MLA News: Selected Articles

August 1999

MLA Needs You!
The Profession Needs You!

Submitted by J. Michael Homan, AHIP, MLA President-Elect

Have you ever asked yourself these questions about your MLA membership?

• How can I move into leadership positions—both within my institution and within MLA?
• How can I improve my professional colleague network?
• How can I get more out of my membership?
• How can I make MLA do what I want it to do?

If you have asked yourself any of these questions, I encourage you to volunteer to serve on an MLA committee in 2000/2001. MLA is most effective when many members work together to develop and implement programs that are needed by members and by the profession.

How Do I Get Appointed?

• Apply! Use the forms published in the August (see pages 21–22) and September issues of the MLA News, or submit an application through MLANET (www.mlanet.org). Applications are due at MLA headquarters by October 1, 1999.
• Rank several committees whose work relates to your interests, background, or skills. Descriptions of committees and their charges appear on the MLA Committee page of MLANET (www.mlanet.org/about/committ.html) and in the 1998/99 Directory of the Medical Library Association (pages 15–18).
• Let us know if you would be willing to serve on any committee where you might be needed.
• Concisely describe any relevant experience or qualifications.

What If I’m A New Member?

• Apply! We need the perspective of both experienced and new members for MLA’s programs, and committee work is an excellent way to learn and to establish a network of active colleagues.

Where Does Committee Work Take Place?

• Committee work occurs at the annual meeting and throughout the year. Newly appointed members will be encouraged to attend MLA/CHLA/ABSC 2000 in Vancouver, BC (May 5–11, 2000), to meet the committee’s chair and other members, and to learn in person about the committee’s work. Attendance at the annual meeting is not required, though, as you can still make meaningful contributions throughout the year.
• Many committees make use of email and surface mail as well as fax and telephone to work together throughout the year. You can definitely make a contribution in a variety of ways.
• Upcoming annual meetings—MLA/CHLA 2000 in Vancouver, BC, and MLA 2001 in Orlando, FL—will feature stimulating and thought-provoking speakers, the latest technology, and special social events as well as opportunities to become involved in our programs and governance.

Renew your commitment to MLA and to the profession by becoming active in MLA, most especially through the national committee application process. The committee listing and Appointment Application form is available on page 21–22; read it carefully and select those activities that intrigue you. We need your support and ideas—and you will benefit personally and professionally from this satisfying work. MLA’s Board of Directors looks forward to hearing from you!

Research Spotlight:
Theory and Practice of Medical Informatics

Submitted by Kristin Stoklosa, National Institutes of Health Library, Bethesda, MD, and Research Resources Committee, MLA Research Section

Editor's Note: This series features MLA members’ research projects published outside the library literature in scientific and biomedical publications. The Research Resources Committee of the MLA Research Section shares this series to promote awareness of information research, to encourage research in library practice, to stimulate interest in a variety of publications, and to inspire further MLA research.

"The Structure of Medical Informatics Journal Literature"

MLA Member and Project Leader
Theodore A. Morris, University of Cincinnati Medical Center Academic Information Technology and Libraries

Source
Morris, TA, McCain, KW. The structure of medical informatics journal literature. J Am Med Inform Assoc 1998;5:448–466.

Project Description
Describing medical informatics as a discipline is a challenge given the field’s interdisciplinary nature. The intent of this study was to determine the disciplinary nature of medical informatics by identifying a core journal literature and by analyzing that list of core journals to elucidate major research fronts. The authors identified twenty-nine core medical informatics journals by searching biomedical, computer science, and information science databases, and by analyzing intercitation data for the retrieved titles. They then identified domains within this literature through cocitation profiles. Cocitation occurs between two journals when they are cited by the same article in its reference list. The authors retrieved cocitation data from Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index for all unique pairs of core journals, and generated patterns of high and low cocitation counts using SPSS routines. The results of the study describe a discipline with a core literature and several research areas, including biomedical engineering, biomedical computing, decision support, and education. However, the analysis indicates only weak connections between medical informatics and information science.

"Computer-Assisted Diagnosis of Pediatric Rheumatic Diseases"

MLA Member
Lawrence C. Kingsland, III, Ph.D., Computer Science Branch, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD

Project Leader: Balu H. Athreya, DuPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE; and Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia

Source
Athreya BH, Cheh ML, Kingsland LC. Computer-assisted diagnosis of pediatric rheumatic diseases. Pediatrics 1998 Oct;102(4):E48.

Project Description
This article not only reports on the performance of a particular expert system but also educates the reader in expert system purpose and function. The authors define expert systems as computer programs that simulate clinical diagnostic reasoning in medical specialties. An expert system has two basic components, a knowledgebase and an inference mechanism, the former consisting of criteria tables of clinical and laboratory features for the disease in question. Specifically, AI/RHEUM is a multimedia expert system developed to assist in the diagnosis of rheumatic diseases. As background, the authors note that, in current clinical practice, decision support systems are largely used for patient management rather than diagnosis.

Although its original purpose is the diagnosis of rheumatic diseases in adults, AI/RHEUM’s accuracy in diagnosing diseases in children is tested in this study. After adding five new diseases to the system’s knowledgebase and modifying the criteria tables to suit the needs of children, the system was tested on ninety-four consecutive children in a pediatric rheumatology clinic. AI/RHEUM made ninety-seven diagnoses, including eighteen for which the system had no criteria tables. Of the seventy-nine conditions for which criteria tables were present, the system made the correct diagnosis in 92% of the cases. The authors see potential for multimedia diagnostic expert systems in consultation and education for nonspecialists and in triage functions for primary and emergency care. This article is published in Pediatrics Electronic Pages at the online journal’s HighWire Press Website at www.pediatrics.org and is accessible to Pediatrics subscribers.

A Big Thank You to MLA '99 Sponsors

*MLA Corporate Partner

At the Research Information Services exhibit booth, Jacqueline Donaldson Doyle, MLA president; Mark Funk, chair, 1999 National Program Committee (NPC); and Bob Pisciotta, associate chair, 1999 NPC; thank Anne Galdos of Research Information Systems for sponsoring the popular Internet Resource Center, the MLA headquarters Open House and Reception, and the Library School Reunion.
Jacqueline Donaldson Doyle, MLA president; Mark Funk, chair, 1999 National Program Committee (NPC); and Bob Pisciotta, associate chair, 1999 NPC; are at the HARRASSOWITZ exhibit booth to thank Knut Dorn, Ph.D., Lorne Kenyon, and Danny Jones, company representatives, for sponsoring the Program at Glance.

Visualizing Information
with Mapping Software

Mapping software, such as MapInfo and ArcView, is one type of geographical information systems (GIS) program that presents tabular data in a geographical format. This software is becoming invaluable for data analysis and visualization, trend forecasting, and planning. The NN/LM uses MapInfo to create maps of outreach activities across the United States. This article provides an introduction to the possibilities of mapping software.

Technical Features
The features discussed for MapInfo are, for the most part, generalizable to other mapping software. Links to Websites describing products are listed below.

Most mapping software provides a graphical user interface that Windows users will find familiar, and can be installed as either stand-alone or network versions. These programs can use data from a variety of source formats, including spreadsheets, database files, and images. MapInfo offers open database connectivity, the ability to link and join tables, and object linking and embedding (OLE), which allows the user to embed maps in applications such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.

System capabilities and costs are important considerations. A product like MapInfo costs approximately $1,295 for a single-user license. A color printer is needed to take full advantage of graphics features when printing maps. Additional costs can include purchase of additional data, upgrades, technical support, and training.

Creating Maps
Quality data is essential. Useful maps cannot be created without systematically collected data. GIS programs allow organizations to use data more effectively by layering together numerous data sets, obtained from existing databases and spreadsheets. There are sources for free or low cost geographic data and even software to play with; the U.S. Census Bureau is an example of such a source.

Geocoding is the process used to translate your data into points on a map. The software reads your data for geographical information (address or zip code, for example), compares the data to its internal information, and assigns latitudes and longitudes so that your points can be plotted on a map.

MapInfo allows for the inclusion of different data sets, each as a separate layer, within a single map. The user can manipulate each layer to change how the map displays. There are editing tools available and the user can import unique logos or symbols to further customize the map.

Figure 1 is a map comparing the training sites in the four-state Middle Atlantic Region of NN/LM with the respondents to a training needs assessment. The NN/LM logo was inserted in the bottom left corner. Buffering, a proximity analysis tool, can be used to visualize areas within a certain radius (buffer) of the sites.

GIS programs enable the user to combine maps and data into one presentation package. Librarians in outreach or in today’s multiple site organizations could use mapping software to track operations or projects, or to analyze and present data in innovative ways.

Websites

Websites in the Health Sciences:
Minority Health Websites

Electronic Mailing Lists