{"id":5206,"date":"2023-04-20T15:50:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T18:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.scielo.org\/en\/?p=5206"},"modified":"2023-04-20T15:47:45","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T18:47:45","slug":"vhl-25-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.scielo.org\/en\/2023\/04\/20\/vhl-25-years\/","title":{"rendered":"VHL 25 Years: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ver\u00f4nica Abdala<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"VHL's<\/a>

Image: Virtual Health Library .<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Twenty-five years ago, in 1998, the Latin American and Caribbean Health Information Network approved the Declaration of San Jos\u00e9 \u201cTowards the Virtual Health Library\u201d.1<\/sup> Since then, BIREME\/PAHO\/WHO has been leading the development of the Virtual Health Library (VHL) as a health information and knowledge management strategy for the Region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C), with expansion to Spain, Portugal, Mozambique, and other African Portuguese-speaking countries.<\/p>\n

The main challenge at the time was to realign the technical cooperation carried out by BIREME since its creation in 1967, when it developed essential functions of the Regional Library, promoting access to health scientific and technical information and the shared use of collections and services between libraries.<\/p>\n

The VHL was a response to the emergence of the Internet and represented an evolution of BIREME’s technical cooperation that culminated in a new process for operating information sources through the Network, making users’ access to information more agile. Since then, the VHL has been developing naturally and adjusting to the different contexts of the Region, aligned with a single mission: to provide access to health information and scientific evidence\u00a0 to users from all health sectors, contributing to narrow the gap between knowledge and practice in LA&C countries.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the VHL was recognized as a good practice in the 4th<\/sup> volume of the Publication Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development<\/a>2<\/sup> of the United Nations Agency for South-South and Triangular Cooperation (UNOSSC)<\/p>\n

Nowadays, BIREME’s technical cooperation and the work of the Network materializes mainly in the more than 60 VHL instances (national, thematic, and institutional ones), more than 50 databases and dozens of other sources of information built from these databases, such as the Windows of Knowledge, Evidence Maps, infometrics, etc.<\/p>\n

There were many achievements and many challenges that turned into opportunities thanks to coordinated network working and the availability of common methodologies and systems such as LILACS Methodology, FI-Admin system, DeCS and the IAHx interface.<\/p>\n

We experienced the advancement of digital collections, cloud storage, open science, open data, institutional repositories, open software etc. Now, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at our doorstep and, more than a challenge or a threat, it is an opportunity to renew the VHL.<\/p>\n

The moment is one of celebration for the 25th<\/sup> Anniversary of the VHL, but also of reflection. You are all invited to watch the VHL 25 Years: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities seminar recording. Join us!<\/p>\n