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Assisting the Elderly Through a Community Information Database

By Lisa Thomas, Information and Computer Services Manager, Caerphilly Library Service

Meeting the information needs of the elderly is a primary objective for the Caerphilly Library Service in the UK. The Library serves a County population that includes nearly 60,000 people who are over the age of 50 and need to remain informed of the engagement and support opportunities that exist in Caerphilly. Now, through the library’s Web OPAC, users can easily access pertinent information using a community information interface.

In its "Strategy for Older People” our County has long recognized that more needs be done to support the information needs of the 50+ age group. Many individuals in this demographic group have information needs that could be supported by better access to contact details for local groups, clubs, or advice agencies. As a result, Caerphilly Library Service decided that the development of a fully searchable and interactive guide to organisations would help facilitate these needs and raise the profile of the Service as a key information provider. Prior to embarking on the project, we identified the following key objectives:

to enhance the existing library catalogue with an enhanced Community Information module that would benefit older people.
to increase targeted information and encourage the active involvement of older people.
to improve the partnership with the County Borough and promote sharing of information and good practices.

The primary focus of the scheme was to support older people in the community by providing easier access to information regarding educational opportunities, health, well being, and recreational needs in line with corporate priorities. We soon realized however that the project would ultimately also benefit users of all ages
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We identified that the basic information was already available through an existing publication and there was no requirement therefore to start the process from scratch. Caerphilly County Borough produces an annual ‘Who to Contact: Caerphilly County Borough Community Guide and Directory’, which is provided jointly by the local authority and Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations (GAVO) and is published in hard copy and in electronic PDF format from the Council’s website. As a Library Service we saw the potential to use our existing Web OPAC to develop an online database of local groups, organisations, and advice agencies based in the Caerphilly County Borough area. Our intention was that the online community database would reside alongside the current hard copy guide and would offer people a new and intuitive resource to support their information needs. The database would be accessible from home, at work, or at any of the authority’s 19 library points, free of charge.

Earlier this year, we used a Microsoft Access Database to convert the hardcopy guide into the Library Services Community Information Module of the library’s online catalogue. We now offer advanced and interactive searching capabilities, which was not previously possible. We also identified that this project could support our overall outreach methodology and would be a fantastic opportunity to work closely with groups and societies that represent older people. As part of this innovation, we worked with Infor to develop an additional feature that would provide organisations the ability to update their own records directly through a secure login and a tailored web input form. Caerphilly Library Service is committed that a representative of each group is suitably trained and given appropriate permissions to update and maintain their own records in conjunction with colleagues from GAVO.

We launched this service in full at the beginning of November 2009. Further information can be found in the help section of our live Community Information site http://libraries.caerphilly.gov.uk/vs/vubis.csp.