VHL News Network

Influenza A (H1N1) - Web democratizes information and scientific evidence

The prompt reaction of the international agencies and national government to the epidemics of Influenza A (H1N1) is supported by a notable process of dissemination and democratization of information and scientific evidence on the Web, guided by public and research institutions, providers of scientific contents, through portals, hotsites, specialized pages, blogs, virtual communities, maps, twitters and podcasts. At the VHL, the BIREME/PAHO/WHO publishes the portal Influenza A (H1N1) as a complement to the PAHO and WHO portals, aiming to enable updated access to quality sources of information, organized according to different thematic areas, such as prevention and control, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment
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Learning and Informed Environment for knowledge transfer

Scientific knowledge transfer in systems related to research, education, promotion and healthcare is one of the main critical problems of public health worldwide. The systemic persistence of gaps between what is known and what is practiced affects the quality of the services and is one of the causes of inequity in health. The VHL strategy considers the development of learning and informed environment (LIEs) as forums that operate local and thematic flows of information, interacting with social networks and content networks. The LIEs enable and sustain knowledge transfer in social processes, in which the individuals and groups exchange information, experiences, ideas and knowledge to understand and solve situations and problems and to generate innovations. The VHL model proposes lines of action for the development and operation of the LIEs.
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The increasing adoption of the SciELO Publication System in the Brazilian collection

The SciELO Publication System is a public service of the SciELO Network that operates online submission, review, edition and publication of scientific journals. Based on the Open Journal Systems of the Public Knowledge Project (OJS/PKP), the system uses the SciELO methodology to update and strengthen the editorial management of journals, with significant gains in streamlining, control and evaluation of editorial processes. In the beginning of 2009, 37 journals or 20% of the SciELO Brazil collection have already adopted the system, with approximately 10 thousand submissions in the past 12 months. Up to the end of 2009 the system shall operate over 50% of journals of the Brazilian collection and its use will be expanded to the national and thematic collections
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Cochrane Collaboration Group of Ecuador identifies LILACS systematic reviews published in the region

A bibliographic search conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration Group of Ecuador identified over 200 systematic reviews at the LILACS bibliographic database, up to the end of 2008. The work contributes to enhance the capacity of the LILACS to meet the demands for quality information and levels of evidence in the studies indexed. In addition, it promotes a methodology for precise identification of systematic reviews in Latin America and the Caribbean publications, and increases visibility and accessibility of the scientific and technical production on health in the region
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Publishing in English: challenges for editors and bibliographic indexes

In globalization times, English became the international language of scientific communication, which represents a challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean journals that publish research results in Portuguese and Spanish. Some editors overcome this challenge with a multilingual publication to achieve local and international readers. The adoption of English in publication of articles and titles of journals in several languages should comply with scientific communication standards to avoid problems of citation counting and identification of titles at international indexes. The SciELO Methodology enables publishing and indexing in several languages
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ABCD System for library automation is revised in an international workshop

Designed to leverage the development of the ABCD system, which integrates applications to automate the main functions of libraries and documentation centers, an international workshop was held last March, in Brussels, Belgium. The event gathered over 20 participants, including ABCD developers, library technicians, academic institutions and associate members of the consortia of universities VLIR/UOS, which supports the initiative coordinated by the BIREME
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