NMSU Library Newsletter
Fall 2004
Two borderland library health information projects have
been honored with national
awards from the American Library Association (ALA). Both awards were written
up
in the September issue of American
Libraries magazine.
The Border Health Information and Education Network
(BIEN!), a partnership of twenty-one libraries and health agencies, was named
the 2004 ALA/Information Today, Inc., Library of the Future. The Library of the Future Award recognizes an
individual library, library consortium, group of librarians or support
organization for innovative planning for, applications of, or development of
patron training programs about information technology in a library
setting. Norice
Lee, the first chair of the BIEN! executive board,
accepted a citation of achievement and a $1,500 cash award on
behalf of BIEN!
An ALA Carnegie-Whitney award for $5,000 was received by BIEN!’s first project
director, Sylvia Ortiz. Carnegie-Whitney
awards provide support for the preparation
and
publication of library resource guides.
Ms. Ortiz, Norice Lee and Cindy
Watkins will prepare a guide to border health information
in English and Spanish
targeted for use by community health workers, librarians, health
educators, the
public, students and researchers.
The guide will be distributed in the borderland
through BIEN! partners, and ALA
Publishing will have first consideration for national
publication.
BIEN! was originally envisioned by
Norice Lee and Carol Brey
of the El Paso Public
Library. Its mission is to
create opportunities to improve the health of residents of
the
borderland by providing health information in all formats in English and
Spanish.
The network has provided computers, electronic health
information resources
and
user training in southern
more than four years. Visit the BIEN!
web site at http://www.bienhealth.org. For
more information, contact Norice Lee at the
Library at (505) 646-5091 or Sylvia
Ortiz at (505) 646-7481.