Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre’s (ARROW) SRHR Knowledge Sharing (ASK-us, formerly called the Information and Documentation Centre) Centre, was established in 1993. It is one of the few remaining women’s health and SRHR-dedicated resource centres in the region. It continues to be guided by the philosophy that strategic collection, packaging, dissemination and use of information can lead to social change, and to this end it endeavours to make critical SRHR information accessible. Our work is made possible through funding support SIDA.
The objectives of ASK-us centre are:
- to maintain a comprehensive, up-to-date collection on women’s health in order to support the objectives of ARROW’s women and health programme, with a particular focus on innovative, practical and action-oriented materials;
- to provide timely and useful information services upon request and proactive information according to identified needs of key target groups (e.g. women’s organisations, policymakers, health professionals, governments, international agencies, and others), including the provision of information to generate positive social change; and,
- to establish a system of collection and exchange of materials with a wide range of organisations, by fostering information partnerships.
In keeping with these objectives, three broad set of activities of the ASK-us are: i) strengthen, manage and expand ARROW’s resource centre information resources/ collection; ii) expand and improve information outreach services; and, iii) contribute to the InfoCom strategy.
Currently, the special collection on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, which includes books, journals, audio-visual materials, articles, brochures, information packages, conference publications, and grey literature from ARROW’s projects and programmes, exceeds 16,700 information resources.
In addition to the traditional library services, the resource centre prepares research tools such as subject / annotated bibliographies; provides research support services such as literature searches and reviews; provides technical assistance and trainings on information and knowledge management to partners in the region and the global South.
Aligned to ARROW’s belief in the power of effective collaborations and partnerships to make a difference in women’s lives, the ASK-us centre has forged partnerships with different organisations for information gathering and sharing across the region. Formerly called the Focal Point Mechanism, this was revived in the year 2010 and renamed Information Management Partnerships (IMPs). The main objective of this mechanism is to facilitate collection and sharing of information that is not easily accessible, and in many cases available only at the country level or in the local languages, among and across organisations in this region. The sharing is not only done virtually, and by regular exchange of publications but also through face-to-face interactions at regional meetings organised by ARROW and the ASK-us centre.
The ASK-us work has moved beyond information sharing to incorporate work that falls under the purview of knowledge management. With the recognition that experiential knowledge needs to be captured and shared so that critical lessons from projects and programmes are not lost at the end of the project, the centre put forward a proposal for developing this area of work in a Knowledge Sharing Strategy paper. This strategy is currently being piloted through the Women’s Health and Rights Advocacy Partnerships-South East Asia project, covering seven countries. A blog mechanism has been set up to facilitate the information sharing within the project at: http://youthsextion.wordpress.com/
Click the links below to access relevant IDC products and services:
Virtual Catalogue
The resource centre maintains a bibliographic database of materials available at the centre. To browse and search the database of over 10,000 records click here.
Information Research Support
If you are a researcher and would like assistance in locating relevant literature and information on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Asian region you can request for assistance from the resource centre via email, phone, or just by dropping by the centre.
Technical Assistance and Training
If you would like to develop capacities in information management, including database management or would like help in managing your resource collection, you can request for assistance from the resource centre.
Bibliographies
As a reference tool to researchers on key topics in reproductive health and rights, the ASK-us centre prepares a select listing of materials available in the resource centre. These subject / annotated bibliographies bring together materials that provide right-based perspectives and critical inter-linkages to women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. For a complete listing of available bibliographies click here
New Accession Lists
A list of new arrivals is compiled on a regular basis to inform the users of the new materials available at the resource centre. While we will discontinue the preparation of these lists, we will try to feature select new acquisitions on this page. For a complete listing of available accession lists click here
SRHR Info Resources
We select and gather relevant and useful information, resources, news, event announcements etc. on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the region and worldwide and disseminate proactively on a regular basis via email to our e-list network members. To view the resources that have been sent out, click here Not a member yet? Sign up now.
To request for copies of publications, research assistance, training in information and knowledge management, or to make any other enquiries regarding specific SRHR information write to:
Ambika Varma Uma Thiruvengadam
Programme Officer, ASK-us Centre Assistant Programme Officer, ASK-us Centre
Email:
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Email:
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Our postal address:
Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women ARROW SRHR Knowledge Sharing Centre No. 1 & 2, Jalan Scott, 50470 Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Telephone: 603 2273 9913 / 2273 9914
Fax: 603 2273 9916
The resource centre is open Monday-Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. Call or email to make an appointment.
