He@lth Information on the Internet recent issues

Editorial: We've come a long way?

Childs, S. — 2008-12-01

So what about the future? Tim Berners-Lee has recently announced the setting up of the World Wide Web Foundation http://www.webfoundation.org/ which ‘seeks to advance One Web that is free and open, to expand the Web's capability and robustness, and to extend the Web's benefits to all people on the planet’.

Inbox health check

Lomas, E. — 2008-12-01

Email is now the main communication tool for all business sectors despite the fact that there are significant issues surrounding its management, confidentiality, security, legal compliance and long-term accessibility. Within the health sector, it has tended to be utilised as a tool for organisational communications separate from patient management. However, public expectations are changing and already the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has indicated that the provision of some level of patient email service is desirable.

Managing a pathology IT system project: a case study

Wainwright, D., Shaw, C. — 2008-12-01

Critical success factors for analysing the management of complex IT projects within the NHS.

Game-informed learning and teaching in healthcare education

Begg, M. — 2008-12-01

Virtual patient activities are emerging as flexible, compelling tools for healthcare education.

Bookmarks: Physiotherapy

Blenkinsopp, J. — 2008-12-01

Physiotherapists felt that there were very few good resources on the web to help them.

Current literature

Waddingtonm, M. — 2008-12-01

An annotated bibliography of books and articles relevant to the study and use of the internet in the healthcare environment.

What's new?

Williamson, L. — 2008-12-01

Newly announced websites, documents, mailing lists and other resources, selected by Intute: Health and Life Sciences. Visit http://www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/ for more details.

Editorial: Internet usage statistics

Childs, S. — 2008-10-14

Remember the adage: ‘lies, damned lies, and statistics’ and be careful who and what you ask!

Building a community of practice - the 'Mental Health in Higher Education' website

Tang, L., Anderson, J. — 2008-10-14

Mental Health in Higher Education, a project of the Higher Education Academy, aims to enhance learning and teaching about mental health in UK higher education. This article introduces the Mental Health in Higher Education website which has recently been relaunched. It outlines its key role in the development of our emerging community of practice.

Open access

Nockels, K. — 2008-10-14

In this article I aim to give an overview of open access to the literature and other materials, concentrating on the implications for health information.

View from the frontline: Setting up a website

Brown, H. — 2008-10-14

Being involved in the commissioning of a website is great fun but having a busy, successful website is even more fun.

Bookmarks: Falls

Blenkinsopp, J. — 2008-10-14

Falls are a major issue in the health service and the community, but it is difficult to find information about the topic.

Current literature

Waddington, M. — 2008-10-14

An annotated bibliography of books and articles relevant to the study and use of the internet in the healthcare environment.

What's new?

Williamson, L. — 2008-10-14

Newly announced websites, documents, mailing lists and other resources, selected by Intute: Health and Life Sciences. Visit <www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/> for more details.

Editorial: Big Brother is surfing you

Childs, S. — 2008-12-01

Your web search behaviour can be used to send you targeted adverts

Scottish Centre for Telehealth

Peterkin, G. — 2008-12-01

The Scottish Centre for Telehealth supports a range of projects throughout Scotland that contribute towards preventative anticipatory care; sustainable and safe local medical services; care in communities rather than in hospitals; and improved standards and speed of care. SCT is the only centre of its kind in the UK.

Bookmarks: Autism and Asperger syndrome

Blenkinsopp, J. — 2008-12-01

Many associations and websites, of varying quality, but usually covering much the same content.

Second Life in higher education, medicine and health

Kirriemuir, J. — 2008-12-01

The Second Life ‘worlds’ consist of islands and larger areas of ‘virtual land’. Linden Labs make much of their income by renting out land to people and organisations. Once you are renting some land, you can develop buildings and other structures. Some laws of physics can be ignored; for example, you can build rooms or floors high in the sky. Structures can incorporate an increasing selection of media, connecting Second Life to websites and ‘Web 2.0’ applications such as YouTube and Twitter. Streaming video feeds from ‘real world’ conferences - and sending back comments and questions from avatars to the conference - is increasingly popular, as it means attendees do not have to travel to the event, saving time, money and carbon emissions.

View from the frontline: The doctor as a knowledge worker

Brown, H. — 2008-12-01

A doctor should be considered as a knowledge worker - though that is not their primary role, it is a role that is core to their activities.

Current literature

Waddington, M. — 2008-12-01

An annotated bibliography of books and articles relevant to the study and use of the internet in the healthcare environment.

What's new?

Williamson, L. — 2008-12-01

Newly announced websites, documents, mailing lists and other resources, selected by Intute: Health and Life Sciences. Visit http://www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/ for more details.

Editorial: Electronic records' management

Childs, S. — 2008-06-18

E-records are easy to create but difficult to manage.

Basic computer security strategies and models

Duncan, I. — 2008-06-18

Overview of commonly used security strategies and models. However, these are only as good as the people enforcing them and the people using them.

Bookmarks: Parkinson's disease

Blenkinsopp, J. — 2008-06-18

Web information on the disease, suffered by over 120,000 patients in the UK.

Searching shortcuts - finding and appraising search filters

Glanville, J. — 2008-06-18

Searching large biomedical databases such as MEDLINE can be a real challenge. We are searching millions of records, trying to get the records we want, but also trying to minimise the number of irrelevant records produced in the search. Often, we want to focus on best evidence or the latest research. Whilst our specific topics may differ, the searches for best evidence or publications with particular research designs may be common to many searchers. Every day, searchers around the world are probably trying to create search strategies to find the same things. Many searchers may not know the search options that are available on databases which may help to focus their search. This means there are plenty of opportunities for inefficiency. Surely there must be shortcuts to make common searches more standardised and quicker to perform? The perceived benefits of developing standard search approaches has indeed led to a recent boom in published search strategies offering shortcuts for retrieving specific research designs. These strategies have many names but are often called search filters, search hedges or clinical queries.

View from the frontline: Learning from the web

Brown, H. — 2008-06-18

With the vastness and almost infinite depth and variety of the internet, you could argue that this is the ultimate learning machine for a health professional.

Current literature

Waddington, M. — 2008-06-18

An annotated bibliography of books and articles relevant to the study and use of the internet in the healthcare environment.

What's new?

Williamson, L. — 2008-06-18

Newly announced websites, documents, mailing lists and other resources, selected by Intute: Health and Life Sciences. Visit http://www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/ for more details.