Development of a state-wide health sciences information network: a cooperative effort.

A cooperative effort by a regional medical library (RML) program, a college of human medicine, a university library system, and numerous individual health care institutions to develop a network for the delivery of health sciences information within the state of Wyoming is described. This development consisted of four phases: collection building, training of library managers, consortia formation, and establishment of a state-based network management mechanism. Significant characteristics of the project include the high level of cooperation exerted by many different agencies and institutions, the participation by all acute-care institutions within the state, the initial large expenditure of funds to build resources within individual institutions, and the system development approach to the delivery of RML services that this project represents.