Medicine's Library Lifeline.

Medical librarians; Librarians; Special librarians; Medical errors; Medical research; Information scientists

Discusses the emergence of a species of health information professional, an informationist, who will help health practitioners get better access to the medical research they need. Suggestion that the trend challenges the health profession but offers an opportunity for stronger alliances with health sciences librarians; Interest of the public and the Institute of Medicine to reduce the number of medical errors, including by pushing to use knowledge-based evidence when making clinical decisions; Proposed solution of having a professional medical team member with the skills, equipment, time and subject knowledge to research the literature, evaluate it, and recommend potential treatment options; Reaction of health science librarians to these proposals; Models of informationists, including the use of Stuart Yarfitz at the University of Washington; Working definition of the informationist; Potential benefits of the informationist, including a direct link between health sciences librarianship and clinical practice; Description of the clinical medical librarian; Professional requirements for informationists.