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PLoS/HIFA2015 Webinar, 28th March 2012: Can Open Access publishing
provide Healthcare Information For All by 2015<br><br>
Dear PHM colleagues,<br><br>
People are dying for lack of knowledge. Tens of thousands of people die
every day, often for the simple reason that the parent, carer or health
worker lacks the information and knowledge they need to save them.
<a href="http://www.hifa2015.org/" eudora="autourl">www.hifa2015.org<br>
<br>
</a>You are invited to attend the first HIFA2015 Webinar, supported by
PLoS, the Public Library of Science, a HIFA2015 Supporting Organisation
and a leading publisher of open access journals. The event will take
place on 28th March 2012 at 15:00-16:30h London/UK time (=14:00-15:30h
GMT) and the theme is:<br><br>
<b>Can Open Access publishing provide Healthcare Information For All by
2015?<br><br>
</b>At the bottom of this message are details on how to prepare for this
event. <br><br>
Healthcare Information For All by 2015 is the goal of HIFA2015, on online
community of thousands of health professionals, publishers, librarians
and others worldwide who are committed to a future where healthcare
providers will have access to the healthcare knowledge they need to
prevent and manage disease and injury. Every day, people are dying for
lack of knowledge. By 2015, lack of access to basic healthcare knowledge
will no longer be a major contributing factor to avoidable death and
suffering in poor and middle-income countries.<br><br>
Over the next 2 weeks, starting TODAY 14th March, we shall start to
explore the issues here on the HIFA2015 email forum. Here are some issues
to consider - what do you think?<br><br>
1. MEETING INFORMATION NEEDS: Articles in Open Access journals are
available free to anyone with an internet connection, and can be freely
shared and reproduced. To what extent do current OA journals help
healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, midwives...) to reduce suffering
and save lives in poor and middle-income countries? Do current OA
journals provide the information healthcare providers need? Or, at the
moment, are they only relevant to special groups such as researchers,
development professionals, academics and high-level
professionals?<br><br>
2. WHERE THERE IS NO INTERNET: What about the vast majority of healthcare
providers in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), who do not have
regular internet access? Do OA journals make any difference to them -
perhaps indirectly, by allowing re-use? For example, printing and
incorporation in teaching aids? What advantages (or disadvantages) do OA
journals bring to those who are responsible for production of systematic
reviews, for guideline development, and for production of reference and
educational materials? <br><br>
3. HOW CAN OPEN ACCESS PUBLISHING BE DEVELOPED FURTHER in the coming 3
years to help ensure that healthcare providers in LMICs will have access
to the information they need to learn, to diagnose, to manage and prevent
disease, and to save lives and reduce suffering? How can open
access publishers work with healthcare providers to support a transition
from information dependence to information autonomy and thereby
contribute to overall sustainable economic development and enhanced
quality of life in LMICs.<br>
--<br><br>
HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE FIRST HIFA2015 WEBINAR<br><br>
Here are the details you need to prepare for the HIFA2015 Webinar (please
forward this email to your contacts and networks and encourage them to
join us):<br><br>
Date: 28th March 2012 at 15:00-16:30h London/UK time (=14:00-15:30h
GMT)<br>
To check the time in your country, please refer to the World Clock<br>
<a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html<br><br>
</a>Programme (further details to follow):<br><br>
1. Introduction: Neil Pakenham-Walsh (Coordinator, HIFA2015)<br>
2. Open Access publishing and HIFA2015: Virginia Barbour (Chief Editor,
PLoS Medicine)<br>
3. Open discussion, including Commentary from systematic reviewers,
researchers and health professionals in low- and middle-income
countries.<br><br>
If you would like to participate in the webinar, we encourage you to
please contact us to register (free) by 21st March. Please send your
name, position, organisation and country of residence to:
webinars@hifa2015.org<br><br>
Registration is recommended and will help us understand who is our
audience and will help us to prepare the Webinar, but it is not mandatory
- anyone can join the session directly on the day without prior
registration.<br><br>
We shall be using Elluminate Live! web conferencing software. If you are
not familiar with Elluminate, please join us for a practice session
online in the week before the conference. There will be two practice
sessions:<br><br>
Practice Session 1: Monday 19th March at 15:00-16:00h London/UK time
(=14:00-15:00h GMT)<br>
Practice Session 2: Friday 23 March at 15:00-16:00h London/UK time
(=14:00-15:00h GMT)<br><br>
Anyone with an interest is welcome to participate. All you need is an
internet connection and a headset (headphones and built-in microphone).
You will need to set up your computer before the event. This can be done
any time, any day. Once you are set up, you will be able to participate
in any HIFA2015 Webinar. Instructions to set up are here:
<a href="http://bit.ly/hifa2015-setup" eudora="autourl">
http://bit.ly/hifa2015-setup<br><br>
</a>Also, we’d be grateful for help to publicise this webinar as widely
as possible. A flyer (PDF, 120kb) is available here.<br>
<a href="http://www.hifa2015.org/wp-content/uploads/HIFA2015-PLoS-Webinar-flyer-1-March-2012.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.hifa2015.org/wp-content/uploads/HIFA2015-PLoS-Webinar-flyer-1-March-2012.pdf<br>
<br>
</a>We have also created buttons that you can add to your website simply
by copying and pasting a short string of HTML code.<br>
<a href="http://www.hifa2015.org/hifa2015-webinars/help-to-publicise-hifa-webinars/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.hifa2015.org/hifa2015-webinars/help-to-publicise-hifa-webinars/<br>
<br>
</a>You can also find HIFA2015 on twitter, so send us a tweet and let
everyone know about the webinar.<br>
<a href="https://twitter.com/hifa2015" eudora="autourl">
https://twitter.com/hifa2015<br><br>
</a>Please contact us if you have any questions regarding content or
technical problems: webinars@hifa2015.org<br><br>
Virginia Barbour, Chief Editor, PLoS Medicine<br><br>
Donna Okubo, Senior Manager of Community Outreach and Advocacy,
PLoS<br><br>
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Coordinator, HIFA2015<br><br>
About PLoS<br><br>
PLoS is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization. The mission of
PLoS is to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a
transformation in research communication. Everything that PLoS publishes
is open-access freely available online for anyone to use. Sharing
research encourages progress, from protecting the biodiversity of our
planet to finding more effective treatments for diseases such as
cancer.<br><br>
About HIFA2015 <br><br>
HIFA2015 (Healthcare Information For All by 2015) is a global campaign
and knowledge network administered by the Global Healthcare Information
Network, a non-profit organisation working to improve the quality of
health care in developing countries. HIFA2015 is one of 5 global forums
collectively known as HIFA Global Forums, bringing together more than
7500 health workers, librarians, publishers, researchers and policymakers
in more than 2000 organisations across 163 countries worldwide, in 3
languages (English, French, Portuguese). One-third of our members are
based in Africa, one-third in Europe, and one-third in the rest of the
world. We are committed to a common goal: By 2015, every person worldwide
will have access to an informed health care provider. Over 130 leading
health and development organisations worldwide have declared their
commitment to the HIFA2015 goal. Together we are working for a future
where people are no longer dying for lack of basic healthcare knowledge.
Further information:
<a href="http://www.hifa2015.org/" eudora="autourl">www.hifa2015.org</a>
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