Celebrating 25 Years

January 2, 2020

As a collaborative project of the University of Alberta Library and the University of Calgary Library, the HKN Office can be located at either of these post-secondary institutions, depending on where the General Manager is located. When HKN began in 1994, the office was located a …

December 9, 2019

In 2012, HKN becomes the licensing agent for Alberta Health Services’ Knowledge Resource Service, allowing AHS to extend its existing health region agreement to every hospital in the province. While HKN has been the primary licensing agent for the Alberta health regions since 200 …

October 15, 2019

In 2007, HKN begins a joint environmental scan with SEARCH Custom and IRREN (Inter-Regional Research and Evaluation Network) to investigate the differences in access to health information resources in Alberta, particularly between its five rural and two urban health regions. Thei …

September 30, 2019

In April 2008, HKN co-hosts a symposium on complementary and alternative therapies in medicine with the Southern Alberta Health Libraries Association and the Northern Alberta Health Libraries Association. Speakers discuss how complementary medicine is integrated into traditional …

September 16, 2019

The University of Manitoba becomes the first organization in Manitoba to subscribe to HKN, effectively making Manitoba the third province to join HKN. It licenses Ovid’s LWW Total Access Collection, a full-text collection of key health journals. This sparks the beginning of other …

September 3, 2019

Throughout its entire 25 years in operation, HKN has advocated for provincial and national licensing initiatives. It engaged Lori van Rooijen from Larkspur Associates Inc. to investigate several initiatives, such as provincial licensing. In May 2005, the HKN Partners meet with th …

August 19, 2019

In response to a number of requests to expand and review the services it offers, HKN engages Lori Van Rooijen of Larkspur Associates Inc. in 2003 to complete a provincial needs assessment. This comes ten years after HKN’s launch as a grant-funded project, and a year after it beco …

August 8, 2019

In October 2004, HKN holds a one-day conference to celebrate its 10th year in operation. The conference brings together library stakeholders from all sectors to discuss the current and future context for health information. The keynote speaker is Dr. Sherrilynne Fuller, then Dire …

July 22, 2019

In 2003, HKN welcomes the University of Saskatchewan as a subscriber, paving the way for the Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Program (SHIRP) to join in the following year. Through the SHIRP subscription, Saskatchewan is able to extend e-health resources to its Universit …

July 8, 2019

In 2003, HKN demonstrates Skolar MD at its Annual General Meeting in Calgary. This is HKN’s first look at an e-resource that is neither an e-journal or an e-book, but rather a “clinical information tool” that answers clinical questions at the point-of-care. Now ubiquitous, these …

June 24, 2019

In 2003, HKN participates on a panel at the CHLA/ABSC Annual Conference in Edmonton on Consortial Deals: Best Practice or Blind Ambition? Moderated by Jessie McGowan, panelists discussed whether consortial deals are the best way to achieve results for libraries and whether they a …

June 10, 2019

In 2002, HKN retired its mirrored servers at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, and the CD-ROM technology that was used to deliver its resources to libraries across Alberta, and migrated to a web-based system accessible via IP-authentication. Its offerings g …

May 27, 2019

In 2002, HKN receives funding from the Alberta Government’s Curriculum Redevelopment Fund to produce a video on its work to connect health care practitioners, educators, and researchers in Alberta to the information resources they need to provide evidence-informed care. HKN engag …

May 13, 2019

In 2001, HKN submits a proposal for a Curriculum Redevelopment Fund Initiative grant through Alberta Learning. The grant proposal includes the development of an online training package that consists of a “search process” graphic and a video describing HKN’s work to enhance practi …

May 3, 2019

HKN will convene a panel at the CHLA/ABSC Annual Conference in Ottawa on how consortia have changed the library landscape in Canada on Friday, June 7, 2019. Join HKN General Manager Vivian Stieda, eHLBc Manager Leigh Anne Palmer (BC), HSICT Executive Director Lori Anne Oja (Ontar …

April 24, 2019

HKN considers several slogans for its service, including the following: Creating new knowledge for health University connection for life The school that never stops Information for those who care Health Information: From Alberta’s Universities to You We achieve more together If “ …

April 11, 2019

On June 1, 1999, Regina Health District becomes the first organization and first regional health authority in Saskatchewan to sign on as an HKN subscriber. By November 1999, the Calgary Regional Health Authority (CRHA) follows the lead of the David Thompson Health Region and beco …

March 29, 2019

After 3 years in operation, HKN gets its first large-scale subscriber. David Thompson Health Region becomes the first regional health authority (RHA) in Alberta to become an HKN subscriber in March 1997. Prior to this, subscribers to HKN only included individual hospitals and dep …

March 4, 2019

After the Alberta Health Knowledge Network’s founding in 1994, a management group is struck to explore and make recommendations on how HKN should move forward from a grant-funded project to a self-sustaining entity. Librarians and stakeholders from the University of Alberta and t …

February 19, 2019

As a collaborative partnership between the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, HKN is governed by two Partners and three Executive Committee members. The Partners are the Chief Librarians at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. They set the mi …

February 4, 2019

Did you know that the HKN logo and word mark are registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office? The logo features HKN’s name, or word mark—a logo that makes use of its text to express what its company does, both as an acronym and spelt out in full. The original logo w …

January 21, 2019

The Health Knowledge Network’s initial goal is to provide 24- hour electronic access to health sciences databases to the faculty, staff, and students at the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, and at the teaching hospitals. Access to the resources would then expand to Alberta co …

January 7, 2019

In spring 1994, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) awards the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta a $248K grant for the creation of an Alberta Health Knowledge Network. Supporters, including the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, severa …