David N. King, MS, PhD
National Children’s Advocacy Center
2017 marks the beginning of a new era for CALiOTM – the Child Abuse Library Online. Since the National Children’s Advocacy Center first opened the doors to its digital collection of resources for child abuse professionals almost 15 years ago, the mission has remained steadfast – to provide access to the highest quality resources for evidence-based practice in all fields related to child abuse.
For the multidisciplinary team (MDT) members of Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) nationwide, CALiO has become the primary center for published professional literature and other specialized resources. MDT members need but log in for immediate access to many tens of thousands of peer reviewed research and practice resources.
But the milestone achieved in January 2017 has much broader implications.
CALiO™Collections, the digital library of free resources, now numbers more than 3,000 items. More than 75% of the freely accessible collection consists of professional journal articles from the most reputable journals in the field – Child Abuse & Neglect, Child Maltreatment, Child Abuse Review, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, etc. The remainder of the collection includes publications from government agencies and non-profit organizations. Literally every aspect of child abuse is covered, from prevention to trafficking, victim treatment to offender characteristics.
And as the CAC model gains adherents globally, CALiO™Collections has added more international publications, including publications in Spanish, French, German and others. CALiO™Collections has now become an international resource attracting more than 22,000 different visitors over an 18-month period.
Members of MDTs at CACs will continue to have access to the huge wealth of professional resources available from publishers. But CALiO™Collections has become a premier center for the many professionals who are not affiliated with a CAC.
Watch the CALiO blog for more announcements regarding new developments in CALiO to improve accessibility and enhance collections.
CALiO™ and CALiO™Collections are registered trademarks of the National Children’s Advocacy Center’s Child Abuse Library Online.