The HSE's online repository for health research has been accepted as part of the WorldWideScience Alliance, the internet-based global science gateway.

The HSE says 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, Dublin, which provides a platform for HSE researchers to make their work available to colleagues in Ireland and abroad.

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.

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 US 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, using 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.