Portal latinoamericano de toxicología
Up date about WLT
23 April, 2009
Philip Wexler, National Institutes of Health,
National Library of Medicine, USA. Aprol 22, 2009. I am writing to inform you of some recent developments. WLT, IUTOX and
TOXIPEDIA.
As you know, it has been several years since the National Library of Medicine (NLM) began to collect relevant toxicological links from across the world. Dozens of country pages already contain extensive information and links, but all countries have room to expand. To that end, NLM recently decided that the WLT, its CCs, and its users would best be served if it were migrated to a site outside of the NLM better equipped to handle the expansion, maintenance and promotion of this unique resource. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that the WLT, with financial support from the NLM and in partnership with the International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX), will now be managed by the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders (INND). The WLT will be hosted on the INND’s acclaimed interactive wiki-website Toxipedia, but will also be accessible via its own URL (www.wltox.org).
As you know, it has been several years since the National Library of Medicine (NLM) began to collect relevant toxicological links from across the world. Dozens of country pages already contain extensive information and links, but all countries have room to expand. To that end, NLM recently decided that the WLT, its CCs, and its users would best be served if it were migrated to a site outside of the NLM better equipped to handle the expansion, maintenance and promotion of this unique resource. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that the WLT, with financial support from the NLM and in partnership with the International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX), will now be managed by the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders (INND). The WLT will be hosted on the INND’s acclaimed interactive wiki-website Toxipedia, but will also be accessible via its own URL (www.wltox.org).
I will continue my
involvement as Managing Editor and NLM liaison to monitor progress of the WLT
and be available to advise you and answer your general questions. We are
anticipating a formal public release of the WLT at the Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries
(CTDC-VII), to be held in Sun City, South Africa, September 6-10.
Our goal is not merely to transfer WLT’s current content from NLM into Toxipedia, but to have our CCs create additional content as well as offering links to Toxipedia, thus enhancing each page with supplemental environmental and public health information. For instance, the India page will link to Toxipedia articles about arsenic poisoning in West Bengal, the Bhopal Disaster, and even tie into the Toxipedia history section’s pages on DDT and opium. Additional benefits to this partnership include taking advantage of the robust wiki-platform which allows each editor to have complete control over his or her country’s page and the option of providing access to peers and colleagues to expand the page’s content further than each CC could do alone; Toxipedia’s technology can make the WLT a worldwide collaborative effort.
Our goal is not merely to transfer WLT’s current content from NLM into Toxipedia, but to have our CCs create additional content as well as offering links to Toxipedia, thus enhancing each page with supplemental environmental and public health information. For instance, the India page will link to Toxipedia articles about arsenic poisoning in West Bengal, the Bhopal Disaster, and even tie into the Toxipedia history section’s pages on DDT and opium. Additional benefits to this partnership include taking advantage of the robust wiki-platform which allows each editor to have complete control over his or her country’s page and the option of providing access to peers and colleagues to expand the page’s content further than each CC could do alone; Toxipedia’s technology can make the WLT a worldwide collaborative effort.