PHA-Exchange> New: INASP Health Links

[Aviva]

> New: INASP Health Links
> -----------------------
> 
> http://www.inasp.info/links/health/
> 
> LAUNCHES TODAY!
> 
> 'INASP Health Links' is a new Gateway to selected Web sites of spe-
> cial interest to health professionals, medical library communities, 
> publishers, and NGOs in developing and transitional countries. Please 
> have a look and let us know what you think of the site and, espe-
> cially, how we might improve it.
> 
> INASP Health Links consists of three sections:
> 
> 1. GENERAL RESOURCES 
>    (search engines, gateways - global and regional, bibliographic data-
>    bases, abstracts, clinical trials databases, research networks, dic-
>    tionaries, glossaries, disease classifications, evidence-based medi-
>    cine, full-text E-books, image collections, journals, newsletters, 
>    medical education resources, news, e-mail lists, and WHO sites).
> 
> 2. SUBJECT INDEX 
>    (e.g. Anaesthesiology, Basic Sciences, Dermatology, HIV/AIDS etc.)
> 
> 3. LIBRARY AND PUBLISHING SUPPORT, AND USE OF ICTs
>    (Information for Development, Internet Skills, Medical Informatics/ 
>    Telehealth, Publishing Tools)
> 
> Each section consists of several pages of hyperlinks, arranged alpha-
> betically, and each hyperlink carries a brief description of the site 
> concerned.
> 
> FOCUS ON DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
> It is estimated that there are at least 30,000 health-related sites 
> on the Internet - but the vast majority are targeted at users in 
> North America and Europe. INASP Health Links contains links to 448 
> selected sites, of which 160 are specifically focused on health in-
> formation in developing countries. New links will be added on a regu-
> lar basis. Sites with a specific focus on users in developing coun-
> tries are clearly marked with a symbol.
> 
> Although INASP Health Links does not claim to be comprehensive, our 
> impression is that the many and varied needs of developing-country 
> health professionals (from specialist researchers to village health 
> workers) and health information providers (librarians, publishers and 
> others) are, overall, poorly addressed by existing Web resources. 
> There are some excellent individual resources, but they are few and 
> far between and there are large gaps in coverage. We hope that INASP 
> Health Links will help others to identify these gaps and encourage 
> the development of new resources to address unmet needs.
> 
> A TEMPLATE FOR CUSTOMIZATION BY OTHERS 
> INASP Health Links is offered freely for use as a template by others 
> (e.g. medical school libraries, ministries of health, publishers, li-
> braries, NGOs) to develop customized gateways on their own websites. 
> This approach should reduce the risk of duplication of effort while 
> maximizing the usefulness of the gateway for specific target groups.
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE 
> INASP Health Links is seen to be a *short-term* contribution to help 
> address the increasing demand in developing and transitional coun-
> tries for easy access to relevant, reliable health information on the 
> Internet. INASP Health Links has been produced with minimal resources 
> and is not intended to be definitive nor comprehensive. Moreover, us-
> ers should note that there has been *no formal quality assessment* of 
> content. It is hoped the site will encourage the collaborative devel-
> opment of more comprehensive sites by others.
> 
> In the long term, health professionals in developing and transitional 
> countries require an international collaborative effort to deliver 
> comprehensive and quality-controlled gateway services, in consulta-
> tion with end-users. Such vital initiatives are currently being 
> planned by a range of international organizations, including the WHO-
> led Health InterNetwork and Interactive Health Network. Ideally, 
> every site in such a gateway should be evaluated for quality and 
> relevance of content, as occurs with gateway services such as the Or-
> ganizing Medical Networked Information (OMNI), which focuses on the 
> information needs of UK health professionals.
> 
> HEALTH INFORMATION FORUM, London, 21 May 2002 
> INASP encourages international cooperation among existing and planned 
> initiatives, so that long-term solutions can be identified, imple-
> mented, evaluated, and improved. To this end, INASP is organizing a 
> Health Information Forum meeting at the British Medical Association, 
> London on 21 May 2002. The theme of the meeting is: 'INTERNET PORTALS 
> AND GATEWAYS TO PRACTICAL INFORMATION FOR FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE 
> WORKERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES'. Admission is free thanks to BMJ 
> sponsorship but we regret that there is no funding available for 
> travel expenses etc. For further details, or to reserve your place, 
> please contact Neil Pakenham-Walsh at <health at inasp.info> .
> 
> Note: 
> Health Information Forum meetings are now formally recognized by the 
> Royal Colleges for accreditation for continued professional develop-
> ment (credits are awarded on a meeting-by-meeting basis).
> 
> ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
> INASP Health Links is adapted for international use from the original 
> gateway provided by the University of Zambia School of Medicine Li-
> brary (UNZA). The UNZA gateway was developed by UNZA staff in con-
> junction with Lenny Rhine, Librarian at the University of Florida 
> Health Science Center Libraries.
> 
> INASP Health Links is compiled by Lenny Rhine and Neil Pakenham-
> Walsh. INASP Health Links acknowledges the support and contributions 
> of Exchange, INASP, University of Florida Health Science Center Li-
> braries, and University of Zambia School of Medicine Library. INASP-
> Health activities are also supported by the British Medical Journal, 
> CDSI (International Council for Science), and the World Health Or-
> ganization.
> 
> PRINT COPIES 
> Print copies of INASP Health Links are available on request for 45 US 
> dollars (25 pounds sterling) [including postage and packing], and 
> free of charge to libraries in developing countries.
> 
> Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh
> Programme Manager, INASP-Health
> International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications
> mailto:health at inasp.info
> http://www.inasp.info