Philippe Boucher's Rendez Vous with . . . Sharon Taylor
Rendez-vous in Atlanta
Rendez-vous with Sharon Taylor
Rendez-vous with Philippe Boucher
By Philippe BoucherRendez-vous in Atlanta
Monday, April 5
March 24 to 26 I attended the "international planning meeting Global information and surveillance systems for a tobacco free world" hosted by CDC in Atlanta.
This meeting was organized by CDC in partnership with WHO-TFI (Tobacco Free Initiative), UICC and the World Bank.
One of the outcome has been the creation of the "Tobacco (Control) Information Alliance".
According to its mission statement, " the Alliance brings together people and groups involved in tobacco control information and communication.
The Alliance's mission is to respond to tobacco related information needs and to improve accessibility, visibility, and continuity of this information in order to maximize its global impact."
I was part of the working group that proposed such an initiative.
The above simple sentences don't tell how we got there and what it means remains -- in my opinion -- rather abstract and sort of cryptic.
I wanted to try to share with you what happened and what it means as well as let the other participants of the meeting group express themselves.
To that effect I devised, rendez-vous like, a set of five questions that I submitted to the members of the group asking them to share with us that way their comments about this new Alliance.
I did not really expect it would be very easy to get answers from my "co-workers" because we all know how it is when we come back home after a 3 days meeting that is 5 days absence.
As of today I only received one answer (thank you very much Sharon) and I feel like I should give you my point of view (as well as Sharon's) so that you can eventually pitch in some comments and suggestions.
Here is Sharon's rendez-vous, followed by my "self interview".
P.S: Special thanks to Samira Asma and Namita Sharma (both with CDC) whose help and patience greatly facilitated our work in Atlanta.
Rendez-vous with Sharon Taylor
Thank you Sharon for accepting our rendez-vous.
May I ask you to introduce yourself?
I am a Systems/Reference Librarian working in the Library of the World Health Organization in Geneva.
My connection to Tobacco Control is through WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative.
The library has created and maintains the website for the group.
We actively collect and disseminate Tobacco control information through this electronic resource.
1. First question: How do you feel about the decision to set up such an alliance?
I am convinced that such an alliance can only increase our ability to organize, collect, manage and disseminate tobacco control information.
Many of us are already maintaining tobacco-related websites, listservs, databases, etc... and doing a good job of it.
But, in linking together our resources through this alliance I believe that we can better serve both the public at large and the policy makers.
I believe that we have the ability to co-ordinate our efforts in such a way as to reduce duplication, increase access to information and create a stronger support system for all of us.
2. Why do you think such a structure is needed?
A structure such as this offers the opportunity to link together advocacy groups, government organizations and NGO's...all working together to support increased access to tobacco control information.
Each of us has our own audiences, with their own particular information needs...this alliance will allow audiences to access information from a wider variety of sources.
As was mentioned at the meeting...we can create a one-stop information zone for Tobacco Control Information; a zone with many different entry points.
3. Can you give us one or more concrete examples of what the Alliance could achieve that would have been more difficult or impossible without it?
One example would be the ability for our Library to provide WHO Tobacco-related information to a larger audience by making them aware of this information through our other partners in the alliance.
Many of the partners sitting at the table with me in Atlanta maintain websites that draw a large audience; this same audience may not know about some of the information being prepared and produced by WHO.
It is not always easy to find information on a website as large as WHO...so if we can bring the information to the user through other weblinks, through other contexts, etc. then that would be a concrete example of the alliance making a difference.
Another example could be the possibility of the alliance working on a controlled vocabulary (MeSH) and mark-up language (such as XML), to improve access to information being shared amongst us, through our websites.
If we had a search engine that was designed to search across all of our sites, and if we worked towards putting our information on our websites in a controlled manner...then this would really increase the chance that individuals and organizations seeking tobacco-control information would be better served by connecting to the alliance webspace.
Can I add that it is not just about getting information out. It's about knowing how to use that information and how to synthesize new information from what we obtain.
The alliance will also work towards not simply putting out information, but responding to what is lacking in information on tobacco-control.
Each of our audiences can act as probes, telling the alliance what information needs are not being met.
Hopefully, the alliance will be able to work together to resolve that information need in a much more timely manner and with a greater set of skills than each member could provide on their own.
4. Tobacco control activists have sometimes the reputation to be very opinionated and assertive people, not always easy to get along with. You belong to a big international institution. How did you feel with them?
It was very clear from the meeting in Atlanta that we were all sitting at the same table with the same overall objective - Tobacco Control. I found it very stimulating to hear the ideas of many of my colleagues... and to learn about the work that they have done with very little resources.
It is clear that the people at the table represented a lot of good work being done out there.
Working in a big international institution makes me perhaps more aware of who I represent and the message that I need to send and how I send it...but, the bottom line is that we all have this huge common goal that is big enough to allow each of us to contribute in our own way.
There is room for all of us at the table and in fact, I believe that it is necessary to have us all there.
Was the Internet "connexion" an important common ground, as well as the shared commitment to fight tobacco?
The shared commitment to fight tobacco is the important common ground...being a librarian, I would have to say that the Internet "connexion" is just another way or means of getting the information out there.
My focus in on getting the information out...in as many ways as possible. I work on a daily basis with print and non-print resources and I find equal value in each.
However, certainly the Internet makes it much easier for the alliance and the world at large to connect and communicate in a more timely fashion. I am not sure that we would have been able to envision this partnership if we did not have the electronic connection.
5. So what? What's next?
Well I think that we need to first explore and get to know the strengths of each of the partners in the alliance; the sharing of information through your interviews is one way in doing this.
Then, we need to begin to look at how we can improve upon the information exchange going on out there vis-a-vis tobacco control by looking at it from a content point of view as well as a technological point of view.
Most of our websites are already linked to each other...linking together does not make an alliance.
An alliance implies for me, some kind of strengthening of our resources...there must be some value-added for our users.
We need to meet again, discuss, plan and produce some real products.
It's really exciting to be a part of this endeavour.
Thank you Sharon for taking the time to be with us today.
Rendez-vous in Atlanta with Philippe Boucher
I have been actively involved in tobacco control since 1986. Since January 1999 I am a cyber-journalist with Globalink where I am in charge of two cyberprojects:"Le plat du jour" and "Rendez-vous".
First question: How do you feel about the decision to set up such an alliance?
I am quite amazed and surprised that we were able to agree on that.
As I see it now the internet tobacco control "landscape" is sort of a "free for all space":
each site is developing its own projects without caring about what the others are doing.
We certainly share similar objectives but we do not share information about what we are doing, what our next plans are, trying to bring some coordination.
Meanwhile many needs are not addressed and we do not take full advantage of what the internet tools can bring.
Not that I want to criticize any of the individuals who devote their time and energy to promote tobacco control on the net: quite the contrary since many of them could be labeled -in my opinion- "netslaves because they are very poorly compensated (how many even have health insurance or retirement plans?).
I guess it is difficult for very independently minded individuals to "get together" and work out some sort of "organized cooperation".
Everybody is very busy and this is a supplementary effort with potential benefits that are not obvious or not "short term", or will require more time and meetings to transform into something tangible.
At least we met and I hope the process will keep moving (even slowly).
2. Why do you think such a structure is needed?
The tobacco control movement is growing: more money is available, although difficult to obtain and sometimes not wisely invested, new players are coming who are not experienced, there is more and more information that requires more adequate sorting and processing if we want to be able to use it and not be totally overwhelmed by this huge flow.
The tobacco control internet specialists have to "get together" to devise priorities, elaborate some sort of division of labor between themselves, agree on some standardized procedures, join forces to approach together the main sources of funding.
My experience with the European Commission has been that the very small staff in charge of tobacco control cannot and does not want to deal with many unrelated, separately conceived, grant applications.
It is easier and more efficient for them to have only one "partner" with whom they negotiate a "global deal", involving in only one "package" and in a more rational and coordinated way several smaller projects.
3. Can you give us one or more concrete examples of what the Alliance could achieve that would have been more difficult or impossible without it?
I am not familiar with the technical questions but there are many about standardizing ways to index documents, about sharing useful tips, etc.
The Alliance, as I see it, should provide a place and an incentive to share on a regular/constant basis to improve the services offered to tobacco control activists on the net.
The Alliance should also be able to go to the "funding institutions" and apply for money to fund such improvements.
My feeling is that a concerted request coming from such a group is much stronger than an application coming from one smaller, isolated one. It gives you more leverage.
You certainly have to deal with how to appropriate the funds between the Alliance members but this is something we were able to manage at the European levelÖ
I think the Alliance, if it is not still-born, will fasten the creation of new on line services in other languages than English.
It will fasten the creation of new services because people will be more demanding.
People will think : why don't we have all the data concerning tobacco control budgets, or a permanently updated worldwide data base of prices, or a regular book review, or country profiles with a selection of the most recent articles, etc.
It is difficult to ask this to one already overworked, underpaid netslave.
It is easier to contact the Alliance and ask "how much would it take to set up this service"?
"We are ready to contribute this much if you take care of the problem."
Maybe I am much too optimistic and naive. We'll see.
4. Most of you had never met physically before: you only knew each other through internet, through email. How was it to meet the people behind the screens?
Do the tobacco control internauts share a common vision that helped them to build a consensus?
It was "strange" to meet Stan and Tac and Gene because it is like meeting for the first time people you have been interacting with on the screen for some time.
Now we can "see" faces and remember voicesÖ
I do think we all share a common commitment to tobacco control but we may have different priorities, different agendas.
I don't see it as a problem because there is so much to do there is room for everybody and in fact our priorities and agendas are complementary.
We have to learn to build a common agenda piecing together our different priorities.
5. So what? What's next?
First I hope we find the time to expand from our discussions in Atlanta and come up with -at first- some small steps, some small victories, some concrete projects that succeed, building the ground for more ambitious tasks.
I wish we could start offering some news in other languages.
I wish we could get some seed money to get going on some "technical" cooperative efforts.
There are many projects I would like to develop on line but I think we should start with small ones, practice working together, practice working with the "funding institutions" and get going.
My concern is that we lose the momentum we seemed to have in Atlanta so that we have to start all over again.
Or that we go from one meeting to the next without any practical project.
I wish we could meet again in Atlanta in May during the world conference for cancer societies and that we could already show some projects in the works (like news in French, in Spanish, plus news from Eastern Europe) and "challenge" the cancer societies to join in with more resources.
That would be a good start.
What you feel like adding:
I hope the other participants can find the time to express their views because it is the only way we are going to progress.
Of course each one of us can continue to travel "on one's own" but I think we could travel much faster and farther in company.
I am waiting, we are waiting to hear from you (it took me about one hour).
Last but not least, here is the list of the people who were part of this "working group".
Rendez-vous in Atlanta: list of participants Alliance's working group
1. Gene Borio (Tobacco BBS)
2. Philippe Boucher (Globalink)
3. Jack Cannon (Boca Raton Technologies)
4. Jeff Chrismon (CDC)
5. Pascal Diethelm (WHO, Information Technology Services)
6. Ruben Israel (Globalink)
7. Paulette Murphy (CDC)
8. Stan Shatenstein (Tobacco News Online)
9. Mike Tacelocsky (Smokescreen/ Tobacco documents on line)
10. Sharon Taylor (WHO)
11. Scott Thompson (Health Promotion Foundation, Warsaw)
Prepared by Philippe Boucher mailto:IslandErsk@aol.com
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