halliday), Community Health (Heather Cooke), and the Public Library (Charles Cameron).

Health Care Corporation of St. John’s

A union list of serials for all the HCCSJ sites is underway. It will include the Centre for Nursing Studies, and should be finished within the month. The HCCSJ is applying for a Docline account.

Community Health, St. John’s Region

The Public Resource Centre is creating a catalogue in Inmagic, which is expected to be finished in July.