Association for
Veterinary Informatics
NEWSLETTER

September - October, 1998



Robin Starr-Chichester (Conifer, CO)- President; James V. Schoster (Wisconsin)- 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


Minutes of the CAI Working Group Meeting - July 98
From: "Cheryl Dhein" <crd%VETMED.WSU.EDU@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>

The minutes of the special interest group of AVI on computer aided instruction which met July 26, 1998 in Baltimore are posted at:

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/avicai/avicai.html

Plan to join us next year at the AVMA meeting in New Orleans.

Cheryl Dhein
DVM MS, Diplomat ACVIM
Associate Professor, VCS
Head of Instructional Technology, VIS
College of Veterinary Medicine
Washington State University, 99164-6610

James V. Schoster - AVI President-Elect
From: "Jim Case" <JimCase@aol.com>

Here is a brief Bio on James Schoster, AVI president elect, that was omitted from the ballot package.

James V. Schoster, DVM DACVO
Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology University of Wisconsin - Madison

Jim Schoster's complete CV is available upon request.

Jim has been involved in Computer Based Instruction since 1989. He began with ToolBook and gradually built multimedia lecture enhancing programs, which later developed into CD-ROM's for distribution, and now WWW based programs.

Since ophthalmology is very image oriented, the computer is the perfect medium for dissemination of this information.

Jim is very motivated to share clinical veterinary medical knowledge distantly using the WWW.

Jim recently returned from Japan and Russia where he conducted continuing education seminars using WWW based programs he developed and serves off of his NT server.
Jim is currently the chairman of the UW School of Veterinary Medicine Information Technology Advisory Committee and has been a CONVINCE board member in the past.

Jim is currently working on an interactive ophthalmic pathology program using both the WWW and FirstClass Intranet Server as a conferencing program. A few of his Web accomplishments are listed below:


· Interactive Eye Pathology. J.V. Schoster and R. R. Dubielzig. The Journal of Br.A.V.
British Association of Veterinary Ophthalmologists, published in Spring 1997 issue.
· The Normal Pupillary Light Reflex, The Abnormal Pupillary Light Reflex, The Retina.
Schoster, JV All 3 titles are computer based instructional programs. Submitted to Tom Hall of TCC Publishing for inclusion in book: Utilizing Multimedia ToolBook, 3.0: 1996
by Boyd & Fraser Publishing Company.
· VOPTIXÓ , A Computer Generated Graphical Data Base for Display of Corneal Thickness Profiles. Schoster, J.V., Ahrikencheikh C. Digital Journal of Ophthalmology charter issue, December 1995.


AVI Membership Report 1998

Membership activities during the previous year were as follows: initial mailing of renewal was done in November 1997. An additional mailing was sent out to nonrenewed members in April of 1998. A current membership application form was made available on the AVI WWW site. Information about the AVI and membership was also distributed through the AVI-L LISTSERV.

Throughout 1997-98, the Secretary-Treasurer continued to solicit members through a mass mailing to AAHA members. The list was initially purchased from AAHA in April 1997. It contained over 13,000 names and addresses on self-sticking mailing labels. As of July 22, 1997 over 11,000 letters and application forms have been sent to AAHA members. This has resulted in 91 new members from those who were contacted for a response rate of approximately 0.85%. It was estimated that a response rate of 1.5% would pay for the mailing. Although the response rate was below expectations, the total membership of the AVI nearly doubled in response to the solicitation.

As of July 14, 1997, the Association has 197 active members. These include 161 Full members, 30 Associate members, and 4 Student members and 2 Corporate memberships. Foreign membership includes 1 from Australia, 1 from Brazil, 3 people from Canada, and 1 from Sweden. Membership is up from 157 members in 1997, a 25.5% increase and 35% from 1996. Sixty-two people who were members in 1997 had not renewed as of July 22, 1997. This represents a 39.4% attrition rate for members, which is unacceptably high. It would be important for the AVI leadership to investigate the reasons for the high rate of non renewal in order to maintain ongoing growth in the Association. There are 60 new members since January 1, 1998.

Working group affiliation of the members is:

Practice Management Systems

35

Communications and Networking

22

Computerized Patient Records

58

Data and Messaging Standards

5

Computer-Aided Instruction

48

No selection

28


Respectfully submitted,
James T. Case DVM, Ph.D.
Secretary/Treasurer


Treasurer's Report
From: "Jim Case" <JimCase@aol.com>

As of June 30, 1998, the AVI had $7229.44 in checking. There are no other accounts currently open. Income and expenses (actual vs prior) are as listed below.

7/1/97-

7/1/96-

6/30/98

6/30/97

Dollar

ACTUAL

PRIOR

Change

Income

Membership dues

$7,014.57

$5,549.74

$1,464.83

------------

------------

------------

Total Income

$7,014.57

$5,549.74

$1,464.83

Expense

Annual meeting costs

$1,495.08

$835.42

$(659.66)

Bank correction

(11.00)

19.00

30.00

Equipment

290.62

4,033.41

3742.79

Membership costs

0.00

0.00

(8.00)

Newsletter editor support

2,300.00

0.00

(2,300.00)

Postage

2,738.43

1,957.00

(781.43)

Printing - newsletter

895.48

903.47

7.99

Printing - nonnewsletter

816.65

442.87

(373.78)

PR/ Marketing

0.00

0.00

0.00

Reimburs-able expense

0.00

139.00

139.00

Reimburse-ment

0.00

230.45

230.45

Software

0.00

309.68

309.68

Sponsorship

0.00

0.00

0.00

Stationary

52.29

245.80

193.51

Xeroxing

0.00

16.90

16.90

------------

------------

------------

------------

Total Expense

$8,585.55

$9,808.00

$1,222.45

NET INCOME (LOSS)

$(1,570.92)

$(4,258.26)

$2,627.28






Minutes from AVI Annual Business Meeting 1998



General comments - Dr. Charles Cohen, Outgoing AVI President

  • Welcome to all those attending the AVI Business Meeting

  • Thanks to Duane Steward for organizing the Talbot Informatics Symposium

  • Problem and possible topic for next Talbot Symposium - the need for additional Vet Med software

  • Introduction of JAVMA Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Janis H. Audin

Presentation by Dr. Janis H. Audin

  • Mission of JAVMA

  • Open discussion regarding relationship between AVI and AVMA

  • J. Audin suggested AVI assemble a publications committee that would be sponsored by a specialty group or school

  • Reiterated that JAVMA always willing to consider informatics articles

Secretary/Treasurer's report - Dr. James T. Case

  • Membership report: see "Association News"

  • Financial report: see "Association News"

Newsletter Editor's report - Dr. Ronald D. Smith

  • Introduction of Newsletter Assistant Editor, Tina Villarete

  • Discussion: pros and cons of replacing e-mailed (ASCII) and Web (HTML) versions of AVI Newsletter with a .pdf (Acrobat) version

    • RESOLVED:.pdf version will be distributed in lieu of ASCII version starting with Jan-Feb 99 issue

    • RESOLVED: continue posting HTML version on NetVet

  • Open discussion on ways to cut costs of AVI Newsletter hardcopy

    • Move to Web version only?

    • Additional charge for those members requesting a hardcopy of the AVI Newsletter?

    • RESOLVED: AVI will continue to urge members to receive electronic version (.pdf) only and see if demand for hardcopy diminishes

Nominating Committee report - Dr. James T. Case)

  • Announced the installment of Dr. Robin M. Starr as AVI President

  • Announced the election of Dr. James V. Schoster as AVI President-Elect

Education Committee report - Dr. Duane Steward

  • Open discussion regarding improving member participation and attendance

    • Suggestion to list informatics separately in the AVMA listing

    • Suggestion to make AVI information more mainstream and applicable for practitioners

    • Reference to survey conducted by Cheryl Dhein

  • Open nominations for new Education Committee Chair

    • At the present time we have not identified anyone willing to chair the Education Committee and take responsibility for AVI presence at next year's AVMA annual meeting

    • RESOLVED: Robin Starr will follow-up

Working group reports - none given

  • Practice management

  • Networking and Communications (Internet)

  • Electronic Medical Records

  • Data standards and Messaging (Standards)

  • Computer Aided Instruction

Installation of new officers

  • Robin Starr installed as incoming AVI President

  • James Schoster announced as incoming AVI President-elect

Old Business - Dr. Ken Boschert

  • AVI should have its own Internet domain and webserver

    • Currently, AVI is listed under Ken Boschert's Website

    • Discussed costs associated with the change

    • Motion to get AVI its own domain name, motion seconded

    • Request to send Ken Boschert any domain name suggestions

New Business

  • Robin Starr announced that she will discuss Education Committee Chair and arrangements for next year's symposium with the Executive Committee

Adjourn




PRODUCTS & REVIEWS


Pilots Help Doctors Navigate Their Residency
By Lisa Napoli

July 19, 1998

When the new crop of neurology residents arrived at Massachusetts General Hospital this summer, they were presented with a surprise in the midst of orientation lectures and paperwork: a Palm Pilot pre-loaded with medical data to make their hectic lives run a bit more smoothly.

The modern medical resident is still governed by a life of stress and sleeplessness for which this rite of passage to becoming a doctor is notorious. But one of the dozen new Pilot recipients, Dr. Volney Sheen, 29, said he expects the device will make his job easier in at least one way: by eliminating the need to carry around the three-by-five index cards doctors generally use to take notes on their rounds.

"You lose the cards, and they are so disorganized that you can't find anything," said Dr. Sheen, a recent graduate of Harvard Medical School.

Efficient management of information is something John Lester, the systems specialist for the neurology department, has witnessed a need for in his six years on the job. When the residency program at Massachusetts General was merged with those of two other local hospitals last year, that meant fewer residents serving more patients -- and an even more pressing need for a way to help the young doctors navigate the maze of lab numbers, contact names, drug references, and patient data.

Lester brainstormed with Dr. Barry Kosofsky, the coordinator of the merged programs, for a solution. "We had to manage the phone numbers, lab numbers, ID numbers, computer access," said Dr. Kosofsky.

"All (the residents) needed was some good, fundamental way to take little notes and save them and keep them in their pocket," said Lester. "There had to be a better way than these cards. I was thinking wilderness survival -- what is the ideal tool to help them?"

They found it in the Palm Pilot, just small enough to be portable, yet powerful enough to store vast amounts of information. Starting last year, residents were given the digital assistants and instructed on their use. Docking stations were installed in each of the hospitals, so that residents could easily download their schedules. (This year's Pilots also have an infrared feature, allowing residents who are so inclined to share notes at the push of a button.)

"The way I'm working now, I'm at several different places all the time. Even if it were easier for me to keep all my patient data on one computer, a lot of times I wouldn't be at one computer to write it down," said Dr. Alice Flaherty, who served as chief resident at Massachusetts General last year when the program was launched.

Her loose-leaf notebook of lab numbers and medical "pearls of wisdom" -- cobbled together over her three years in the program -- was transcribed and imported as the basis of the program's master database. The database also includes clinical scenarios, drug names and a modified Physician's Desk Reference.

Though Dr. Flaherty admitted she was initially somewhat resistant to the notion of using a personal digital assistant, she said she has now mastered the graffiti alphabet necessary to input information into a Pilot and now uses it to take notes at lectures, record patient data and jot down ideas from papers she reads. It took a month for her to feel comfortable writing the characters the Pilot recognizes, morphing her doctor's scribble into the Pilot's "language."

Lester said not all the residents choose to learn the characters necessary for taking notes on the Pilot, but he said those who do usually discover even more utility.

Said Dr. Flaherty: "You can do these great searches. I used to try to remember papers I'd seen, like there's one about 'ringing in your ears.' Now I can look up 'ringing in your ears' and see it was a Levine paper in Science in 1997. Another key thing: you can do stuff on the elevator, or if I just stop to talk to someone, right then I can enter in the data. Whereas if I wrote it down, who knows what would happen to it. It makes you able to use the downtime, like waiting in line for the cafeteria, for doing something else."

Dr. Kosofsky remembers a different sort of waiting in line ten years ago: when there was just one computer, and residents had to queue up at a single terminal to access their schedules. Although advances in information technology have helped solve some problems, he acknowledged that there are still challenges.

"We're fighting the same battle, just in different ways now," he said. He and Lester are working with Harvard Medical School on a task force in educational computing that aims to put Pilots in the hands of medical students there, after an earlier experiment with clunky laptops failed because of their bulk. Finding a place to balance a machine in order to use a keyboard just wasn't feasible for the students.

"The bottom line is, how do you get value?" said Dr. Kosofsky. "What's appealing about what we're doing is there is little startup cost and minimal maintenance. It's part of a bigger initiative to figure out how to give students 'virtual brains.'"

As the second year of the program gets underway, Lester said one of the best testaments to its success is that older, more technophobic doctors have asked if they can get the Pilots, too -- and current users have come up with ways to enhance the devices.

Ease-of-use was a key part of making the program work, Lester said. "We didn't want to make it so integral to their lives that they would fail if they didn't make it a part of their work, but at the same time, we wanted to make the benefits of using it so great that they would want to learn it. It's the co-evolving of the people and the tools."

Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company

Compendium of Veterinary Products Available on NOAH Database
From: "Jill Indelicato" <JIndelicato@avma.org>

Veterinary Products (CVP) published by North American Compendiums, Inc., is now available on NOAH. The Compendium of Veterinary Products gives you more product listings and information to provide your veterinary practice with the most complete and concise online reference available.

It is available online exclusively to NOAH members:

http://www.avma.org/noah/databases/nac/naccvp.asp

This easy-to-use, online version of the CVP contains over 4,800 monographs of approved pharmaceuticals, pesticides, biologics, and other veterinary products. Essential information is provided for companion animals, livestock and poultry. Manufacturer's or distributer's names and addresses and contact information are also provided.

The Compendium of Veterinary Products is sponsored on NOAH by Bayer Animal Health. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments regarding NOAH.

Jill Indelicato
Online Services Specialist
AVMA Center for Information Management

Dogbot

Engineers at Sony's D21 lab have developed a robotic dog, complete with 64-bit central processing unit, 8 megabytes of memory, and a supersensitive camera "eye" that enables it to obey motion commands -- if you stick your hand out, Dogbot will sit. The robot is reconfigurable, so that the owner can swap out limbs or even the head, and each module is "intelligent" -- equipped with its own motor and control chip. Toshitada Doi, head of the D21 lab, says he thinks there will be a consumer market among children for the dogbots sometime around 2000. (Business Week 20 Jul 98)

Surveillance Manual and Software
From: "Angus Cameron" <angus@pnc.com.au>

Active Surveillance for Livestock Diseases

A new book on livestock disease surveillance is now available, together with a suite of software programs for surveillance. The electronic versions of the manual and software are now available over the internet from:

http://www.pnc.com.au/~angus

The manual and software are the result of research in surveillance techniques in Thailand and Laos. The manual - "Active Surveillance for Livestock Diseases - Practical Techniques for Developing Countries" - consists of 335 pages in Adobe Acrobat format was prepared with the assistance of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). A hard copy will soon be available through them. The software - Survey Toolbox - runs on Windows 95 systems, and contains programs for random sampling, planning and analysis of two-stage prevalence surveys, incidence surveys, and surveys to demonstrate freedom from disease (FreeCalc).

Both the electronic version of the manual and software are available free of charge. The printed version of the manual will be available free of charge to developing countries.

Angus Cameron - Veterinary Consultant
140 Falls Road, Wentworth Falls, NSW 2782, Australia
Email: <
angus@pnc.com.au>
Phone: +61 2 4757 2770
Fax: +61 2 4757 2789



INTERNET RESOURCES



VETMED-L No Longer Exists
From: <raingoddess@JUNO.COM>

The VETMED-L list at UGA (
LISTSERV@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU ) no longer exists. Most of its functions have been taken up by the newer moderated VETMED (note: no "-L") list on the IUPUI server. A separate announcement for VETMED will follow. Please update any lists-of-lists that you may maintain to remove VETMED-L and replace it with VETMED.

Epivet-L - The Veterinary Epidemiologists List
From: "John Gay" <jmgay@vetmed.wsu.edu>

Greetings:

I've create a website of epidemiology and other materials for veterinary students and ag animal practitioners. It contains both original materials as well as links to other sites. If I've missed linking something or you find something original is in serious error, please let me know. Like most sites, I modify and add things to it on an irregular but constant basis and contents are in various stages starting with rough draft. If you have similar items to link to, please let me know.

Some pieces relevant to this list are:
· Clinical Epidemiology & Evidence-Based Medicine Glossary

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/courses-jmgay/GlossClinEpiEBM.htm

· Guidelines for Assessing Professional Information

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/courses-jmgay/EvalGuide.htm

· WWWeb Epidemiology & Evidence-based Medicine Sources for Veterinarians

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/courses-jmgay/EpiLinks.htm

John Gay, DVM PhD DACVPM
Associate Professor, Epidemiology
Office: (509) 335-0785
Washington State University

New Search Engine for Horse-Related Websites
From: "Savelberg Hubert" <hubert@savelberg.com>

The search-engine of

http://www.aachenbreed.com/index.html

is dedicated to horse-related web pages only. Although the new website

http://www.aachenbreed.com/


is still under construction, you can now submit your horse-related web pages to our search engine, for free.

Our no-nonsense webcrawler will index not only the links of the related pages, but also all words, keywords and meta-tags on your entire website, but only if your website is horse-dedicated.

Just go to

http://www.aachenbreed.com/index.html

and submit your site.

(English, Deutsch, Francais, Italiano and Nederlands instructions are available)

Holisticat - Holistic Cat Care and Nutrition

Holisticat is a new umoderated mailing list for cat lovers who are interested in treated their cats using alternative, non-invasive healing methods such as homeopathy, herbs, Chinese medicine, etc. Optimal nutrition for cats is also a major discussion topic. This list is for the discussion of cat-related topics only. Both regular and digest versions of the list are currently available.

Flaming either on the list, or privately to other listmembers will not be tolerated.

· To subscribe to the regular version of the list i.e. to receive individual messages as they are posted, send this message: subscribe holisticat
· To subscribe to the digest version of the list, send this message: subscribe holisticat-digest

Either message must be sent (with no sig file and no subject) to: <
majordomo@mylist.net>

Any questions, please contact the listowner at: <
s_arora@juno.com>

AGRICOLA on the Web

Looking for a particular reference? Or a book and can't remember the author? An article on some aspect of food safety, vet med, nutrition, or other agricultural topics? If yes, I would like to invite you to check out "AGRICOLA on the Web". You will find it on the National Agricultural Library (NAL) home page

http://www.nal.usda.gov/


AGRICOLA (AGRICultural OnLine Access) is a bibliographic database consisting of literature citations for journal articles, monographs, serials, audiovisual materials, technical reports (and more) relating to all aspects of agriculture since 1965.

AGRICOLA does not contain the materials themselves; but it can help you identify and find them, and you can search AGRICOLA via the World Wide Web. Materials may be borrowed from the National Agricultural Library (NAL).

How to Borrow:
For complete information on how to get NAL materials, see NAL's Document Delivery Services on the Web site.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/ddsb/


1 - USDA employees and some USDA personnel working for specific Food and Nutrition Service programs may borrow directly. See list of FNS programs at bottom of this message.

2 - Individuals
NAL provides copies and loans of agricultural materials to the public through interlibrary loan. Individuals who wish to borrow or obtain copies of material from the NAL collection should contact their local, University, or hospital library to place an interlibrary loan request.

3 - Libraries
Library borrowing procedures are on the Web site.

More:
AGRICOLA is also a locator system for materials contained in the collection of the National Agricultural Library (NAL), the largest collection of agricultural literature in the world. In addition to records for volumes cataloged and indexed at NAL, AGRICOLA includes citations with location information of items contained in collections of some of NAL's cooperative partners.

As of June 1998, all books, AVs, etc. (i.e., everything that was 'cataloged') from 1970 to the present is available. This amounts to some 981,000 records. We also have all 'indexing' records created from 1985 to the present available...some 667,000 records. We will continue to load the remainder of the indexing records over the summer and will ultimately have the full 3.5 million records available, with more being added on a daily basis.

Searchable:
AGRICOLA is searchable via the Web on the NAL Web site and also using the VTLS Web Gateway. For those who prefer a text-oriented interface for searching, Telnet access to ISIS, the production arm of AGRICOLA, is still available.

AGRICOLA can also be accessed for a fee through several commercial vendors, both online and on CD-ROM, and users may purchase magnetic tapes containing AGRICOLA records from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).

Please note:
The AGRICOLA data are for personal use only. Users are responsible for complying with all copyright and licensing restrictions associated with data.

Special programs borrow directly.
Through an interagency agreement with the Food and Consumer Service (FCS) of USDA, NAL has expanded the categories of users eligible for direct loan of books and audiovisuals, free photocopies of journal articles, and comprehensive reference/research services. The expanded group includes personnel working for the following FCS programs:
* Child Nutrition Program (school district and individual school faculty, librarians or media center staff, nurses and food service personnel),
* Nutrition Education and Training Program (NET),
* Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
* Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP),
* Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR),
* Child and Adult Care Feeding Program (CACFP),
* University of Maryland Nutrition Extension Agents and Department of Nutrition and Food Science Faculty.

Food Safety Educator Available Online
From: <EDNET@FOODSAFETY.GOV>

August 1998
Current and past issues of the "Food Safety Educator" are available on the WWW in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat is required to access this Web page. The URL is:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/educator/educator.htm

Subscribe to the "Food Safety Educator" by sending an e-mail message to joan.troiano@usda.gov . Please include your mailing address, not e-mail address. The newsletter is currently only available by mail.

The On-line Medical Dictionary

http://www.graylab.ac.uk/omd/index.html

OMD is a searchable dictionary created by Dr Graham Dark and contains terms relating to biochemistry, cell biology, chemistry, medicine, molecular biology, physics, plant biology, radiobiology, science and technology. It includes: acronyms, jargon, theory, conventions, standards, institutions, projects, eponyms, history, in fact anything to do with medicine or science.
It aims to provide a one-stop source of information about all medical and scientific terms and includes many useful cross-references and pointers to related resources elsewhere on the Internet, as well as bibliographical reference to paper publications. It lacks many entries which one can find in paper dictionaries but contains more encyclopaedia-like entries and entries on various subjects. It also contains many definitions in related areas.

The dictionary started in early 1997 and has grown, to contain over 46,000 definitions totalling 14.5 megabytes. Entries are cross-referenced to each other and to related resources elsewhere on the net. It is freely available on the Internet via the World-Wide Web.

VETMED - Veterinary Discussion List

VETMED is a moderated list for the discussion of veterinary issues. Veterinary professionals, students, and all others interested in veterinary medical issues are welcome on the list. List subscribers include veterinarians, vet techs, animal breeders, pet owners, farmers and others interested in animal health topics.

List discussions include requests for help with cases, discussion of veterinary news and new products, general animal health and nutrition topics, and other issues of interest to veterinary professionals and pet owners. Because it is a moderated list, it is milder in tone and lower in volume than the open list which preceded it (vetmed-l at UGA, which no longer exists.) While differences of opinion on issues are welcome on VETMED, flames and personal attacks are not.

To subscribe, send email to: <
listserv@iupui.edu> with the message:
SUBSCRIBE VETMED Yourfirstname Yourlastname
(Example: SUB VETMED James Herriot, DVM)

You must include your first and last name for the subscription to be processed. Anonymous subscribers are not allowed. Leave the subject line blank and do not include any extra text or punctuation in the request. All new subscriptions are automatically set to receive the digest version of the list.

For more information, you can contact the listowners at the following address: <vetmed-request@listserv.iupui.edu>

Note to maintainers of 'list-of-lists' websites: please edit your pages to remove references to the now-defunct VETMED-L and replace them with information about VETMED.

Stacy Pober - VETMED moderator

CONVINCE Web Site

The CONVINCE Website provides a database of computer-aided instructional (CAI) materials as a community resource for veterinary students and veterinary educators. They would like to encourage faculty who have developed CAI materials (web sites or stand-alone programs) to include your hard work in this database.

If you'd like to sample the database, simply log in at

http://www.convince.org/

and select "CAI Database" from the first menu that appears. This link will take you to the search page. Follow the links described in the search page to find instructional materials by species, discipline, a text index, or by author.

If you would like to have your teaching material added to their database, follow the link in the paragraph at the bottom of the search page. The link will take you to a form that allows you to provide information for their descriptions. They will review your materials and transfer it to their online database.

Jeff R. Wilcke, DVM, MS, DACVCP
CONVINCE Website Coordinator

All the Virology on the WWW - Update and Urgent Call for Images
From: "Dr. David M. Sander" <DMSander@ix.netcom.com>

All the Virology on the WWW Update

http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/garryfavweb.html

All the Virology on the WWW (ATV) is pleased to announce several new developments of interest to our users:

· ATV has had some very high profile reviews recently - including a review in AAAS's premier Science Magazine.
· The Big Picture Book of Viruses continues to grow and we are seeking more viral images for this collection, and for a new ASM educational project to collect the best educational viral images available.
· The Virology Bookshop continues to offer our users significant discounts on your favorite books.
· A new look for ATV is under development - tell us what you think!

If you aren't familiar with the site, or would like to add a URL to my collection, please read "About All the Virology on the WWW" below.

ATV Reviewed in SCIENCE:
You may have seen one of the recent reviews of All the Virology on the WWW in the June 26th issue of Science, or in Biomednet's popular Internet Journal, the HMS Beagle:

http://biomednet.com/hmsbeagle/34/webres/wreview.htm

The Big Picture Book of Viruses:

http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/Big_Virology/BVHomePage.html

As many of you know, The Big Picture Book of Viruses continues to prosper with many images being added every week. If you have a virology image you would like to share with the public, or a Web site with viral images please contact us.

In addition, ATV has partnered with the American Society for Microbiology in sponsoring an electronic collection of peer-reviewed materials for teaching and learning about the microbial world. The Collection (C3) is intended to provide a venue for teaching faculty to publish pertinent work in education, and to provide a resource for improving teaching and learning in the microbiological sciences

Please visit the following web address if you need details or a submission form:

http://www.asmusa.org/edusrc/educ3.htm

This is an NSF funded project, and a wonderful opportunity to showcase your work. We need your materials (video, animation, photos, graphics)! The collection will be peer reviewed so this will be a great (and relatively easy) opportunity for you to have your material published on the web (helpful for P&T, merit pay, makes your CV more attractive!) If you have any specific questions not answered on the web site, feel free to contact Kim R. Finer <ikassem@asmusa.org> for more information. The ASM C3 collection needs your submissions now!

The Virology Bookshop:
In association with Amazon.com, the largest bookstore on the Internet, we are now offering our users discounts of up to 20% on virology, microbiology, infectious disease related books on the market. "The Virology Bookshop" is easily accessible through the home page for All the Virology on the WWW:

http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/garryfavweb.html


Please let us know what you think of this new service, and of the book reviews that accompany many of the recent releases.

All the Virology on the WWW has also been adding to its already substantial collection of Internet links of use to Virologists, Microbiologists and the general public.

A New Look for ATV:
Although we've been on the Web for over 3 years, our appearance has changed only twice. We are now experimenting with a new format, and would love to hear what you think. Partially updated pages include ATV's Vaccine page:

http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/garryfavwebvacc.html

and the Paramyxovirus page within the Big Picture Book of Viruses:

http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/Big_Virology/BVRNApara.html

In addition to these cosmetic changes, a search utility has recently been made available for ATV users and yet more changes are in store. If you have any comments or suggestions about this new "look", please let us know!

--------------------------------------------------------

About All the Virology on the WWW:

http://www.tulane.edu/~dmsander/garryfavweb.html


This comprehensive page lists all the WWW sites we know that contain information about virology, epidemiology and public health, general virology, specific viruses, microbiology, AIDS, emerging viruses, vaccines, gene therapy, biological warfare, taxonomy, virology and microbiology news, academic departments, virology institutes, genomic data, research labs and other health Related sites in addition to web sites regarding science jobs, scientific meetings, government agencies, journals, scientific societies, patent and legal resources, scientific companies, and much, much more.

All the Virology on the WWW also contains On-line Virology Course Notes, a Virology Bookshop, and a catalog of viral images - The Big Picture Book of Viruses.

This site is maintained and updated often. Any submissions, additions or corrections that you might have would be very much appreciated, and can be made using the following form:

With your assistance, this Web site will continue to be the best resource of its kind on the web. For those of you who maintain your own web pages, please send me your address or use our site submission form and I will gladly add it to the list.





NEWS & COMMENTARY


Alternatives to Animal Testing News
From: <altweb@gumby.candler.jhsph.edu>

Altweb--the Alternatives to Animal Testing Web Site--has news to share. There are several new additions to the site you may find useful, including:

* a new journal, JAAWS (Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science)
* Reports #27 and 28 of ECVAM (the European Center for Validation of Alternative Methods)
* full-text of all CAAT Technical Reports
* abstracts from the latest issues of ATLA and In Vitro Animal
* June and July News updates

Visit our site at

http://altweb.jhsph.edu/

to check out any of these new resources. They are highlighted in the "What's New" box on our homepage.

Also, Altweb was just chosen as a "Select Site" by the Dow Jones Business Directory. This well-regarded publication (by the same company that produces the Wall Street Journal) highlights sites believed by its editors to be of "exceptional value." Its review "heartily recommended" Altweb. To see the full review, visit the site at http://bd.dowjones.com and search for "altweb."

If you have suggestions, questions, or comments about Altweb, we'd like to hear from you.

To subscribe, send the message SUBSCRIBE to <
altweb@caat.jhsph.edu>
To unsubscribe, send the message UNSUBSCRIBE to <
altweb@caat.jhsph.edu>

E-mail comments and questions to: <
info@caat.jhsph.edu>

DVM Newsmagazine HotSpot Contest
From: "Lynne Brakeman" <lbrakeman%advanstar.com@wuvmd.wustl.edu>

We are pleased to inform you that the latest update of DVM Newsmagazine Online

http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/


is now available.

News Alert: DVM Newsmagazine launches a search for the best veterinary clinic home pages. The DVM Newsmagazine HotSpot Contest is accepting entries through October 2nd. Read the details and nominate your clinic's site.

Updated pages and new additions for September 1998 include
· Breaking News
· Calendar
· Product Spotlights
· Links
· Classified ads
· 1998 WildWest Veterinary Conference final program

Our first installment of the new "Ask the NetVet" column featuring our online editorial advisor, Dr. Ken Boschert, of NetVet fame! Have a question about the Internet or computers? Send us an e-mail for Dr. Boschert.

We invite your list members to stop by and let us know what they think.

Sincerely,
Lynne Brakeman
Senior Editor
DVM Newsmagazine
E-mail: <
lbrakeman@advanstar.com>

Dartmouth Endorses Apple's Imac for Incoming Freshmen
From: "Edupage"

In a letter to 1,100 incoming freshmen, Dartmouth College is recommending that they purchase Apple Computer's new iMac computer to satisfy the school's computer requirement. Computing Director Lawrence Levine says the suggestion is not the result of any special deal with Apple, and that his campus also supports other PCs, including a Windows-based machine from Dell. (Chronicle of Higher Education 31 Jul 98)

UNC-Chapel Hill Says 'Buy Big Blue'
From: "Edupage"

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is recommending to its students that they purchase their computers from IBM, once the school's mandatory-laptop policy goes into effect in 2000. The school also expects to buy some $16-million worth of computers from IBM over the next four years. The deal will enable the school to offer students very competitive prices on laptops conforming to certain technical standards (which have not yet been determined because of the rapid changes in technology). Meanwhile, IBM has promised the university $2.5 million in grants for computer equipment and research, but the school's Vice Chancellor for information technology said the grants did not influence their decision to go with Big Blue. Sean Rush, general manager of IBM's North American higher-education division, said the grants were a continuation of the company's "long-standing research relationship with UNC," and that university officials were forbidden by law to consider such grants when selecting vendors. IBM's prices were as much as $1,400 below bids from other vendors. (Chronicle of Higher Education 24 Jul 98)




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>

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)

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)



SUGGESTED READING


DVM News Online Update
From: "Lynn Brakeman"
<lbrakeman@advanstar.com >

We are pleased to inform your list members that the latest update of DVM Newsmagazine Online is now available.

http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/


Our last news update from the AVMA Convention which just closed in Baltimore is now available. Read about actions of the AVMA governing bodies with respect to aminoglycoside antibiotics and vaccination protocols. There are also some interesting tidbits from the scientific sessions, and a report on how AVMA immediate Past-President John Freeman handled the dolphins at Baltimore's National Acquarium. A list of awards presented to your colleagues in the profession is also available.

Sincerely,
Lynne Brakeman
Senior Editor
DVM Newsmagazine
E-mail: <lbrakeman@advanstar.com>



CLOSING BITS


Internet Outranks Beer-Drinking in What's Cool on Campus

A survey of 1,200 students at 100 colleges and universities nationwide, conducted by research firm Student Monitor LLC, shows that when asked what was "in" on campus, 72.5% of the respondents answered "the Internet," whereas only 70.8% named "drinking beer." Up until now, beer-drinking has held the top spot since the biannual surveys began in 1988. (Information Week 31 Aug 98)

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