Association for
Veterinary Informatics
NEWSLETTER

July - August, 1998


Charles A. Cohen (Branford, CT) - President; Robin Starr-Chichester (Conifer, CO) - President Elect, James T. Case (UC-Davis) - Secretary Treasurer; Ronald D. Smith (Illinois) - Newsletter Editor

IN THIS ISSUE

ASSOCIATION NEWS


How to Contact AVI

Applications for membership, accompanied by a check for $35 payable to the AVI, should be sent to:

Dr. James T. Case; Secretary Treasurer, AVI; 1590 Augusta Ct., Dixon, CA 95620
Phone: 916/752-4408; FAX: 916/752-5680; e-mail: JimCase@aol.com

Membership application forms are available online at:

http://netvet.wustl.edu/avi.htm

Dr. Case is responsible for distribution of the hardcopy version of the AVI Newsletter.

Newsletter items can be sent to:

Dr. Ronald D. Smith, Newsletter Editor, AVI; UI College of Veterinary
Medicine; 2001 South Lincoln; Urbana, IL 61801.
Phone: 217/333-2449
FAX: 217/333-4628
E-mail: <rd-smith@uiuc.edu>

If you are an AVI member and would like to be on the AVI Newsletter electronic distribution list, send an e-mail message to the Newsletter Editor. Although the electronic version is only an ASCII (text) file, it's faster, searchable, easier to store and retrieve, and environmentally friendly.

Current and past issues of the AVI Newsletter are also available on the Web at:

http://netvet.wustl.edu/avi.htm.


How to Search the Veterinary Informatics Knowledge Base Using PubMed

Ronald D. Smith, DVM, PhD

College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61802

<rd-smith@uiuc.edu>


Veterinary informatics is the discipline concerned with the theoretical foundations and application of information science, engineering, and computer technology in veterinary teaching, research, and practice. This year's Talbot Symposium will give attendees an appreciation of the breadth of veterinary and medical informatics. A visit to the AVMA Convention exhibitors area will convince any skeptic that informatics tools and concepts are being applied throughout the profession to improve patient care.

For those wishing to learn more about a particular informatics topic, one need only turn to the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE database, which is now freely accessible and searchable over the World Wide Web at

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/freemedl.html

Users are cautioned, however, that bibliographic searches of the veterinary informatics knowledge base can be unrewarding unless a systematic approach is used.

At the Second Annual Talbot Symposium I presented a paper entitled "Veterinary Informatics: the Best Kept Secret" in which I evaluated the veterinary informatics knowledge base over the 30-year period from 1966 to 1996, based on publications retrieved from the MEDLINE database. An overview of that paper is in the July-August 1996 AVI Newsletter. In this paper I would like to show how to search MEDLINE for veterinary informatics articles from the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Web site.

Let's say you're interested in applications of computer-assisted diagnosis in veterinary medicine. The first step is to access the NLM's MEDLINE home page at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/freemedl.html. You are then given the option of using PubMed (easy) or Internet Grateful Med (less easy) search interfaces. Choose PubMed.

Once you arrive at the PubMed page click on the "Advanced Search" option as depicted below.

Next search for the word "veterinary" (without the quotes) in "All Fields", as depicted in the figure below. Click on the "Search" button to perform the search.

The search yielded 150,086 documents (below). Since you're only interested in articles dealing with computer-assisted diagnosis, you need to include a representative term in the text entry box.

This is where it's useful to use MEDLINE's Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms. A list of veterinary informatics sub-specialties and corresponding MeSH terms is included in the table at the end of this article. Note that one of the MeSH terms associated with the "decision support" sub-specialty is "diagnosis, computer-assisted".

Enter this term into the text entry box as depicted above, and click on "Search". Although "diagnosis, computer-assisted" is a MeSH term, we'll search for it's occurrence in all fields to maximize the sensitivity of our search.

As a result of the combined search you've found 53 articles in the MEDLINE database dealing with "veterinary" AND "diagnosis, computer-assisted" (see below). You can view the citation for the first 20 by clicking the "Retrieve 53 Documents" button, as depicted below.

One of the articles retrieved (below) is by AVI's own Dr. Duane Steward, organizer of this year's Talbot Symposium! Clicking on his name will bring up the complete citation and abstract, if available. Clicking on "See Related Articles" will launch a MEDLINE search using keywords from Dr. Steward's article. Thus, if you can find just one article that meets your search criteria, you can ask MEDLINE to find the rest.

This concludes my brief introduction to MEDLINE searching of the veterinary informatics knowledge base. There are many other search tools available at the MEDLINE home page (try the "Clinical Queries" option), and I encourage you to explore them now that this resource is freely accessible over the World Wide Web.

Table - Veterinary informatics sub-specialties (ranked by decreasing frequency of relevant publications) and associated MeSH terms assigned to each (ranked by decreasing frequency of "hits" in the veterinary literature).

Information and bibliographical retrieval - Computer-based systems for the storage, retrieval, and sharing of biomedical information locally or over networks.
 
MeSH terms - Information Systems; Databases, Factual; Online Systems; Computer Communication Networks; Databases, Bibliographic; MEDLARS; Database Management Systems; Information Storage and Retrieval; MEDLINE; Management Information Systems; Grateful Med; Community Networks; Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems; Local Area Networks; National Practioner Data Bank; Unified Medical Language System
 
Decision support - Computer-based systems that assist practitioners in making decisions about patient care.
 
MeSH terms - Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; Expert Systems; Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; Decision Support Systems, Management; Therapy, Computer-Assisted; Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted; Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted
 
Radiology/imaging - A computer-based information system for the acquisition and analysis of medical images, including X-ray imaging, computed tomography, echosonography, and magnetic resonance imaging.
 
MeSH terms - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Image Enhancement; Radiographic Image Enhancement; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Radiographic Image Interpretation; Radiology Information Systems; Radiography, Dual-Energy Scanned
 
Clinical Research/Epidemiology - The use of computers to assist in the collection and analysis of animal health/production data from individual patients or populations which can be used to improve the diagnosis, management, control and prevention of disease.
 
MeSH terms - Data Interpretation, Statistical; Decision Support Techniques; Decision Trees; Mathematical Computing; Decision Theory; Numerical Analysis
 
Education (computer-assisted instruction; CAI) - The application of computer technology to education to assist in the delivery of factual knowledge, problem-solving experiences, and for student assessment.
 
MeSH terms - Computer-Assisted Instruction; Computer Literacy; Computer User Training; Word Processing; Programmed Instruction
 
Medical record systems - Computer-based information systems for the capture and manipulation of patient data for the purpose of facilitating patient care, meeting legal and financial requirements, and aiding clinical research.
 
MeSH terms - Nomenclature; Medical Informatics; Medical Records Systems, Computerized
 
Patient monitoring - A computer-based system for repeated or continuous observation or measurement of the patient, physiological parameters, and the function of life support equipment for the purpose of guiding and assesing therapeutic management.
 
MeSH terms - Monitoring, Physiologic
 
Hospital information/practice management systems - Computer-based information systems which integrate both medical and administrative functions of medical facilities and services including patient information from all contributing services, scheduling and staffing, inventory, accounting and other fiscal functions.
 
MeSH terms - Office Automation; Ambulatory Care Information Systems; Hospital Information Systems; Operating Room Information Systems; Personnel Staffing and Scheduling Information; Reminder Systems
 
Laboratory information systems - Computer-based information system that support laboratory functions for collecting, verifying, and reporting test results.
 
MeSH terms - Clinical Laboratory Information Systems
 
Pharmacy systems - Computer-based information systems for the management of medical information systems related to drugs and to the use of drugs in patient care.
 
MeSH terms - Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems
 
Systems evaluation & validation - Issues related to the design, development, and evaluation of medical information systems.
 
MeSH terms - No applicable MeSH terms
 
Hardware and programming - Not a sub-specialty. Some MeSH terms are intended to describe the tools of informatics rather than their purpose. These terms generate large numbers of "hits".
 
MeSH terms - Computers; Software; Microcomputers; Computer Simulation; Automatic Data Processing; Algorithms; Punched-Card Systems; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Minicomputers; Computer Systems; Data Display; Artificial Intelligence; Computer Graphics; Analog-Digital Conversion; Computers, Analog; Database Management Systems; Software Design; Compact Disks; Computer Terminals; Neural Networks (Computer); User-Computer Interface; Computer Peripherals; Computer Storage Devices; Optical Storage Devices; CD-I; CD-ROM; Computers, Hybrid; Computers, Mainframe; Fuzzy Logic; Natural Language Processing; Robotics; Computer-Aided Design; Programming Languages; Software Validation; Video Games
 


PRODUCTS & REVIEWS


An Offer for Veterinary Practices
From: "Anita Aurit" <sales@netfopets.com>

NETFOPets!, one of the premiere pet web sites on the Internet has an excellent opportunity for veterinarians.

NETFOPets! is a pet site with a targeted pet owning browser market. We have a strong national presence and a growing international presence as well. The site has a strong community and we are extremely interested in offering our browsers information about veterinary practices in their local areas. Keeping in mind that those businesses who are geographically limited will not receive the same benefits as those who are not, we have structured our pricing in order that small local practices can participate. We have a two tiered rate: For those vets who are interested in participating in the Ask the Experts program and answering browser animal health questions a few times a year and who will commit to promoting their participation on our site by displaying the framed poster and other promotional items supplied by NETFOPets!, the rate for a year's participation is $14.95 (no kidding, and no strings attached). For those who do not want to participate in the promotion package, we offer a yearly rate of $99.95.

Why so inexpensive? Quality local veterinarian practices offer value to our site and to our browsers. You win, we win and our pet owning browsers win as well.

Our site is developed with a philosophy that we must keep the browser coming back in order to offer the highest level of advertising exposure for our clients, your company's participation on our site will give all your locations that type of exposure, exposure which you do not now have with your page. We also are dedicated to the principle of building community. Our browsers return again and again to NETFOPets! as we offer contests, information, education and entertainment that is updated on a regular basis. We have implemented ways that add interest to the site, solicit browser participation and afford additional opportunities for our clients to bring their name to the pet owning public with such programs as "Miss P.'s All Stars" and our "Ask the Experts" column. We have developed a focus group of browsers who serve as a sounding board for our new projects and promotions. We also send e-mail newsletters to the browsers on our mailing list.

As you can see, we have dedicated ourselves to bringing quality advertisement opportunities to our clients and quality features to our browsers. Any new project contemplated must first satisfy one question, "Does it benefit the company, our clients and our browsers?" If we can't say yes to all three, we don't do it.

We are rated as a premiere pet business site by toptenlinks.com and we have received radio and magazine and newspaper coverage. We partner with sweepstakesonline.com for all our contests. Sweepstakes Online has massive e-mail contest notification program which we are a part of for the duration of all our contests and, we make sure that we have a contest running 9 months out of the year! Our contests consistently rate 5 stars (their highest rating).

I hope you will pass this information along to those students who are beginning their veterinary career and that you will take a moment to take a tour through NETFOPets!. Should anyone be interested and have any questions, please feel free to contact me.


Best Regards,
Anita Aurit
NETFOPets! <http://www.netfopets.com>
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Los Angeles, California, USA
<sales@netfopets.com>

The Virtual University Gazette (VUG)
From: "Vicky Phillips" <lifelong@together.net>

The Virtual University Gazette, a FREE electronic newsletter for distance learning professionals, was launched April 1, 1998. Each issue of the Gazette will cover new distance learning academic programs, unique industry/university collaborations, jobs and career opportunities, tips and techniques for administering online learning initiatives, and emerging trends and issues related to online learning in colleges at the adult and continuing education levels.

To subscribe to future issues: email the single word SUBSCRIBE to <vug@oaknetpub.com>

The April 1st 1998 issue, the first issue of VUG, is now archived online at Lifelong Learning's Adult Education and Distance Learner's Resource Center

http://www.together.net/~lifelong

To view the first April issue please visit the resource center online. A subscription form is located there so new subscribers can easily sign-on to receive the next issue, May 1, 1998, via automated e-mail.

The Virtual University Gazette (VUG) is distributed free to the public by Lifelong Learning, an adult education and distance learning specialty firm located in Waterbury, Vermont, USA. The publisher, Vicky Phillips, who is also co-author of the new Princeton Review's new guide to virtual graduate schools, Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools: Earning Your Degree Without Leaving Home, can be reached at: <vugazette@aol.com>

HP WebPrint
From: "Anil K Dhiri, DVM MBA" <piscescd%DIRCON.CO.UK@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>

I thought I share my experience of HP WebPrint application (http://www.hp.com). If you have an HP printer,are using Win95+/WinNT, and regularly print pages from the web, this is tool you must have.

The application installs and runs with both IE 4.0+ and Netscape 4.0. It allows you to format and print pages collected from the web using a number of styles. No longer do you have to have tables split across pages etc.

The collated pages can have Table of Content, Headers/footers of your choice. You can mark pages for print as you browse and the application will then put them together into a number pre-defined styles or styles defined by you.

INTERNET RESOURCES


The LYME-L Discussion Forum
From: "Siegfried Schmitt" <Siegfried.Schmitt@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>

LYME-L is a discussion forum for researchers who are interested in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Lyme disease. If you want to join LYME-L, please send the command:

sub LYME-L

in the body of e-mail to <listserv@listserv.net> or use

http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=lyme-l&A=1

Tip on Surfing the Net
From: "Gary Barnes" <gbarnes@nothnbut.net>

Here's a convenient address to make Surfing the Net easy. This is a multi-engine search tool that uses the power of 24 engines and allows you to search all engines at once. (Notice that some engines will find a website while others will not.)

http://www.dogpile.com/


NEWS & COMMENTARY


Customized Degrees
From: "Edupage Editors" <educom@educom.unc.edu>

A survey of 100 business trainers found that 40% of large corporate training groups plan to create corporate/ university partnerships this year, allowing corporations to negotiate contracts that will encourage colleges and universities to provide courses and technical degrees customized for a particular business. The survey also indicated that by 2000 more than half of this custom training will be delivered through technologies such as the Internet and videoconferencing. (Computerworld 13 Apr 98)

IMS Standards for Online Course Materials
From: "Edupage Editors" <educom@educom.unc.edu>

Educom's Instructional Management System (IMS) project has released a set of standards intended to assist software and publishing companies in developing electronic teaching tools that will work together, regardless of origin. The details of the standards can be found at:

http://www.imsproject.org/

Mark Resmer, director of the IMS project and CIO at Sonoma State University, says the standards will "foster the development of a market in online learning." That market is estimated to reach $3.2 billion in sales of online courses and tools by 2010. (Chronicle of Higher Education 8 May 98)

Telecommuters Cite Higher Productivity at Home
From: "EDUCOM Edupage Mailing List" <edupage@educom.unc.edu>

A Kensington Telecommuting Survey indicates that nearly 75% of telecommuterssay they get a lot more work done while at home or on the road, as opposedto time spent in the corporate home office. Most pegged their productivitylevel at about 30% higher. The survey also showed that of companies that allow telecommuting, 63% don't give any formal training on how to be a telecommuter, and few pay for telecommuting employees' PCs and accessories. About 8 million workers telecommute regularly in the U.S. (Investor'sBusiness Daily 8 Apr 98)

(Could this apply to distance learning students as well? - Editor)

Vice President Gore Launches Computer Network to Fight Food-Borne Illness

Immediate Release May 22, 1998

New Food Safety System Five Times Faster At Locating Serious and Wide-Spread Food Contamination Problems

Washington, D.C. -- Addressing a problem that affects 33 million Americans each year, Vice President Gore announced today a new national computer network that will be five times faster at identifying and combating food-borne illness.

PulseNet -- a national computer network that identifies outbreaks of food-borne illness -- will enable public health laboratories across the country to use the Internet to provide alerts when outbreaks of food-borne disease occur.

President Clinton and I are committed to finding ways to ensure that the food Americans put on their tables is safe, said the Vice President, who was joined at a White House ceremony by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. With this efficient new computer network, we can more effectively trace widespread food-borne disease outbreaks and warn millions of Americans to stay away from contaminated food products.

In as little as 48 hours, PulseNet can identify rogue E.coli strains in foods by identifying the distinctive DNA fingerprints of pathogens found in both food sources and the patients suffering from gastric illness. In 1993, it took three weeks to track an rogue E.coli contamination in hamburger meat produced by single source.

PulseNet will link food safety investigators at the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the Agriculture Department, four key area laboratories and state health departments to link directly with the PulseNet database.

As of today, epidemiologists in the following states will be on PulseNet -- Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The CDC plans to have all states on the network by 1999.

This important Administration initiative will reduce the number of Americans who suffer from episodes of food-borne illness and prevent over 9,000 deaths a year. This initiative is part of the Vice President's effort to reinvent government through partnerships at state and federal agencies and make smart use of the latest technology.

The Vice President also announced the formation of FORCG (pronounced Force G), a partnership of federal and state agencies to better respond to food-borne illness outbreaks.


MEETINGS & EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

See the informatics section of NetVet for a more complete and current list of
informatics-related activities at <http://netvet.wustl.edu/info.htm>



Distance Learning '98
From: "Janice Czyscon" <czyscon@engr.wisc.edu>

14th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning
August 5-7, Marriott Madison West
Madison, WI

The Conference Planning Committee of the 14th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning invites you to join nearly 1,000 colleagues from around the world at this leading forum on distance education and training. Participants from education, business, industry, and government will come together to exchange information and explore new developments at this national/international event.

This year's program features more than 100 breakout sessions and workshops emphasizing:

*Best practices for effective applications *Planning and management guidelines
*Successful teaching methods
*Course designs for active and collaborative learning
*Innovative approaches, solutions, and research findings

For the complete program, visit our Web site at:

http://www.uwex.edu/disted/distanceconf/deconf.html

To receive a printed brochure (available mid-May), e-mail <distel@soemadison.wisc.edu> or call 608-265-4159. Include your postal address.

Janice Czyscon, Senior Editor
Department of Engineering Professional Development University of Wisconsin-Madison
432 North Lake Street
Madison, WI 53706
phone: 608-262-2703 or 800-462-0876
fax: 608-263-3160
e-mail: <czyscon@engr.wisc.edu>

A New Distance Learning Course in Medical Informatics
(See the May-June 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

http://www.albany.edu/medical_informatics/

IMIA Conference on Electronic Patient Records
EPRiMP will be held from October 7th - 10th 1998, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. (See the May-June 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

PhD Studentship Opportunity
(See the May-June 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

Richard B. Talbot Symposium on Veterinary Informatics
July 25-27, 1998; Baltimore, MD
(See this issue's feature article for details)

Stanford Medical Informatics Short Course
June or August, 1998; Stanford, CA
(See the January-February, 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

Medical Informatics Degree Program at UC-Davis
(See the January-February, 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Public Health - Third National
Conference
August 17-21, 1998; San Diego, CA
Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California
(See the January-February, 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

International Health Geographics Conference
October 16-18 1998; Baltimore, MD
Venue: The Maritime Institute of Technology, Baltimore, Maryland
(See the January-February, 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

AMIA 1998 Annual Symposium
Nov 7-11, 1998; Orlando, FL
(See the March-April, 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

GEOSTATS: GIS and Decision Support: Call for Papers
(See the March-April, 1998 AVI Newsletter for details)

http://www.cba.hawaii.edu/hicss

LAWTE Meeting - Training Exhibit
A reminder that the 98 LAWTE MEETING will take place on August 20 and 21 in St. Louis: It's not too late to take advantage of the $175 registration cost! Please note that registration increases to $195 after August 3.

For a copy of the program or information on the Meeting, visit the LAWTE Web site at:

http://netvet.wustl.edu/org/lawte/homepg.htm

or contact me directly.

In addition to the 2 days of presentations, the LAWTE Program is featuring for the first time a Training Materials Exhibit with a buffet dinner on Thursday evening, August 20. The materials displayed will consist of animal facility management software, training development software, computerized training products, videos, training aid devices, and featured Web sites. A listing of exhibit materials follows at the end of this message.

The exhibit will take place in the top two floors of the beautiful WU Becker Medical Library, which features a hospitality center, a computer lab and a video lab. Computers are equipped with Internet connections and CD-ROM drives. The library is a short walk from our Meeting location in the new Eric P. Newman Education Center.

Listed below are the Exhibit materials. This is not a closed list! If anyone has additional materials that they would like to contribute to the Exhibit, please contact me directly.

Nicole Duffee <nicole@dcm.wustl.edu>

98 LAWTE MEETING
TRAINING MATERIALS EXHIBIT

**Computerized Training Materials

  • Anesthesia of Rats CD (Bohn Stafleu Van Loghum Publishers)

  • Animal Health and Welfare Images CDs (Paul Flecknell, PhD, Univ. Newcastle)

  • FishGuts CD (Andrew Kane, PhD, Univ. Maryland)

  • Husbandry of Frogs CD (Merck & Co.)

  • Husbandry of Chickens CD (Merck & Co.)

  • Lab Animal Science Trainer 3.5" Disk (Interactive Technology)

  • Laboratory Animal Training CD (Dennis Stark, DVM,Ph.D., Veterinary Sciences Bristol Myers Squibb and Martin Renkis BA, MicroMedium Inc.)

  • NIH Laboratory Animal Course CD (Jim Harwell, DVM, NIH)

  • Use of Animals CD (New S. Wales TAFE Commission, Aus.)

**Software

  • Sirius, animal facility management software (Sirius)

  • Granite, animal facility management software (GCS)

  • Digital Trainer Professional, training developer software (MicroMedium, Inc.)

  • AUTOTOOT, autotutorial developer software (Phil Tillman, DVM, UC-Davis)

**Information Systems

  • NORINA, training resource database (Adrian Smith, Un) PREX, online information service (Utrecht University)

**Training Devices

  • Animal handling training aids (Sally Walshaw, VMD, Univ. MI)

  • Daisie, simulation of a dog abdomen (David Holmberg, DVM, MVSc, Univ. Guelph)

  • Organ models (Sharon Jahn, MS, LATG, UC-Davis)

  • Surgery training aids (Lynette Fiedler, NIH)

**Videos

ACLAM, the entire series

  • Basics of Aseptic Surgery and Anesthesia in Rodents (Gary Borskowski, DVM, Penn State)

  • Microsurgery on the Laboratory Rat: Perfusion of the Isolated Gut. (Microsurgical Developments Foundation)

  • Microsurgery on the Laboratory Rat: Permanent Cannulation of the Jugular Vein. (Microsurgical Developments Foundation)

  • Microsurgery on the Laboratory Rat: Permanent Cannulation of the Portal Vein (Microsurgical Developments Foundation)

**Featured Web Sites

SUGGESTED READING


Healthcare Informatics
From: "News of New Electronic Journals" <nj@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>

http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/

Healthcare Informatics is the most comprehensive, most widely circulated, and best read publication on healthcare information technologies. First published in 1984, Healthcare Informatics targets all levels of healthcare management involved in the assessment and purchase of information systems for healthcare facilities and organizations of all types. Healthcare Informatics serves readers in the rapidly growing $13 billion market for healthcare informations systems.

Medical Informatics Newsletter

http://www.imia.org/newslettel.htm

The Newsletter of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) is available at this web-site as Electronic Edition. Issues are available as PDF files.

IMIA Aims to promote informatics in health care and biomedical research, to advance international cooperation, to stimulate research, development and routine application, to further the dissemination and exchange of information, to encourage education and responsible behavior.

Contact:
O. Rienhoff, Managing Editor
email: <haegar@med.uni-goettingen.de>


CLOSING BITS


The Year 2K Song - Theme Song for the End of the Century
(author unknown)

"Two Digits for a Date" (to the tune of "Gilligan's Island")

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale Of the doom that is our fate.
That started when programmers used Two digits for a date. Two digits for a date.

Main memory was smaller then; Hard disks were smaller, too.
"Four digits are extravagant, So let's get by with two. So let's get by with two."

"This works through 1999," The programmers did say.
"Unless we rewrite before that It all will go away. It all will go away."

But Management had not a clue: "It works fine now, you bet!
A rewrite is a straight expense; We won't do it just yet. We won't do it just yet."

Now when 2000 rolls around It all goes straight to hell,
For zero's less than ninety-nine, As anyone can tell. As anyone can tell.

The mail won't bring your pension check. It won't be sent to you
When you're no longer sixty-eight, But minus thirty-two. But minus thirty-two.

The problems we're about to face Are frightening, for sure.
And reading every line of code's The only certain cure. The only certain cure.

[key change, big finish]

There's not much time, There's too much code. (And Cobol-coders, few)
When the century is finished with, We may be finished, too. We may be finished, too.

Eight thousand years from now I hope That things weren't left too late,
And people aren't then lamenting Four digits for a date.

Association for Veterinary Informatics - 2005 - All Rights Reserved