Representatives of Information and Knowledge Management of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Offices (Africa, Americas, Southeast Asia, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and West Pacific), focal points of the Country Offices (Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mozambique, Honduras, Guyana, Somalia and Papua New Guinea), as well as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), coordinated by the Library and Information Network for Knowledge – LNK/WHO, met on July 15-17, 2019 at the headquarters of the Organization in Geneva in order to hold the meeting on the Global Library Group (GLG).
The Latin American and Caribbean Center for Health Sciences Information, BIREME/PAHO/WHO, was represented by Renato Murasaki, Manager of Methodologies and Information Technologies and Databases Administration, who coordinates the Center’s technical cooperation activities regarding the Global Index Medicus (GIM), led by LNK/WHO. The following topics on the GIM were presented and discussed:
- The state of development and governance of the new GIM portal
- GIM as a tool for technical cooperation in the countries
- Requirements for launching and promoting the new GIM portal
- Measurement and impact indicators
The responsibility of the GIM platform was assigned by the WHO to BIREME/PAHO/WHO, in coordination with LNK/WH, considering the Center’s experience in the development of the Virtual Health Library (VHL), which was adopted and adapted for the GIM.
The new GIM portal will be launched at the end of September with new function, such as:
- Highlighting the last published documents in the Regional Index Medici – RIM, which are coordinated and operated by the WHO Regional Offices for Africa (AFRO), Americas (AMRO/PAHO), Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), Southeast Asia (SEARO) and West Pacific (WPRO).
- Profile pages for each RIM.
- Panels for access and analysis of indicators of the scientific and technical output of each Region (infometrics).
- Updated search interface that integrates the contents of the RIM through interoperability mechanisms and data quality.
During the session of recommendations, decisions, and lines of action, the governance of the GIM was approved by members of the GLG. There will be an Advisory Committee and a Technical Committee, both to be coordinated by LNK/WHO, which represents a great advance for strengthening and amplification the GIM.
The following topics were also on the agenda of the GLG meeting:
- The GLG strategy for 2020-2025
- Research4Life/Hinari
- The WHO Institutional Global Repository (WHO IRIS)
- Support for Retrieving Evidence
The technical cooperation activities of BIREME/PAHO/WHO for the GIM in 2018/2019 were recognized by the LNK/WHO teams and the WHO Regional Offices, reinforcing the importance of its continuity and enlargement in the field of the GLG.
“BIREME/PAHO’s Virtual Health Library is the network and the system that have inspired the World Health Organization to use a similar model for creating the Global Index Medicus (GIM). With the help of BIREME/PAHO, responsible for the GIM technological platform, the Global Library Group of the WHO is re-launching this unique platform, which broadens the access, visibility, use and impact of local and regional health information published in low and medium income countries. The content of the GIM is a crucial addition to the international body of medical and scientific knowledge, which will prosper thanks to the continuous attention given and technical quality by BIREME/PAHO”, stated Ian Roberts, Coordinator of the WHO Library and Information Networks for Knowledge.
For Eliane Santos, Regional Advisor on Knowledge Management from PAHO Central Office, “this meeting represented once again the unity of the three scenarios (global, regional and local), which will culminate in a better strategy for the management and dissemination of information and knowledge and its contributions to the mandates and strategies of the Organization”. She also noted that “the participation of the focal points of PAHO Offices from Guyana and Honduras was essential so all participants would become aware on the pioneer and pending challenges in the Region of the Americas”.
The cooperation of BIREME for the development and strengthening of the GIM will be strengthened for the next 2020-2021 biennium, with possibilities to extending to other GIM initiatives.
About the Global Index Medicus
The Global Index Medicus (GIM) grants access to biomedical and public health literature produced for and by low or medium income countries. Its main objective is to increase the visibility and use of this important resources compilation.
The material is compiled and incorporated by the Libraries of the Regional Offices of the World Health Organization (WHO) on a centralized research platform, which allows for the retrieval of approximately 2 million bibliographic references, with over 1 million available in full text.
