Forwarding a message regarding a new on-line database on health and
medical informatics programs and courses. Please reply to original
sender.
Don Richardson
Subject:
IMIA WG1 database - Call for participation
Date:
Tue, 28 Oct 1997 14:12:01 +0100
From:
Petra Knaup <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To:
IMIA WG1 Health/Medical Informatics Education
<[log in to unmask]>
To:
Multiple recipients of list IMIA-WG1
<[log in to unmask]>
The IMIA WG1 Database on Health and Medical Informatics Programs and
Courses:
A Call for Participation
R. HAUX, J. FRANK, P. KNAUP
University of Heidelberg, Germany
ABSTRACT:
Working Group 1 on health and medical informatics education of the
International
Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) has established a WWW site
(http://
www.imia.org/wg1) to provide up to date information about its work. The
core of
the site is an underlying database providing information on health and
medical
informatics (HMI) programs and courses worldwide. To be able to have a
database
of high quality and value we encourage all teachers and institutions to
submit
information about courses and programs on HMI education offered and to
set
pointers to their own WWW sites.
In addition a mailing list was installed to facilitate communication
between all
persons interested in HMI education. For subscription a message has to
be sent
to "[log in to unmask]". The body of the message should read
"SUBSCRIBE IMIA-
WG1". Messages to the IMIA WG1 list have to be sent to "imia-
[log in to unmask]".
Keywords: Medical Informatics, Health Informatics, Education, World-Wide
Web,
Mailing List
INTRODUCTION
Working Group 1 (WG 1) of the International Medical Informatics
Association
(IMIA) deals with education in health and medical informatics [1]. In
its
meeting during Medinfo 95 in Vancouver the members of WG1 decided to
establish a
database providing information about programs and courses in Health and
Medical
Informatics (HMI) worldwide which should be concise and easily
accessible.
Basically its purpose is to serve teachers and students searching for
information about programs and courses in HMI.
WORLD-WIDE WEB SITE
In previous work carried out at University of Maryland at Baltimore and
University of Victoria a database accessible through Gopher was
established and
some data were collected [2]. Most of the data is now outdated or has
been
replaced by links to Gopher sites of the respective programs, i.e. are
not
available in a structured way in a database.
As the world-wide web is establishing itself as the prime medium for
dissemination and exchange of information IMIA WG1 decided to establish
its own
WWW site at University of Heidelberg. The main goal was to give easy
access to a
new version of the database but also to provide information about
results and
ongoing activities of the working group as well as information about the
group's
members.
The IMIA WG1 WWW site can be accessed through the URL
http://www.imia.org/wg1
OPERATIONS OF THE DATABASE
One of the main problems with a database like this is being up-to-date
and its
content being controlled to assure a high quality of information. We
therefore
decided to proceed as follows:
The database is operated in a monitored mode. Information submitted to
the
database will be available for retrieval immediately but will also be
checked
for completeness and consistency during regular maintenance of the
database. In
case of problems we will try to get corrected information from the
institution
hosting the course resp. offering the program. Obviously nonsense data
will be
deleted from the database without notification. We will not allow the
users to
modify existing data through the WWW. Changes should be re-entered into
the
database with a note to the administrator to delete the old entries.
SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION IN THE DATABASE
Currently we allow searches in the database by keyword, country,
language and
program type. We will provide a more sophisticated means for searching,
soon.
However in most cases the options offered currently should suffice.
MAILING LIST
To provide a means for fast and easy communication between all persons
interested in HMI education an unmoderated mailing list has been
installed at
the University of Heidelberg.
For subscription a message has to be sent to
[log in to unmask]
The body of the message should read
SUBSCRIBE IMIA-WG1
The listserver will then reply with a notification that the subscription
has
been accepted and some more information about additional services
offered.
Should there be any problems with the list, e.g. not being able to
subscribe,
the administrator of the WG1 list should be contacted at
[log in to unmask]
Messages to the IMIA WG1 list have to be sent to
[log in to unmask]
CONCLUSIONS: NOW IT'S UP TO YOU!
The IMIA WG1 database on courses and programs in health and medical
informatics
education is set up and running. It is obvious however that the database
can
only be useful if it is provided with sufficient input.
Now it is up to all people responsible for HMI programs and courses. We
ask you
to enter current information about your programs and courses. Add
pointers to
your own WWW sites! Keep the database alive!
REFERENCES
1. van Bemmel, JH, McCray, AT (Eds.). Yearbook of Medical Informatics
'96,
Chapter about IMIA Working Groups. 1996. Stuttgart: Schattauer.
2. Ball, MJ, Protti, DJ, Douglas, JV. An International Health/Medical
Informatics Programs Database. Meth Inform Med 1994; 33:327-9.
Address of the authors:
Prof. Dr. Reinhold Haux (Chairman of IMIA WG1), Jürgen Frank, Dr. Petra
Knaup
University of Heidelberg
Institute for Medical Biometry and Informatics
Department of Medical Informatics
Im Neuenheimer Feld 400
D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany
Phone: (+49) 6221 56-7486
Fax: (+49) 6221 56-4997
Email: [log in to unmask]
******************************************************
International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA)
Working Group 1: Health and Medical Informatics Education
Chairman: Prof. Dr. Reinhold Haux
Internet: http://www.imia.org
Dr. Petra Knaup
University of Heidelberg
Institute for Medical Biometry and Informatics
Department of Medical Informatics
Im Neuenheimer Feld 400 Phone: (+49) 6221 56-7486
D-69120 Heidelberg Fax: (+49) 6221 56-4997
Germany
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
*******************************************************
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