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1999 Guide PRELIMINARY VERSION BIREME/OPS/OMS November 30, 1999 Introduction
Universal access to scientific and technical information in health (stih) is a requirement for health development. In other words, relevant and opportune stih must subsidize the actions and procedures involved in decision making related to health planning, administration, research, education, promotion and care. To seek a scenario, in which health-related decision making is more efficient because it is based on stih, is an enormous challenge to developing countries, specially, those in Latin America and the Caribbean. Cooperation among countries, through the national and regional institutions that produce, mediate and use information is indispensable to overcome this challenge. The Virtual Health Library is PAHO's proposal for promoting and operating technical cooperation with the countries and among countries aimed to attaining the goal of equal access to stih. The VHL proposal was presented by BIREME at the VI Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean System on Health Sciences, held in San Jose, Costa Rica, during the IV Pan-American Congress of Information on Health Sciences, the week of 23-28 March 1998. The proposal received unanimous approval from the System representatives and the San Jose Declaration Towards the Virtual Health Library was approved. This paper is identified as a guide because it retakes the VHL proposal and, based on the experience obtained from its development over the last year and a half, it offers a series of details, interpretations and guidance for building a network of information sources as well as the VHL development strategy. It particularly reaffirms the VHL as a new paradigm of cooperation and handling of technical and scientific information on health in the Region, the adoption of which requires new forms of organization and operation to promote active participation of producers, intermediaries and users of information on health. 2. Building a network of information sources for the VHL The VHL is founded on the information paradigm established by the Internet in which a user can interact directly with networks of information sources as well as with other users. Thus, the VHL is conceived as a network of stih sources, operated on the Internet in a cooperative manner by countries in the Latin American and Caribbean Region. For the next few years, PAHO stih technical cooperation, coordinated by BIREME's, will concentrate on building and operating a network of VHL information sources. As a Library, the VHL is a decentralized and dynamic collection of information sources aimed to availing democratic access to scientific information on health. The collection is operated as a network of products and services on the Internet, in order to progressively fulfil the health information needs of authorities, administrators, researchers, teachers, students, professionals, technicians, media and general public. The VHL stands out among other sources of information on the Internet because of its high level of criteria in selection and quality control. In establishing a site on the Internet, the VHL contributes towards solving the problem derived from the great dispersion of information sources on the Internet and the limited reliability of retrieval procedures. It also contributes to minimize duplications resulting in resource economy and reduced inconsistencies. To more easily understand, organize, implement, establish priority and decentralize operations of the VHL information sources, they are classified in six major categories described below. Within the VHL universe, an information source is defined as any information resource, product or service, as well as an individual or community of individuals, that attends to the VHL user’s information requirements
Here are included the production and dissemination in the VHL of national and international bibliographic references, directories of health-related entities and events, factual databases and numerical databases. The network of databases integrated in the LILACS system stands out among other bibliographic databases, registering a collection of scientific and technical literature on health-related matters, including legislation, produced by countries, as well as regional and sub-regional organizations. The LILACS database system in the VHL must ensure that over the next few years it will offer the Region universal and visible access to scientific technical literature on health. Bibliographic inputs will be enhanced progressively with links that allow locating authors and institutions as well as complete referenced texts. The LILACS system is complemented by providing access to international databases, such as the varied versions of MEDLINE. The VHL counts on its common retrieval interface iAH for operating bibliographic databases, which is public domain among the institutions that operate the VHL. Associated to bibliographic databases, the VHL operates SCAD – Service for Accessing Documents that allows online operation of all transactions to access an original document. The system that operates SCAD is integrated with the iAH interface. In this manner, over the next years, it will be possible to access complete texts in the bibliographic database, either via connections to electronic texts, and/or electronic copies of paper documents. Within the VHL, the directories include, among others, information of institutions, specialists, projects, events (conferences, seminars, etc.), courses, etc. with the objective of being more efficient in locating, referencing, documenting, creating networks and evaluating the players, activities and events related to health areas. Records of these directory databases allow the establishment of connections with other VHL sources of information aimed at molding a space integrating events, players and authors with other VHL sources of information. The directories are operated in a decentralized manner and networked in the VHL. The VHL has public domain systems to operate the directories, which should be progressively improved to fulfill increasing requirements related to content as well as access and navigation capacity. Over the next years, operating the directories will allow a high degree of efficiency in all tasks that demand relating players and events in fields related to health. Numerical databases include different sources of information generated by health management information systems, vital statistics systems, epidemiological surveillance, surveys and demographic censuses, etc. These information sources should be consistently enriched with connections to other VHL sources of information, especially scientific literature and other products and services related to decision-making. Factual databases on the VHL will operate information on chemical substances, health related instruments and technology, experiments, case studies, etc. Information in the factual database will consistently be enriched with links to bibliographic records, directories, etc. b. electronic publications Electronic publications include the operation in the VHL of national and international health related electronic full texts of scientific and technical literature. The VHL operates online electronic publications of all types of scientific technical literature entered in the LILACS database system, including scientific journals, monographs (including books), theses, government documents, documents prepared by PAHO and other regional organizations, papers presented at congresses, manuals, guidelines, epidemiological bulletins and legislation. Bibliographic records of the LILACS system databases will be linked to these full texts. Progressively, scientific journals will be published online, using SciELO Methodology, which offers advanced and efficient procedures to prepare, store, publish, save and evaluate electronic scientific publications. National and regional SciELO sites on the VHL will operate the highest quality scientific journals from countries in the Region. As a consequence of the development of SciELO sites, visibility and access of Latin American and Caribbean scientific production will increase radically. On the other hand, SciELO Methodology will gradually be applied to other types of literature, with the objective of developing a network of electronic publication collections covering all relevant publications produced by health institutions in the Region. The main institutions that produce stih, including Ministries of Health and other governmental entities, research and educational institutions, etc. should preferably develop electronic editorials (stored in integrated electronic publication sites) with the objective of efficiently organizing and controlling the quality of their own publications to facilitate retrieving, saving and operating within the VHL network. Continuous expansion of national communication networks makes it easier to access international scientific publications, especially scientific journals published on the Internet. Access to collections of subscription scientific journals should be set up in a consortium to allow for maximization of the number of users per dollar invested by national institutions. These well-established consortiums in many developed countries, are ideal forms of strategy in negotiating and operating subscriptions to scientific journals. Application of the consortium format should be disseminated in our countries with a view to optimizing the use of national resources, including demands of lower prices for developing countries. The focal point is no longer possessing the journals, but having access to them. On the other hand, the recent initiative of the National Institute of Health and the European Molecular Biology Organization to operate in the near future open access databanks of scientific health-related articles on the Internet will allow democratic access to international scientific production. With the development of SciELO scientific journal sites, the Region will be able to access a wide volume of complete texts online. c. information sources in support of education and decision-making This category includes an ample spectrum of information sources of didactic nature and/or directed at the decision-making processes in health-related matters. In support of education in health sciences, the VHL considers the development and operation of collections of electronic texts and multimedia with free access on the Internet and/or on the Intranets of educational institutions. These collections should support traditional courses or distance education formats. Included here are graduate and postgraduate courses, such as specialization courses, continued education courses, short courses for professionals and technicians, courses directed at the general public, etc. Development of a network of education support sources will allow these information sources to be used by innumerable courses, perfected in content and form, expanded in reach, inter-related, etc., thus, avoiding duplication and scattering. In a few years time, the VHL will become a common site of excellence for producers, intermediaries and users of educational support material. The VHL will also contribute to the evaluation processes of the different systems and methodologies applied to distance education. With reference to development and operation of information sources to support health-related decision making, the VHL proposal includes different contexts, situations and users, such as authorities, management, scientists, professors, health professionals and the public in general. Included here are text and multimedia scientific dissemination, targeted at specific publics and situations, numeric indicators, manuals, professional practice and general public guidelines, consensus statements based on evidence, case studies, experience reports of experiments that may be repeated or should be avoided, collections of answers to most frequent questions covering specific subjects, interviews to specialist, material to support public online consultation services, telemedicine practice, material to support situation rooms, etc. In a manner identical to the strategy applied to information sources in support of education, the VHL foresees developing a network of information sources in support of decision-making that would stimulate its reuse, improvement, expansion and inter-relation to avoid unnecessary duplication. Building and operation of this information sources network in varied contexts will definitely contribute to a scenario in which the decision-making processes in health related matters will bank on relevant and opportune technical scientific information. VHL construction and operation does consider the continual development of public domain methodology and instruments to prepare, store and spread information sources in support of decision-making. d. selective data dissemination VHL offers selective information dissemination, that is a service aimed at alerting subscribers to new sources of information included and/or referenced in the VHL, according to predetermined thematic profiles. As the volume of information held by VHL increases, this service will become increasingly important based on its objective of enhancing user time worth. On the other hand, the selective information dissemination service will increase visibility of the information sources as they become integrated and/or referenced in VHL. The VHL will develop a network of profiles or specializations aiming at efficiently answering the professional updating needs of specialized communities, or of those interested in specific subjects. The profiles will be adjusted as they are used. User subscriptions to selective information dissemination services, as well as recommendations and/or definitions of new profiles will be processed online. Alerts will be sent to users via Internet services such as e-mail, web or PUSH. SDI services should be used to attend to user communities that are not connected to the Internet through intermediary agents. e. communication within the VHL One of the basic characteristics of the Internet paradigm is intensive and fast communication among people and establishment of virtual communities centered on specific matters or interests. It is characterized by means of communication directly operated by the user who has been given the power of initiative and the capability to directly operate data source networks without imposing time and space limitations. The VHL construction is based on this paradigm. Within the VHL, communication encompasses stih information sources that promote and establish direct and indirect communication among users. Included here, for example, are listings of debates, teleconferences, online interviews, forums, specialist consultations, etc. The VHL will operate and reference the communication information sources. Communication also includes information sources both in news and news clippings format. f. The VHL integrating components Integration and definition of the VHL space as well as outside source referencing is given by the use of DeCs vocabulary –Descriptors in Health Sciences, LIS – Health Information Locator, and other methodology common to information sources. The VHL space is defined by network operation of decentralized information sources. The network is established, on one hand, by either static or dynamic predetermined links among information sources and, on the other, by responses from the information sources to content search and navigation. In the latter case, the network construction is based on the data source’s capacity to respond to content requests. Use of terminology or predetermined vocabulary to describe overall information sources and the information they contain is the mechanism VHL applies to maximize response capacity to content requests. VHL controlled vocabulary, DeCS – Descriptors in Health Sciences is operated in a three-language database– Spanish, Portuguese and English. DeCS terminology and structure is based on MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which allows its participation with Spanish and Portuguese terms in the Unified Medical Language System - UMLS of the NLM. The DeCS contains over 25,000 entries, including terms from MeSH and terms included by BIREME to describe/retrieve information sources in public health and homeopathy. The public health area contains over 6,000 terms and covers specific areas, such as, health service administration and health sector reform, areas of environmental sciences with sanitation engineering terminology, environmental health, natural disasters or disasters brought about by mankind, etc. Directories that reference internal and outside information sources to the VHL space are operated with LIS – Health Information Locator. LIS allows description and retrieval of information sources in a manner compatible with international standards. It also allows operation of directories covering varied geographic areas – divisions of a country, groups of countries within and without the Region. It is also possible to restrict operation to thematic areas. The VHL assumes there will be a national directory by country that will selectively reference national sources of technical scientific information in health. There will also be a regional directory that BIREME will operate. LIS will therefore allow retrieval of all information sources that form the VHL space. The third VHL integrating component is composed by common methodologies used by stih producer and intermediary institutions. The methodologies include directories, norms, manuals, registration forms, basic and application software, etc. Use of common methodologies increases possibilities for exchange, static and dynamic links, navigation, evaluation, etc. among information sources. It also facilitates training of human resources and contributes toward less costly instruments. The VHL has a series of public domain methodologies to operate the diverse information sources. This area in the VHL needs constant development since construction and operation of the VHL continuously requires preparation of new methodologies and improvement of existing ones. The producer, intermediary and user institutions are responsible for contributing to the development of the VHL collection of common methodologies. g. Development of the information source network
3. The VHL as a paradigm of Scientific and Technical Information in Health Producers, intermediaries and users of stih are availed common virtual space in the VHL that allows for decentralized operation of information sources. While the space is common, the VHL is structured with compatible methodologies, including the application of selection and quality control criteria that sets it apart from other sources of information on the Internet. In this manner, the VHL assures development of a reliable space, in which, on one hand, producers and intermediaries can offer their products and information services, and, on the other, users interact or navigate through sources of information that will adequately respond to their information requirements. Also, constructing and operating the VHL generates conditions that allow institutions and the community of health professionals in the Region to access and intensively use advanced information technologies. The VHL represents a space in which to link and progressively join know-how among producers, intermediaries and users of stih within the Region and within the Internet paradigm. Constructing and operating the VHL means that in the near future a series of problems and limitations in the stih technical cooperation format used over the last ten years will be overcome successfully by the Latin American and Caribbean System on Health Sciences Information. In particular, the VHL will overcome limitations on space, time, size and up to date nature of the collections available in information sources, especially those supported by printed material available to the community of health professionals in the Region through libraries and traditional document storing facilities. Overcoming these limitations through the VHL is a condition essential for supplying the wide scope of health information users with the capacity to directly access the collection of updated and relevant information sources in the Region and fulfill their requirements. However, adopting and implementing the conditions and operation format characteristic of VHL represents an enormous challenge to institutions in the Region that produce and intermediate stih. The challenge is particularly applicable to the ten-year old operation format of institutions, libraries and information centers that integrate the Latin American and Caribbean System on Health Sciences Information, that must undergo profound renovation and expansion, especially:
Overcoming these challenges is intrinsic to the VHL. That is, in regard to technical cooperation programs, the VHL includes in addition to the construction and operation activities, the very process of learning and creating its own development capability. In other words, decentralized construction of the VHL will enable countries in the Region to learn new information and communication technologies. It is important to note that the change represented by Internet in general, and the VHL in particular, is unavoidable! The stih Producers and intermediaries that do not promote this change in their modus operandi will cease to efficiently cater to their users needs and will jeopardize their own survival. Resistance to change on the part of stih producers and intermediaries bent on maintaining obsolete operational formats, will translate into penalizing the community of users that, contrary to the international trend, will be subject to limitations in their access to information sources in the Region. However, it is also important to note that the classic principles that govern the mission and work of libraries and information centers remain valid and even more explicit as society uses information more intensely. It is worthy noting that this is the main reason behind the Library’s denomination as the Virtual Health Library. Changes brought about by adopting the VHL, primarily and fundamentally affect and demand response by managerial and technical human resources. Adoption of the VHL format by managers and technicians is essential for institutions to renew adequately and opportunely their organizational structure and their information sources and technology infrastructures. Controls represented by structures, policies, procedures, interests and conventions that in practice represent resistance or obstruction to implementation of the VHL format should be re-evaluated, made flexible and/or eliminated. In the particular cases of BIREME and the Latin American and Caribbean System on Health Sciences Information, which congregate health libraries and documentation centers in countries of the Region, there is a tradition, developed over the last three decades, to renovate and overhaul obsolete formats of organization and data processing. Some historical examples are pioneer de-centralization of automated cooperative bibliographical control through the LILACS system database, cooperative access to documentation, and early implementation of CD-ROM technology at the end of the 1980’s, which allowed local access of countries in the Region to the LILACS and MEDLINE databases for the first time. A more recent example is the unanimous and enthusiastic approval of the VHL proposal presented by BIREME in March 1998 at the VI Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean System on Health Sciences via the San Jose Declaration towards the Virtual Health Library. Therefore, there are examples and experiments contributing to the adoption of the VHL for operating sources of scientific and technical information in health within countries in the Region. In particular, all BIREME/PAHO action in promoting and undertaking technical cooperation is centered on building and operating the VHL. 4. The way to the VHL The way to the VHL, meaning the processes for disseminating, adopting, developing and operating the VHL, can be seen and analyzed as traced by two main guidelines. The first guideline refers to VHL development in time, that is, the implementation periods or scenarios to be developed over the next five years. The second directional guideline refers to the organization, planning, fund raising and working levels and spaces involved in implementing the VHL, highlighting its focus on geographical and subject areas. The way to the VHS considers three major periods or scenarios:
The second VHL directional guideline promotes development of decentralized information sources, geographical (covering national, subregional and regional dimensions) and by subject areas.
Geographical and by subject areas development of the VHL is complementary. In both cases, VHL implementation plans should consider or be guided by the implementation phases or scenarios programmed to occur within the next five years. Overall, the VHL will form its virtual space by integrating decentralized progress geographically and by subject areas. Thus, it will be possible to navigate the complete network of information sources in the Region, from within the VHL space. 5. Organization and planning for implementing the VHL The VHL is being implemented in the Region, both geographically and by subject areas, and in accordance with the specifications in the basic VHL document, particularly, in the "Action plan to implement the VHL." BIREME has implemented the VHL at the Regional level and has cooperated in its decentralized development with national and regional institutions. VHL dissemination activities were undertaken during 1998 and 1999, in practically all countries in the Region. VHL implantation was successfully implemented in several countries and subject areas especially in regard to realignment of existing products and services. Initial VHL implementation activity shows that the proposal has extraordinary receptivity in every area and the advances made in certain countries and subject areas confirm the VHL feasibility. The institutions within the Latin American and Caribbean System on Health Sciences Information have played an important role in these advances. It is also true that many countries face major difficulties in implementing the VHL. Indicators of these difficulties are the delays, resistance, lack of political decision and support, scattered institutions or inability to adopt the VHL paradigm. All these, as previously stated, require the operation of information sources on electronic format via the Internet/VHL and getting producers, intermediaries and users to work jointly within the VHL. BIREME strongly recommends that development of the VHL at national level and by subject areas should have from the very beginning the support of Consulting Committees and implementation and development plans. An active Consulting Committee that congregates the main stih agents in a country or covers a certain subject area is one of the (pre) conditions for efficient and sustainable development in adopting and operating the VHL. A second condition is to be able to rely on a national plan to direct the VHL within a country or subject area, initially concentrated in organizing the two scenarios for the following years, which are "implementing the VHL" and "the VHL builds momentum". Setting up a Consulting Committee in a country or about a subject area is generally preceded by a discussion among representative institutions about stih producers, intermediaries and users. The discussion contributes to understanding the overall VHL proposition and its implications, tanking into consideration the conditions and contexts within which it will be adopted. The national or subject Consulting Committee should congregate representatives from the main institutions of producers, intermediaries and users of technical scientific information in the country or on the subject area. Included here are Health Ministries and related entities, educational and research institutions, national science and technology committees, scientific and professional societies, groups of scientific editors, as well as libraries, documentation centers and information networks and systems. Especially included are the National Coordinating Centers, the Specialized System Coordinating Centers and the cooperating centers that integrate the Latin American and Caribbean System on Health Sciences Information. The role these centers play in establishing and operating the Consulting Committees can vary considerably, according to local conditions and contexts. The centers can assume leadership in arranging and setting up the Committee or play an important or passive role in the process. It is important to note that, with rare exceptions in small countries, no isolated center is capable of fully operating stih information sources of a country or subject area. Furthermore, the very essence of the VHL is the decentralized information sources operation. The role of the Consulting Committee is to assure active and equal participation of all institutions interested in constructing the VHL. Furthermore, the Committee establishes guidelines, strategies and criteria for the VHL operation according to national priorities and conditions, or by subject areas. Committee discussions and recommendations should guide the VHL operation. The institutions whenever possible should be represented in the Committee by authorities, managers and technicians as a way to make their political goals compatible with the technological conditions and applications. Activities related to organizing, establishing, documenting and working the Committee should have the support from one or more institutions. Candidates to play these roles are the institutions that form the national health science information network system. It is always advisable that several institutions play this role and in certain cases relayed work mechanisms can sometimes be established. PAHO representatives in the country, as well as PAHO Specialized Centers can undertake an important role in establishing and operating Consulting Committees. Consulting Committees should be formalized and legalized as part of the consolidating procedure. Consulting Committees should have active participation in the debates, preparation, implementation, follow-up and evaluation of the VHL national and subject area development plans. Policies, strategies, guidelines and priorities for establishing future VHL scenarios are defined during the planning stage. Implantation of the plans must be decentralized, and placed under the responsibility of institutions that may be integrated or not in the Consulting Committees. Plans should be flexible and subject to reformulation so they do not impose restrictions to VHL development. BIREME recommends that plans be translated or developed by means of specific projects targeted at creating, developing and operating the VHL information sources. Specific projects make it easier to define priorities according to needs and available resources, as well as distributing the responsibilities and networking. Specific projects are undertaken by one or more institutions and the project distribution criteria should consider institution efficiency and subject area. Some important aspects are derived from the formulation of possible specific projects targeted at the VHL. First, it is impossible for one institution to take total control of the complete process. Second, resources to undertake the work are limited, which implies the need to define priorities and establish restrictions. Third, the collection of projects can be undertaken as a portfolio of projects when negotiating financing by national and international agencies. As a contribution to formulating national plans and specific projects, during 1999, BIREME has worked with the following list of project lines, all of which derive from six types of information sources within the VHL framework.
The specific objective of this line of projects is to set up and operate the main page of a country or subject area (at national or regional levels). The main page is the entrance door or integrating point of related information source networks. Another important role played by the main page is to register news and statistics on the development of the information source network. b.Technical scientific literature The specific objective of this line of projects is to operate technical scientific literature information sources related to the project. It covers an ample range of activities and information sources. It is advisable to divide it into several projects, including, for example, (1) Bibliographic control of literature based on the LILACS database System; (2) Bibliographic control of legislation integrated in the LEYES database; (3) Online operation of bibliographic databases; (4) Online operation of library monograph directories; (5) Online operation of a "books in print" directory; (6) Audiovisual directory; (7) Directory of health sciences series (SeCS); (8) Cooperative access service to documents (SCAD); (9) Development of consortiums for cooperative access to international collections of scientific journals; (10) Development of collections of electronic scientific journals (SciELO); (11) Development of electronic editors at producer institutions. c. Directories of institutions, specialists, projects, courses, events, etc. The objective of this line of projects is the operation of health-related entities and events within the VHL. It can be divided into several projects each aimed at guiding to a type of entity or event, such as, (1) institutions; (2) specialists; (3) research projects; (4) courses; and (5) events. d. Support to decision-making procedures The objective of this line of projects is the operation of information sources that support varied decision-making procedures. The scope of this line is very wide. Therefore, it must be divided into several projects, the implementation of which will be undertaken by specific institutions and communities, since the information sources must be placed in context relating to content, form and operation. During the VHL implementation phase, the development of specific projects aimed at different segments of public is recommended, including health administrators of the national health systems at various levels, health professionals and the general public. e. Support to health education The objective of this line of projects is the operation of information sources in support of the different health education programs, including regular courses in health sciences, continued education, courses targeted at the general public, etc. This line of projects is very ample in scope and its set up and development depend on mobilizing related institutions. There is, for example, a demand for experimental support projects, with information sources for distance education. Other projects should aim at getting faculties to publish teaching material from their regular courses in their Intranets or the Internet, and that scientific and professional societies publish supporting teaching material for continued education courses. f. Selective information dissemination The objective of this line of projects is the operation of selective dissemination of national and by subject areas information services. Included here are services to connected and unconnected user communities. g. Communication: news, list of debates, teleconferences The objective of this line of projects is the operation of information sources aimed at divulging information to different communities about health related events, as well as stimulating communication among individuals by means of lists of debates, forums, specialist consultation, teleconferences, etc. An important project within this line of projects is the development of human resources and technology infrastructures to operate these new communication technologies. h. Health Sciences Descriptor - DeCS The objective of this line of projects is to disseminate and develop a DeCS vocabulary to support operation of other information sources, including description and retrieval of entries contents and information sources. Training courses, and subject area creation and revision are included here. i. The VHL exhibitions and seminars The objective of this line of projects is to hold exhibitions, seminars, conferences, fairs, etc. within the VHL, on subjects of interest for the development and updating of specific communities and the general public. This virtual events can be held twice or 3 times a year and undertaken by one or several specialized institutions related to the central subject. j. Health information locator - LIS
6. VHL development principles VHL construction and operation assumes the observation of a series of principles derived from its conception and its condition as a space for promoting and undertaking technical cooperation in stih aimed at availing all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean equal information access to health related information. The governing principle is the search for equity in the VHL development and operation, as an expression of the commitment aimed at attaining equity in stih access. By applying this principle to different geographic contexts (including countries, sub-regions, and the Latin America and the Caribbean Region as a whole), and within the different contexts defined by subject area, the VHL, as it develops, must ensure that all entities directly or indirectly related to stih be availed the opportunity to participate. Here lies the reason this paper has attributed importance to the formation of Consulting Committees as a means of promoting the principle of equity in development and operation of the VHL. The second principle emphasizes that policies and actions for adopting the new paradigm must have priority. It is directed in essence at the current VHL phase, "implementing the VHL." As a consequence of this principle, technical cooperation activities, information policies definition and application, resource application, etc. as related to stih, must be guided, whenever possible, to adopting the VHL paradigm. Since the new paradigm points to expansion of the capacity to disseminate information, observance of this principle contributes to increasing efficiency in terms of future returns when applying financial resources. On the other hand, this principle also contributes to feeding debate and actions aimed at overcoming resistance and barriers imposed for adopting the VHL. The third principle calls for priority to be given to policies and actions to promote and establish alliances and consortiums. This principle guides the VHL development towards maximizing shared use of resources directly or indirectly related to stih, available in a country, sub-region or the Region as a whole. Application of this principle also contributes towards accelerating the VHL development by generating synergy between diverse entities. Observance of this principle contributes to reduce inefficient and destructive competition among and within participating institutions. The fourth principle derives from the very conception of the VHL and is directed to decentralize operation at all levels. It is important to understand that the objective of this principle is to promote equal participation at all levels of the VHL operation. Furthermore, it does not prohibit centralized operation when it is more efficient and safe and relies on the support of all parties involved. The principle also stresses the necessity to stimulate institutions to also dedicate work to developing methodology to construct and operate the VHL. The fifth principle guides VHL development based on local conditions and it is very important because it opens the door for all interested parties to participate. This principle applies to political, social, economic and cultural conditions within which the VHL develops, and to infrastructure conditions of stih resources, telecommunication and human resources. The principle applies equally to privileged and unprivileged participating institutions insofar as access and ownership of resources is concerned. The last principle is aimed at establishing and applying integrated mechanisms for evaluation and quality control in the decentralized operation of information sources, targeted at promoting the reliable and trustworthy characteristics of the VHL space.
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