Information workers, including physicians, nurses, social workers, etc
., in rural areas have needs for a wide range of specialized informati
on, but have difficulty getting access to information resources. As pa
rt of a rural health education project funded by the U.S. Department o
f Health and Human Services, we studied the information needs of rura
l health workers in Hawaii and their current means of information acce
ss. Barriers to information access included lack of funds, lack of app
ropriate hardware, infrastructure problems (such as poor telephone lin
es or no convenient access to libraries), insufficient training in how
to use information sources, and insufficient time to spend on informa
tion tasks. Only a small percent of those who have computers and modem
s and knowledge of online resources use them regularly. Recommendation
s for solving some of their information needs include the development
of a rural health information clearinghouse; better identification, tr
aining, and exploitation of the specialized services available for hea
lth care workers; and, most importantly, the establishment of 'rural h
ealth care information agents'' (modeled on agricultural extension age
nts) on each major island. The methodology, needs identified, and reco
mmendations are applicable to any rural community