VHL News Network

World Exhibition of Health and Cities shares experiences and information in Buenos Aires

The first "World Exhibition of Health and Cities: rights, citizenship and local management integrated to development" will be held on August 18-21, 2009, in Costa Salguero, Buenos Aires. The event will promote exchange of information, experiences and knowledge on cities that help improve the living conditions of their communities, under the organization of Ministry of Health of Argentina, with the support of the PAHO. A group of researchers, journalists and librarians, with the participation of BIREME/PAHO/WHO, will accompany the event programming and will promote the online dissemination ofrelevant information
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SciELO begins scientific dissemination service

The SciELO collections of scientific journals will have a dissemination service to enhance visibility and access to scientific research. The target-public of the project is the specialized press that will have weekly press releases on new articles that are worth highlighting as a way of expanding the dissemination of scientific information for the society in general. The editors of Brazilian journals will be pioneers in this effort which will be expanded to the SciELO network
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ISSI 2009 furthers debate in Scientometrics with significant participation of developing countries

The 12th International Conference on Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI 2009) occurred in June and brought quality, novelties and diversity in studies on assessment and mapping the scientific production. It was held in Rio de Janeiro, with over 220 participants from all regions of the world, and was organized by the BIREME/PAHO/WHO and the Instituto de Bioquímica Médica of the UFRJ, with the support of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI)
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Spain updates VHL and SciELO platforms

Result of the technical cooperation between the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and the BIREME/PAHO/WHO, in May and June, the VHL and SciELO Spain received updated versions of the technological platforms, including content management systems and web portal, which will facilitate the input and publication of products and services of scientic and technical information on health generated in Spain. IBECS bibliographic database and the SciELO collection of health sciences journal are highlighted
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VHL Brazil promotes distance learning course on scientific evidence

The training events in the access to the scientific information on quality in health have been growing as a part of the lines of action of continuous education within the VHL network in Brazil. The distance learning course on retrieval of scientific and technical information in the VHL with focus in the sources of scientific evidence in order to support decision-making processes already trained more than one thousand managers and health professionals. The State Secretariat of Health of São Paulo is one more institution to participate and in August concludes training of about 150 participants
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Study analyzes 39 scientific impact measures and makes impact factor importance relative

The article "A principal component analysis of 39 scientific impact measures" published in the ArXiv repository Cornell University (USA) presents a comparative study of 39 measures of impact based on measures of citation and of access reports (usage log data). The results indicate that the notion of the scientific impact is a multidimensional factor and that it cannot be adequately measured by any indicator isolatedly, despite some of them are more prone than others. The known impact factor (IF) is found positioned in the periphery of this multidimensional construction and not in the center, as expected and, therefore, it should be used with caution. This alert is especially important considering the preference that the IF has in some policies to assess scientific production
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