Medical library support in rural areas.

Physicians in rural areas often feel professionally isolated due to lack of access to medical center services, particularly library services. To test the need for and use of medical library services, an experimental program was established for physicians in southeastern Kentucky. Physicians were given a toll-free number to call for assistance or to make requests, and persons in two rural locations were trained in the use of basic library reference sources. A communication procedure to a university medical center was established to help patrons obtain information. Evaluation of the service showed that users were much more satisfied with the availability of medical library resources.