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- a Gateway to more than 600 selected websites for health professionals, medical library communities, publishers, and NGOs in developing and transitional countries.
- compiled, updated and maintained by Lenny Rhine, Health Science Center Library, University of Florida: [email protected]
- this page includes
Structure and Using INASP Health Links
'INASP Health Links' consists of three sections. Each section has several pages of hyperlinks, arranged alphabetically. Each hyperlink carries a brief description of the site concerned. The three sections are:
- General Health Resources
(Search Engines, Gateways – Global and Regional, Bibliographic Databases/Abstracts/Clinical Trials Databases, Dictionaries/Glossaries/Disease Classifications, Email Lists, Evidence Based Medicine, Full-text E-books, Full-text E-Journals, Health News, Health Organizations, Image Collections, Medical Education and Clinical Skills, Medical Informatics/Telemedicine/E-Health, and WHO sites).
- Specified Health Resources
(eg Anaesthesiology, Basic Sciences, Dermatology, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Mental Health and Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Prescribing, Reproductive Health, Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, etc.)
- Library and Publishing Support
(Information for Development, Internet Skills, Publishing Tools)
Sites that have a specific focus on users in developing countries are marked with the following symbol: 
Sites that have been designated as a top 20 'General Resource' are marked with the following symbol: 
Sites in:
French (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
Spanish (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
Portuguese (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
German (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
Russian (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
Chinese (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
Arabic (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
Italian (entirely or partly) are marked with the following
symbol: 
English are unmarked unless they have substantial content in
other languages.
Criteria for Selection and Evaluation
The 'INASP Health Links' sites are selected and evaluated according to criteria adapted from the evaluation questions developed by the Special Advisory Group on Evaluation for BIOME/OMNI, a gateway to Internet resources in the health and life sciences.
Selection Criteria: The first essential criterion is that the site contains information that is relevant for developing and transitional countries. In addition, selected sites must fulfill at least five of the following six criteria:
- Authority: Does the information come from a reliable source?
- Coverage: Does the resource cover the subject adequately?
- Presentation: Is the source professionally presented? Are there any typographical or grammatical errors?
- Currency: Is the information kept up-to-date?
- Cost: Is the resource free of charge?
- Freedom of use: Can the contents be freely adapted and redistributed to local end users?
Note: the above criteria were introduced in June 2002 and are applied to all new resources. Resources entered before June 2002 are currently being checked retrospectively. All resources have previously been reviewed informally, and it is anticipated that few if any will fail to meet the new criteria.
Evaluation Criteria: The following criteria are reviewed and summarized, where necessary, in the descriptive section of each link:
- Scope: Who is the intended audience and does this affect the suitability of the resource for inclusion?
- Coverage: What is the range of different subjects covered in the area?
- Coverage: Are there links to further information?
- Accessibility: Is the resource frequently unavailable due to server unreliability or overwhelming demand?
- Accessibility: Are large and unnecessary graphics used which inhibit ease of access?
- Accessibility: Is special hardware or software required to access the resource?
- Accessibility: Do users need to register to use the resource and, if so, is this free of charge and easy to do?
- Accessibility: What languages are available?
- Design and Layout: Is the resource well designed?
- Design and Layout: Is the design consistent between different parts of the same resource?
- Design and Layout: Are there any aids to finding information, such as site map, index, menu system or search facility?
- Design and Layout: Is advertising used? Is this appropriate or does it detract from the value of the information?
Users should note that the compilers do not have sufficient resources to evaluate the scientific accuracy of each website that is included in 'INASP Health Links'. The emphasis is on selecting websites that contain relevant health information for developing and transitional countries. While a set of criteria are employed, the evaluation of each specific website is not exhaustive and there is no guarantee of a high level of accuracy for all the information in the links. The addresses of the links are checked for accuracy approximately every eight to ten weeks (last check:17 December 2004).
Editorial and Advisory Groups
The descriptions on 'INASP Health Links' are written and compiled by Lenny
Rhine and Neil Pakenham-Walsh, INASP. (see: Biographical Information)
The development and maintenance of 'INASP Health Links' is facilitated and monitored by a voluntary Advisory Group coordinated by Christine Kanyengo, medical librarian at the University of Zambia. Individual pages of 'INASP Health Links' are advised by Subject Expert Advisers.
Important Notes
- 'INASP Health Links' is seen to be a short-term contribution to help address the increasing demand in developing and transitional countries for easy access to relevant, reliable health information on the Internet. 'INASP Health Links' has been produced with minimal resources and is not intended to be definitive nor comprehensive. It is hoped the site will encourage the collaborative development of more comprehensive sites by others.
- In the long term, health professionals in developing and transitional countries require an international collaborative effort to deliver comprehensive and quality-controlled gateway services in consultation with end-users. INASP encourages international cooperation among existing and planned initiatives, so that long-term solutions can be identified, implemented, evaluated, and improved.
- The INASP Health Gateway is designed to facilitate access to a range of information for health professionals and health information workers in developing and emerging countries. It is not designed for use by the general public.
- This site does not host any advertisements or receive any funding from advertising.
- Confidentiality of data relating to individual patients and visitors to this site, including their identity, is respected by this website. The site owners undertake to honour or exceed the legal requirements of medical/health information privacy that apply in the country and state where the website and mirror sites are located.
Background
'INASP Health Links' is adapted for international use from the original gateway provided by the University of Zambia School of Medicine Library (UNZA). The UNZA gateway was developed by UNZA staff in conjunction with Lenny Rhine, librarian at the University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries.
INASP is a cooperative network of partners that was established in 1992. Its mission is to enhance the flow of scientific and scholarly information within and between countries, especially those with less developed systems of publication and dissemination.
'INASP Health Links' acknowledges the support and contributions of Exchange, INASP, University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries, and University
of Zambia School of Medicine Library. 'INASP Health Links' is financially supported by the University of Florida and by Exchange, a DFID-funded networking and learning programme on health communications for development.
A Template for Customization by Others
'INASP Health Links' is offered freely for use as a template by others (eg medical school libraries, ministries of health, publishers, libraries, NGOs) to develop customized gateways on their own websites. This approach should reduce the risk of duplication of effort while maximizing the usefulness of the gateway for specific target groups.
Feedback
Help us to improve INASP Health Links. Please send your comments and suggestions to: [email protected]
© International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)
1998-2005.
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