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| Long Range Plan 2000-2005 | |
Printer-friendly VersionGOAL 3 - STRENGTHEN THE INFORMATICS INFRASTRUCTURE
FOR BIOMEDICINE AND
HEALTH
OBJECTIVE 3.4 -
PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GLOBAL HEALTH INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE
FINDINGS
The increasing globalization of knowledge has made it clear
that domestic and international functions of the NLM are not separable.
A network of International MEDLARS Centers has grown over the years to
20 members and their work must be updated to reflect changing
needs. In 1998 the Library published A Global Vision for the NLM, a
supplement to the Long Range Plan that charted an international course for the institution in the coming years. NLM has added
selected
international libraries to DOCLINE and Loansome Doc to
facilitate access to documents for international MEDLINE users. In
December 1998, an invitational International Partner meeting was
convened at NLM to discuss programs in areas of high priority, such as
document delivery, connectivity and infrastructure, and a crosscut that
focused on the special
needs of developing countries. A follow-up meeting was convened in
Taiwan in May 1999 with representatives of the Asian International
Centers to discuss new opportunities for collaboration with a focus on
the special needs of that region. A parallel meeting was held in Germany
in November 1999 with representatives of the European International
Centers and others.
NLM is participating in the multi-agency Multilateral Initiative on Malaria and is leading efforts to enhance communications and Internet connectivity at malaria research sites in Africa. This project has become a model for capacity building in electronic communications in support of research collaborators in developing regions of the world. NLM is collaborating with the NIH Fogarty International Center (FIC) in a new grants program to support the training of African scientists in medical informatics, both at in-country locations and in the U.S. The program has been expanded to include trainees from Latin America.
PROGRAM PLANS
CONNECTIVITY AND COMMUNICATIONS
- Develop a capability to work in a few carefully selected needful areas of the world where there are severe , recent health emergencies and, with collaborative efforts with other organizations, both domestic and international, set up targeted, carefully defined efforts (such as NLM participation within the Multilateral Initiative in Malaria).
- Expand and enhance its efforts to improve Internet connectivity and communications in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Expand high bandwidth connectivity testing internationally and include protocols for vBNS (very High Speed Backbone Network Service) connections in addition to the current Internet.
DOCUMENT DELIVERY
- Assist the development of
effective document delivery mechanisms for international MEDLINE
users:
- Promote regional document delivery networks in areas that currently lack effective document delivery mechanisms.
- Work with international libraries to improve access to copies of specific articles for international MEDLINE users.
- Make low cost image transfer technology (e.g. DocView) available to international libraries and institutions in order to facilitate rapid and low cost delivery of documents from NLM and other U.S. libraries.
- Increase representation in MEDLINE of foreign journals containing useful global information including reports on local and regional health problems.
INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
- Explore the feasibility of exploiting present day information technology to assist developing countries access the world’s health care knowledge sources.
- Explore ways NLM can encourage institutional twinning arrangements, in which U.S. institutions assist foreign counterparts by means of resource sharing and staff training.
- Emphasize international partnerships in this hemisphere, including for example the provision of surveillance, disaster, emergency relief, and toxicological and environmental health information.
TRAINING
- Continue to investigate new options for providing informatics training to individuals in geographic areas that lack existing training programs.
Last updated: 18 March 2001
First published: 18 March 2001
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanent: Stable Content