Improving health services depends, to a great extent, on providing current knowledge and training to health personnel. However, nurses in developing countries and remote areas often have little or no access to up-to-date, basic health and medical information and training.

When available, health information is often stored in libraries and other institutions, in order to protect the precious materials. These institutions may not have the resources to make the information available to nurses working in the field. It is often expensive or difficult to acquire resources to copy and distribute materials. There is a great need for nurses to have information that:

• Is available near where nurses practise.
• Meets the information requirements of everyday work situations and education needs.
• Does not depend on access to reproduction equipment or on information technology infrastructure.