Transcript New technologies and disaster information resources

New technologies and disaster
information resources
Part 3. Where to find
disaster information
Principal Sources
 The World Wide Web
 CD-ROMs
 Disaster Information Centers
Principal tools
The World Wide Web
Problems:
 the overwhelming amount of information
 the disorganized nature of the information
 lack of standards and quality control
 slow connection speeds
What gives value added to
disaster information?
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A reliable source
Speed
Quality and relevance of content
Organization
A combination of resources
Has a focus
It’s up-to-date
Good design and easy to navigate
What makes a good web site?
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Simplicity
Graphics, fonts, colors
Ease of navigation
Avoid needless animation
Reduce “download” time
Good (and working!) “links”
Up-to-date information
Include “meta tags”
A search engine
Quality control
The growth of Internet access can generate inequities
in access to information.
We cannot cater exclusively to the
online community.
Keep in mind the
needs, interests and
limitations of all users.
The Internet is not the only
source of digital information . . .
CD-ROMs enable
widespread use of
information in electronic
format when the Internet
is not accessible. They
are:
 low cost
 easy to use
 economies of scale
 large storage
capacity
CD-ROM: The Virtual Health Library
for Disasters
The Global Virtual Library of Essential
Information Resources on Public Health for
Disasters and Complex Emergencies (2001
Edition)
What is the Virtual Disaster
Library?
 An open and changing collection
 Information in Spanish, English and French
 An organized collection of technical and scientific
documents selected for their quality of content
 Available free of charge, it does away with
restrictions of time an space imposed by Internet
 Dual platform: CD-ROM and Internet
 Dual electronic format: HTML and PDF
New edition of the Virtual Health
Library for Disasters
The same objective:
facilitate fast and low-cost
access to technical and
scientific publications on
health and disasters.
What’s new?
 A global collection, prepared by PAHO and WHO, with
collaboration from some of the most imporant
international organizations working in health,
emergencies and disasters: UNICEF, UNHCR, ICRS.
 Expanded content and themataic coverage: now
more than 400 technical documents including the
most important publications on emergencies and
disasters from these organizations.
 Easier to search, with material in in three languages.
Topics
Public health in disasters and emergencies
Disaster preparedness and response
Human rights and humanitarian legislation
Environmental health and chemical agents
Refugee health and displaced populations
Communicable and vector-borne diseases
Food and nutrition
Reproductive health, child health and immunization
Mental health
Supply management and essential drugs
Medical management of the consequences of war
A note . . .
The easiest part of the process was
harnessing the technology.
The most difficult part was
negotiating with organizations to
relinquish copyrights.
The process helped to eliminate, or
at least reduce, bureaucratic
tendencies.
Many advantages
 Permanent and unlimited access to
information
 Reduced printing and distribution costs
 Easy to update
 Can personalize how information is
manipulated and distributed.
Technology and training
The use of technology
should be supported
by training and
education.
Internet is just a tool –
it doesn’t provide the
skills to search for
information or the
capacity to interpret
and understand it.
Training, training, training . . .
“How do organisations convince people that
training is much more than courses, that it is
about life-long commitment to workplace
learning, continuous improvement and
discovery.”
Alistair Rylatt & Kevin Lohan, Creating Training Miracles, 1995
“In the end we retain from our studies only
that which we practically apply.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Remember the principal
challenges
Connectivity, but with value added
Training
Content
Promoting other technologies and not
forgetting those on the other side of the
digital divide
Promoting institutionalized information
services and centers.
Disaster Information Centers
 Regional Disaster Information Center
(CRID)
Caribbean Disaster Information Network
(CARDIN)
CRID: An institutional alliance
Management
Advocacy
PAHO
ISDR
CRID
Administrative
support
FUNDACRID
CNE
IFRC
CEPREDENA
C
Sustainability
What can CRID do for your
organization?
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Satisfy information needs
Publish and distribute bibliographical material (Bibliodes)
Conversion to digital format and distribution of e-documents
Technical advice on creating information centers
Promote inter-institutional collaboration
Distribute technical documentation
Help to create strategic alliances
Creates a “culture” of information
Contributes to improving vulnerability and risk
reduction in the Caribbean
CRID Information Resources
Databases and bibliographic services
Publications in digital format
Support for education and decision making
Integrating methodologies and resources
Bibliographic Databases
DESASTRES
VIDEOS
Contacts
Electronic Publications
Usefulness of electronic
publications
 Paradigm shift: a virtual CRID
 Decentralizes and opens up the collection.
 Transfers the experience and methodology of
work
 Makes widely available material that otherwise
would have a limited audience
Support to education and
decision making
Includes texts and multimedia materials,
directed to specific publics and situations:
Manuals,
Guidelines for professionals and the public
Case studies
Catalog of experiences that could be replicated or
should be avoided.
Frequently-asked questions
Reference materials for “situation rooms”
CARDIN
Caribbean Disaster
Information Network
Remember . . .
Beware of technology fanatics!
Digital or electronic
“gold fever” can be
as volatile and risky
as any other fever!
“I’m connected,
therefore I am!
. . . not the other way
around!