Publishing,libraries and new technologies in Europe—today and tomorrow*

相似文献   

Henry Holt a-spinning in his grave: Literary agenting yesterday and today

The role of the literary agent and the reception granted agents by publishers have changed markedly over the course of the twentieth century. Henry Holt’s views of agents, written in the first decade of the century, help define the status and activities of agents at that time. These are compared with the role of agents today, using archival sources, the book trade literature, and interviews. Thomas L. Bonn, review editor of this journal, is a librarian, Library at State University College at Cortland. He is the author ofUnder Cover: An Illustrated History of American Mass Market Paperbacks andHeavy Traffic and High Culture: The New American Library as Literary Gatekeeper. He is working on a study of American literary agents.     

China opening up: Chinese university journals and research — today and tomorrow

This paper provides a general background on China's academic publishing sector. It discusses the statistics of the sector, shows plans for future development, and offers a longer‐term view both from within and externally.     

Dissemination of public health information: key tools utilised by the NECOBELAC network in Europe and Latin America

Background: Open Access (OA) to scientific information is an important step forward in communication patterns, yet we still need to reinforce OA principles to promote a cultural change of traditional publishing practices. The advantages of free access to scientific information are even more evident in public health where knowledge is directly associated with human wellbeing. Objectives: An OA ‘consolidation’ initiative in public health is presented to show how the involvement of people and institutions is fundamental to create awareness on OA and promote a cultural change. This initiative is developed within the project NEtwork of COllaboration Between Europe and Latin American Caribbean countries (NECOBELAC), financed by the European Commission. Methods: Three actions are envisaged: Capacity building through a flexible and sustainable training programme on scientific writing and OA publishing; creation of training tools based on semantic web technologies; development of a network of supporting institutions. Results: In 2010–2011, 23 training initiatives were performed involving 856 participants from 15 countries; topic maps on scientific publication and OA were produced; 195 institutions are included in the network. Conclusions: Cultural change in scientific dissemination practices is a long process requiring a flexible approach and strong commitment by all stakeholders.     

Community Health Map: A geospatial and multivariate data visualization tool for public health datasets

Trillions of dollars are spent each year on health care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services keeps track of a variety of health care indicators across the country, resulting in a large geospatially multivariate data set. Current visualization tools for such data sets make it difficult to make multivariate comparisons and show the geographic distribution of the selected variables at the same time. Community Health Map is a web application that enables users to visualize health care data in multivariate space as well as geospatially. It is designed to aid exploration of this huge data repository and deliver deep insights for policy makers, journalists, consumer groups, and academic researchers. Users can visualize the geospatial distribution of a given variable on an interactive map, and compare two or more variables using charts and tables. By employing dynamic query filters, visualizations can be narrowed down to specific ranges and regions. Our presentation to policy makers and pilot usability evaluation suggest that the Community Health Map provides a comprehensible and powerful interface for policy makers to visualize health care quality, public health outcomes, and access to care in an effort to help them to make informed decisions about improving health care.     

美国社区信息学的典型实践、主要特色及有益借鉴

社区信息学是一个新的研究领域,美国的社会信息学教育和开发项目均取得了较大的成效。文章介绍了社区信息学的含义、主要内容和主要方法,阐述美国社区信息学的典型实践,着重描述美国一些大学"社区信息学"方向的人才培养和科学研究项目,分析其主要特色,并揭示美国社区信息学的进展对我国的有益借鉴意义。     

A bookshelf in public health, medical care, and allied fields

This bibliography of nonserial publications consists of 610 annotations. It is intended as a guide to the development of a collection for librarians and for health professionals in research and education. References are mostly to publications from 1960. Titles are in English. Both primary and secondary sources are cited.     

Community perceptions and utilization of a consumer health center

The purpose of this study was to understand factors that may affect the usage of a consumer health center located in a public library. More specifically, the authors wanted to know what health resources are of interest to the community, what patrons'' perceptions of their experience at the center are, and finally, how staff can increase utilization of the center. In general, perceptions of the center were positive. The findings support that participants appreciate efforts to provide health information in the public library setting and that utilization could be improved through marketing and outreach.Problems with health literacy—one''s ability to obtain, process, and understand basic information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions 1, 2—significantly limit effective dissemination and understanding of relevant health information, especially among racial and ethnic minorities where health literacy challenges are pervasive 3–5. People with limited health literacy skills have higher medical costs and use an inefficient mix of medical services 3, 6–13. This compromises their health and is a major source of economic inefficiency in the US health care system. Efforts to address low health literacy may result in reductions of health inequities, decreased medical costs, and enhanced quality of life 14. However, efforts to promote health literacy that seek to empower individuals to understand health information and act in their own interest remain an underexplored pathway to improved health outcomes 9.The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) encourages libraries to reach out to low literacy groups in their surrounding communities to address literacy challenges 15–17. These actions have resulted in development of consumer health libraries, centers where patrons can get accurate and timely health information. Preliminary investigations of consumer health libraries have reinforced the value of these services 18, 19, but there is little information regarding the provision of similar services in other public settings.The Healthy Living and Learning Center (HLLC), located in a public library in Petersburg, Virginia, was established in 2012 to provide one-on-one assistance in accessing health information and community resources. According to 2010–2013 census data, 25% of Petersburg residents are below the poverty line 20. Localities surrounding the HLLC experience some of the most unfavorable health outcomes in Virginia 21. In addition, 16%–24% of citizens in the surrounding localities are illiterate 22.The public library setting provides an appropriate context to initiate consumer health centers outside of medical settings. Librarians are already being asked to meet consumer demands for health information 15–17, and the provision of accurate health information is a natural extension of the services that public libraries provide. The American Library Association reports that 62% of libraries report that they are the only source of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities 23. According to a recent study from Pew, 35% of Americans 16 and older say they have used free Internet access points, 47% of whom have used these services to get health information 24. For a number of minorities, the public library is the only place they have Internet access 25. Thus, libraries not only remain a critical resource among the public, but may also have unique access to populations who are more vulnerable to health inequities.     

美国社区图书馆服务及其启示

美国是世界上社区图书馆最发达的国家之一,社区图书馆已经成为集学习、信息交流与娱乐为一体的充满活力的社区中心.其服务加强了社区建设,提高了社区居民个人素质,成为居民了解社区、融入社区的门户.美国社区图书馆服务对我国社区图书馆建设具有重要的借鉴作用.