Information behavior” is the currently preferred term used to describe the many ways in which human beings interact with information, in particular, the ways in which people seek and utilize information. The broad history of research on information-seeking behavior over the last 50–60 years is reviewed, major landmarks are identified, and current directions in research are discussed.

Information behavior

Mobile health (mHealth) encompasses the use of mobile telecommunication and multimedia into increasingly mobile and wireless health care delivery systems and has the potential to improve tens of thousands of lives each year. The ubiquity and penetration of mobile phones presents the opportunity to leverage mHealth for maternal and newborn care, particularly in under-resourced health ecosystems. Moreover, the slow progress and funding constraints in attaining the Millennium Development Goals for child and maternal health encourage harnessing innovative measures, such as mHealth, to address these public health priorities. This literature review provides a schematic overview of the outcomes, barriers, and strategies of integrating mHealth to improve prenatal and neonatal health outcomes. Six electronic databases were methodically searched using predetermined search terms. Retrieved articles were then categorized according to themes identified in previous studies. A total of 34 articles and reports contributed to the findings with information about the use and limitations of mHealth for prenatal and neonatal healthcare access and delivery. Health systems have implemented mHealth programs to facilitate emergency medical responses, point-of-care support, health promotion and data collection. However, the policy infrastructure for funding, coordinating and guiding the sustainable adoption of prenatal and neonatal mHealth services remains under-developed. The integration of mobile health for prenatal and newborn health services has demonstrated positive outcomes, but the sustainability and scalability of operations requires further feedback from and evaluation of ongoing programs.

Special delivery: an analysis of mHealth in maternal and newborn health programs and their outcomes around the world.

http://www.ssu.ac.ir/fileadmin/templates/fa/daneshkadaha/daneshkade-behdasht/manager_group/upload_manager_group/manabe_elmi/maghalate_amuzeshi/english/4olympiad-sathbandi__gheir_vagi/maternity_referral_system_3.pdf

Maternity referral systems in developing countries : Current knowledge and future research needs

Health care workers in developing countries continue to lack access to basic, practical information to enable them to deliver safe, effective care. This paper provides the first phase of a broader literature review of the information and learning needs of health care providers in developing countries. A Medline search revealed 1762 papers, of which 149 were identified as potentially relevant to the review. Thirty-five of these were found to be highly relevant. Eight of the 35 studies looked at information needs as perceived by health workers, patients and family/community members; 14 studies assessed the knowledge of health workers; and 8 looked at health care practice. The studies suggest a gross lack of knowledge about the basics on how to diagnose and manage common diseases, going right across the health workforce and often associated with suboptimal, ineffective and dangerous health care practices. If this level of knowledge and practice is representative, as it appears to be, it indicates that modern medicine, even at a basic level, has largely failed the majority of the world's population. The information and learning needs of family caregivers and primary and district health workers have been ignored for too long. Improving the availability and use of relevant, reliable health care information has enormous potential to radically improve health care worldwide.

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Information needs of health care workers in developing countries: a literature review with a focus on Africa

OBJECTIVE: To analyse on the basis of the literature the potential of mobile phones to improve maternal health services in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC). METHODS: Wide search for scientific and grey literature using various terms linked to: maternal health mobile telecommunication and LMIC. Applications requiring an internet connection were excluded as this is not widely available in LMIC yet. RESULTS: Few projects exist in this field and little evidence is available as yet on the impact of mobile phones on the quality of maternal health services. Projects focus mainly on the delay in receiving care--that is in recognizing the need and making the decision to seek care--and the delay in arriving at the health facility. This is achieved by connecting lesser trained health workers to specialists and coordination of referrals. Ongoing projects focus on empowering women to seek health care. DISCUSSION: There is broad agreement that access to communication is one of several essential components to improve maternal health services and hence the use of mobile phones has much potential. However there is a need for robust evidence on constraints and impacts especially when financial and human resources will be invested. Concurrently other ways in which mobile phones can be used to benefit maternal health services need to be further explored taking into consideration privacy and confidentiality. (c) 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Improvement of maternal health services through the use of mobile phones

Makerere University Library (Maklib) holdings include a rich collection of data and information resulting from its multiple roles, namely: serving as Uganda’s National Legal Deposit unit since 1958, the National Reference Library since 1972, as well as its primary role of serving Makerere University academic community and managing its Institutional Repository. The institutional repository consists of the legal deposit materials and Makerere University institutional documents One of Makerere University’s strategic priorities is community outreach. To support this priority, Maklib conducts various outreach activities which have contributed to social development, for example: Annual Library day outreach since 2009, which includes school support through re-organisation of libraries, training of library staff and donation of books; a periodic health information digest has been produced through repackaging of current literature on topical health issues and distributed to over one thousand-five hundred health units in Uganda since 1997; health information literacy training workshops to equip health workers with skills to utilise information resources and improve the quality of health care provision in Uganda. This paper will share the experience of conducting the above outreach activities and their evaluation, which demonstrate the role of librarians in responding to societal needs. Furthermore, a Library Gender Sentinel Site Committee (LGSSC) was set up in 2004 at Maklib to address gender issues. Among other things, the LGSSC holds a week-long celebration before every International Women’s day and distributes information on the day’s theme to library users. Since 2012, a Mother’s space, where expectant library users take a break, was set up in the new Main Library building extension to provide a conducive reading environment. Maklib proactively collects feedback from library users about its services. This paper also shares the feedback about Maklib services which, among other things, confirmed that ‘Change is a fact of life’ and information accessed and applied leads to societal development.

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Librarians’ contribution to social change through information provision: the experience of Makerere University Library

Makerere University Library procured 11,811 copies (4,662 titles) of the latest editions of textbooks with funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York. By the time of the study, there were 20,251...

Informing Policy and Practice Through Assessment of New Library Books' Usage at Makerere University

Special issue: Health information transforming lives:

Over the years, academic libraries have been conducting information literacy (IL) programmes for their users. This paper shares Makerere University Library's experience in implementing IL programmes at Makerere University and other academic institutions of learning in Uganda. The findings of this paper are based on the IL sessions' evaluation forms, together with the authors' experiences as instructors. A sample of one thousand (1000) participants' evaluation feedback forms was used in assessing the IL sessions conducted by Makerere University Library in two years (2008-2009). The evaluation focused on the duration and relevancy of training, nature of content, its organization; the instructors, new skills participants gained and how they hoped to pass them to others. Initial findings indicate that IL sessions are highly regarded with repeated recommendations for increased duration and frequency of information literacy sessions in different universities. The various challenges posed by diversity are explained as follows: Difference in age groups arise because admissions to the various universities cater for direct entrants from high school and mature age entrants'. Students also come from different social backgrounds that dictate the standard of schools they attend i.e.; urban schools where education standards are high and skills such as using computers are imparted visa-a-vis the rural schools where such skills are not imparted. To the IL instructor, this implies conducting the training with patience and extending the time allocated for each session in order to impart the basic ICT skills prior to imparting the IL skills. Internationalization on the other hand is not a very big challenge because the proportion of foreign students is small and their ICT skills are moderate. Gender aspects and the diverse disciplines of research in the Ugandan universities also pose challenges when conducting IL sessions in that the groups handled at a time are normally composed of participants from different disciplines. The paper then addresses the possible strategies to these challenges and makes recommendations focused on improving the IL programmes conducted in academic institutions in Uganda.

Challenges posed by diversity in Academic institutions as they implement Information Literacy: the experiences of Makerere University Library in Uganda

The work is concluded in this chapter by presenting an overview and the implications of the Interaction-Value model for theory, and whether the findings can be applied, replicated or transferred elsewhere. Concluding comments are also presented regarding health informatics and information provision in general. Finally, areas for further research are outlined. This chapter has the following sections: Introduction; Implications for theory and applicability of findings; Implications for health informatics and information provision in general and Areas for further research.

Maria G. N. Musoke

Papers

Librarians’ contribution to social change through information provision: the experience of Makerere University Library

Informing Policy and Practice Through Assessment of New Library Books' Usage at Makerere University

Special issue: Health information transforming lives:

Challenges posed by diversity in Academic institutions as they implement Information Literacy: the experiences of Makerere University Library in Uganda

Implications for Theory, Practice and the Future