The National electronic Library for Health (NeLH) is now taking shape, as the virtual branch libraries begin to accumulate 'books', among their resources. In the Primary Care branch (http://www.nelh-pc.nhs.uk), one of the first available books was the Statement of Fees and Allowances (otherwise known as the Red Book). While being held up as an example of what the NeLH can offer, this book and the story of its transformation from paper to Internet format is a powerful example of how much further the National Health Service (NHS) must go before it can claim to be fully exploiting the benefits of information technology (IT). This article refers to the author's experience in producing electronic books for primary care using WaX software, and an example of a process change from paper to screen that was managed within a university administrative office. The author suggests that to reap optimal benefits from IT, the NeLH and its collaborators must address the fundamental issues of people and the paper-based processes used by information providers. The NeLH must work with both NHS IT trainers and information providers in a three-way collaboration involving key people and processes, to achieve the efficient production of an updateable and user-friendly library of electronic books.

In response to the information management and technology changes proposed by the Government's NHS modernization initiative this article examines the issues that GPs feel to be of major significance to their work. Although information and communications technology is widely used in general practice there is no one agreed standard system. The level of technology and the manner in which it is used is also diverse throughout the profession, as are the attitudes that exist amongst GPs regarding the value of information management and technology, and the benefits efficient information management offers to them and to their patients. The views of three local GPs from practices with varying levels of information technology were obtained through semi-structured interviews and the findings developed in the light of current discussions in the published literature. The GPs chosen reflect the disparity within general practice and, perhaps, other units of the NHS in the use and understanding of information management. The main conclusions were that there is ambivalence and scepticism about what NHSnet currently has to offer; that local electronic records benefit patient care, but when networked more widely problems of confidentiality and security result. Practitioners were also mindful of the financial costs of changes and concerned, given the impact of PCGs and clinical governance, as to who will be responsible for ensuring a common level of electronic records, IT provision, and financial and technological support.

Abstract Surveys of GP computing suggest that over 95% of practices now have computers. Unfortunately, many of these practices are making little effective use of this technology. Recent White Papers, The New NHS and Information for Health place an even greater emphasis upon the effective use of information and its associated technology.This paper describes a model for the assessment and managed change of information management maturity within general practice. The model, known as GPIMM (General Practice Information Maturity Model), which has been developed from related models in fields such as software quality and diffusion of innovation, provides a framework for the assessment of the maturity of information processes within general practice. The model can also be used to define key tasks in terms of training and information strategies to facilitate practice development.The model and its antecedents are described, and it is shown how this model can be used to assess and improve information processes within case study practices. This paper then goes on to examine the health librarians’ role in the process of change and discuss the metaphor of a ‘virtual library’ as a means to shift the agenda from information technology to information itself.