Lois M Haggard | PubMed Health

PubMedDate not supplied

Utah's IBIS-PH: an innovative user interface solution for Web-based data query systems.

The ability to make good Web-based data query system (WDQS) project management decisions requires an understanding of the trade-offs inherent among various technology options. This article presents the current options available for the user interface and data display and compares the advantages and disadvantages of each for use in a WDQS. Relevant options are also discussed for back-end technologies such as Web and application servers and data storage mechanisms. We explain our decisions in developing the Indicator-based Information System for Public Health (IBIS-PH) query system to increase the probability of success and minimize risk. Finally, we compare the resulting IBIS-PH application characteristics with our original design requirements: broad public access; rich, interactive, and easy-to-use interface; portability; accessibility; maintainability of software and interface; supportability; low cost; and security.

Data Display↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring the impact of a Web-based data query system: the logic model as a tool in the evaluation process.

A review of program evaluation perspectives, including the concept of a logic model and its applicability to the evaluation of Web-based data query systems (WDQSs), is presented. A logic model is used to flesh out evaluation components of a WDQS, including inputs, constraints, program activities, program outputs, and outcomes. For each component, a list of potential items is presented for inclusion in the model, along with examples of initial, intermediate, and ultimate outcomes for a WDQS. Program evaluation is a process that is important to conduct both early in WDQS development to promote clarity of its vision and objectives and throughout the course of the WDQS implementation and maintenance to ensure that its objectives are being met. Should the WDQS not be producing desirable results, the logic model provides a road map for understanding which activities are not meeting the WDQS's objectives so that the course of WDQS development, implementation, and maintenance may be altered to improve the probability of reaching desirable outcomes.

Internet↗