(From the ISHN Member information service)  A survey of 900 officials in all US states in the August 2014 issue pf Preventing Chronic Disease reports that "On average, 45.7% of staff per state health department use journals. Common barriers to use included lack of time, lack of access, and expense. The 904 respondents were from each of the 50 state health departments and DC. There were 6 to 45 participants per state health department (mean = 31; median = 30). Response rates from state health departments varied from 58.6% to 96.0%. Participants self-identified as program managers or coordinators (57.3%), health educators (12.1%), epidemiologists (8.6%), bureau or division chiefs or directors of chronic disease units (4.5%), and 17.5% other (eg, program evaluators). An average of 45.7% of staff per state health department reported using journals as a top method for finding evidence. State health departments where at least 50% of staff identified journals as a top source participated in more research activities compared with state health departments where fewer than 50% of staff used journals (6.5 activities vs 5.0). There were no other notable differences in journal use for staffing levels, mean employee age, mean years of service, number of people served, or revenue." In the discussion section, the authors note that "Relevance of journal content for state health department practice may also influence use, although relevance was not a top barrier selected. Previous studies of public health agencies found staff wanted access to journals and gray literature for evidence directly related to public health practice (12). Unfortunately, there is limited literature focused on practice; instead, scientific evidence in journals focuses heavily on discovery research (3), which identifies existence of and relationships between health risks and health conditions (eg, smoking and lung cancer) (6,10)." Read more>>

(From the ISHN Member information service) Our pioneering work with simple, cheap and accessible technologies such as multiple Twitter accounts (instead of email), webinars and web meetings complementing expensive face-to-face events, a Wikipedia style web site to accumulate knowledge, Skype calls to eliminate long distance charges, blogs with high quality content and other tools has persuaded us that we are at the cusp of a dramatically different world of knowledge exchange that is no longer controlled and dominated by academic journals or governments/large organizations with the resources to purchase or maintain expensive web-based resources. While front-line workers in all sectors will continue to face the limitations of time/busy schedules and we can expect the 90-9-1 rule (90% following web resources passively, nine per cent occasionally contributing and one per cent actively participating, we also note that huge proportions of the population are now publishing personal content on family/individual Facebook pages, sharing interesting videos and photographs and looking for information on the web every day with tablets now sitting in living rooms and kitchens. We also see books, newspapers, television and radio converging into web-based combinations that are now charging small subscription fees or lower web-based prices. 
It is this environment that we note the start of a new journal, The Canadian Journal for Teacher Research, which is enabling classroom teachers to articulate their views based on their practice-based expertise and professional experience. The inaugural articles in this new journal indicate some of the content and media uses in our immediate future. An April 2014 article in this new journal highlights the fact that most of us have learned that simple, easy to use technologies such as inexpensive tablets rather than expensive computers, or simple presentation and editing tools in the classroom can transform learning and communications. Other articles in this new journal are presented in video format. Rather than asking teachers or other front-line workers to write complex articles with complex academic rules designed to favour those with extensive time in front of computers, the videos can simply record presentations or interviews or even simple class events or discussions. A good example can be found with this video article on the importance of teachers as leaders of innovation, research and collaboration that featured a teacher, principal and academic in a recorded discussion. 
ISHN is going into its first experience with recorded Skype interviews with practitioners in the coming months. We hope that the three minute format, which will seek to present one or two key ideas/insights from the practitioners based on their "practice story' (rather than asking them to prepare a "case study" (often controlled by academic concerns) or be constricted to the positives in a "success story" (often controlled by the interests of the sponsor or government funders). We are also trying to accumulate and "roll-up" several small scale webinars, recorded inerviews, slide presentations, inforgraphucs and accompanying Wikipedia style summaries into lengthier thematic collections and, eventually, into web-based handbooks of better practices. 
Obviously, there will always be an important place for disciplined, research-based discourse in knowledge development and exchange. There is also a need for large organizations and governments to select and present the knowledge that they view as more important in their own reports, guides, policy documents and web sites. But we think the simple, convenient and cheap technologies will add a new set of voices to the mix, one that can come more easily from those in the front-lines of professional work and knowledge based on professional experience.