VHL News Network

Automatic Translation System Contributes to Equitable Access to Information and Knowledge

The editorial of the journal PLoS Medicine, of February 2006, starts with the phrase “for better or worse, English is today’s lingua franca in the medical and life sciences”. This brings up the theme of inequitable access to scientific information and knowledge caused by language barriers or lack of English comprehension, which is considered the main language for communication in Sciences. The PAHOMTS system translates texts into Portuguese, Spanish and English, and is mentioned as an important initiative to overcome this challenge. Overcoming language barriers is one of the main lines of action of the technical cooperation of BIREME/PAHO/WHO. It is reflected in the multilingual interfaces of the VHL, the multilingual terminology of DecS and in the SciELO methodology to publish scientific articles in several languages
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Revista Española de Salud Pública celebrates its 80th anniversary

The Revista Española de Salud Pública (RESP), included in the SciELO Public Health and SciELO Spain collections, celebrates its 80th anniversary. The journal is electronically available in MEDLINE and IBECS, as well as in the VHL PH, thus representing Spain in this important source of information. RESP is published every two months by the Directoria General de Salud Pública of the Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo de España
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VHL Scientific Journal Portal registers over 3.000 hits daily

Access to updated information and scientific knowledge on health published by scientific journals is essential for research, education and healthcare advances. The VHL has a Portal of Scientific Journals on Health Sciences that allows access to collections of scientific journals indexed primarily in MEDLINE and LILACS. The journals are available online or in printed collections operated by the VHL network of libraries. BIREME, since its foundation in 1967, manages the collection of scientific journals of the UNIFESP, which is the most important in LA&C, with a core of approximately 3500 titles. Today it is necessary to keep and develop access to electronic and printed collections. At BIREME, preservation and physical redistribution of the collection are constant maintenance activities
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BiblioSUS Network launches a group at the Cooperating Virtual Community of the VHL

On March 12, 2006, the proposal to establish a group of interest at the Cooperating Virtual Space of the Virtual Health Library (VHL) Brazil was launched. It consists of the BiblioSUS Network Virtual Community, one of the efforts of the technical cooperation process between BIREME/PAHO/WHO and the Ministry of Health. The BiblioSUS Network Virtual Community is a space to strengthen communication among managers, researchers, advisors, librarians, healthcare professionals, students and citizens interested in information and knowledge related to public health in Brazil
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IFLA promotes meeting of Latin American and Caribbean Librarians in Sao Paulo

The 2nd Meeting of Latin American Librarians was held in Sao Paulo, on March 17, 2006. It was promoted by the LA & C Section of IFLA, together with the Memorial da América Latina [Latin American Memorial of Sao Paulo], which hosted the event. The theme was “Current Latin American panorama of national policies on access to information and reading”. The meeting gathered over 40 librarians and information professionals representing Brazilian and Latin American institutions from 11 countries. IFLA promotes the ICML, and its 9th meeting was held last year, in Brazil (ICML9). Elenice de Castro, VHL events coordinator (EVE/GA), represented BIREME/PAHO/WHO
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The first movie magazines of Brazil are on the Internet with the support of BIREME

The Lasar Segall Museum provides the magazines Cinearte e A Scena Muda on the Internet. The Project is sponsored by Petrobrás and supported by Cinemateca Brasileira, Cinemateca do MAM of Rio de Janeiro, Mário de Andrade Municipal Library, National Historical Museum and BIREME/PAHO/WHO. Gilberto Gil, Minister of Culture, José do Nascimento Júnior, Director of DEMU and Celso Lafer, President of the Deliberative Committee of the Lasar Segall Museum, among other authorities, participated in the event. During the same occasion, the Ministry of Culture launched the 2006 as the National Year of Museums campaign
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