Online Health Information Access and Use: Intensive National-Level, Health Sector Capacity Development and Training

About the programme
The Hanoi School of Public Health (Vietnam), the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (UK) and the International Network for Online Resources and Materials (Sweden) are undertaking a joint national-level, intensive, capacity development and training programme on online information access and use for health sector librarians, researchers and professionals within Vietnamese universities with health focused programmes and research activities.

The programme will run over three years from 2008-10 and is being supported with funding from Atlantic Philanthropies and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications. In country activities are scheduled start from January 2009 and run until the end of 2010. The programme will involve the training of a group of 20 master trainers and health-information experts drawn from leading universities and organisations working in this area in Vietnam. These master trainers will be trained over three intensive training workshops (one run over two weeks and then two one week workshops) delivered by international experts. Working in teams of two, these trainers will then be supported to go on to design and implement their own institutional level training activities to their end users in this area.

The aim is to provide high quality training in accessing and using online information resources in health and related areas for over 600 researchers, practitioners and students. In addition, the programme will build the capacity of the libraries and institutions participating in the programme to design, run and effectively deliver their own health information training programmes and activities.

Resources are available through the programme to both train the master trainers and to support the costs of subsequent institutional and regional training workshops. Training and support will be freely provided to all participating institutions.

The aim of the programme is to:

  • Get online information access and usage ingrained across the health research and education sector in Vietnam.
  • Take full advantage of the online information resources that are now available.
  • Build the capacity of librarians and information professionals to effectively provide e-information services.
  • Enhance the health sector by encouraging better use of up to date information via online information resources.

The programme will do this by:

  • Training selected librarians and information professionals to provide high-quality, high-impact online-information training.
  • Developing distributed teams of expert practitioners who can collaborate and combine their knowledge and experiences.
  • Supporting librarians to run and deliver a series of high-quality, high-impact online-information training workshops to health researchers, practitioners and students in participating institutions.
  • Supporting and providing training for over 600 people during the programme.
  • Providing locally tailored training materials and supporting information resources that can be used by all participants in the programme to optimise their access and use of online health information resources.

Participating institutions
The master trainers and their host institutions are currently being selected. Their details will be finalised in early 2009 and posted here. They will be drawn from Vietnamese universities with health focused programmes and research activities.

Forthcoming events
The following events are planned as part of this programme of activities. Additional, institutional level training activities will be undertaken in 2009-10. Participation in the events detailed here is by invitation only.

Training Dates and Location
Project launch and protocol meeting 2 March 2009, Hanoi
First master trainers workshop: Online health information 3-13 March 2009, Hanoi
Second master trainers workshop: Proactive librarianship and training the trainer 4-8 May 2009, Hanoi
Third master trainers workshop: Practice and planning; client focused training 8-12 June 2009. Hanoi
Regional pilot workshop: Online health information 15-17 October; 4-6 December 2009, Nortern Region
Regional pilot workshop: Online health information 23-25 October, 27-29 November 2009, Central Region
Regional pilot workshop: Online health information 19-21 October, 30 November - 2 December 2009, Southern Region
Institutional level workshops: Online health information TBC in 2010


Additional information

Programme partners and funding