RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
TIP: Bellanet
Bellanet (http://www.bellanet.org) is a Canada-based NGO that
supplies services, advice and training to meet the needs of
international development research communities and other
development networks whose members are separated by geography.
Bellanet provides advice and support to a range of partners on how to
most effectively use web- and email-based tools for group dialogues
and efforts toward the sharing of information.
Electronic newsletters and bulletins
Newsletters and bulletins are becoming increasingly available over e-mail as well
as, or instead of, in print format. They are distributed in text-based format
(without pictures or illustrations), and are often available free of charge. Some
publishers prefer to distribute their publications over e-mail to speed up delivery
times and to save on print and mailing costs, but offer the print version to those
who cannot or do not want to receive the electronic version. Some publications
are available electronically only, such as HNPFlash (for details see
http://www.worldbank.org/hnpflash) and WOUGNET Update Newsletter (see
http://www.wougnet.org).
The advantage of receiving newsletters and bulletins over e-mail is that selected
articles or whole issues can be passed on directly by e-mail to others who may be
interested. In addition, sections can be printed, copied to a word processor and
adapted or reproduced for other materials.
It is worth considering how to store electronic newsletters and bulletins for
reference by others. Key issues or articles could be printed and filed in the
resource centre. They could also be stored in their own folder on your computer
or on a disk.
Many journals and newsletters are also available on the Internet for those with
full Internet access (see Section 6.7.4). Usually, you can sign up for regular
notification of the latest issue and website address via e-mail, which will link to
an electronic (html or PDF) version of the document on the publisher’s website.
For details of over 150 free or low-cost international newsletters on health or
disability related issues, see the Source Newsletters and Journals database at:
http://www.asksource.info/databases.html
SECTION 6: COMPUTERS, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND DATABASES
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