The Virtual Library on Health and Environment

The Virtual Library on Health and Environment, BVSA, puts together in an Internet site a structured set of information sources for those interested in information on evaluation and control of environmental risk factors that affect the health of the population. It constitutes the effective response to the needs of information of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The development of the BVSA has been made according to the technical cooperation model applied to health information, fostered by the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information Center, BIREME.

CEPIS has prepared methodological tools for information recording, quality control and dissemination of information sources. They include databases manuals, softwares, guides and the thesaurus with the terminology related to health and environment in five languages. All of them are available to the institutions willing to build up their BVSA.

CEPIS will act as the focal point for GLOBWINET, the Global Water Information Network, sponsored by GTZ, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation.

BVSA Configuration

The BVSA is made up by CEPIS working areas. Each one of them is a virtual library accessible to the specialist directly from the first portal of the BVSA.

In addition to reviewing the working areas, it is possible to access the BVSA services described below. CEPIS services are arranged alphabetically on the Services portal.

Bibliographic Search

Through the bibliographic search service, access is offered to the database compiling 128,500 references, with abstracts, from REPIDISCA Cooperating Centers and CEPIS library. Links to 6,500 full texts are provided. Information is input daily into this database.

Courses and Events

The database on Courses and Events meets information demands on courses, fellowships, graduate and post-graduate studies, diplomas, master and doctorates programs, including on-site, distance, and virtual courses. Conferences, conventions, summits, fairs, expositions, forums, round tables, awards, competitions, meetings, seminars, simposia, and workshops are also considered. Updating is made on a daily basis.

DSI (Push)

The selective dissemination of information (SDI) service is part of the so-called Push services. By means of the DSI, subscribers are kept informed on the latest news, courses, bibliographic references, full texts, journals, and Web sites in their area of specialization. Every 15 days, users receive the information that matches their interest profile and has been incorporated into the different databases of the BVSA during that period.

Directory

The database Directory contains health and environmental institutions, mainly from Latin America and the Caribbean; they are recorded with links to their electronic addresses and Web sites. REPIDISCA cooperating centers, PAHO/WHO Representative Offices, international organizations, and national institutions related to CEPIS are also included.

Indicators

Indicators on water, sewerage, and urban cleaning, by countries, that appear in the publication Health conditions in the Americas, by PAHO, can be consulted.

Legislation

The database Legislation contains health-related and environmental legislation built with the BVSles common methodology. Links are made with other Web sites. Legislation on water is the first topic being developed.

Discussion Lists

The discussion lists are a virtual space to exchange ideas, under the coordination of a specialist. Some CEPIS working areas have chat rooms. Open or closed discussion lists are administered, according to the needs of each subject.

Information Locator

The Information Locator is a database where other Web sites of interest are described. It is a catalog of information sources on the Internet that operates with the BVSA common language. It includes institutional sites, other databases, directories, electronic documents, educational material, softwares, etc.

Educational materials can be located by subject, type of material, and target audience. Multimedia information sources to support traditional education are included, as well as distance learning, short virtual courses, and tutorials.

News

Includes health-related and environmental news that are renewed periodically.

Journals

Arrangements are being made with Latin American journal publishers to apply the SciELO methodology for the preparation of journals in electronic format.

Full Texts

A clic in Full Texts allows an alternative to consult them without entering the bibliographic database.

Statistical and Factual Databases

The Virtual Library on Toxicology has more than 20 links to factual databases on chemical substances. With the Division of Health and Environment of PAHO, databases containing sectoral information are being created; the first one has been the Global Assessment of Drinking Water and Sanitation that includes statistical information of each country of the Americas and by groups of countries; later on, it will be expanded to the area of wastes. Furthermore, the Inter-American Information System in Environmental Sanitation (SISAM) is being developed.

REPIDISCA, from its creation in 1981, has applied avant-garde technologies, thus, the BVSA is the natural step that accompanies the Internet boom.

The set up of the Pan American Information Network on Environmental Health, known by the REPIDISCA acronym, was sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the coordination was in charge of the Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (PAHO/CEPIS). Its main objective is to facilitate the timely access of information on environment and health that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean require and produce. Through the BVSA, REPIDISCA information services are available 24 hours a day.