HSE’s Lenus joins global science gateway

The HSE’s online repository for health research, Lenus, has been accepted as part of the WorldWideScience Alliance, the internet-based global science gateway. This is a considerable achievement and represents an important step in Lenus’ innovative programme to increase the profile and effectiveness of research in the Irish health services.
The Lenus repository is maintained by the Regional Library in Dr Steevens’ Hospital, and since its inception has worked to provide a platform for researchers working in the HSE to make their work available to colleagues, both in Ireland and around the world. In Lenus, researchers create their own web pages to share information and contacts online with others engaged in similar work. This facilitates the inter-disciplinary exchange of ideas and findings, making Lenus a key research hub in the Irish health sector.
As its website notes, WorldWideScience.org provides access to over 60 scientific and technical databases around the world, representing 56 countries and such major research institutions as the British Library and the U.S. National Library of Medicine. As the first – and only – Irish health repository to be accepted for membership, Lenus is providing HSE-funded health research with a valuable international platform – fully searchable through Google and other internet search engines.
Lenus’ collaborative approach, utilising the low-cost, open-access mechanisms integral to the smart economy, enables improved R&D co-operation in the health sector at a time when traditional, high-cost investment models cannot. Lenus operates on the Open Access principle, dedicated to making the fruits of HSE research and development freely available for the benefit of all. Becoming part of the WorldWideScience Alliance advances this goal and gives Irish health research a new and previously unknown profile on the world stage.

Tagged as: HSE, Lenus