Working Group of Focal Points for the Regional Biomedical Information Programme, Manila, Philippines, 14-18 December 1981 : report

(WP)HIN/ICP/MPD/OIO

ENCLISH ONLY

WfjRKING GROUP OF FOCAL POINTS FOR THE REGIONAL {/ In OMEn 1CAL I NFORMA nON PROGRAMME

Convened by the

REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION Manila, Philippines 14-18 December 1981

Not for resale Printed and distributed by the Regional Office for the Western Paicific of the World Health Organization Manila, Philippines March 1982

NOTE The views expressed in this report are those of the participants of the Working Group and do not neccessarily reflect the policies ot the Organization.

This report has been prepared by the Regional Office for the Western Pacific of the World Health Organization for governments of Member States in the Region and for those who participated in the Wotking Group of Focal Points for the Regional Biomedical Information Programme, which was held in Manila, Philippines, from 14 to 18 December 1981.

Contentll

1..

INTRODUCTION .. ,. ............................

10

"

..........................................................

..

OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................. ..

1

3. 4.

DURATION, SCHEDULE AND PARTIe! PANTS ••••••••••••••••••••••••• STRATEGY ................................................................ ,. .................................... ..

2 '1

5.

PROCEEDINGS ................................................................................................ ..

2

5.1

Regional programme for research promotion and deve 1opmen t ..............................................................................

3

5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11

Technical cooperation in the regional hiomedical information lIystem •••.•••••.•••.•••••••••.• WHO heal th litera t ure programme •••.••.•.•••••••••••••. User requirements for health research and cooperation.............................................................................. Western Pacific regional biomedical informs t ion pToJiZ;TBmme ................................................................ ..

3 4

4 6 6 7

Inter-library loan cooperation at regional level •••••• Australia/WHO Agreement for Supply of HEDLARS Services .................................................

National focal points for biomedical literature in the Wel'ltern Pacific Region ............. . Information retrieval and document delivery ••••••••••• Network development: Planning, promotion and procedures ......................................................... .

7 8 9

Strengthening of national biomedical infort1lation networks .............................................. ..

5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 6.

Education and training nf medical lihrarians •••••••••• National and regional network developments •••••••••••• Bibliographic control of the regional biomedical and health literature .••.•••••••••••••••••• Regional health literature and its control ••••••••••••

10 10 11

12 13 15

OONCLUSIONS. .. .. . . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. • • • .. .. . . .. • . • • . .. ••• .. • • • ••

7.

REOOMMENDATIONS. . . • • • • . . . • . • . . . • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • LIST OF ANNEXES

15

ANNEX I - PROVISIONAL AGENDA..................................... ANNEX 2 - LIST OF MEMBERS, TEMPORARY ADVISER AND SECRETARIAT ......................................................

19

21

ANNEX 3 - OPENING ADDRESS BY DR S. 1'. HAN, DIRECTOR, PROGRAMME HANAGEMENT, ON BEHALF OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR. WHO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC .........................

23

- ii -

ANNEX 4 - CLOSING ADDRESS BY DR S.T. HAN, DIRECTOR, PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT, ON BEHALF OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WHO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC ••••••••••••••••.•.••••••• ANNEX S - BIOMEDICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

2S 27

...............

ANNEX 6 - PROPOSAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WESTERN PACIFIC REGIONAL BIOMEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK ••••••••••.•.••.. ANNEX 7 - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AUSTRALIA/WHO MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE SUPPLY OF MEDLARS SERVICES TO THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC OF WHO •••.•••••••••••••••••••..••••. ANNEX 8 - MEDLARS SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA •••••••••••••••.••.....•.•. ANNEX 9 - BIOMEDICAL LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SERVICES IN CHINA •••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••.•••.•

37

45 Sl 57

1.

INTRODUCTION

In the context of "Heal th for All by the Year 2000", countriefl and .rea. in th .. Western Pacific Region of WHO have been formulating Itrategies and developing snd implementing procedures and mechanisms to achieve the Health/2000 goal within the ~iven time-frame. Development and provision of information support have been considered hy the Mpmber States as a priority art'a for programme development and management in relation to Health/2000 strategy. Since its inception, the Western Pacific Advisory Committee on Medical Research has emphusized the need to establish and facilitate procedures for effective biomedical information exchange to permit the conduct of appropriate research to devplop health systems based on primary health care. The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific organized a meeting of a regional Working Group of Librarians in Manila from 13 to 16 November 1978, which identified certain priority activities to be undertaken in the context of the WPACMR recommendations. During the period 11-29 August 1980, a study was carried out to formulate a biomedical information programme that was practical and effective in satisfying the biomedical informstion requirements of health managers, educators. reflearchers and service delivE'ry pprsonnel. Thill was immediately followed by an offer from the Government of AUlltralis to provide the developing countries of the Western Pacific Region, through WHO, with bibliographic computer searches (MEDLARS) and photocopies. In response to the request by the Regional Director of WHO/WPRO, the developing Member States in the Region designated national focal point. to facilitate the implementation of the Australia/WHO Memorandum of Understanding for the supply of MEDLARS services. The current meeting of the Working Group of Focal Points for the Regional Biomedical Information Programme was intended to bring together the users lind providers of health literature and inforaation services with the objective of formulating recommendations on the development of a user-oriented regional hiomedical information programme. 2. OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the Working Group was to make recommendations on the direction WHO collaboration with Member States should take in the development and establishment of a regional hiomt'dical information programme in the Western Pacific Region snd on priority activities to be undertaken in this respect at national and regional levels. The specific objectives were as follows: (1) to discuss the development of the Western Pacific biomedical health information network, to draft a regionsl network development plan for 1982-1983, and to explore further areas of regional cooperation; (2) to determine which potential user groups will be served and to plan the promotion of network activities,

- 2 (3) to establish the administrative structure of the network, especially the procedures for liaison between the national focal points, the Regional Office and the resource libraries; (4) to review the possibilities for the monitoring, statistical recording and evaluation of network activities: (5) with regard to the Australia/WHO Memorandum of Understanding for the Supply of MEDLARS Services to the Developing Countries of the Western Pacific Region, to agree on uniform work procedures and forms, and to determine the preferred channels of request transmission. 3. DURATION, SCHEDULE AND PARTICIPANTS

The meeting of the Working Group was held from 14 to 18 Decemher 1981. Annex 1 givea the agenda of the meeting. There were 14 participants in all at this Working Group meeting who are listed in Annex 2. 4. STRATEGY

The Working Group strategy consisted of plenary sessions on specific aspects followed by group sessions to discuss in-depth relevant issues so that the outcome of these sessions would provide an appropriate hasis for the formulation of concrete recommendations with regard to the direction the WHO regional biomedical information programme should take. It would specify activitie~ to be undertaken and identify priorities at the national and regional levels and on a short-, medium- and long-term ba.is. 5. PROCEEDINGS

The meeting was opened by Dr S.T. Han, Director, Programme Management, on behalf of Dr Hiroshi Nakajima, Regional Director, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific. The full text of the opening address is given in Annex 3. Dr Fu Lai was elected Chairman, Dr Chin Thack Soh Vice-Chairman and Mr H.V. Pribac Rapporteur for the plenary sessions. The members weTe divided into two groups, each with its own chairman and rapporteur for the group sesaions. The meeting was closed on 18 December 1981 by Dr S.T. Han, on behalf of the Regional Director. The full text of the closing address is given as Annex 4. The following section deals with the presentations, discussion. and outcome of the different ses.ions of the Working Group.

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).1

Regional programme for rese.rch promotion and development

At the plenary session, the presentation and discu •• ionl can be summarized as under: Library and bibliographic services conltitute .n e'lential lupport to relearch. An in-depth Itudy of the literature i. required before. rele.rch project can be launched and bibliographic servicel play an important role in the dissemination of research relult.. In view of this, the Weltern Pacific Advisory Committee on Medical Research at its Sixth sellion atated the need for a regional biomedical information programme. Research supported by WHO is viewed mainly as an accelerator of the health for all strategy. It includes the three major research sectors, namely: biomedical and health technology research, health services research and health behaviour research. In the developing countries, resourcee in terma of manpower, equipment and funds available for research are very limited. It ie therefore important to avoid duplication and to focus rese.rch efforts on need-based research simed at the solving of specific priority health problems. This rel.tes specifically to health services research, which is a fairly new, still embryonic research field. Its results are usually not diesemin.ted through the scientific journal literature but are documented in a variety of document categories such as rese.rch reports, working papers, memoranda, etc., which escape conventional bibliographical control. It ia ese.ntial to create new bibliographical services for the dissemination of theae research documents, otherwise their findings will not be communicated to a wider interested public. In order to incorporate information aspects more closely into the work of the Western Pacific Advisory Committee on Medical Research, consideration should be given to co-opting one member of the biomedical information community to the Committee's membership. 5.2. Technical cooperation in regional biomedical information ay.tem

At the plenary session, the preaentation and discus.iona can he 'UEmari&ed as under: Technical cooperation among developing countriea (TCDC) is not • new concept but ita important role in promoting aocioeconomic development was agsin highlighted during the United N.tion. Conferenc~ on Technic.l Cooperation Among Developing Countries, held in Bueno. Aires in 1978. Its ohjective is the attainment of greater self-reliance by the developing countries. Countries are urged to strengthen their scientific and technological capabilities to suit their special needs and conditions, to establish scientific and technological data bases, to encoura,e indigenous research and development activities, and to link their national reaearch institutions with those of others. In the information lector, the creation of a heslth development network is recommended at the n.tional, regional and global levels. Information to be transferred through this network would consist of health services research results, practical experiences in health

- 4 system plsnning and operation, information on training programmea, etc. Exchange of information between developing countries on all aspects of primsry health care will be a particularly important support in implementing the health for all strategy. Regrettably few health workers in the developing countries can at present record th~ir experiences in writing. A promotional effort appears necessary to encourage more active information exchange in this area in the interest of TCDC. 5.3. WHO health literature programme

At the plenary session, the presentation and discusaions can he summsrized as under: The development of a Western Pacific regional biomedical information network is not an isolated effort but part of a global WHO programme. All regions have now launched activities in the health literature sector. Their common objective is to improve access to the international resources of biomedical and health information for the health personnel in the developing countries. However, different priorities have been set in the various regions and different approaches chosen. In the African Region, a looaely organized consortium of medical libraries has started to organize resource sharing. A union list of medical periodicals held in some major medical libraries is approaching completion. The American Re~ion founded a Regional Medical Library for Latin America in 1966 and 18 now developing a network based on national centres. Since 1979, an index to the medical periodical literature has been published. Resource sharing through inter-library loans and photocopy supply the major thrust of the programme in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. union list of serials and a directory of medical libraries have been compiled. 5.4 User requirements for health research and cooperation At the Group Session I, the following points were brOulht out: The ~roups were unable in the time available to do more than identify a small proportion of the differing requir••• nte of the varioul cla •• ea of health information usere. Underlying the diecua.ionl wa. tbe QOD.enlUI that existing information lervice. are inadequate although the dearae to which this varies considerably from country to country. With some exceptions, the pattern of library servicee in the Region consists of a series of uncoordinated librariee deeilnedto aerve the basic and immediate needs of users affiliated with major health iaatitutions. From this, it follows that those who actually have physical accels to library facilities, whether researchers, educator. or practttioners, are the only users who can be considered to be even adequately a.~. At the other end of the scale there are great categories of users who are Dot reached by library services at all: these include such people aa health workers engaged in primary health care, particularly in outlying ar.a., private practitioners, and health consumers. IS

A

- 5 Both groups highlighted the inadequacies of existina services for health programme managera. While the indigestible nature of much bibliographic information preaenta difficulties for all u.er., it w.a felt that, of all user groups, it is the health planners and policy-maker. who have the moat pressing need for evaluated and precise data. In both groups, discusaion about the types of inforaation inadequately provided by existing library and documentation aervicea was closely intertwined with the diacusaion about the differing requirements of different users. Significantly, members from countries with non-Roman scripta immediately identified the problem of translation aa beiDl the major problem affecting their library services. Dr Fu Lsi described a Chineae Inatitute of Medical Information service, which provides abatracta of foreign literature in the Chinese language and is regarded as beiDg eminently successful. China has also recently eatabliahed two regiatera, one for ongoing research and the other for completed reaearch. It is too early to gauge their effectiveness but, in the discuaaion which followed, it waa generally agreed that a real need exists in all Member State. for information ayatema which enable health planners to order research prioritiea in the light of existing and completed reaearch and of overall national bealth goal.. In some countries, this is made difficult by the widespread publication of domestic research results in overseas publications. Members of both groups strongly reaffirmed the need for areater control at the national level of locally produced information and their deaire to have established an index of material produced in the Region aa a whole. It was also noted that user satiafaction with library aervices dependa heavily on the user's perception of what is available from librariea. This applies at all stages of library development. In Australia's case, it waa noted that the further development of telecommunication networks and the growing use of personal computers by medical practitioners would not only increase the potentialities of information aervices but would also create a desire among users for new and more appropriate services. The European Region is in the proceas of organizing health literature services (MEDLARS searches and photocopiea) for the developina countries in that region. National medical library networks are the first priority in the South-Eaat Asian Region. At the regional level, the major pTolTamme components are the compilation of a South-East Asian Index to Health I.iterature and various educational activities. The Office of Library and Health Literature Service. of WHO Headquarters is coordinating these activities, assisting the regions with expert advice and, upon request, actively participating in .pecific projects. Under medium-term programming, the objective is to integrste the health literature programme firmly into the health for all strategy.

- 6 -

5.5

Western pacific regional biomedical information programme

At the plenary lel8ion, the presentation and dileussions esn be summsrized a8 under: The history, objectives, technicsl and organizational approaches, ongoing activities, and prospects for future development are summarized in the annexed paper on "Biomedical information system development" by Mr M. Subramanian, Regional Adviser in Health Information (see Annex 5). 5.6 Inter-library loan cooperation at regional level

At the plenary ses8ion, the presentation and discussions can be summsrized as under: The demand for docuaent delivery, in the form of loans or photocopies, has seen a heavy growth during the last decade. This increasing demand for literature from a steadily broadening range of periodicals has forced the libraries to rely more heavily on resource-sharing through inter-library lending. It can be expected that, wherever possible, requests are satisfied within the country froa which they originate. However, no country, not even the developed ones, can boast self-sufficiency in document delivery and all have to rely on the procurement of library materials from outside sources. It should be noted that the term "lending" in the present context refers usually to the provision of photocopies which, for the periodical literature, have nearly entirely replaced the physical loan of the original pub licat ions. There are at present two main sources of photocopy supply in the Region: the free services offered by Australia and Japan (SEAMIC) inter-library lending between Member States of the Western Pacific Region. The latter service is very little developed and at this stage is not considered to offer an efficient solution to this problem. With improved telecommunication links, inter-library transactions between Member States of the Western Pacific Region could become an integrated component of resource sharing in the network. The very positive experience. with large literature resource centres such as the Regional Library of Medicine and Health Service. (BIREME) at Sao Paulo, Brazil, luggest that the feasibility of eatablishing such a central library in the Region should be considered. The Centre would have to be equipped with a core collection of medieal periodical. carefully selected so as to be responsive to the specific needs of users in the Region. If based on an existing good library collection, this might require aubecribing to an additionsl 800-1000 periodicals. FUnding .hould be sought from lovernaental agencies and donors in the private sector in the developed countries but the developing countries should also contribute to meeting the co.t. Location of the regional resource centre in a developing country would help to keep manpower cost at an affordable level and place the resources where they are most urgently needed. A payment mechanism by coupons is proposed, which could be administered by the Biomedical Information Coordination Unit at th~ Regional Office.

:.. 7 5.7 Australia/WHO Agreement for Supply of HEDLARS Services

At the plenary sesaion, the presentation and diacus.ions can be summarized as under: On 5 September 1980, the Director-General of Health, Government of Auatralia, wrote to the Regional Director to make a proposal for the free supply of substantial bibliographic and document delivery services to the developing countries in the Region. The Memorandum of Understanding on this offer was signed by the two parties in August 1981. It specifies the nature and volume of the services and the modalities for the implementation of the Agreement (see Annex 7). The Regional Director subsequently informed the governments of the countries concerned of the Australian offer and invited them to designate national focal points.

The service offer is initially limited to a period of two year.. It may be extended if, during the initisl phase, its usefulne •• is demonstrated. In this case, consideration might also be ,iven to entering, in a second stage, a number of other areas of cooperatioa between Australia and the other Member States of the Region through WHO. Theae could include the development of an on-line network for data baae aearching and meaaage switching, the setting up of a regional resource library, the proviaion of core collections of medical periodicals at the focal points in the developing countries, the generation of data basea of the local biomedical literature and on major local health problems, and a programme of u.er education. If the full support of Member States can be obtained and a modu. of joint financing found, this second stage of the Australia/WHO Agreement could be implemented on a medium-term basis. A paper providing background information on the HEDLARS services in Australia is given as Annex 8. 5.8 National focal points for biomedical literature in the Western Pacific Region

At the plenary session, the preaentation and discussion can be summarized as under: The role which the focal points play in the context of the regional biomedical information programme need. to be better specified. Their functions and responsibilities must be determined and criteria defined that will assist Member States in designating them. Reasons or premises These were stated to be: dependence of medical and health personnel on the provi.ion of health literature and unpublished health reports and aurvey.: dependence of libraries on resources and sources outaide tbeir country. Except for Japan, Australia and China, not much ia published in the Region;

- 8 -

scarcity of resources in some parts of the Region; established evidence that demand and resource. in the Region are growing; e.g. in 1957 there were only 21 medical .choo1s, which in 1979 there were 45 medical schools <excluding China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand); need to share and coordinate existing resource. in the Region and to concentrate scarce resources to provide an effective response to demand. Functions and responsibilities These, as delineated in document WPR/WG/HLT/81.5, were found to be satisfactory, except that more emphasis .hould be placed on document delivery and technical facilities. It was advocated that a focal point should be the central resource point for a country and that particular attention should be given to communication channels between focal points and other resource libraries in the country if the focal point itself is not a resource library. It was emphasized also that focal points should serve not only 8~ collecting organisms but also as filters in the collection .nd indexing of the so-cslled fugitive literature. Criteria for selection of focal points These were considered to be: (1) Focal points should be selected on the basi. of existing resources and strengths, at existing centres of excellency, if po.sible. (2) Other re.ources in the country should be brought into a network coordinated by the focal point, and such. network should have the .upport of national medical councils and health authorities. (3) Focal points should have good communication links with other relource centres in the country and abroad (telex, telephone, close mail handling facilities, computer terminals, if possible). Theae points should be able to lervice health workers on the periphery as well. They should have reliable photocopying and microform. handling equipment. (4) Focal points should by themselve, have a good core collection of between 400 and 800 journal, selected from the world scientific core and should collect the relevant national literature. (5) Focal points should have properly trained library ,taff and be able to train medical librarians and technicians for otber literature information handling units in the country. 5.9 Information retrieval and document delivery At the Group Session II, the following points were brought out:

- 9 It wa. generally agreed that the reference collectia•• of mOlt librari •• in the Region are quite inadequate and that, of the . . jor abstracting and indexing publication., only Index Medicua i. generally affordable. Even here, . . ny librariea rely OD the ou.ulssed Index Medicua and are unable to afford the .onthly indexea. Thi. meana tbat even ba.lc reference aervicea are not up-to-date. In the developed countries, preSlure OD library budpt. ie relulting in widespread cancellation of soae of the .ore expenai.e rehrence worke, particularly Excerpta Medica, with libraries relying inat••d on occaaional access to on-line services. While such acceaa ia see.inaly expensive enough already, prices are generally predicted to riae further •• a reault of this trend and of general risea in the coat. of publiahina. It ia likely that many reference toola will ceaae publication altogether. What little use there ha. been . .de in the developi. . countries of computerized literature aearching ba. generally been satlefactory with usera providing a generally po.itive feedback about the re.ulta of their searches. WHO found at the tiae of its Geneva MEDLARS .ervice that clinically oriented searches were more .uccea.ful than those on public health though it is posaible that technic.l change. in MlDLARS aDd the availability of the Health Planning Database will reault in a better service to health planners now. Data on the effect of computerized information services on inter-library lending is non-exi.tent in .ost countries. In Auatralia, there are conflicting opinions on the iaaue. While it i. undoubtedly the case that the volume of interlending is increasing, it i. increasing far less rapidly than computer searching and there are few caaea where an Australian library needs to employ extra staff to handle extra interlending traffic. Most respondents to the questionnaire for the directory of medical libraries reported that they have photocopy machines. Telex and microform equipment are generally in short supply. It waB felt that microcomputers bave great potential in health literature services and that WHO sbould explore their apt1ication in the developing countries. 5.10

Network develop!ent:

PlanniDS. pra.otion and pr!O!dur.a

At the plenary Be •• ion, the pre ••ntation and di.cuaeion. can be summarized as under: The objectives, structure and activities of the network are outlined in a paper entitled "Propossl for the development of a W •• tem Pacific Biomedical Information Network" (aee Annex 6). 'l1Ih .ulleat. an evolutionary network development, with eaphaais on the .trengtbenina of basic health literature services in the developing countrie. in the Region.

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It was recognized that alternatives to this concept are feasible. A more aggresaive approach is outlined in Annex 8 as a potential second stage of the Australia/WHO Agreement for Supply of HEDLARS Searches. Its main componeuta would be the application of advanced telecommunications technololY and the setting up of a regional biomedical literature resource centre. Whichever of the two alternatives ia Unplemented will depend on the commitments that Member States of the Region are able and willing to make. and on the availability of funds. An in-depth atudy of the specific re~ource. and facilities availahle in the Region. and of the actual needa of the countriea ahould be conducted to provide the background informacion required by the deciaion-mekera intbe countriea snd the Regional Office. 5.11 Strengthening of NatioDal Biomedical Inforaation Networks

At the plenary se9aion. the presentation and discussions can he summarized as under: An exemplary approach to developing a comprehensive national hiomedical information system is being implemented in China. This encompsases all hAsic aspects of health litereture services. Only aome more advanced types 0f activities such as on-line data base searching have been postponed until the conditions for the application of the required technology have been created in the country. The present status of the biomedical information situation in China is described in detail in Annex 9. Tt will depend on the specific conditions prevailing in the countries of thp Region. on the available resources and on user needs whether they choose an integrated approach like that of China or whether certain components of the health literature services are given national priority stAtu~ for strengthening at short and medium-term. 5.l? Education and training of medical librarians At the plenary session, the preaentation and discussions can be as under:

~lImmari2'ed

It will depend on the competence of the staff working in the medical libr.'lrif's of the Region how successful they will be in meeting the health inf,'nnation needs of the countries. There can be no douht therefore that pducRtional and training activities should be a priority item of the n~~i"nal biomedical information progrllmme. At this time. there lire few trained medical librarians working in the developing countries in the Region. The national capacities of medical librarianship will therefore have to be upgraded for all staff levels. Four educational alternatives for medical library training could be considered:

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(1) Attending foreign medical library achoola. (2) Establishing medical library progr..... in existinl national library schoole. (3) Establishing programmes at the regional level. (4) Creating educational packages. Alternative 3 would appear to be beat auited for the need. of most countries in the Region, while in aome cas.s the developaent of self-teaching devices snd media (Alternative 4) would appear preferable. Two special alternativea are in-service training in forei,n countries, which should be reserved for a few .enior or chief librarians, and baaic library courses for library assistants, which could be organhed in the countries themselves. It is hoped that, with better educatiOll, the profeaaional status of medical librarians in the developine countries can be raised. An educational activity that can be conducted with tbe existing manpower resources at the national and local levela ia uaer training. Short courses or presentations on library ua., bibliographic s.arch technique., etc. can be organized locally by medical libraries for .el.cted user groups. Medical schools should be encouraged to eatabliah formal, short courses in library use for first year medical students. 5.13 National and regional network developments At the Group Session III, the followinl points were broulht out: Levels of cooperation between medical librarians within each country in the Region vary markedly, ranginl fro. countries lik. AuetraUa, New Zealand and Republic of Korea, which fOl'1lla11y constituted a ..oci_tiem, of medical librarians, to Singapore, which has only one medical lib~.TY aDd consequently no need for such .n a.sociation. China ba • • aeneral library association but it may consider the poasibility of formine an ••• ociation of medical librarians and information personnel. At the international level, the level of cooperadem ha. increa.ed in recent years. partly as a direct result of the 1978 Manil. . .etina of medical librarian. but, in general, contacts at global ~vel, except between Singapore and Malaysia, are still unsystematic and accldeRtal. An exception to tbis general rule were the meetings between ASEAN . .dicel librarian. sponsored by SEAMIC. involving three WPRO countrie. (MalaYlia, Philippines, Singapore). The nation.a1 focal points of the regional bioaedical infonDation network are seen to have an important role to play ift thi, coat.xt .l~e poor liaison and communication impede cooperation. The perlona reapooaible for the focal points should be given the posaibility of vilitins libraries within the national biomedical information network and of giving att.ntion to their needs.

- 12 The groups felt that all areas of med~cal libra~ianship.would be improved by greater cooperation at the natlonal and lnternatlonal level and by improved education facilities for librari~ns in the Re~ion. It.was agreed that training courses should be organlzed on a reglonal basls for professional librarians and for library assistants at the national level. It might also be effective to run training couraea for profeasioaals on how they in turn ahould train library aasistanta. Whatever their views on this matter, the group members agreed that at the present stage of network development it is vital for all Member States in the Region to formulate common policies whenever possible and that the WHO Regional Office has a continuing important role to play in developing coordinating mechanisms. 5.14 Biblio ra hie control of re ional biomedical and hea th Ilterature

At the plenary a.ssion, the preaentstion and discussions can be summa riled as under: (a> Periodical literature There is a ,roving awarenea. in all WHO regiona of the potential value which medical periodicals published in the developing countries may have in tbe information transfer process and of the impact which their wide disaemination could make, especially in the field. of clinicsl and experimental medicine. However, the existing abstracting and indexing journals and the related data bases cover only a very small percentage of this literature. The first effort to close this gap has been the publication, since 1979, of the Index Medicus Latinoamericano by the Regional Library of Medicine and Health Services (BIREME) at Sao Paulo, Brazil. A similar project is being prepared by the IORO Regional Office for South-East Asia and the publication of the first issue of a South-East Asian Index to Health Literature is now imminent. Both the Eastern Mediterranean and African Regions are also considering the compilation of regional indexes and have undertaken SOme preparatory work. The project of compiling and publishing an index of the health and biomedical periodical literature in the Western Pacific aeaion was proposed by the 1978 working group of Librarians. At present, a number of national indexes are published in Member Statea of the Region, which may become the basis for a regional index provided they are produced uniformly in accordance with international bibliographic standards. It is felt, however, that the production of an index to the biomedical periodical literature published in the Western Pscific Region can only be undertaken by a strong regional resource centre, which, for manpower cost and strategic reason., would have to be located in a developing country. This project will therefore have to be postponed until such time as a regional facility has been set up.

- 13 -

(b) Fugitive literature The term "fugitive" is applied to those documents which remain outside the normal distribution channels of the booktrade and escape the traditionsl bibliographic control. lbeir dissemination is normally limited to a very restricted circle of recipients and not many find their way into libraries. If the value of these documents is uneven, there can be little doubt that among them is a sizeable number which contain information worthy of wider dissemination. It is felt that the developing countries in particular can no longer afford to neglect this part of the health literature but .hould make an effort to collect, analyse, announce and dia.eminate the more .ubatantial items. Such a project could become an important contribution to the information support for the health for all strate,y. There is unanimity that the collection of fu,icive materials can only be undertaken at the .ouree, i.e. in the country where they originate. For the processing of the document •• however. their selection, subject analysis, storing in a data base or 1i.ting in an index, a central institution within the Region would appear to offer a more efficient and cost-effective solution. Such regional processing would initially be limited to documents written or having abatracts in either Engli.h or 'reach and .elected for their recognized value to a wider professional public. 5.15 Regional health literature .nd ita control At the Group Session IV, the following points were brought out: It is apparent that several developing countries in the aeaion have their own national medical indexes but that u.ually their t!aelinea., comprehensiveness or selectivity are in need of improv... nt. Countries with established health literature retrieval services were identified. It was agreed that, while .maller countries in the Region do not have individual national medical indexes. sub-regional oraaDizations have undertaken this activity. The need for individual oational medical indexes is not felt possibly because of the p.ucity of -aterial .nd lack of qualified indexers. With regard to existing n.tioDal medical index•• , it-was recognized th.t their timeliness, ca.prehensivenell or .electivity a... iD need of improvement. There is • need to .tandardize indexin, proe"ur.. at the national level 80 that indexed m.terial can later be .....d into regional or sub-regional indexes. Problem in relation to the collection. retrieval and di ....in.tion of fugitive literature were discussed. It was recognized that monitorin, procedures for fugitive literature at the national level have not been thoroughly effective.

- 14 -

The need waa expressed for a regional index of health literatllre, which would be useful for subjects that tranllcend national boundariell. It would create a forum among countries for the solution of health problem!! lind al"o prevent the duplication of work already undertaken in other countries. Certain proposals were made for the production of a regional medical index as follows: (1) A single index incorporating both journal and fugitive literature is to be preferred to two separate indexes. (2) Index Medicus indexing procedures, with some variations to allow for nationai/regional requirements, should be adopted so that regional indexes and any of the resulting machine readabl~ offshoots would he compatible with Index Medicus and MEDLARS. (3) Indexing of national literature should he done hy the national focal point inltead of I regional centre, 10 as to eliminate or minimize language problems. (4) Only materials with English abstracts should be included in the index. (5) Australia could be requested, through the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, to undertake the publication of the index. Means by which the Government of Australia could assist in the production of a regional medical index were identified as follows: (1) Australia could prepare a set of draft guidelines on the use and modification of MESH headings. (2) Australia could publish a regional medicsl index initially balled on contributions from the national centres upon receipt of a formal request from the WHO Regional Office for the Weatern Pacific and approval by the Director-General of Health of Aultralia. The ways in which the WHO Regional Office for the Weltern Pacific could support the project were identified as followa: (1) Request the governments to relax security elaasification of health documents whenever possible. (2) Allow the use of WHO pouchea by the national centres to transmit indexed contributiona to Aultralia (if Australia agrees to compile the index). (3) Provide funda for indexing at th. national level and for publiahing the index (Cost estimate: AS 70 000 to AS 100 000). (4) Formally approach tbe Director-General of H.alth of Auatralia to undertake initially the publication of the ibdex.

- 15 The publication of the index could be undertaken by Australia on a 8hort-term baais until such time ss « regional resource centre would be established to engage in thi. activity fully. It was sgreed that the best method for the control of both the periodical and fugitive literature ultimately lie. in the creation of • regional resource library and that other mechani.m. for their control which may need to be introduced in the meantime are e.sentially temporary solutions.

6.

CONCLUSIONS

The Working Group concluded as follows: (1) In most of the Member States of the Western Pacific Region of WHO, the existing health literature services have been developing primarily in response to biomedical research requirements and do not fully satisfy the requirements of all users of information and literature services in the context of the HFA/2000 .tratesy. There is a need to reorient, where neces.ary, the.e .ervlce. to become user-oriented and strengthen them considerably to provide timely and effective information support to programme development and management. (2) Resources exist or can be mobilized to develop natioDal capabilities and facilitate intercountry and regional cooperation. Some of these resources are, however, short-term in nature and thus hsve to be used as an entry point to and as part of the long-term strategy in the development and establi.hment of regional and national biomedical information systems and service •• (3) Technological developments in telecommunications and computers have been rapid in recent tLmes and have the potentiality to reduce storage, retrieval and communication cost conaiderably if judiciously applied in the health information area. (4) It is necessary to undertake a comprehensive needs assessment study to identify apecific requirements for the development and establishment of national and regional biomedical information centres and networks and related health literature services. 7. RECOMHBNDATIONS

The Working Group endorses the 1982-1983 plan of activities for the regional biOlledical information programme outlined in docUlllAlftt (WPR/WG/HLT/8l.4). In particular, it recommends to the Regional Director:

- 16 -

(I)

to continue developing tht! regionlll biomerliclil infol1l1alion n,-(w"tk by invltlng all countries lind arE'ali in the Rt'gion to dt-signsl,focal points; to implement the Australia/WHO Agreement for Supply of MED1.ARS Searches in accordance wi th the Memorandum of Understand i ng I h.1t was signed by ooth parties; to request the national focal points to promote, implement and evalua te the services prov i ded under the Aus t ra Ii a/WHO Agreem"nt at country level to potential user groups; to approach the Government of Australia for negotiations on the prolongation of the present Agreement, and to jointly explore possibilities for an extension into a wider range of activities such as the development of on-line services to the Region; to set up at the Regional Office a small regional biomedical information coordination unit, charged with coordinatintl, the activities of the network. and to provide for liaison hetween its components; it should not function as a regional resource library 1n view of the higher cost implication. to develop a work plan for the training component of the programme that is responsive to the needs of the countries; to encourage the national focal points to collect systematically the published government documents and other categories of health literature originating from their countries; to invite He.ber Governments to reconsider their respective policies regarding the public availability of governmental health documents and wherever possible to minimize restrictions; to seek support from Member States for the compilation, editin~ and publishing of an index to the Region's fugitive l health literature;

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10) to co-opt a prominent member of the Region's biomedical information community into WPACMR in order to enaure a better incorporation of information components into research promotion and development; (11)

to study the feasibility for the Regionsl Office to develop and administer a aystem of payment to facilitate the reimbursement of document delivery cost among _dical libraries and information centres in the Region;

lIn this context. the term "fulitive" refers to doculllents which remain outside the nonal distribution channels of the booktrade and ("scapI' traditional bibliographic control.

- 17/18 -

(12)

to promote the appropriate use of international bibliographicsl standards for health and biomedical information activitiea in Member States of the Region; to seek support for the conduct of an in-depth technical .tudy to: survey the status of existing biomedical information resources and facilities in the Region; determine the present and future biomedical information needs, particularly in relation to the utilisation of research findings in priority areas of Member States of the Region, including manpower training and developmentj make preciae and detailed proposals for II comprehensive regional hiomedical information network applying advsnced datn processing and telecommunications technology, and centered around a strong regional resource centre.

(13)

(14) (15)

to coordinate the activities of the programme with other agencies working in the field of biomedical information or related areas; to promote coordination between the biomedical information programmes of the Western Pacific and neighbouring countries and regions; to provide for funding of the programme activities and to aeek extrabudgetary funding from governmentsl and private donors both within snd outside the Region.

(16)

The Working Group wishes to express its strongest support for the study recommended under item 13. It feels that all other activities recommended can only be regsrded as intermediary, pending the implementation of an optimal solution for the biomedical information network in the Region. The Working Group considera that, in view of the special geographical characteristics of the Region, such an optimsl solution can only be achieved through the mobilization of considerable resources and the application of the late~t technology.

- 19/2() -

ANNEX I PROVISIONAL AGENDA (To be introduced by) 1 2 3

Opening ceremony Regional programme for research promotion and development Health literature programme Technical cooperation in Regional Biomedical Information System Western Pacific Regional Biomedical Information System Interlibrary loan cooperation at regional level Australia/WHO Agreement for supply of MEDLARS services Functions and responsibilities of national focal points Network development - planning promotion and procedures Strengthening of national medical library network Education and training of medical librarians Bibliographic control of regional biomedical and health litersture Priority activities under Regional Biomedical Information Programme Consideration of Working Group report Closing ceremony Dr Y.H. Paik, CRP Dr R. Weitzel, HLT/HQ Dr R.D. Mercado. nHP Mr M. Subramanian, HIN Mr R. Weitzel, HLT/HQ Mr P. Hodgson, Australia Mr H.V. Pribac, Australis Mr Y. Amano, Japan Dr Fu Lai, China Mrs J.L. Fernandez, Malaysia Mr R. Weitzel, HLT/HQ Hiss R. Agoncillo, LIB/WPRO Mr M. Subramanian, HIN

4 5

6

7

8 9

10

11 12 13

14 15

- 21 -

ANNEX 2 LIST OF MEMBERS, TEMPORARY ADVISER AND SECRITARIAT 1.

MEMBERS Mr Pau 1 Hodgson Principal Librarian Life Sciences Section National University of Australia Canberra Mr Humbert V. Pribac ClIief Libradan Central Library Department of Health of Australia Canberra Dr Pu Lai Vice-Director Institute of Medical Information Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Beijing Dr T.M. Biumaiwei Permanent Secretary for Health Ministry of Health Suva

Australia

(1)

(2)

Peoplp's Republic of ClIina

( 3)

Fiji

Malaysia

( 5)

Mrs Josephine LHy Ireland Librarian Institute for Medical R.search Kuala Lumpur .Dr J.D. lao Dean Faculty of Medicine University of Papua New Guines Bo rok 0 Dr Andres Galvez Chief Planning Service Ministry of Health San Lazaro Coapound Sta. Cruz Manila Dr ClIin Thack Sob D.an Oollege of Medicine Yon.ei University Seoul

Papua New Guinea

(6)

Philippines

(7)

Republic of Korea

(8)

- 22 Annex 2 2. TEMPORARY ADVISER Mr Yoshio Amano Head Operation Division International Medical Information Centre Tokyo Japan 3. SECRETARIAT Mr R. We i t ze I Technical Officer Office of Library and Health Literature Services WHO Headquarters Geneva Switzerland Mr M. Subramanian <Operational Officer) Regional Adviser in Health Information WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific P.O. Box 2932 Manila Philippines Dr R.D. Mercado Director Heal th Service s Development and Planning WHO Regional Office for the Western Pac ific P.O. Box 2932 Manila Philippines Dr Y.H. Paik o,ief Research Promotion and Development WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific P.O. Box 2932 Manila

Phi 1 ippine s M8

R.C. Agoncillo Librarian WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific P.O. Box 2932 Philippines

Manila

- 23 ANNEX 3

OPENING ADDRESS BY BY DR S. T. HAN, DIRECTOR, PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT,

ON BEHALF OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WHO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Re,ional Director of the World Health Organization Regional Office for the We.tem Pacific, Dr H. Nakajima, I wi.h to welcome you all to Hanila and to this Working Group meeting. '!bere can be little doubt tbat an effective worldwide transfer of scientific and tecbnological information would contribute significantly to achieving the de.. lo~nt goa1a of the 1••• indu.trialized and developing nationa. Moat countries, however, bave extremely limited capabilities and resourcea, ~th hu.an aod financial. to devote to the production and acquiaition of .ci.ntific and technical information. There is, thus, a grest need, and the po •• ibility exists. for the application of existing knowledge and information rather than tha generation of new knowledge. Knowledge and information are readily available somewhere in the world; they must, however, be made accesaible to all kinds of decision-makers, reaearchers and educators, and the . .ans for their communication and transfer mUlt be •• tabliahed. In many countries, it is the gap in information acc ••• ibility and transfer, and therefore its utilization, which must be bridged if further progress is to he made. This meeting of users and providers of information comes at s time when Member States sre engaged in the implementation of activities related to their "health for all by the year 2000" strategy. Aa they develop mechanisms and procedures for the purpose, information becomes the main ingredient for the organi.ation of a health syatem baaed on primary health care. As you know, .ccese to precise and reliable scientific, technologicsl and managerial information at the right time, by the right person in a form moat conveniently usable by him, can help to minimize the wastage of resources due to the unnecessary and unintended reinvention, rediscovery, and redevelopment of techniques'and above all the making of unfruitful decisions about their application. Availability of the right type of information can trigger new directions in research, development and mana~erial action. Any barriers to the access of information can only impede proper communication and information flow, causing problems for the user. It is the true infonaation profeeeional who haa the responsibility for overcoming or minimizing such barriera. ~rouped varioue information profeslionala, and a start was made on to~ether different ad hoc activities in the Region in a programme

In 1978, a Working Group of Librarians was held in Hanila, which bringing

framework. The Government of Au.tralia then kindly offered to make the service. of the National Library of Auitrali. and of the Department of

- 24 Annex 3

Hpalth available to developin!1, Memher States in thp Region as their contribution to furthering the dissemination of health and hiomedical information in the Western Pacific Region. We are grateful to the Government of Australia for this offer, which has enabled us to initiate developmental activities in this area. We have also been able to Ret most of the Member States to designate focal points as a first step in the development of a regional programme of collaboration with the countries. The present meeting with users and providers of information will promote understanding of the information needs of individuals, the importance of getting such information, the facilities available for seeking it and knowledge about those facilities, the judgement of their value and the possibility of access to them; all these factors will facilitate the matching of needs and resources. This should also contribute to the development of a user-oriented information service in support of researchers, pI ~nners and managers, and heal th workers and trainers hy facilitating the development, choice and u.e of appropriate health technology to achieve health for all by the year 2000. I note that you have a heavy agenda ahead of you, and I am sure you will find this meeting a very useful and rewarding experience. I look forward to your recommendation concerning the specific direction that WHO collaboration with Member States should take and your proposals for priority activities" for the promotion, development snd establishment of a user-oriented biomedical information programme. I wish this Working Group every success and hope you all have a pleasant stay in Manila.

- 25/26 -

ANNEX 4 CLOSING ADDRESS BY BY DR S.T. HAN, DIRECTOR, PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT, ON BEHALF OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WHO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC Hr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, This Working Group is the first to have brought together health managers, educators and librarians. I understand you have had an extremely useful meeting and I am gratified that it has contributed to a better understanding of the expectations, opportunities and constraints in health information services from the point of view of users and providers at national and regional levels. I note that you have been able to formulate activities to bridge the gap between what now exists and what is desirable on a short, medium and long-term basis. I am also pleased to note that you have recommended a strategy to match information needs with resources available in the Relion, and thereby facilitate resource sharing in an efficient way. Your conclusions and recommendations are of great importance to WHO in the context of the global goal of healtb for all by the year 2000 and with respect to the regional strategy for biomedical information system development. As a first step, we shall be requesting the ministries and departments of health of developed Member States in the Western Pacific Region to nominate national focal points, and we expect that these will take the initiative, in collaboration with WHO where needed, to promote and facilitate the implementation of relevant national and regional activities. This is essential since the information system and services are country-dependent and must be developed in a country context. Let me recall Benjamin Frsnklin's definition of human beings as funnels, sponges and sifters. The funnel lets information go in one ear and out of the other; the sponge continues to soak it up, but does nothing about it; but the sifter sorts snd selects the fruits of basic and applied research findings 10 that information can be transmitted and uled for the benefit of man. In order to provide for an ever-expanding fund of ba.ic knowledge in a wide spectrum, society requires an increasing number of gifted sifters. I see that your recommendations will enable WHO to collaborate with countries in developing a core group for the purpose. I can assure you that we shall consider very favourably your recommendation no. 13 related to in depth technical study and initiate activities for early implementation. I wish to thank the Chairman, Dr Fu Lai, the Vice-Chairman, Dr Soh, and the Rapporteur, Mr B. Pribac, for so ably conducting the meeting. I also wish to thank Mr Y. Amano and Mr R. Weitzel from WHO Headquarters for their readiness to help us as consultants. I extend my best wishes to you all for the success of your work and a pleasant journey home.

- 27/2A ANNEX 5

BIOMEDICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT by

Mr M. Subramanian 1

IRegional Adviser in Health Information, WHO Regional Office for the WPlltf'rn Pacific, Mani 18, Phi lippin .....

- 2'1 -

Annell .'i

1.

INTIWIlUCTlON

1("!:Ilollal Ilctivici",,; in the an~a of biu'lIe.!ical (,,,search infurm"CLUl\ "x<:!wnge have been few olllJ were undertJkel1 on an LId hoc basi .. ill r~OlPun .. ~ to >;\1eciflc; "equests. A slIIall library, primarily to support WHO lIuff in eh", fo nllu I at ion and LillI' lelud,taC ion 0 f WOO progrlillllllelll of cooperat ion with l1emb,H Stat, ~, haOi been fun,:c ioning "inc., 1951. WOO collaborated with th~ Goverrunents of \o'iji and the [{"public of Korea in the d.:velopaent of ahtdical al\<I health-related 1 ib.-aries in these coulltri.uJ. Sinc", 1979, WHO haa lu.ell c<lllab(lratinK with China and, in cooperation with UNDP, ill the e:;tablilinlllent of a biomedical infol"UuHion centre and a network of ~Llbcen[res. TIle Regional Office carried out a survoey of current •• dicl&l :mu health-related periQdicllIIi published in lielilcted cO',lIItrilfll and area, of tile Westel'n Pacific R"gion of WOO and the reliultlS w~r" pceaentlfd Ilt the Intt!rn4ciollal Con!:l'ess 011 Medical Librarianahip. h"ld in BelSradoi in Sepcl!lllber 1980. 'fh~ r"sult of tne survey is being used to compile a Dicecto.y of Hedical PerioJicalti publilihed in selected countri". and areas of the Region. A Directory of Selected Medical and llealth-celated LLbr,Jri~s in the W~IICel'n Pacifi.c Region of W ••I,) is also beLn& compiled. Lihr:Hies in the Kember States ot the Western Pa~'ifi.c Region are benefiting ulldel' tl! WHO/United States National Liurary of Me..iicine agre" ...ent for the :lupp 1 y of ~lEDI.ARS sea renes and photocop ies to developing CQunt r iea, wh ich bl!callIe effective i.n OC["bl;C 1'179 and wi.ll rUII for an expet'illental period of Olle yea r. Following tne decentl'slization of research promotion, development and coordination function" to the r, gional officell, thet'e hllli been a ateadily inc.-e3.~ ing intO!l't!st in developing effective and efficient health literature servi.ces in ehe Rl:!gion. Tne Western Pad fic Regional Advillory COI1IIIittee on Ml:!dical a.IS"arch (WPACMR), at its first meeting in Manila on 29 J: .• ne - 1 July 1976, drew riLt,,,nion co the illlpol'canc<! of th~ collection au ... dillllemination of res.arch infurllIacion for the development, implementation and coordination of a =I:!g LOClal resea rch progranune. Afte r thot'ough discuss ion, the COIIIIDittee suggc3ted Ii critical review of the subject in view of tne financial in:.p1ications alisociated with this activity.l l'he report of a WHO consultant (Ms F. Flynn) on this subject 2 was reviewed at the third session of WPACHR in April 1978. 3 A meeting of the Regional Working Gl'UUI' of Librarians was helj in Mani.la in Novelllber 1978 an.! the report was review..,d by WPACHR at its fQurtn ge~sion in Hanila in April 1979. 4

P.lC

l fie Reg iona 1 Adv i ,.ory CO'lUlli tt.?e ,)

IS.,e Document WPR/ACMR/76-13 - Report on the Meeting of the Weltern Oll M.~d ieal ke91tllrch, Han i la, 29 June -

1 July 197&.

-See Document lcp/RPD/OOI - Assignment Report by HII F. Flynn (1S February - 22 Much 1':178), JS e (! DocUlilenc WPIt/ACMR/7!L 10 - Westel'n Pacific Regional Advillory COlllluitcee on Medical Resean:h, Repo!:.!.. df the TIllrd Session, Kuala LWlpur, M.llay~la, 24-27 April 1978. Commict~e on Medical Researcn,

itSee Doeulllent WPR/ ACMR/79. 20 - Wes tern Paci fie Regional Advisory Repor~ of the Foucth Session, Manila, Ptaili"pines, lO-12 April 1979, page 13.

- 30 AI\llt'x 5 --_. ----

'I'll" g"'h'ral f<!" I lIlt; of WI'AC~I', wa, thal "101110 h;JS UI)( lIl" r",.uur~.::> t" tl,1i .• \.· .•. ,LI the t-t!comml.lldatiUI1::i clHllailh!1.1 ill the 1-t!POC"t ~)( lhL" Work.illt'. ';"'Ilj) I,t Llbral'lans". kt.!Cl)~.i)i~lng its Il\Cl-l!'-)Slng ilUport'ult.;c, llarti.t.:uiarly ") til<, co .. ",xt of the goal uf h"alth fur 1.11 L by the y<!al' "l000. it W;Jti felt til,ll .II ft'"r"nt ad hoc b,olll"dicul infol'llIation I!xchangt! activiti.cs IIhould be I",,, ..;ht t"!;,,[h,,r-;;;;i-',I comp' dh!osiv" biolllt!dical ,"tunuatiun pl'ogr<llwA<! (,,,'III<I1:I[,,J. ~'or thu; purpose, Ii feasibili.ty study to o!stablish a r"giollal lli"'''I·'[i,,:'}l infonllatioll systclu and Ii n"twork (d' Iibrul'io!1J and cent,'e" to '''I'pon [he "xchange: of infonuatioll was undertaken by two consultllllltl .lul'ln~ the period 11-29 A'I~U,C L'HIO ':11Id Ii framework 411d >llruCe:.;'y tOl' ,lc\lI.!l0lllue:nt of such a sY!it<!lu wo!re (orlllulllt"J. L

t\t til" Lhirty-fil':n s<!ssioll of the: WOO It~~ioll.d GOlRlIlitt~<! lot' th.., !'"..:ifi.::. helJ in Manil;£ ill Sepc"",be,- 1 ':I !I 0 , thl! C;,)V"rIlIUl!nt ul Austral ia oLfereJ to provi.Je the .lev"loping counr"i"s of the W",HtH'1I P,jcifLc Regi ..m, through the WorlJ Health Or&ani~aliol\, with Hediclil [,i t ,r.Hure Analys is and Retrieval System 011 Li.ne (MIWI.INE) searches ;tllJ ph"t.)copil!~. Furth"r d"taiLtl of this I,)ffer are giv"n in :leccion 4.1 below. It "'us considered '1'I!:lirabh.! to implemellt thi" offer in the widel' Lont,~l([ of d"veLopment of "egiun'IL capabi lity in th" biomedi.cal infunu.ltiull ~l',,~r"'lune and Pl'<>Iu()[ion of technical cooperut iOIl a,ul,)lIg Melllber Statl's, including resourc" sharing .Il1d access to MEDLINE/MEULARS datu bases. \~<'~t,·l'I\

,;",:11

':1

I'Ite prcs .. nt p'Il'er ~ivcs the ob iect ives .:tnd appro.lcllt,s with r"speet to biomedical infonullcion programme:

2.

IlIOMEOICAL INFORMATION PROGRAMME

, ,I

Sit ua t i

01\

i.nfonnatioll rti!quired for: reseal'ch and health inadequate access dup. to luck of tn'; lIt il.?s and mt~.;hanism9 for inter-and intra-national diss"mination of . ,1l'Jrlnation are the lUa jor probloe'us. There is al,;o a lack of traine..! I)'~r ;ollnel t,) develop and support national biomedic.d i"(01""'OIt10n 1"'I.1'.ral111Il~'';. A definite nd"d exillts for a WIiO-sponlhH'e.J rl.!gionlll biom"dical IlIt,)nlldtion lletwl)rk, and thl.!re i .. a possibility of mobi.lizing ch" """ ido.>l'jf)I~ re!lources i.n thl! Ro!gion for di",cribution to countrltlS ill '''I'f)·,rt and l)f :luch a n<!twvrk. 1)I")~t',,"uue dl!velopment activities and

Lick ,)i tecltn ieal

\ II

-.!Y

lSel.! Oocuillent (WP)LIS/ICP/IlPO/OOl - A.ssi~nlUellt \{eport AuguH L980) by Mr R. WeitzeL an,! Hr Y. Amano (RestricteJ).

- 31 Ann"" 5 I

'J

(1)

tv c~lllabo["a[c III improving the cranllf"r of reillvunt infonuatillil through the dcve10pLlcnc vi h .. a1th literature seL'vicdll, Iill part of tbe nacional heal th informacion sYl:itelid for the plannins. management and evaluatiun of national health progr4lllllltlB, lind in traini.ng appropriate persannel; ta promote and Jevelap a biomedical informacion 111dt••• including rhe establishment vf a regional biomedical information centr.e and a network of subcentreH and libraries. to serve "~tional health information objectives.

(2)

2.3

Specific objectivtls Th"dc are:

2.3.1

At tho: regiunlil level to promote the shal"ing of health literature resources betwe'lII countries in the Re~ion; to fac it itate the exch ... lge. t ("Ims fer and disdelllination of information contained in health literature between countries in the Region and betwetm the WtlsttHn Pacific and other region ...

2.1.2

At the country level to cvllaborate in the strengthening and development of national capacities in biom~.;Ii.cal and health literature l"e~ource. and ~ervi.ces, and to promotli:! their use within the 118[iona1 h.alth infurmation IiYlltem; to illlprove access to national and regional health and l..~Ot8edical I itersture.

3.

APl'lWACIlES

lol

Tl!c1lllical

------COUll

Apl)I'Odl'he::l at techn ie a l level wi 11

i,H

11\

the fo llowin,l

I"v.duping and prom,)ting resource-sharing through a biomedical lntonllati.on syst~m, includi.ng Che 4!stllblishm.. nt of II. re,iollal b iVUl"dic"l infonnllt lOll centre and Ii network of lIIubcantr.u a,ld lib.-ari':H; collubor:.sting in the development of national bi.omedical and he .. lth i.ufonll.t.l ion nc::tworku;

-

]2 -

Annex 5

-- --applying the TCDC approach to:> faciliclatt! the develuplllent of a n",two>rk of b iOllU!d leu 1 infurma t ion centn~s and llubc"ntreOi for the t!xchange of infonllac ion, and f<l:ltering technical cooperat ion I)~cween developed and developing countries; collaborating in the development of standard procedure» f<lr the intra-country exchang" of r<.llevallt infonllation; introducing and monitoring global serviced to provide accedS to bibliographic systems and to document delivery mechanism»; internat~onal

contributing to studies on the desirability and possibility of developing a health-related information ayat"ul (Ilt:KIS), which wi II Illeet the need~ of d"veloping countries for ready accell .. to health-related information of direct and practical use in solving their health problem .. ; pruulOting thl-ough consultltntships, fellowlihij>s, seminars 11nd worklihops, the duvelopthent of relevance-balled 1 ibruriea, literature services and health library rllanllower training pro~ra_elil; dev~loping an increased 4warcne~u by senior administrators and other health personnel- of their infot"lllation needs and of the ulieful role that organized libraries can play in !iatisfying thoae needs;

investigating the need for and the feasibility of a regional medical and health-related lit~rature index; encouraging Member States to develop national plans for upgrading th~ir national biomedical literature reaourcell and services; raising and administering bibliographic activities. '1.2 2.c!:j.lni.zational e~trabudgetary

funds for the financing of

The Western Pacific regional health literature progr~ume will be a majvr COIQPOnent of the regional biomedical inf01'1ll8tion pc-ogrs_e. One of its R.... jvr elemellt!J will be the r«tlCional helilth literatuL'l!1 nCiitwork, which will be fonlled by national focal pointl dULlnaced by the respective Kember StaC.!,.. t::ach focal point will promotd and coordinate network activities at lhe oaclonal level ..... d maintain liaison with other network componenu. Tlh~:;e focal points may be national libr .. riea or information centres, ~enerally in leading medical colleges, health institutes or res~arch ln~titutions. Where appropriate, they may also be the WHO collaborating ~entr~~ or they may support such centres and be mamber$ of thepvlicy-determining body.l

IS"e Document WPR/ACHll/81_ 3 - Technic .. l Cooperation <lllIong Developing Cvuntri",. in Research, by Df R. Mercado, Western Pacific Advibo)ry COlllllittee on Medical kegearch, Sixth Session. Manila, Philippines. 26-30 April 1981.

- :11 AIII"')( ')

A rC~l.()nlll bifJllledicHl illf011ll .. tioll ce!ntri! will be elOt~bli.hlld und iL~ lunction!; will b.:: (;oordilluting. li~i~ill~. prolllotin&, plllllnini. or,aJlizill1l .1Il.J pu'tlclpatilli ill netwol'k uctivitiell. 1'tUI ct!ner.:! will be IIt .. h",d by II w.:iJic.ul liIHw"i"n and/or infunu.utioll 1I1,..:cidilll: wieh clerical liupp,nt. Tht: 10llller will also aSlluwe the tunction ot pr06r. . .e man.i~r. whose aain .Jucy will be co develop the health li.c .. rature proirlUlllMe .lAd coordinate the network HII.J i.ts accivicieti.

A.J hue :.cit!lltific group 1I..~ .. tjll"ltl ~II' other 1ii.lIIllar ioruUl on infonllac!on wiLh sp.:ci"lltiCb in lile lield ot healtll literllturt! lI~rvice. coul.J be urgHni%t!d to advibll tllc k~~i,'nu1 Dirllc~or on policy watct!rll. 'lll.., Wl'kO Libu ry could be intolgrated illco tho! propolid.:1 re,ioll .. 1 lli.oll\..,.Jic .. l .i.nionllation Ctmer.:.

4.

AC'fIVl TIES

1n eh.: context ot the biolDi<oical in10l'1llation pro,rUllile, and ,,,,.;o,,l1i2:illll tbe rellouec" con:;lraintli, the followina devillopilental 'H;liviti':li hdve been scbeduled or drl! pldlln~d CO be undertaken durinl the v~riod

1981-198J:

4.1

Cov~rnwe!nt

lwrll':lIIenration 01 the oile}" of hedilh literature lI<lrvices by the of AUitralia

"l'h~ COllernwent of AUlitralia/Natiolllll Library of Aulitralia ha . . .ad. a :;ubs~allti~l offer of health literature serviced con.iatina of coaputeriae4

Inl.dio&r"phic :;earches (Mt.IJI..A.RS) and l'hotocopie& of p,.riodical artiel •• (~vcument o .. livery) to be provided free of char,e thrOuah WHO to tbe developing countries in th.: Welitllrn Pacific aeaion. Services oftered include! the following:

800 KEDLARS r .. troapective lIearches per annum 400 ~DLARS SOl searche. per anDUID 4000 photocopieli of ite~1i rlltrieved by lIearehel per annua t-'or tbe purpoae of the aareemene. each requellt ill dlilfined ... a ,i",le seOl,ch. The agreelll':lle Lli

rur Hn initial periud of two yeare with aD option of

~xL~nliion tor further periodll on terws aireeo to by both the Coy.rna.Dc of

AUlitralia/Natiuual l.ibrary of Australia ana WHO • •'o11owin" the sianil1g of the HemorandWil of Undeutandina by both pucieli. H~wbcr Stutes will be infunlled <:If tho: Australian off.r and of the plelll toe th.: regiun.. l h" .. lrh literaturt! Mervictlll as part ot' tbe WHO/We.tern Pacific biomedic.l informatiun pro~ramwe. Leaflets will b. prepared for che purpose of prc.odl\g ehe IJtlrvices to moldieal librMrielii ut.C oeller potcnti.tl institutions. Hewber States will be requelited to desi~ut'e national focal pointlll so thae request .. 1'or HiDLA&S sli!arch•• aDd photocopie • •uay be sublilinca through thelli.

- 14 Annex S -----

4.2

tistabllshment of .. forulD tor !H·vvidl·l'/contiulUt·r illtera'~tion

It is :Jugge,;ted th .. t a forum lihuuld ... <! constitut~d wh, ce both thl:! providers ar j th.: con ......,t!rll of biOllleJic .. l infol'lllati, n would be .·cprelient"d. 'fhi .. foruUl 1;1." .. ld guide and monitor the d~velopment and implew~ntation of activities undcr this biomedical infonoation programme. On., way to achieve thilO would be to organize ad hoc scientific group lUeetingli to deal with specific aspects of the bioliledical inforwation prograuae. It ill desirable that participation at these meeting. includ~ .. 1I0lUe lIlellibers of WPAQoIR in addition to specialistll in the field of healLh 1 i t",rature lIerv ic,,&. The .. c ient lEic group lIIeet ing. when oq~anized ·,hou Id be so timed a. to pre..:,.Je or follow the Uleetinill of the WPAaiR. 4.3

tistablishwent of national focel points

Member Scates will be re'ju~dted to designate a medical library, as a national toeal point which will function as the eountry':J operating agency. This focal point will prOlllote and c:oordinate biomedical !lllol"lDation aetiviti.:s at the national level and maintain liaison with centres in other countries. Member States should be encouraged to .a~e the Il.it ional focal point a depoliitory of all goven\iii,.nt publications on he~)th-related subjects. pr~r~rably

4.4

M..-ding of national focal points

A meeting of national focal points will be convened after they have been J"signated by all Member States and regional biomedical progralllllle activities will be further d •.!tailed and scheduled. Wt'ACHi. may consi.der funding for this a.l...tivity under the Research Promotion and DevelopultH1C Prograwlllt! of WllO/We8teCll Pacific Region. 4.:> Po Ii t lcal cOllllllitmenc

HeUiber Scates wishing to collaborate with the r~gional programma, particularly in re&ard Co the network. ahould make clear their political cowwitwent towards its objectives. Affilia.tion with the network should be on the basis of agree_ncs between the WHO Regional Office for the We.tern PU..:ilic ano the Melllbotr StaCe~. The poasibility of including tbe reaional biulUeJical inforwation progrtllllllle as an agenda itelll for che 1:182 session of ehe Rel:ionul COlWlitcee will be considered.

- 15 Annex 'i ---

WHO will ..:oll<lborate with M",rut.t!r :>tates, on request, in the furlht:r J.,lIelopm"nt or their health literature S"''('''1C:&:1I in the cOlltexc of the biou.edical infollllation pro~r:,~e.l

4.7

Coordination with Othdr ilj:(ulldeli

WHO will ":oolinue to prolOlore coordillutin of its activitieli with other Lnct!rllacional and bilateral /.lgencies such il8 SEAHIC, Japan, alld Singapore or 1 it·\! or the Internat iOIl,,1 O.:velopwcllt Reseal'eh Ce.ltre, Cun.du.

lAt pres"nt IffiO is ..:0 llaber/.ll ing wi rh tht! Peop Ie '8 Republic of China in " pl-oject to fOnliulCite and dev .. lop a bioilledical infol'1llation cenezoe and a lI<~rwol-k of I ibl'llries and Ilub..:elltres. A lltrategy has been fomulated and dccivitieli are being undertaken with UNDf funding. !o'or thia purpoae, the In:;titute ot Hediclll IntoLllldtl(lII, Ileijing, ot the Chinese AcadeUlY of M~di~"l ScienC~B io being upgraded to function as the 5ioUledical lniunlldt ion Cener". Two t"chlllCld viliics by WIlO (Hili/ISP) staff werts ulld"r[..... t:n ill 1<,179 and 1980 wh.,n pt'iority areas for further illlprov.alene \0(,,1'., idclltifi~d

ali:

(d

lraining of :;[aU ill u.odern library an .... infonDation service operationli and management;

(i i)

provillion of IDOdL,rn library equipment and Uluteriah; development of uniform operational procedures - c.ealoiuing, ind<.'xing, incer-1 ibrary 10a1l and collection of Beatistics; ..,stablillhw~nl

(iii)

(iv)

of union lillt at

~~rial~

and union catalOluti of

uooks; and (v)

exploring tho! ut>c oi ..:owputcni tQ liupporc library lIIaOaieUlltne dod services i~cluJin~ tacililatinH acceB~ to international hedeh 1 ieel· .. turl:! dut" bull" (HEDLAIUi/MEDLIIUo:).

inlonllat ion lind library lIlo1lnugewcnt by Chinese vibic",J libH.ri.,s ill Swil;o:el-111I1J. the Ulliteu KillgdlJlll, th .... 1I111l<:J St.lt~·ti ut Amcri,:" '"IU Juplill <llltillg ~IJ April - 12 June l~ijO. 1\ "tudy tour on medlc'dl ~cl"lIrist"

A 1'1,,11 ',II_"-lI'g,

1'11,,'-\';18) i.1l

.... (JLlil Li,;t.ng ,,~rivi( "'" l<l lo .... uIlO .... rtllk.,11 durin, th.: period [",'lalIUIl Lu IIc'twurk up"'-drilllls, acquiliitions, l'O!lIourct! Jvc'U1f,"IIL ,kliv"q'. ,·,jll,'1I1 i"ll "IHI lr;1l1lilljo\ lind l'lllllput"r support halO <.>1

I,,·,u\'

.. Jtlll~t".:".:(.

- 30 Anllt>x 'i

.---.--4.ti Tc"io10& WHO O~~db

A CCV1..,W will be uoJ.'LlClkcn 01 I(qp .... 01 1111<1

(ruinin~ IIccdc; ill clo., West~rll P.citic training inllcituLioli1i will be identifi,,·d.

Tht! Surv.,y of Current ",-",<.Iieul uod U.,alth-rtllatcd Ptidoll~~-:,hJ. p-ulolish.,.! in select.,.! eouotricli IlI~d ar~i.I~ of.r.he ,;"dterll Pliel-flC .,clpon ot 0

~,

will be publi"hed ....d clltelllil.Vel) ulBtrlbuccd.

'LlU! compilation of the Director of _.~_.lectcd He.Hcal and lieulth-n~lated Li bur ies in the WeB tern Pac ific Region 0 l WI/O wi 11 be cIJlllpleted and the DireCLOr wi 11 be cOClsidered for wider distribution.

4.10

Exchange of infonoation 11l

Exchange of Library .cquisition libta among major medical libraries the Western Pacific R~&ioll of Wl~ will be pr~oted.

Relcvunt publication", by the Regional office, particularly reportli ot c;eminars and workahopa undertaken aa part of the intercountry educational uctivitieli in different ~ro&ramme areas will be dilitributed to all . . jor lil>rarieli i •. Jitferent countries and areaa of tI • .! Region. 4.11 Re~ource

mobilization

1'0 carry out above activities to develop the regional biomedical intol1llation pro~r_~, adequate fund. are needed. To tbi& end, eXlrabudgetary resources way have to be raised particularly for the financing of bibliographies, activitieli, and support for the 8trengthenill& 01 national biomeaical infonoation resourc .... and particularly for ataff train1ug. The WPAOtR melllberii ",ill have a lIIajor role to play in this regard illdividually and colle.tively by convincina the donor countries/asenciea on th", need for such a progroSillllle in the region.

5.

BIOMEDICAL INFORHATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

To develop national capability in infoNatloD lIIanlllelllent and .ervice., facilitate and ensure acccsa to international medical literature data baaes lik", MEDLARS/!-J:llLIHE, and to foater intonaatio" exelumge 8II&01li cOIIDtriea in lht' Rt!j~iun. a nWilber of development activitiell have to be illLtillltecl and iWjJ1 ... IUt:nt"d. It. short lillt of priority IIIctivitiea to create an envirolllllent Cor the awooth development of tbe prograume in the Region has been provided ulldcc ::.ectiotl 4 .. bove. The Couaaittee way wlah to consider and support organi~i::g ad hoc 8C ient i fie troup meet ings to advise lind guide further <leveloplllcnt of regional biomedical infol"lllation progr_e.

- 37/38 -

ANNEX 6

PROPOSAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WESTERN PACIFIC REGIONAL BIOMEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORKl

IBased on WHO document LIB/ICP/RPD/OOl dated 3 October 1981: Assignment, Report , 11-29 August 1980, by Mr Rolf Weitzel Bnd Mr Yoshio Amano. The original text was slightly shortened and updated.

Annex 6 A number ot health literature and library surveys undertaken in WPR Member States have shown that; a definite need exists tor a WHO-sponsored Regional Hlo.edical Information Network; considerable resources can be mobilized in the Region for distribution through such a Network. Provided the necessary political and materlal commitments are made by the Member States, the feasibiilty exists for coordinating a Network under the ausplces ot WHO and specifically through a WPRO Regional Blomedical 111 format lon Centre. Tilt' tollowing paragraphs out 1 ine the goals, s truc ture , approaches and activlties of the Network and make specific recommendations for its implementation. 1. Objectives

Based on the findings of the varlOUS surveys, the following objectives are suggested for the Network; to provlde every health profes.ional in the Region with equal access to the Region's total resources of biomedical 1i terature; to provide for bibliographic control of, and physical aecess to the biomedical literature published in the Region; to strengthen medical library services at the country level, upgrade the staff competence, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of technical processing and serVlce delivery; to promote the use of accepted international standards throughout the Region so as to facilitate the exchange of information and records. • 2. Approaches

The Network should be based on the prlnciple of reciprocity. Each affLliated Member State should be both recipient and provider of services, 111 accordance with its needs and resources. An important approach to meeting the objective, should be the sharing of resources. It is recogl1i':l'd that no medical library in the Region is ,.Ille to 8ati8fy all the need" of its users. The Network should, therefore, actively promote and organizt' libl"Bry cooperation in the Region and in particular further a better diatribution ot resources between developed and developing countries. It IS expected that the developed countrLes in the Region will act as chiet providers of information retrieval lMEDLARS searches) and do(,ument delivery (photocopies). In return, the developing countries should make an effort to collect and index the national biomedical and health-related literature and provide input for regional bibliographic activities.

- 40 -

Annex 6

The Network should develop in a modular way. It should start pragmatically, and cautioualy, with a few pr~orlty activlties. It is important that these be implemented quickly and successfully since this will contribute to justify the existence of the Network. New actiVlties should only be added once their need has been clearly 8S tab 1 iBhed and thl' required funds and other resources can be provIded. It should be capabl~ of adapting its structure, services and procedure to the changing needs of Its users. J. Structure and administration

The Network should be glven a formal structure and organization. Afhliatlon should be on the basis of agreements between the Regional Office and the Member State.. Member governments wishLng to atfiliate with the Network should make a clear political commitment towards its objectives. Agreements may also be made with any non-governmental agencies or organizatIons desiring to cooperate with, or contribute to the Network. Each Member government should designate a national focal point 8S the country's operating Network agency. The focal point should promote and coordinate Network activities at the national level and maintain liaison with other Network components. Me~er States ahould be encouraged to make the national focal points a depository of all government publications on health-related subjects. Each focal point should allocate some staff time and other resources specifically to Network activlties. A Regional Biomedical Information Centre should be established at the Regional Office. It should be staffed by an experienced medical librarIan and/or information speclalist, and part-time clerical support should be provided. The specific responsibilitiea of the Regional Centre should be: to ensure coordination of Network activities; to provide for liaison between the different Network components; to promote the services provided by the Network; to plan tuture Network activities; to conduct studiea on user needs, uaer habita, etc; to organize, and participate in the training of national Network taff;

8

to provide profes8ional asaistance for national health literature activities.

An Advisory Committee should be appointed. It ahould help the Regional Director to develop Network policy and to evaluate its activities. The Advisory Committee should represent different geographic parts ot the Region and both developed and developing countries. Its members should change at fixed intervals.

- 41 -

Annex t>

4. 4.1

Network activities Document delivery

To improve the delivery to health professionals of books, journals and other documents they require a high priorlty activity which should be tackled as soon as the Network has been constituted. Most librarles in the developing countries can only satisfy the smaller part of their users' needs. They therefore rely on other libraries to share their resources with them. This is traditionally achieved through inter-library loan serVlces. Modern photocopy and microform equipment plays an increasingly important role in speedy and effective document delivery. Resource sharlng among the Network librarles should therefore be actively promoted. The possibillty of facilitating inter-library lending through the compilation and publication of a regional union list ot medical periodicals should be explored. The Regional Office should continue to approach the developed countrles in the Region tor the provision of funds and tree services in this area. 4.2 Information retrieval

It is essential for the health professionals in the Region to acquire access to the large international data bases, in particular MEDLARS. Such data bases are at present operated in two countries of the Region, namely Australia and Japan. The high cost involved will permit neither the processing of data bases nor remote access to them by the developing countries for some time to come. Free or subsidized search services, preferably accompanied by supporting document delivery, are therefore a valuable contrihution the developed countries in the Region can make in the context of the Network. The Agreement concluded recently between the Governaent of Austral ia and the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific is a first instance of such a contribution. Under its terms, valuable and much needed services will be provided to the health personnel in the developing countrles. In the longer term, however, term1nal access trom all Member States in the Region to the existing computer data bases in Australia and Japan should be aimed for. 4.3 B1bliographic services

There is a growina awareness of the fact that lhe bibliographic data bases mentioned above, in spite of their size, fail to record large segments of the biomedical literature. Both Japan and Australia are already preparing national. indexes to cover this literature. The situation IS even more critical in the developing countries whose medical literature remains essentially outside the large international data bases. However, it is telt that a substantial medical literature exists in these countries which deserves wider dissemination, especially among other developing countrIes. The Working Group of Librarians, which met in Manila in 1978, recognized this fact and devoted much room to bibliographic control, mcluding that of fugitive literature (research reports, working documents, unpublished materials).

-

t~:?

_

Annex 6

A pilot Bibliography on Health Services Research was compiled by one of the Working Group members and received favourable comments. It app~3rH that it would be possible to find funds for subsidiaing a current continuation of this bibliography which, would thus become the core of tilt!' Network's bibliographic activities. "nIe agreements to be made between the Regional Office and the Member States should stipulate that in return to,' compu ter searches, photocopi es and other tree serv ices received, the 8tfiliated countries should contribute indexed input to thlS b1bliogr8phy. Meanwhile an in-depth study should be made to investigate the teasibility of broadening the scope of the bibliography to encompass the ent1re t1eld of biomedicine. This would then have to become a much larger, computer-based undertaking, operated either in Japan or Australia, and could assume the funttions and title of a Western Pacific Index Medicus, tollowing the exampLe of PARO's Index Hedicus Latino-Amerlcano. Member States should also be encouraged to compile national library holding lists ot medical per10dicals to serve as locator tools in lnter-Ilbrary lending services. At a later stage, a study could be made of whether the integration of these national union lists lT1to a regional list would be desl.rable and feasible. 4.4 Strengthening health literature serVl.ces in Member States

Ultimately the Network should work towards a larger self-sufficiency ot 1ts atfiliated members in the field of biomedical intormation. "nIis requires the building of better library collections, the upgrading of serVl.ces and the improvement of staff training. Assistance given withl.n the Network, in particular by the WPRO Regional Biomedical Information Centre, might comprise: assistance to Member States in formulating plans for the development of national biomedical information services; the organization of training courses for medical librarl.ans Member countries; the compilation of core lilts of elsential medical journal~, bOOKS and other materials a • • election aid in library acquisitions; the editins of a Manual of Medical Librarl.anship adapted to the requirements of library aSlist.nts and technician>! in the developing countries. 5. COllBDunication and promotion 1n

In a Network that covers such a vast area &s tbe Western Pacific Region, Where direct personal contacta between the operating staff are rare, it is essential that close liaison be maintained. This will serve two purposes~

- 41144 Annl'lC 6 _._--..._--

to inform all affiliated parties of on,oinl Network activities, of future plans and new developments, and 1n mar .. general terlll8, to crea te a fee 1ing of cohes ion between the widely scattered Network components; to promote the Network servi.ces to its potential users. The easiest and most effective way to achieve these two goals would be the publication of Network newsletter, edited at the WPRO Regional Blomedical Intormation Centre. It could be fairly cheaply produced in mimeographed form. Three to four issues a year would seem adequate. Medical library and intormation staff in WPRO Member States should be invlted to submit contributions. The compilation and publication of director1es is a turther important activLty in this field. Work has already started in the WPRO Library for the issue of directories of medical libraries in the Region and ot \"f·gional medical perLodicals.

- 41'44 Annex Ii -_._-----

to inform all affiliated parties of 0010in8 Network activities, of future plans and new developments, and 1n mor~ general terms, to crea te a fee ling 0 f cohes ion between the widely scattered Network components; to promote the Network services to its potential users. The easiest and most effective way to achieve these two goals would be the publication of Network newsletter, edited at the WPRO Regional Blomedical Intormation Centre. It could be fairly cheaply produced in mimeographed form. Three to four issues a year would 8eem adequate. Medical library and information staff in WPRO Member States should be invlted to submit contributions. The compilation and publication ot director1es is a turther lmportant activlty in this field. Work has already started in the WPRO Library for the lSSUe of directorles of medical libraries in the Region and ot regional medical perLodicals.

- 45/46 -

ANNEX 7

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AUSTRALIA/WHO MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE SUPPLY OF MEDLARS SERVICES TO THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC OF WlID

- 47 -

Annex 7 -.---

I•

U.TRODUCTIOM

The Govern..nt of Auatralia offered, at the thirty-fir.t •••• ion of the Relional Coaaittee held in Manila from 9 to 15 Septeaber 1980, to make the .ervice. of tbe Mational Library of Au.tralia eDd of the Department of Health available to the Member State. in the Relion a. a contribution to the promotion of di.aemination of health and biomedical infor.. tion in the Wei tern Paci fic Relion. Tbe offer i. for an initial period of tvo yeara and the •• rvice. to be provid.d per year throuah WHO are~ Fra. tbe Central Library of the Deparc.ent of Health of the Govera... t of Au.tralia~ 300 MEDLARS r.tro.pectiv •• earche. per annua; 200 MEDLAIS Selective Di •• emination of Information (SOl) .earehe. per annum; 2000 photocopie. of ite.. retrieved by .earche. per annum; and From the Mational Library of Au.tralia~

500 MID LARS retro.pective .earche. per annum; 200 KlDLAIS SDI .earche. per annum; 2000 photocopie. of item. retrieved by .earche. per annum and are e.ti.. ted to COlt approximately A$IOO 000 for the biennium. Tbe Memoreodum of Und.r.tandinl wa•• iln.d by the Director-General of Healtb and the Director-Ceneral of the Mational Library, Governaent of Au.tralia and by the Relional Director, Relional Office for the We.tern Pacific Oft behalf of WHO. Service. are available to all Memb.r Stat•• e.cept for China in viev of tbe .pecial alree.ant b.tween 11M/United State. of ~rica. Countrie. and are•• in the we.tern Pacific Re.ion h.ve b.en contact.d for deaianation of national foeal pointa. Promotional materia Ie are b.ina prepar.d for diatributioa to ~er State.. MIDLAlI .earcb requ.at for .. ar. bein, finali.ed eod otber adminiatratlve detaila re.erdina iapl_atation of thia offer are bein. vorked out. It i. expected that the aervie•• vill .tart before end 1981.

- 48 Anll<'x 7

2.

Services offered' 800 MEDLARS retrospeotive searches per 400 MEDLARS SDI searches per

annum,

annum;

4000 photooopies of items retrieved by searohes per annum. For the purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding eaoh request is defined as a single search. Photocopies will only be provided from periodicals held in libraries in the Australian Capital Terri tory. Holdings lists in microfiche and hardcopy form will be made available. It is suggested that the National Focal Point in each country would be responsible for ensuring that photocopy requests are transmitted only when national resouroeS have been exhausted.

In some circumstanoes, as when information is needed in a great hurry,

5 photocopies from each search will, on request, be selected supplied by the Government of Australia with the printout.

and

Photocopies not listed on the Mll:DLAR5 printout will not be supplied under the Memorandum of Understanding but ~ be purchased from the National Library of Australia at SA1.00 per photocopy.

3.

Coordination: (a) (b) Australia I 'lhe National Library of Australia will coordinate the service in Australia.

World Health Organization, WHO/WPRO will oontact governments and ooordinate the arrangements for implementing the servioe. Countries I All services will be channelled throush National Fooal Points to be nominated in each oountry by their respective governments.

(c)

'lhe Government of Australia, WBO/WPRO and each oountry will jointly moni tor and evaluate the servioes provided for under this Memorandum of Understanding. 4. Service quotas: If it becomes necessary, service quotas for individual oountries will be imposed by WHO. During the first six months, no oountry should receive more than ten percent of the servioes offered annually.

Annt>x 7

5.

Reoipiepta of

the .eryioe.

All requests for MlDLARS searches and photooopies will normal~ be made through a library. Priority will be given to health and biomedioal researchers, planners, teaching staff and practitioners. Requests from students ma,y have to be limited. ihe number of requests acoepted at a.D¥ one time from one person ma,y have to be limited. 6. CbennellW ap4 monitoring reguestlH It is resarded b,y all parties as most important that requests be INbmi tted and printouts and photooopies returned to requesters wi th the minimum of del~ but that, at the same time, requests from each oountry should be ohannelled throush a single orsamsation and that the method of ohannelling requests should give WHO and the oountries oonoerned the facility to monitor the ongoing operation of the servioe. All requests should be INbmi tted through. (a) (b) the National Fooal Points; and

a WHO (or WHO-authorised) offioe.

A WHO offioe is a regional offioe or WHO programme ooordinator's offioe. Well established medioal libraries acting as Rational Fooal Points will be authorised to act for WHO if this is necessary to reduce del8¥8. Printouts and photocopies will be returned directly to the requesting insti tutions. WHO will appoint a service medioal librarian as projeot offioer, who will maintain liaison with the National Library of Australia and the National Fooal Points. The projeot offioer's responsibilities will include promotional activi ties and the evaluation of the operation. 7. Request forms to be used, Authorised request forms produoed by Australia should be employed. Urgent requests ID8iY be INbmi tted by telex. 'lhere are no limitations regarding the length of articles to be photooopied but all restrictions imposed b,y the Australian oopyrisht laws and resulationa will apply. Information leaflets on the service will be prepared b,y WHO.

a.

Reporting. The Government of Australia will provide monthly statistioal reports to WHO to allow oonstant monitoring of the servioe and facHi tate its evaluation. Quarterly reports on administrative aspects of the servioe will also be provided b,y the Government of Australia and WHO.

- 51/51 -

ANNI':X 8

MEDLARS SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA by Mr Paul Hodgson l

Iprincipal Librarian, Life Science. Section, National University of Australia, Canberra.

- 5] -

AtlllPX

t'

As background information on the Australia/WHO ~reement, is a brief description of the way in which the MEDLARS service operated in Australia by the Commonwealth Department of Health National Library of Australia. The Library is r~sponsihle for "~xternsl" customer services, which include: purchase of data hases

the follow1nl' is jointly and th~ the

promotion and development of the network, e.~. MEDLINE demonstrations at potential user organizations and at medical meetings customer services, especially training, further education, help desk functions, newsletter distribution, etc. The Department is responsible for: computer support telecommunications support The main network management functions are performed by two committpes; The MEDLARS Advisory Committee, consisting of policy and tpchni(,81 staff of the Library, the Department MId the National Heal th (Nfl) and ~fedical Research Counci 1 (MRC). Thi s meets every six w,','kll. The Li fe Sc iences Consu I tat i ve Cammi t tee, a provider-user t',)mmi t lt'" with representation from the Library, the Department and the Nil & MRC and of representatives of user organizations elected (In H state basis. Most user representatives are medicsl lihrsrians hIlt some are hospital pharmacists. The committee meets every 6-8 months. 'The International MEDLARS Policy Advisory Croup is also concerned with MEDLARS policy and comprise. representatives of countries which operate MEDLARS services. It meets every two years, the next meeting being in Canberra in April 1982. Among the crucial elements 1n the success of the Austral ian MEDLIN"!'; network have been: The continuing high-level support for health information activities from the National Health and Medicsl Research C~uncil, the nepsrtment of Health Rnd the National Library n,e existence of a powerful computing fscility and telecommunications network belonging to the Department of Health, which was established to handle data relating to the national medical and pharmaceutical benefits systems. MEDLARS is able to share these facilities but is itself only a small contributor to their use, accounting for about 5% of the system workload.

- 54 -

Annex 8 HEDLINE network development has proceeded quite Quickly and successfully in Australia. All Australia's medical schools and tht> majori t y of 200+ bed hospitals have MEDLARS terminals. 122 organizations, inc\lJdin",. four New Zealand organizations, belong to the HEDLINE network. It is possible that about 200 Australian organizations will ultimately join th .. network. An application for network membership from the National University of Singapore is currently being considered. Two major data bases (HEDLARS and BIOSIS) and seven smaller data bases are currently operated. MEDLARS itself accounts for the overwhelmin~ majority of data base use but use of the other data bases is expected to grow substantially over the next few years. Australia's experience, however, indicates that a high proportion of medical 'information requests are satisfied by MEDLARS itaelf. Use of the data bases is not confined to medical researchers and health planners but 49% of use comes from the hospital sector and this is mainly related to patient care. It is expectt·d that about 75 000 searches will be performed in 1981-1982. The National Lihrary pays particular attention to training HEDLINE users and provides a variety of training programmes. Library staff slso check the search strategies of users for between 3 and 6 months after thei.r initial training. The Library has trained about 350 people to use HEDLINE, including about 60 hoapital pharmacists and about 20 hospital medical staff. In most of the 51 hospitals which have HEDLINE terminals, it is being used by pharmacy ataff as well as librarians. Moat of the medical staff who have asked to be trained to use HEDLINE themselves find that, after an initial three months of enthusiastic use, it is easier to ask thpir librarians to do their searching for them. Most of those doctors who have had the time to attend the training couraes say that they have benefited from the experience and that they have l.arnt a lot about library practict' t'vpn if they stop aearching thems.lvea after a while. HEDLARS is being used successfully by a number of relatively unqualified library staff in Australia and there is no doubt that there are numbers of highly professional librariana in the Western Pacific Region who would easily be able to provide excellent MEDLARS services. HEDLARS has had an amazingly good effect on the quality of reference services in Australia, particularly in hospital libraries. In addition, many librarians who previously had poor relations with their library users and who consequently provided very low levels of service are now finding that they are consulted much more frequently and given more information by their users. As a result, they are stimulated to learn much more about medicine, and the general standard of medical librarianship is therefore raised significantly. Future plana for additional new data basea are uncertain, particularly in an environment of government restraint on public aector spending but it is possible that Australia will also run an additional data base on drugs (e.g. the Iowa Drug Information System or Drugdoc or Toxline or Chemicd Abstracts). Australia is also considerinl an online index of Australisn medical material (to include about 60 of the 300 Australian journals not indexed for HEDLARS) and an Australian supplement to Toxicology Data Bank

- 55 -

Annex H (which would include data on Australian safety, transportation, handlinjl, an.1 occupat iona 1 standards for hazardous chemica b). Proposa 18 for new databases srI' all evaluated against a set of strict cost-benefit criteria and it is possible that some of the data bases mentioned will not turn out to be cost-effective. It should also be noted, however, that Australia has nearly finished developing a standardized data base creation facility so that, if later it proved worthwhile creating data bases on, say, filariasis or dengue fever or on Western Pacific Region health services research, there would be few technical problems in doing so. Naturally, there would first need to be economic and policy justification for proceeding. The first stage of the Australian/WHO Agreement is not seen by Australia as a worthwhile contribution in itself to the development of a permanently improved infrastructure for health information services in the Western Pscific Region. Rather, it is a necessary first stage in what might prove to be a substantial upgrading of these services in the longer term. The experience of other similar postal search services indicates that the communications difficulties between user and search centre, particularly the long turnaround times, severely limit the usefulness of systems like MEDLARS, especially when composed to direct online access. Australia is pleased that this meeting has accepted the flexible arrangement for the submission of search requests whereby, with the authorization of the national focsl point, institutions in the Region can submit search requests direct to Australia. This will help substantially to reduce turnaround times. Despite this, it should be said that before the online system was introduced in Australia, a maximum of 4 000 searches were performed yearly. There are now 75 000 searches performed yearly. This helps to ill,,"tratf' the dampening effect that postal delays have on system use. There is rPBson to be concerned, if the delays lead to under-utilization of the Australian/WHO service, that the authorities will conclude that advanced information services like MEDLARS are inappropriate for the Region and that the Agreement will not be renewed or extended after the initial two year period. This highlights the need not only for active promotion of the service but also for close monitoring and for the free and frank exchange of constructive criticism. The restriction of the offer of photocopies juat to items retrieved by searches has been criticized in some quarters by those who would like to see the offer extended to cover all health material. It was not Australia's intention to offer unlimited photocopies. Nor do we believe that it is in the best interests of the Region to increase its dependence for photocopies on /I country with high labour costs and one which may later have to c.hargE' large amounts for photocopies. The offer of photocopies is subsidiary to the offer of searches and is based on the principle that it is not sensible to provide searches without taking into account the need for document backup. Australia would be the firat to agree that the photocopy offer ia insignificant in the context of the total inter-lihrary loan problems of the Region. To preserve this small degree of "document backup", Australia will

- 56 -

Annex 8

insist on maintaining the restriction. It is propoaed, however, ill the first few months of the service, to provide some photocopies of items from Index Medicus (and Biological Abstracts), but, once the level of demand forsearches growa, Australia will tend to enforce the restriction more rigidly. (It should be noted incidentally that Australia does not have B library similar to the US National Library of Medicine or the British Lending Library and that photocopy request proceasing in Australia can be an expensive business. Thia is one of the reasons that Australia recommend~ the establiahment of a regional resource library.) The queation has been asked how a country which requires more than ita quota of free searches can obtain them. It can obtain searches from the National Library of Australia at the standard charge (which ranges between A$20 and A$35 depending on the period covered). Alternatively,organizations in the Region may negotiate with individual organizations in Australia for free searches. There are already a few instances where such arrangements are taking place. The National Library and Department of Health will not directly involve themselves in these arrangements, nor will they offer actively to facilitate them. Because Australian government funda are indirectly employed, we do aak Australian organizations to inform us of any such arrangements that they make. with regard to a possible second stage of service, it is appropriate, though possibly premature, to note that Australian officials sre currently considering a proposal to offer direct access to MEDLINE to countries in the Region. This would involve the development of telecommunication links for the transmission of health information between countries in the Region. The proposal also envisagea the establi.hment of a regional re.ource library and the pos.ible creation of data bases on topics of high regional priority. The proposal contains a det.iled model of how such a network might be established and of the costs involved. Some details of this model will be described during the meeting on the understanding that the proposal is mentioned only to stimulate thinking about the possible longer term development of a regional health information network. Pre.entation of these details is not indicative of any agreement on behalf of any government to proceed with the propoaal or indicative that the particular model presented will be the one which will be adopted or favoured.

- 57/58 ANNEX 9

BIOMEDICAL LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SERVICES IN CHINA by

Dr Fu tail

IVice-Director, Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, Chins.

- 59 -

ANNF.X 9

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Government has paid great attention to the development of scientific and technical information services. As far back as 1956, the Chines., InfonDlItion Institute of Science and Technology (CIIST) was established. It is China's multidisciplinary information centre at the national level. Since then, information institutes of science and technology have been set up at variou~ levels, including ministerial and provincial (autonomous regional) levels. Today all these organizations are actively contributin~ to the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defence and science and technology of our country. China's biomedical library and information system ia a component part of the national scientific and technicsl infonDation system. Its main task is to serve the nationwide health organizations and health personnel in developing medical care, education and research, and to give active support to family planning. More recently relevant information ia also provided for policy makers and planners. Almost all biomedical libraries were set up in medical colleges; most of them were established much earlier than the medical information services and have fairly large collections of booka. The biomedical information service itself is a relatively new field of activity. It came into being as a separate system in 1958. At present, the Institute of Medical Information (IMI) of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences serves as the National Biomedical Information Centre and has been designated as the focal point in WHO Western Pacific Region biomedical information programme. Besides, there are 23 biomedical information institutes or station. at provincial (autonomous regional) and municipal levels, and 56 major biomedical libraries in medical colleges, thus forming the basic biomedical informstion network. 1.

The Institute of Medit'al Information (1M!) of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing

The Inltitute WII eltablished in 1975. There are 180 st.aff members, of whom 92 are college graduate. (39 from medical colleges). Apart from its administrative offices, IMI is divided into two main parts: the biomedical information service and the medical library. The former consists of 3 biomedical research departments, 2 editorial departments, 1 audiovisual department and 1 bibliographic department for Chinese biomedical documents. Biomedical information research is somewhat similar to the reference service in libraries abroad but not quite the same. Their task is to provide relevant written information on the main national biomedical research projects and new interdisciplinary scientific branches as well as health research. Critical reviews on the progress and trends of research on special subjects are written and submitted to the Ministry of Public Health and tbe Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and circulated in the country on its own initiative or upon reque.t. For thf' health peraonnel (high-grade)

- 60 -

Annex 9

in !l:f>neral, the research staff memhers usually scan and select Tf>If>v.1nt material in current journals and newapapers published in our own cOllnlry ""d ahroad. They also attend national, regional and local biomedical conferences and report on proceedings and new development. In addition, they participate in organizing exhibitions of foreign biomedical f>Quipmpnt and seminars. They also attend lectures given by visiting foreign and Chinese scientists. ~'urthennore, they participate in the evaluation of major research project achievements. Through these activitif>s, they keep abreast of biomedical research progress at home and abroad. In past years, important developments in various branches of medicine have been summarized and written up as reference articles. and either published in appropriate journals or disseminated to the research workers concerned directly. The following periodicals are edited and published by IM!: (1) The bi-weekly journal Foreign Medical Information: This is a journal presenting medical news including new clues. trends, theorie~, methods and experiences in the field of foreign biomedical sciences and technology as published in current medical journals, newspapers and by news agencies. It contains also abstracts of lectures given by foreign experts. 624 000 copies of this journal are issued per year.

(2) The Bulletin of Medical Research is a monthly journal. It reports mainly on the scientific progress, trends and level of achievement of medical research in China; highlights of medical conferences; reports written by study missions abroad, including proposals concerning present and future health activities; experiences concerning medical treatment, scientific research and teaching. as well as brief news of Chinese ~cientific and technological biomedical developments. 168 000 copies of thi~ bulletin are issued each year. (3) Acupuncture Analgesia: This is a quarterly journal. It reports mainly on clinical observations, including indicationa of the clinical application of acupuncture and the mechanisms involved, experimental studies on the principles of action of acupuncture, etc. 6 400 copies of this publication are issued each year. (4) Bulletin of Medical Information Activities: Thia is a quarterly journal. It presents mainly the theories, methods. modern techniques and trends of medical library and information activities at home and abroad, and reports on experiences of local medical libraries and information services. This publication actually takes the place of an information bulletin for the network. 6 000 copies of this publication are issued annually. (5) A bi-monthly Index of Chinese Literature on Science and Technology, Section on Medicine serves as the national Index Medicus; it is edited by the Department of Chinese Biomedical Documents, which also acts as a clearing house and central indexing agency. This is the only complete index of medical and related literatllrepublished or presented in periodicals and of conference papers in our own country. Ahout 27 000 title entries are

- 61 -

Annex 9

collected annually. The entries are arranged according to the "Chin •• e Literature Cataloguing Rules" as well 88 by alphabetical subject headings. Retrospective searches may be undertaken through ita annual cumulative index. 6 600 copies of this Index are issued a year. (A cumulative index of journal articles from 1950-1980 has been compiled by a medical college library.) (6) The indexing department of the Library coordinates the cooperative effort of 35 medical libraries in compiling the Index of Foreign Literature on Science and Technolo Section on Medicine (monthly), covering 520 foreign core Journa s in 5 anguages Engllsh, French, German, Japanese and Russian), WHO publications, and proceedings of medical conferences held in foreign countries. It collects about 70 000 entries a year and presents a11 titles in Chinese translation. The index is arranged according to alphabetical subject headings. The audiovisual department of the Institute produces tape recordings of scientific gatherings, slides, videotape recordings and, through its duplicating service, supplies copies on request. The library consists of four departments: acquisition, cataloguing, circulation and indexing, with 51 staff members. Its collection of books has increased from 30 000 bound volumes at the time of Liberation to 150 000 volumes today. Thread bound, wood-engraved and even rare handwritten Chinese medical books have been collected. The collection of periodicals has increased from 35 000 bound volumes at the time of Liberation to 250 000 volumes today. 700 Chinese journals and 1 751 foreign journals were subscrihed to this year, makin~ a total of '1 451 periodicals. About 6 000 copies of new books are acquired annually. The library servea not only the medical personnel of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and its affiliated research institutes and hospitals, but also professionals throughout the country through the medical library network. An inter-library loan service with 540 libraries has been established. The photocopying service is producing more than 60 000 pages yearly. Readers amount to about 65 000 person times per year and loans to about 150 000 volumes of books and periodicals. II. 1. Biomedical Information Network Activities

Biomedical network development

In recent years. exchanges of experiences in biomedical sciences are actively being carried out between our country and other countries. Each year many specialists are sent abroad to attend conferences, take fellowships or participate in study missions, and at the 8ame time foreign scholars and delegationa are invited to visit our country and to participate in academic activities. Their technical reports and lectures

- 62 -

Annex 9

are recorded, processed and distributed in the form of written materials. This type of "fugitive" literature easily escape bibliographic control but is appreciated by users very much. The ShRnghai Institute of Medical Information publishes this type of "fugitive" literature regularly, and thus has taken a step in the right direction. The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences is the centre of medical science research in the country; moat of its research institutes and hospitals have apecialized libraries and information offices. They edit, publish and distribute scientific doct~ent8 in their respective fields. Each institute informally acta as a national research centre of its respective area. 1MI i. making a great effort to promote an informstion network inside the Ac.d~y to bring about the sharin, of resources, stsndardization of procedures and cooperative information reaearch and analysis. At the local level, mini networks are being developed, grouped around provincial (autonomous regional and municipal) information agencies or medical school libraries. Symposia, seminars and other academic activities are sponsored alone or in cooperation with the local branch of the Chinese Medical Society; lectures are held; and experiences in the exchange of biomedical information are discussed. Locally issued publications are also exchanged widely, exerting a beneficial effect on the dissemination of biomedical information. The first biomedical information regional network has been established in the middle-south China region (5 provinces and 2 cities) this year. 2. Dissemination of information on foreign biomedical research Through the cooperation of 31 medical colleles and reeearch institutes, 38 subject sectione of the abstracting service Foreian Hedicine, covering

most areas of biomedical .ciences are edited and printed, according to a programme worked out during the 1978 National Conference of Medical Information. This work is being coordinated by the Institute of Medical Information; 40 sections will be ieeued by 1982. Most of them are published bi-monthly, monthly or quarterly. Each edition containa reviews, translatione and/or abetracta of selected articles, conference reports and news items so as to keep the readere informed on research and the latest developmenta in the reapective area of biomedical science in foreign countries. Generally well received, over 3 000 000 copies are eold yearly, containing roughly 10 000 articles a year. The total number of subscribers is 492 945. Together with the two indexes of Chinese and foreign biomedical literature, they are all done through the coordinated efforts of different health institutiona. In 1982, a new abstracting service, abinese Medical Abstracte, Sections on Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology and Obetetrics, Pediatrics and abines. Medicine will be iesued, and English editions of Chinese Medical Abstracts are being planned to be compiled in the future for international c omnrun ica t ion.

Annex 9

The Union catalogues, Union Catalogue of Medical Books and Union Catalogue of Foreign Periodicsls were compiled in previous years. As soon as microcomputers are put into operation, these catalogues will be updated. This year the following union catalogues are being compiled: audiovisual holdings union catalogue of major medical institutions, union catalogue of on-going medical research, and the union catalogue of 1980 biomedical research achievements of the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. 3.

Education and training

There is a lack of well-trained medical librarians and information workers with appropriate foreign language proficiency. Up to now self-education and practical experience have been the main means of achieving the necessary knowledge. The Institute of Medical Information has therefore held short-term foreign language courses and sent medical school graduates to the specialized research institutes for further training, and also had sent its staff members into the provinces to hold training courses or give lectures. For example, a biomedical subject- heading indexing training course was held at Harbin this summer, attended by more than 70 personnel from all parts of the country. Since 1975, over 200 medical information workers from 26 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have been trained. Another 150 were being trained in (a) the audiovisual training course and (b) library management courses held by foreign experts in 1981. The Institute also accepts library and information personnel for in-service training. Since 1980. 12 individuals have been sent abroad on study missions and fellowships. Three took part in international conferences on medical librarianship and medical informatics. III. 1.

International Collaboration

WHO

A Memorandum of Understanding between WHO and the Ministry of Public Health of the People's Republic of China was signed on 5 October 1978. A plan for the implement~tion of the Memorandum was also formulated in the same month. Both documents stated that the establishment of a biomedical information centre was one of the priority areas for development. It was agreed that WHO should provide advice on the setting up of a national health information system and librarie.; that WHO should assist in the training of library personnel and in information collection, analysis, storage, retrieval and dissemination. In October 1979 and August 1980, WHO consultants visited our country to investigate the health information facilities and services. Detailed suggestions concerning future developments were given. Through the arrangement of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, all off-line literature retrieval service was started in 1981.

- 64 -

Annex 9

2.

UNDP

An Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the United Nations Development Programme was signed on 29 June 1979. A Project Document was signed on 1 July 1980. The document states that support will be provided for China in improving the dissemination of biomedical information, upgrading the operational effectiveness of biomedical libraries and information agencies and exploring the utilization of computers, staff training and supplying of urgently needed equipment. Implementation started in July 1980, and the goals set for the preliminary period 1980-1981 have been basically achieved. 3. United States of America

A Protocol between the Ministry of Public Health of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare of the United States of America for Cooperation in Science and Technology of Medicine and Public Health was signed in Beijing on 22 June 1979. In the annex to the Protocol, both sides agreed as follows: (1) Exchange of medical information; (2) The Chinese side is to send technical personnel to the United States to take post graduate training in modern methods of handling medical information; (3) The Chinese side is to assist the US side in cataloguing materials of Chinese traditional medicine. The latter item was completed in July this year. In the course of China's Four Modernizations Programme, there is an urgent need to develop a strong National Biomedical Information Centre and resource library, as well as to establish a nationwide network of biomedical libraries and information agencies. At present, China's economy is going through a period of readjustment. It is expected that by the end of this period, depending on available personnel, and equipment, a sound basis for such a network can be established. The Government, its National Council of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Public Health all pay great attention to the library and inforaation activities. Grants will be given by the Government in the near future to build the Chinese Medical Library and Information Centre, which is going to be the new site for the Medical Information Institute of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Since the National Medical Information Conference and the National Medical Library Conference in 1978, the national medical library and information servicea have made significant progress. In relation to its needs, China's biomedical information services are atill in a rudimentary stage. A step-by-step development according to priorities muat resolutely be implemented, as waiting means rusting. Though relying on our own strength, we wish to learn from the succeaaful experiencea of other countries, especially those of the Third World, and to strengthen contact with international and national organizationa concerned. Through theae efforts China will further improve its biomedical library and information activities to render better services to the health care of its people. In the context of WHO's strategy "Heal th for All by the Year 2000", and China's realization of its Four Modernizations by the Year 2000, the support of a modern biomedical information service is essential. It is with this aim in mind that we plan future developments.