The IFHE Executive Committee Meeting on 9 September in Malaysia (see also pages 17-19) saw IHEEM’s IFHE representative, and the Digest’s commissioning editor, Andy Wavell, give an update on both the four international issues of HEJ, and progress with the IFHE Digest.
He writes: “Following discussion with the IFHE President and General Secretary, it was agreed that the Publishing Agreement with Step Communications follow that agreed with IHEEM for the Secretariat Agreement held with IFHE. The change proposed gives both parties a continuous agreement, with a breakout by either party being effected after 18 months’ notice. “The 2013 edition of the IFHE Digest was made available electronically last December and, in addition, those countries that elected to receive a limited number of hard copies had these circulated in late 2012/early 2013. Copies were made available for the Malaysian Conference following our meetings. “Using the editorial panel, I was able to obtain 21 articles, of which 19 were published. Contributions were received from 12 countries: the UK, France, Kenya, Japan, Canada, Argentina, the Netherlands, Venezuela, Switzerland, Chile, Brazil, and Australia. “The idea of providing an electronic version was two-fold: to reduce costs and provide an income to IFHE, and to provide the publication in a modern format easily accessible to all members. IFHE has benefited from this endeavour to the sum of approximately £1,000. However, the uptake on the electronic version has been very limited. As at 1 August 2013, the following statistics were available:
• Number of visits: 595.
• Number of visitors: 420.
• Average length of visits (seconds): 393.18.
• Number of return visits: 93.
“Although take-up for the online version has been limited, of particular interest has been the number of visits from those countries not currently members of IFHE, namely Columbia, Qatar, Egypt, Iraq, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the Russian Federation, Iceland, the UAE, the Faroe Islands, Estonia, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Ecuador. The publisher is currently working with the company providing the Digest platform to establish who accessed it so that IFHE can follow up these contacts for possible future membership.
The 2014 IFHE Digest
“The Editorial Panel was convened earlier this year, and complemented by the addition of JJ Knott from Canada. In all, 29 synopses were received. All were evaluated, and a ranked list obtained. This year we will aim to publish 21-22 articles, with the rest being passed to HEJ for inclusion in an international edition. Once again the membership has provided interesting and stimulating articles. “The publisher is always looking at ways to increase access to the IFHE Digest; this not only makes it easier for members to see it, but also shows advertisers where it is available, which could lead to more advertising revenue, and consequently a greater income for IFHE. A number of suggestions have been made that will require discussion by Exco/Council, including providing a members’ database so that regular updates on the IFHE Digest can be sent to members, and an ‘app’ that will allow members to access the publication on many different platforms, although there will be a cost attached.
Health Estate Journal
“Four copies per IFHE Member organisation are distributed for each international edition of the HEJ. During this year the publisher and I have increased the provision of international Federation news in the international editions. There continue to be at least two articles of international interest in each of these four issues. It is becoming increasingly difficult, however, to obtain suitable copy, as little is volunteered by IFHE member organisations. The international edition is a valuable source of knowledge for the IFHE members, and it is in the organisations’ interest to become more involved. We currently have exchange arrangements with Canada and Australia, which are working well. Despite many attempts, cooperation with ASHE in the USA has not been forthcoming, although agreement to allow access to their online journal was given some years ago.”
For advertising in the 2014 IFHE Digest contact Nick Carpenter via email at nickcarpenter@stepcomms.com or call +44 (0)1892 779999.
