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Biomedical subjects

B L Humphreys

Publications and source records attributed to B L Humphreys.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

A national agenda for public health informatics.

The American Medical Informatics Association 2001 Spring Congress brought together the public health and informatics communities to develop a national agenda for public health informatics. Discussions on funding and governance; architecture and infrastructure; standards and vocabulary; research, evaluation, and best practices; privacy, confidentiality, and security; and training and workforce resulted in 74 recommendations with two key themes: (1) all stakeholders need to be engaged in coordinated activities related to public health information architecture, standards, confidentiality, best practices, and research and (2) informatics training is needed throughout the public health workforce. Implementation of this consensus agenda will help promote progress in the application of information technology to improve public health.

Congresses as Topic↗
PubMed1999

Powerful connections for public health: the National Library of Medicine and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

As incorporated in Healthy People 2010 objectives, data and information systems and a skilled workforce are 2 of the critical components of the public health infrastructure. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) are important resources for improving Internet access and providing related training to the public health workforce and to those in training for public health careers. The NLM and the NN/LM have joined forces with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the Public Health Foundation. The goal of this collaboration is to improve electronic resources useful in public health practice and increase awareness of them, to train public health professionals to use electronic information services, and to help public health agencies obtain the equipment and Internet connections needed to use these services effectively. The databases, outreach programs, and connection grants available to public health professionals from the NLM, and the training and ongoing support available from the NN/LM for accessing these programs and services, are described.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗
PubMed1998

Meeting information needs in health policy and public health: priorities for the National Library of Medicine and The National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

Those seeking information in health policy and public health are not as well served as those seeking clinical information. Problems inhibiting access to health policy and public health information include the heterogeneity of professionals seeking the information, the distribution of relevant information across disciplines and information sources, scarcity of synthesized information useful to practitioners, lack of awareness of available services or training in their use, and lack of access to information technology or to knowledgeable librarians and information specialists. Since 1990, the National Library of Medicine and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine have been working to enhance information services in health policy and public health through expanding the coverage of the NLM collection, building new databases, and engaging in targeted outreach and training initiatives directed toward segments of the health policy and public health communities. Progress has been made, but more remains to be done. Recommendations arising from the meeting, Accessing Useful Information: Challenges in Health Policy and Public Health, will help NLM and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine to establish priorities and action plans for the next several years.

Health Policy↗
PubMed1998

Do existing controlled vocabularies contain terminology needed for patient records?

A 1996-97 study conducted by the National Library of Medicine and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research aimed to determine how well existing vocabularies cover the concepts and terms needed in health information systems. The author describes the hypothesis underlying the study, how the process worked, its findings, and implications for future vocabulary development.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed1997

Medical informatics.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed1996

Medical informatics.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed1995

Computers in medicine.

A growing group of institutions and individuals use Internet connections to reach information sources. Large health care organizations now see electronic records as essential to providing cost-effective health care. The Visible Human Project represents the entire three-dimensional anatomy of a cadaver.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed1995

Structured abstracts in MEDLINE, 1989-1991.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the structured abstracts in biomedical journals indexed in MEDLINE over a three-year period as an initial step in exploring their utility in enhancing bibliographic retrieval. DESIGN: The study examined the occurrence of structured abstracts in MEDLINE from March 1989 to December 1991, characteristics of MEDLINE records for articles with structured abstracts, editorial policies of six selected MEDLINE journals on structured abstracts, and a sample of twenty-five structured abstracts from the six journals. RESULTS: The study revealed that the number of structured abstracts in MEDLINE and the number of MEDLINE journals publishing structured abstracts increased substantially between 1989 and 1991. On average, articles with structured abstracts had more access points (Medical Subject Heading [MeSH] terms and text words) than MEDLINE articles as a whole. The average length of the structured abstract was greater than the average length of all abstracts in MEDLINE. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of structured abstracts may be associated with other article characteristics that lead to the assignment of a higher average number of MeSH headings or may itself contribute to the assignment of more headings. The variations in the structured-abstract formats prescribed by different journals may complicate the exploitation of these abstracts in bibliographic retrieval systems. More research is needed on a number of questions related to the quality and utility of structured abstracts.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed1994

Growth patterns in the National Library of Medicine's serials collection and in Index Medicus journals, 1966-1985.

Data from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) automated Master Serials System and its MEDLINE database were used to chart the growth of NLM's serials collection and of the journals indexed in Index Medicus from 1966 to 1985. The number of live serial titles in the subset of NLM's collection examined increased 30% in the twenty years. The average number of articles per Index Medicus journal increased 56%. The average number of articles in U.S. Index Medicus journals grew more rapidly than the average number in journals published elsewhere. The NLM data provide clear evidence that the years from 1966 to 1985 saw a substantial increase in the percentage of the biomedical serial literature published in English. The period from 1966 to 1985 saw substantial but uneven growth in the number of serial titles in the NLM collection and in the average number of articles in Index Medicus journals. Although data on the number of articles published in Index Medicus journals is unlikely to reflect the number of articles in other journals, the pattern of growth in the number of serials held by NLM probably reflects trends in the universe of all biomedical serials.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed1993

The Unified Medical Language System.

In 1986, the National Library of Medicine began a long-term research and development project to build the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). The purpose of the UMLS is to improve the ability of computer programs to "understand" the biomedical meaning in user inquiries and to use this understanding to retrieve and integrate relevant machine-readable information for users. Underlying the UMLS effort is the assumption that timely access to accurate and up-to-date information will improve decision making and ultimately the quality of patient care and research. The development of the UMLS is a distributed national experiment with a strong element of international collaboration. The general strategy is to develop UMLS components through a series of successive approximations of the capabilities ultimately desired. Three experimental Knowledge Sources, the Metathesaurus, the Semantic Network, and the Information Sources Map have been developed and are distributed annually to interested researchers, many of whom have tested and evaluated them in a range of applications. The UMLS project and current developments in high-speed, high-capacity international networks are converging in ways that have great potential for enhancing access to biomedical information.

Information Storage and Retrieval↗
PubMed1993

The UMLS project: making the conceptual connection between users and the information they need.

Conceptual connections between users and information sources depend on an accurate representation of the content of available information sources, an accurate representation of specific user information needs, and the ability to match the two. Establishing such connections is a principal function of medical librarians. The goal of the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) project is to facilitate the development of conceptual connections between users and relevant machine-readable information. The UMLS model involves a combination of three centrally developed Knowledge Sources (a Metathesaurus, a Semantic Network, and an Information Sources Map) and a variety of smart interface programs that make use of these Knowledge Sources to help users in different environments find machine-readable information relevant to their particular practice or research problems. The third experimental edition of the UMLS Knowledge Sources was issued in the fall of 1992. Current priorities for the UMLS project include developing applications that make use of the Knowledge Sources and using feedback from these applications to guide ongoing enhancement and expansion of the Knowledge Sources. Medical librarians are involved heavily in the direction of the UMLS project, in the development of the Knowledge Sources, and in their experimental application. The involvement of librarians in reviewing, testing, and providing feedback on UMLS products will increase the likelihood that the UMLS project will achieve its goal of improving access to machine-readable biomedical information.

Grateful Med↗
PubMed1991

Assessing and enhancing the value of the UMLS Knowledge Sources.

The goal of the UMLS Project is to give practitioners and researchers easy access to machine-readable information from diverse sources. Assessment of the first experimental versions of the UMLS Knowledge Sources is essential to measuring progress toward that goal and to identifying needed enhancements. As of July 30, 1991, copies of the first edition of the UMLS Knowledge Sources had been distributed to 143 individuals and institutions; 66 had provided initial feedback information. The information received indicates that the UMLS Knowledge Sources will undergo broad testing in the patient care, medical education, library service, and product development environments. Preliminary data support the hypothesis that expanded coverage of routine clinical concepts is needed. Key enhancements planned for 1992 and beyond include expanded coverage of ICD-9-CM and CPT.

National Library of Medicine (U.S.)↗