Making the rough places plain: designing MEDLINE end user training.

Library personnel are frequently asked to design user education programs for orientation to medical databases online. These programs aim at promoting judicious use of online resources via searches conducted by librarian intermediaries or, more recently, at preparing end users to perform online searches themselves. This discussion will focus on factors considered in designing MEDLINE training for medical practitioners, including problems end users may encounter in extant user aids, and how these problems have been addressed in the new DIALOG Seminar for Medical professionals.