The purpose of this Website is
to provide a forum for discussion of a new proposal for the
dissemination of scholarly writing in the nursing field.
We invite colleagues to:
> send us their views on the proposal,
> engage in discussion as to how such a network might be
developed,
> submit materials for a testbed for the network, and
> express interest in being involved in the development of the
network.
Further materials outlining
current thinking on the proposal will be added to this site over
the next few months. The proposal will be presented for
discussion at several conferences during 2003.
Linda Q. Thede - linda.thede@gnkn.org and
Peter J. Murray - peter.murray@gnkn.org
--- January 9, 2003
Latest additions to the site:
AMIA 2003 workshop materials >>> (added 20 November 2003)
'Open access for dummies' - a resource
>>> (added 29 October 2003)
Page contents:
what is the issue? >>>
some possible models >>>
implications >>>
invitation to participate >>>
What is the
issue?
As libraries are forced to cut
their budgets, the number of journals and articles published
increases as the knowledge base in healthcare expands. Currently
Medline indexes over 400,000 titles a year. With the exception of
large medical centers, libraries in most healthcare agencies have
never had the kind of financing needed to even begin to keep up
with the knowledge explosion. This is especially true in nursing
- very few health agency libraries carry many nursing journals.
Yet, today’s professional nurse is expected to practice
evidence-based care. Without access to nursing journals, as well
as other healthcare journals, providing the evidence is an
impossible task. Additionally, distance education is becoming
more common and many students do not live near a well endowed
academic library.
We believe that there is a
solution to this situation in the form of a Global Nursing
Knowledge Network. There are several different formats that such
a network could take, but the outcome would be world wide
Internet access to all nursing articles.
Some
possible models (see links page for further materials >>>)
One model for this type of
publication system has existed since 1991. Known as arXive (http://arxiv.org/ ),it is supported by
a National Science Foundation grant and Cornell University, and
provides a venue for scholarly publication. Papers are reviewed
post-publication by readers who post their reviews with the article.
Not only does this model provide maximum distribution, but it
provides a wide range of peer reviewers. It also preserves the
copyright for the author, and allows later publication in a print
journal.
Another model that is only a
small deviation from the current model is the National Library of
Medicine’s PubMed Central (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/).
Under this model, participating journals agree to post their peer
reviewed research articles after a length of time which varies
from immediately for the British Medical Journal (BMJ) to several years for some
other participating journals.
Currently
there are a few freely available online nursing journals; among
them are the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin/index.htm),
Online Journal of Nursing Informatics (http://eaa_knowledge.com/ojni/)
and the Internet Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice (http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath=journals/ijanp/front.xml).
(>>
further link to for a current list >>) These journals
provide a service to the nursing profession, with the cost in
time and money borne by individuals and supporting agencies.
There have also been some online nursing journals started with
the best of intentions by those desirous of a change in
information dissemination only to fall by the wayside when their
originators found the work load incompatible with other job
requirements.
Other initiatives and links of
relevance to this proposal include:
The Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.soros.org/openaccess/index.shtml)
The research-impact cycle – a
presentation by Tim Brody, e-prints.org:
downloadable Powerpoint version (http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving.ppt)
webpage version (http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Temp/self-archiving.htm)
Implications:
An open access model for nursing
literature will make it possible for all nurses to access all
nursing literature whether self employed, an academic or
supervisor at a large medical center, or a staff nurse in a small
hospital with no regular nursing library facilities. Further, it
will increase the visibility of nursing by allowing consumers,
reporters and other interested parties easy access to nursing
literature. Such a proposal has additional advantages of
supporting strategies for developing virtual learning
communities, making nursing more visible, and perhaps even
contributing to alleviating the nursing shortage.
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