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--Marc Rivo, Av-Med Corporation This is an introductory tutorial for general use of the Internet and World Wide Web. Additional activities involving the Internet and World Wide Web are included in each one of the units for the UME-21 curriculum. You may already have many of the skills that are presented in this tutorial. Despite this fact, it is important for you to review the complete tutorial. Not only will we introduce you to important web sites, but we will help you sharpen your online search skills, especially in terms of searching for medically related information. Introduction to the Internet and World Wide Web
The Internet and World Wide Web are revolutionizing many aspects of traditional medicine. Access to the most current medical information, patient records and billing, as well as training, are just a few examples of some of the uses for this new technology. Because of the economies of scale, online technology is widely used by Health Care Maintenance Organizations. Not only does it provide an efficient means for educating their members about their programs, medical facilities, and physicians, but it also makes billing and monitoring easier, as well as staying in touch with member physicians. The bottom line for doctors in the future is that they are going to have to be skilled in using the Internet and World Wide Web if they are going to function effectively as professionals. In general, our impression is that while most people in medical school know how to use a computer for basic tasks such as word-processing and e-mail, they probably have less experience using the Internet and World Wide Webd. For example, do you know the difference between a directory and a search engine? Do you know when to use one or the other? Do you know how to develop a sophisticated Boolean search string that will get you the results you need when searching for medical information online? Do you know what types of resources are available to you online? How to get to them? How to make maximum use of them? In the following section on Web Skills, as well as in the other Independent Learning Module Units included in this curriculum, we will provide you with the necessary basic training to make the maximum use of the Internet and World Web throughout your medical career. Let's beginning by reviewing some basic information about the Internet. What is the Internet?
For a graphical timeline of the history of the Internet, beginning with telephone networks in 1940s and continuing through today and the World Wide Web, check the following site: A Brief History of the Internet What is the World Wide Web (WWW)?
A basic history of the World Wide Web can be found at: A Little History of the World Wide Web http://www.w3.org/History.html Did you know that the World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1992 while he was working at the Particle Physics Laboratory in Bern, Switzerland? If you want to learn a bit more about Berners-Lee and his work, link to him at: Tim Berners-Lee http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee-Bio.html/ What is a Web site?
What is Hypertext?
For examples of different uses of hypertext, go to: Literary Resources— Hypertext http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/hyper.html What is Hypermedia?
Definitions of hypermedia and hypermedia structures can be found at: Hypermedia Structures and Systems http://www.win.tue.nl/2L670/static/ An extremely interesting example of the use of hypermedia as part of a medical web site is Talaria, a resource for health care professionals sponsored by the federal government's Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). Talaria focuses on the issue of how to manage the pain of patients with cancer. This hypermedia web site provides clinical practice guidelines on the management of cancer pain, as well as a series of tools that can be used by physicians (such as the opioid calculator) that assist them in converting dosages across drugs and routes of administration. Talaria What is HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML)?
<H1>...<H1> Creates a heading at level 1. It creates text that looks like this: This is an example of a heading at: level onelevel twolevel threeBy adding a color tag to each level of the above headers we can change the color of a line of text: from red,to blue,or almost any other color or series of colors you can imagine.Click on HTML on the "View" menu at the top of your Browser to see the HTML code for this web site. A commercial site providing a brief overview of hypertext markup language (html) can be found at: HTML - The Hypertext Markup Language http://WWW.Stars.com/Authoring/HTML/ What is a Hyperlink or Link?
New England Journal of Medicine A hypertext link can take the form of a Web address like the one below. The New England Journal of Education. It can also be a “hot” object like the picture below that when clicked on will take you to a specific web site. In this case, once again, The New England Journal of Medicine.
What is a Web Browser? A Web browser is graphical user interface that is used to view documents on the Web. You are currently using a Web browser to view this document. What is a Home Page? A home page is a web screen that acts as a starting point from which you can link to multiple sites on worldwide computing networks. Click on the button below to go to the Home Page for the UME-21 web site, or click on the button at the top left-hand of this page to visit the UME-21's Home Page. What is a Uniform Resource Locator or URL?
Searching for Information on the Internet and the World Wide Web
There is a clear logic to Web site addresses. The key is the idea of a Uniform Resource Locator or URL. A URL has two parts. Look at the following address: National Center for Health Statistics This is the address for the United State's National Center for Health Statistics. The "http://" indicates a World Wide Web address that uses hypertext markup language protocols. The "www" indicates a World Wide Web site. The abbreviation "cdc.gov/" is the specific address for the online site where the program is located. The ".gov" designation tells you that a government organization is sponsoring the web site. The "nchswww" abbreviation, or code, identifies the sponsoring group or organization for the site (National Center for Health Statistics). Think of a URL as being similar to a street address, which gets more specific as you get closer to the name of the person or organization at that address. Until recently, the Internet has been very difficult to effectively use for doing research. It was a bit too much like a huge, used bookstore where all sorts of interesting materials can be found. Unfortunately, there isn't an effective shelf list or catalogue to help you locate them. It has also been difficult to take full advantage of the Internet because its search tools have been fairly complicated and awkward to use. This situation has changed with the World Wide Web's introduction of new types of search engines and directories. What is the Difference Between a Search Engine and a Directory?
Yahoo
Magellan
The difference in the type of information you get by using a search engine or a directory is not clear to most users. Generally speaking, directories are better for browsing for information; search engines are better for finding information on a narrow topic. All-In-One Search Pages can be found at many different sites. These are search engines that combine together several different search engines. They give you the feeling that you are using one search engine, but in fact combine the power of several search tools at once.
All-In-One Search Page
Google
Internet Sleuth
Search.Com
Starting Point
Other search engines you might like to try out include:
AltaVista
Excite
InfoSeek
Lycos
Open Text
WebCrawler
Medical Search Engines
Medical Search Engines Grateful Med—Medical Online Search Looking for People and Organizations Online
At some point in your work as a doctor you will probably want to get in contact with someone at another hospital, a medical school or a professional organization. We cannot assume all of the possibliliities, but the following sources may prove useful to you as you begin to search for people and organizations online. Using E-Mail as a Medical Student and Doctor
Use e-mail to schedule meetings, to plan conference presentations or just to keep up with a friend or professional contact. There are many different e-mail programs. Stand alone programs like Eudora are quite popular. Most web browsers have a mail system included with them. In Netscape, for example it is called Communicator and can be found under the "Communicator" heading on the toolbar. By clicking on this header you will bring up a list of options. By clicking on the second, the "Messenger Mailbox," you can activate the mail program. Essentially, the same types of features are found on Internet Explorer. Experiment by clicking on the "Go" header and then clicking on "Read Mail." Experiment with your e-mail program. See if you can do the following: 1. Open a window to write a message. 2. Write the address in the correct box for the person you want to recieve the message. 3. Write in the "Subject Box," the subject of your message. 4. Find the button for messages and send the message out electronically. You may decide that you want to send a test message to yourselve. Do all of the above steps but use your own e-mail address for the person who is to receive the message. Type in the "Subject" box: "Test Message from Me" and in the mesaage box write yourself a short note. Then send it. Wait a few minutes and then click on the "Check Your Mail" button or header and see if your message has arrived. Keep in mind that some mail systems, if they are very busy, will not send out messages for several hours. So if your message doesn't come through right away it does not necessarily mean that it wasn't sent. Asynchronous Versus Synchronous Modes
Communication on the Interent and World Wide Web can be both synchronous and asynchronous. Asynchronous communications would include e-mail and live chat rooms. Asynchronous communications would include most threaded discussions and Bulletin Boards. In the UME-21 curriculum, you will be making extensive use of threaded discussions where you can leave a response to a question or engage in an ongoing discussion with your professors or classmates. The system you will be using will be asynchronous--in other words, people log-on and leave a message when it is convneient for them. Others can read the message and respond to it when it is convenient for them. Cutting, Pasting and Saving: Essentials of the Right Click on Your Computer Use
Keep in mind that most of the material you find on the web is going to be copyrighted. Therefore, except for personal use, you cannot copy and redistribute it. Copyright does include the concept of fair use in which you could, for example, copy a limited amount of text from a document for a paper, article or book (approximately 250-400 words) without permission, or use an image for a lecture or presentation as long as it is not commercially redistributed. The use of photographs and illustrations is more restricted. You cannot, for example, place images on a web site you have created--even if it is not for profit. So what does the copyright law allow you to do? You can go to sites where there are free, downloadable graphics. An example of this type of site is:
Free Graphics
You can also go to government sites, which in most instances will allow you to reuse materials without permssion. If you intend to use images off of a site, check to see if there is a copyrght notice posted on the site. If there is, respect the rights of the people who have created the materials you are interested in. In addition, keep in mind that many sites include an e-mail contact site with its creator(s). Ask for permission by e-mail to use specific materials. Copying Images
1. Click on the image using your left mouse button. 2. A box with options will appear on your screen. 3. Click on the "Save Image As..." header. This will take you to a prompt which will ask you where to save the selected file to. You can save your selected image in any of a number of places, including a floppy disk, a Zip disk, or on your hard drive.
Please contact Dr. Mark T. O'Connell cmoconnell@miami.edu or Dr. Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. provenzo@miami.eduwith questions or comments. ©Copyright 2000 University of Miami,
School of Medicine. All rights reserved. |
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“Competency with computers, computerized patient
records, clinical guidelines and the Internet are as fundamental to the family doctor's 21st-century medical bag as the stethoscope, for they enable us to identify
those at risk, optimize our clinical interventions and measure and improve our performance."
