NECOBELAC · Network of collaboration between Europe and Latin American Caribbean countries to spread know-how in scientific writing and provide the best tools to exploit open access information in public health

The idea is to spread know-how in the production, dissemination and retrieval and use of health information in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, on the basis of the European and LAC experiences, the analysis of the different socio-cultural landscapes and the specific health information needs of the areas involved. The project will strengthen awareness about the benefits of the new publication model (open access) and create a network of institutions closely collaborating in ad hoc training programs; the first steps will regard the necessity to develop and exchange know-how in information production and diffusion (including technical and ethical issues) among all stakeholders. Specific infrastructures will be developed to promote cultural change. The project acts through a two level training approach (train-the-trainers and local training) including the use of topic maps as innovative tool based on semantic web. Traning activities will be developed both in Europe and LAC. A unifying Project such as NECOBELAC will contribute to strengthen the coordination, development and effectiveness of existing health related information infrastructures in Europe and Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC), in order to achieve a wider scale uptake of community engagement, embedding the use of open access methods within accepted working practices. The countries involved will benefit from contacts with leaders in the field of open access development and will be able to share their experiences thus strengthening networks of collaboration with mutual advantages: - Europe will be able to benefit by increased access to the research outputs of Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) and by the wider adoption of open access methods - LAC countries will be able to benefit from sharing quality programs in launching and operating open access initiatives and strengthen their existing networks and collections in the health sciences including the Virtual Health Library and Scientific Electronic Library Online both launched 10 years ago and achieving progressively sustainable operation since then. NECOBELAC will show how international bi-directional cooperation is an added value contributing to the capacity building process by embedding information dissemination practices in different geographical areas with diverse cultural and technological scenarios.