Dear HIFA colleagues,
On Monday 17th July we are starting a new 5-week thematic discussion on Library and Information Services in emergencies, disasters and disease outbreaks. Please forward this message to your contacts and networks and invite them to join us.
Details are below and also online here: http://www.hifa.org/news/join-hifa-major-thematic-discussion-library-and...
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Join HIFA for a major thematic discussion on Library and Information Services in emergencies, disasters and disease outbreaks, 17 July - 18 August 2017
Tsunamis, earthquakes; terrorism; biological, chemical or nuclear warfare; disease outbreaks, global pandemics, antimicrobial resistance... The health impact of national and global emergencies depends largely on the degree to which individuals, communities, nations and supranational bodies are adequately informed. To what extent are current Library and Information Services (LIS) meeting the information needs of different user groups in different contexts? Where are the gaps and what are the priorities for future action?
We invite everyone with an interest in global health, disasters, disease outbreaks and humanitarian response to join us to explore these and other questions in a major thematic discussion on HIFA, starting 17 July and continuing to 18 August 2017.
The discussion will address the following themes and questions:
1. In week 1 we shall discuss the scope and remit of the HIFA LIS Project and how you can be involved. We'll also discuss the findings of the PHE/HIFA Evidence Briefing and invite you to suggest additional papers and publications we may have missed.
2. In week 2 we'll continue this theme by asking: What do we know about the availability and use of reliable information for global health emergencies, disasters and disease outbreaks? What works and what doesn't?
3. In week 3 we ask: Do you (or your organisation) have any real-life experience in dealing with an emergency/disaster/outbreak? Were you able to access/provide the information needed? What were the challenges and lessons learned?
Further questions will be addressed in weeks 4 and 5. (Please feel free to suggest questions you would like to explore)
We are grateful to Caroline DeBrun of Public Health England, who has carried out a preliminary PHE/HIFA Evidence Briefing around the question: What is the evidence around knowledge and library service provision and knowledge management to support global health, and disaster and emergency preparedness? We aim to have this briefing ready for you within the next few days.
Our thanks to Public Health England, Evidence Aid and HIFA LIS Project members for their financial and technical support for this new HIFA Library and Information Services project. You can find out more about the project here: http://www.hifa.org/projects/library-and-information-services
Best wishes, Neil
Coordinator, HIFA Project on Library and Information Services (with special focus on Population Health, Disasters, and Disease Outbreaks)
http://www.hifa.org/projects/library-and-information-services
Let's build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of healthcare information - Join HIFA: www.hifa.org
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA campaign (Healthcare Information For All - www.hifa.org ) and current chair of the Dgroups Foundation (www.dgroups.info), which supports 700 communities of practice for international development, social justice and global health. Twitter: @hifa_org FB: facebook.com/HIFAdotORG neil@hifa.org