HIPNET - Health Information and Publications Network

HIPNet Meeting Notes

March 7th 2007

Action Items:

1. List of existing communities of practice:   Laura Raney volunteered to create a list of existing CoPS and links to them.  Please send information about groups in which you are involved to Laura (lraney@pcdc.org). 
2. International Women’s Day website:  Send any updates, photos, other materials to Sandra Jordan or Lauren Strange for future updates (sjordan@usaid.gov or lstrange@usaid.gov).
3. HIPNet M&E Guide: This is your last opportunity to submit comments. Invite your CTO to read it and share comments with you or directly with Tara Sullivan. Download the draft and submit comments to tsulliva@jhuccp.org.
4. HIPNet Library Mailing List: submit any libraries/resource centers that are on your own mailing list to Peggy D’Adamo.  Share suggestions about other library contacts with Peggy as well.

 Meeting Minutes

USAID Activities Update and Communities of Practice
Lauren Strange, USAID

•  International Women’s Day Website
  The website for International Women’s Day, March 8^th is up and contains a section on success stories in women’s health. HIPNET members can send updates and photos or other material that can be used to refresh the website to Lauren / Sandra. 
  
•  Communities of Practice at USAID
  A USAID guide on Communities of Practice has been developed with information on the entire life cycle of communities of practice.  See http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADH222.pdf for the full text.
  Lauren gave an overview of starting a community of practice based on the guide. It also includes examples of existing communities of practice, as well as some of the challenges they have faced.  Lauren shared some of these with the group:

1.      Management Sciences for Health has four communities of practice, each of which has between 6 -15 members who meet approximately once a month. The primary challenges for these CoPs have been in finding leaders and organizing the leadership.

2.      The Malaria Network, which started in 1994, provides information to African countries and aims to facilitate communication about malaria research, particularly to isolated areas. They send bi-weekly e-newsletters with abstracts on current malaria research to 600 members in 60 countries.  They distribute surveys to members to evaluate the COP and have received positive feedback about the importance of the COP for people in developing countries

3.      The “EcoTool” is another model which EGAT (Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade) uses.  For more information, please visit the knowledge for development website. 

 Judith Light, who works with the Knowledge for Development Program and knows more about USAID CoPs was unable to attend the HIPNET meeting.  Judith will be invited to attend a future HIPNet meeting.  

HIPNet M & E Guide

Peggy D'Adamo, INFO

• The revised guide was sent out to USAID and M&E experts for review.  Five experts have submitted comments:  Two from USAID, two from the USAID M&E working group, and one from a collaborating agency.  We also expect a few more from Sarah Cummings, of the LEAP Project (LEAP published its own guide to M&E of information products); Jane Bertrand from CCP and a couple of M&E experts from Measure Evaluation.
  
• The comments were overall positive and will be incorporated in the final version of the guide.  By the next HIPNET meeting, the guide should be up on the HIPENT website.  A limited number of paper copies will also be distributed and a launch event for the guide may occur in the fall.

• If you or your CTO would still like to make comments, this is a good time to do so.  Draft version for downloading and comments 
  
• Some HIPNet members are interested in seeing an accompanying job aid (short version).   Tara Sullivan will include a job aid as well. 

 USAID Branding Meeting

Neha Suchak, Abt Associates and Laura Raney, Population Council

• Branding  Meeting minutes
  
• Waivers and Exceptions
  Exemptions are part of the branding and marking plan; waivers come after. For example if the MOH wants a document to look like it was issued by them – ask for that exemption up front. You also need a paper train (documentation) for any exceptions to the rule. Unless you have established exceptions upfront or in advance, you are bound by your agreement or contract. Each time you want to have a new exemption, the plans have to be amended.  The process is initiated by sending an email to Sandra Jordan.  The processing of exceptions can take time.  For more information on how to include requests for exceptions and waivers, refer to the “Frontiers” marketing plan.

• Population Council Cheat Sheet and PowerPoint
  Laura Raney described the Cheat Sheet and PowerPoint presentation on how to place the USAID logo on products developed for PopCouncil staff.  She also plans to create and send quizzes to make the process more enjoyable as well as to ensure that all staff has adequate knowledge of the procedures.  Laura is happy to share both the presentation and quizzes with anyone who may be interested.

• Other Resources:

1.      MEASURE/Evaluation presentation on branding (contact Anton Zuiker)

2..      USAID/Deliver branding strategy with contractors (contact Heather Davis)

3.      HIPNet will explore creating an e-learning course on branding and marking as part of the USAID Global e-Learning web site - for USAID staff and others. (point person – Laura Raney). 

4.      ADS 3.20 (effective 1/10/07)

5.      Federal Regulation 226  

6.      AAPD 05-11 (PDF)

7.      ADS 557   

8.      USAID Graphic Standards Manual (PDF) -  Currently contains some incorrect information. Use as a reference document, not a policy document.

9.      USAID web site guidance (PDF)

HIPNET Library Mailing
Peggy D’Adamo, INFO

• HIPNet has organized two mailings to libraries in developing countries. The last one was Fall 2006.  The mailings typically include between 30-50 publications, and are distributed in English (196), Spanish (176), and French (50).
• A survey was conducted after both mailings in English and Spanish to evaluate the usefulness of the materials and find out if they arrived. Although the responses have been low in number (60 to date), the results were positive.  We will circulate a report on the survey in the next 1-2 months. Some findings from the most recent survey include the following:
  • 80% of the respondents reported that they provide web access to patrons.
  • 100% of the respondents want to continue to recieve materials from HIPNet in the future.
  • All survey respondents also said they wanted to receive email updates on new publications from HIPNET members.
• Adding more libraries to the lists: HIPNet would like to take time this spring to add libraries to all three lists.  Anyone with potential contacts and/or suggestions for increasing the number of libraries, especially French-speaking should contact Peggy D’Adamo.  PAHO will help to increase the number of Spanish libraries, particularly in Central America.
• Listserves:  INFO will set up listserves for French, Spanis,h and English libraries so HIPNet members can send information on new publications that comes out in between mailings the appropriate listserve. 
• Timeline for next mailing:  Peggy will circulate an email in the summer about the fall mailing. Organizations should submit a spreadsheet listing the title, quantity and weight of a single piece.  Limited numbers of materials can be distributed to parts of the list if you don’t have enough to send to the whole list.  Participants are billed based on weight of the materials (last time it was approximately $3/lb.).  If you have any ideas for the upcoming mailing, please contact Peggy at mdadamo@jhuccp.org.
• Cost savings from joint mailings: INFO did a cost savings analysis to estimate how much it would cost if each organization sent out materials individually versus sending it through the combined mailing.  The analysis revealed that $16,000 was spent for the mailing, but that $42,000 was saved by doing the joint mailing mailing.

Global Health Council Conference Update
Tina Flores and Joann Nida, GHC

The Global Health Conference will take place from Tuesday, May 29- Friday June 1. HIPNET will distribute a separate list of member events and presentations.

Joann Nida (Director of the conference) and Tina Flores called in to provide an update on the planning stage of the conference.  They discussed the following points:

• The preliminary program has been mailed and the highlights include information about the co-chairs of the conference and the schedule. The closing will include a call to invest in child health. The special guest speaker will be Ivonne Chakachaka, a South African signer who is a champion for malaria programs.

• Special Sessions will include: Connect with Private Sector investment in health in Africa and a special celebration of the 20^th Anniversary of the Safe Motherhood Movement.
• Panel Sessions/Roundtable/Poster will soon to be on website. All presenters have been notified when their presentations will be taking place. There are skill-building workshops planned for Tuesday and many auxiliary events.
• Advertising Opportunities – contact Tina Flores tflores@globalhealth.org ASAP if you are interested

Sharing Experiences Creating CDs
Laura Raney, Population Council and Guy Chalk, INFO

Laura Raney shared her experience with the production of four different CDs.  She outlined four approaches to CD creation and showed four examples.

• Create in-house using HTML interface linked to PDFs. The example was a CD of Pop Council publications (all in PDF) with a web interface for browsing. No searching capabilities.
• Use off-the-shelf software to make you own CD. The example was a CD on FGC created by Pop Council’s office in Kenya. Did include a search interface but Laura could not change anything because she didn’t have the same software.
• Hire a contractor to develop a custom interface. The example was a CD entitled “Improving Reproductive Health Services:  FRONTEIRS Operations Research 1998-2005”. Laura hired a freelance software designer who created an extensive search engine.  The price for custom software development can range from $5,000 to $45,000.
• Use a commercial company:  The example was a database of questionnaires used for HIV programs developed by Diskmakers of New Jersey

Guy Chalk discussed both high and low-end CD production and used three CD-ROMs as examples. 

• The first, Population and the Environment, was a produced by a contractor.  A  printed Population Report was converted to HTML and links to multimedia files, and PDF files were added.  There was no search interface included on the CD-ROM.  The cost for this CD was $25,000 in 2000.  Downside of using HTML: Access to the content on the CD is always dependent on the browser and software installed on the computer.  For example, a video would not play because the appropriate version of QuickTime player was not installed on the computer.
• The second, SPARHCS, was created using Adobe Acrobat and Menubox.  Menubox software was used to create the first two screens that inform the user that Adobe Reader is required to view the CD content and give them a chance to install it from the CD.  Menubox is a customizable Web browser based on IE.  The rest of the CD was created using Adobe Acrobat Professional to make forms and buttons for navigation of the content.  The content was completely searchable using Adobe Acrobat search and was easily produced requiring no programming. 
• The third CD presented was the POPLINE Database CD. This CD is done with software licensed from NISC International, Inc.  The CD contains 350,000 database records and very advanced search features including automatic word completion, a built-in thesaurus for index terms, and multiple sorting and display options for search results.

Other experiences:

Another HIPNET member has used Search Speedy in Washington DC.  This company creates a CD from a disk with HTML files at a reasonable cost (e.g. 150 copies for $250)

Google Ads
Brian Pagels, PSP-One

Brian gave some tips on how to improve your search engine optimization (i.e. improve
the likelihood that people will find you through Google):

• Choose your search terms: Decide which search terms should bring up your site. This gives you a definite goal.
• Post your content as HTML: Search engines can read and index HTML easier than PDF or Word.
• Use Meta tags: Embed meta keywords and description (the summary that Google displays after your title) in your source code.
• Link-up with other sites: The more other sites link to you, the more prominent you will be in Google.
• Don't use tricks to improve your rankings: There is no substitute for good content. Search engines know these tricks and penalize people who use them.
• If the above tips aren't working, start a Google AdWords campaign.  Use the keywords or phrases you chose in step #1 and set a maximum monthly and per click budget, depending on how vital the campaign is to reaching your communications goals.
• For more information about Google AdWords, visit http://adwords.google.com.
• For more information about Google Grants, visit http://www.google.com/grants/details.html.

Videoconferencing/Webcasting: Tools for reaching wider audiences

Peggy D'Adamo, INFO

 The Health Communication Partnership and INFO, in collaboration with HCP field offices, Family Health International, the Population Council, and WHO, organized their 2nd global videoconference on client provider interaction and HIV/FP integration.  This year the conference had 115 participants at five sites (Baltimore, Atlanta, Geneva, South Africa, and Ethiopia).  Last year Ghana and Kenya replaced South Africa and Ethiopia.

A follow up online forum will run from March 6-16.  More info at http://www.jhuccp.org/cpconference/

Helpful Hints for Organizing a Videoconference

• Use your field offices or partner field offices as the local organizers in each country.  They can identify speakers and moderators, locate the venue, invite local participants, and organize local publicity. 
• Get field offices and partners to donate their time but plan to cover any expenses for printing, videoconference venue, refreshments, etc.
• Look for lowcost or free videoconference facilities (World Bank, WHO, UNDP, British Council)
• Find out if your organization or one of your partners can act as the videoconference “bridge.”  One site runs the videoconference and connects all of the sites to each other.  This requires software/equipment called a “bridge”  which also allows the split screen and all sites to “see” and hear each other.  Typically a university (like JHU) owns this equipment and has the staff to run it.  Or it can be rented or purchased
• Costs:  Plan on spending up to $3,000-$4,000 per site if you have to pay for videoconferencing facilities.
• ISDN vs. IP videoconferencing:  Videoconferencing via the web can be done more cheaply but less reliable. We used ISDN (dedicated phone lines) for our event. (see below for more discussion of the difference)

Webcasting Your Videoconference (or any other event)

• Plan to simultaneously webcast and archive the webcast for people who cannot watch it live. 
• You can contract with companies to broadcast the live webcast for you (JHU has a contract with AKAMAI which INFO and HCP were able to use free of charge)
• Decide on which format you want to broadcast in: RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, Flash
• Statistics on access:  Your contractor should be able to provide you with statistics on how many sites connected to the webcast.  Our recent videoconference had about 100 “sites” connected to the webcast while it was broadcast live. Some of  those sites will have multiple viewers.\
• Questions: If you want to accept questions from webcast viewers, invite them to submit questions or comments via e-mail or IM.
• Archive your webcast online along with the presentations, agenda and other related resources.

Lessons Learned

• Do a dress rehearsal with all of the sites connected simultaneously a few days before the scheduled conference
• Have clear guidelines for moderators, especially for how to deal with question
• As a back-up, have a copy of all of the presentations at the bridge site in case of technical problems
• Print out and distribute the slides to participants (presentations are sometimes hard to read on the projected screen). Make them available online for webcast participants.
• Consider time-zones when selecting sites

 Additional Information about ISDN lines vs. IP
 (courtesy of Robert Foreman at JHU/CCP)

 ·        ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines are digital telephone lines.  Each line provides a guaranteed 128 kilobits per second transfer rates and generally 3 to 4 such lines are used in videoconferencing (384 Kbps is the minimum rate needed for full video and audio).  An ISDN line is point to point, so that you must have at least 3 ISDN lines for each point you are connecting to.  

 ·        For example, our videoconference on 1 March used a minimum of 12 ISDN lines for the 4 remote sites.  Bridges often have 12-16 or more ISDN lines connected.  ISDN lines are billed like telephone lines: a monthly service fee plus per call long distance charges.

 ·        IP (Internet Protocol) is an Internet connection.  Its use generally adds nothing to the cost as long as there are no monthly bandwidth limits.  Bandwidth is not guaranteed in an IP situation, though as the Internet grows and evolves, overall bandwidth is improving.

·        In the choice between an ISDN versus an IP connection, you have two issues to consider: quality and cost. In many cases, there will be additional charges (for you or the sites you are connecting to) for ISDN. In general, there are no additional charges for IP. You will get consistent quality with an ISDN connection. On the  Internet you do not have guaranteed bandwidth (i.e., quality). Do a test video conference well before the actual session to help you validate your choice.

More info at:

·        http://www.its.uiowa.edu/tns/videoservices/confwhat.htm:

·        http://www.tandberg.com/collateral/white_papers/whitepaper_ISDN_to_IP_migration_for_videoconferencing.pdf:

 Attendance

Peggy D’Adamo
Amanda Rider
Zainab Aldiwulu
Nancy McGirr
Renuka Bery
Christine Chumler
Steve Goldstein
Anton Zuiker
Lauren Strange
Neha Suchak
Antonia Wolff
Luis Ortiz
Henrietta Kuoh
Heather Davis
Tricia Klosky
Donna Clifton
Laura Raney
Alisha Horowitz

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