This Guide includes criteria for the selection of documents to be included in the LILACS database, one of the Information Sources of the VHL (Virtual Health Library). It includes two main sections: database coverage and selection criteria according to the type of literature, in addition to two attachments. The first section includes the definitions of the themes, chronology, geographic locations and languages covered by the LILACS database. The second session includes the specific selection criterion per type of literature, such as periodical publications, books, Thesis, Dissertation, and other. The attachments include a list with DeCS’s major categories and the Criteria for the Selection of Periodicals for the LILACS Database.

The Guide was designed to guide Cooperating Centers in the selection of material to be entered into the LILACS database. It establishes common selection and classification criteria to guarantee the integrity, compatibility and quality of records within the database.

It is not a cataloguing manual, and thefore it was not designed to teach cataloguing practices. It is neither an indexing manual nor a guide for the operation of a database.

The selection criteria presented in this Guide are not intended to clarify all the doubts that may arise in the decision-making process. If after having analyzed all the elements needed to make a decision, including a specialist’s opinion, the indexing technician is still unsure as to whether a certain document should be included or not in the database, he/she should include the document.