Providing consumer health information in the rural setting: Planetree Health Resource Center's approach

Both lifestyle and geography make the delivery of consumer health information in the rural setting unique. The Planetree Health Resource Center in The Dalles, Oregon, has served the public in a rural setting for the past eight years. It is a community-based consumer health library, affiliated with a small rural hospital, Mid-Columbia Medical Center. One task of providing consumer health information in rural environments is to be in relationship with individuals in the community. Integration into community life is very important for credibility and sustainability. The resource center takes a proactive approach and employs several different outreach efforts to deepen its relationship with community members. It also works hard to foster partnerships for improved health information delivery with other community organizations, including area schools. This paper describes Planetree Health Resource Center's approach to rural outreach.

STRBase: a short tandem repeat DNA database for the human identity testing community

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has compiled and maintained a Short Tandem Repeat DNA Internet Database (http://www.cstl.nist.gov/biotech/strbase/) since 1997 commonly referred to as STRBase. This database is an information resource for the forensic DNA typing community with details on commonly used short tandem repeat (STR) DNA markers. STRBase consolidates and organizes the abundant literature on this subject to facilitate on-going efforts in DNA typing. Observed alleles and annotated sequence for each STR locus are described along with a review of STR analysis technologies. Additionally, commercially available STR multiplex kits are described, published polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer sequences are reported, and validation studies conducted by a number of forensic laboratories are listed. To supplement the technical information, addresses for scientists and hyperlinks to organizations working in this area are available, along with the comprehensive reference list of over 1300 publications on STRs used for DNA typing purposes.