Frequently Asked Questions
About the Virtual Health Library
The VHL is an information management model based on collaborative and networked work, applied to the creation, organization and dissemination of scientific and technical health information and evidence made available online to users through the 67 portals of active VHL instances.
The Virtual Health Library (VHL) Colombia is an initiative that is part of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Health Sciences Information (BIREME), which in turn is a specialized center of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The main objective of the VHL Colombia is to promote equitable access to scientific and technical health information, as well as to strengthen knowledge management capabilities in this field.
VHL is a Network of Networks built collectively and coordinated by BIREME. It is developed, in principle, in a decentralized way, through national instances (VHL Colombia) and thematic networks of institutions related to research, teaching or services (VHL MTCI).
Depending on their capabilities and interests, the institutions can assume 3 different roles in the participation and collaboration with the VHL:
Coordinating Center
The institutions that assume the role of coordinating center are responsible for leading a group of other institutions (cooperating centers and/or participating units), supporting the training and communication of this group at the national, regional or thematic level.
Cooperating Center
The institutions with the function of cooperating center undertake to collaborate with content for VHL products and/or services, mainly developing activities related to updating information sources. To become a cooperating center, the institution must have human resources available for content provision, selection, processing and indexing activities.
Participating Unit
The institutions associated with the VHL Network as Participating Units are committed to promoting and disseminating access to and use of VHL products and services among their users. In general, the participating units do not collaborate in the operation of the VHL information sources, but participate in the network as promoters and supporters.
The participation of the institutions in the network is formalized through a document of commitment and institutional justification, such as a membership term, cooperation protocol or even a meeting minutes. Each country offers the best instrument to formalize the participation of its institutions in the VHL Network.
The participation of freelance information professionals in the VHL Network is done on a voluntary basis to collaborate with an information service or source.
VHL users are: managers, researchers, students, clinical, teaching and health care professionals.
The VHL Portal brings together in its collection about 60 bibliographic databases and other types of health information sources. In addition to LILACS, which is the main database of health sciences literature in Latin America and the Caribbean, dozens of other national, regional and international bibliographic databases are integrated into the VHL Portal.
Search in the Virtual Health Library
A product that seeks to highlight and draw attention to documents and information resources selected from the VHL collection on a relevant health topic. It has the same function as a showcase itself and functions as a specialized website. The showcases are built based on a methodology that organizes the content into two main areas: a central area with content components and an area for other content.
Information request
Yes, the VHL Colombia offers free access to a variety of resources and documents related to information on all areas of health, as well as databases, scientific journals, electronic books, newsletters and other materials available online.
No, it is a free access portal
Structured and multilingual thesaurus, in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French, which represents the terminology in health sciences and provides a unique language for indexing and retrieval of documents in the VHL. The DeCS includes the translation of MeSH terms from the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) into Portuguese, Spanish and French, as well as exclusive categories of areas such as Science and Health, Homeopathy, Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicines, Public Health and Health Surveillance.
The collection is regularly updated based on the compilation of metadata from the databases and information sources available in the VHL Portal.
Yes.
My BVS is a service that stores user information and preferences. It is available through your Facebook account, Google, BIREME Account or the My BVS service itself.