VHL is a library, a decentralized …
VHL is a library, a decentralized and dynamic information-source collection, designed to provide equitable access to scientific knowledge on health. This collection operates as an Internet network of products and services, structured to progressively meet the need for information on health on the part of authorities, administrators, researchers, professors, students, professionals, the media and the general public. It sets itself apart from other information sources available on the Internet due to its selection criteria and quality control.
The Virtual Health Library is envisioned as the broad of scientific and technical knowledge based in health-entered, organized, and stored in electronic format in the countries of the Region, universally accessible on the Internet and compatible with international databases.
The VHL is a common space shared by information users, producers and intermediaries. It is based on the information paradigm set by the Internet, where users may interact with networks of information sources and with other users. The most important consequence of this paradigm is the convergence of functions and activities of production, intermediation and use of information sources.
It will also be possible to enrich, schedule, reformulate, and/or translate the basic information sources into new information products and services, with value added, in order to meet more efficiently the information needs of users from specific communities.
BIREME has established a plan of action to implement the Virtual Health Library based on 5 lines of action: promotion and marketing; realignment of traditional products and services; production of electronic publications; development of tools for integrating and locating information; and development of other Virtual Health Library components.