Browsing by Subject "Information technology"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Biobanks and Electronic Health Records: Ethical and Policy Challenges in the Genomic Age
    (IU Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, 2009-10) Meslin, Eric M.; Goodman, Kenneth
    In this paper we discuss the ethical and policy challenges presented by the construction and use of biobanks and electronic health records systems, with a particular focus on how these resources implicate certain types of security concerns for patients, families, health care providers and institutions. These two technology platforms are selected for special emphasis in this paper for two reasons. First and foremost, there is a close connection between them. Indeed, of the many accepted definitions, this one from the German National Bioethics Commission provides a sense of this close connection and the great power and reflects the great power these two separate platforms provide to probe more deeply the connection between genotype and phenotype: "...[B]iobanks are defined as collections of samples of human bodily substances (e.g., cells, tissues, blood or DNA as the physical medium of genetic information) that are or can be associated with personal data and information on their donors." Second, these two topics implicate both clinical ethics issues (those arising at the bedside for health care providers and patients), and human research ethics issues (issues arising for scientists, research subjects, ethics review bodies and regulatory authorities). Both of these sub-specialty areas confront similar and complementary ethical issues; for example, issues arising from the nature and adequacy of informed consent, the sufficiency of systems to protect personal privacy and confidentiality, or the need to balance concerns relating to data security and the need to know. A growing research base supports calls for more attention to these issues, and yet current professional ethics frameworks and policy consultation methods are poorly organized and ill-equipped to anticipate and fully address ethical issues in health information technology generally, or to provide adequate ethical assessment of the tools that elicit these issues. Our strategy is to orient readers to the history and context of these issues, to frame several key challenges for researchers and policy makers, and then to close with several recommendations for next steps.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Blogs, Videos, Newspapers, Books: PLOS SciComm Talks To Aaron Carroll About Health Communication
    (Public Library of Science, 2017-11-06) Sullivan, Aaron
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    E-science and libraries (for non science librarians)
    (2011-11) Snajdr, Eric
    Information Technology is rapidly changing the world of scientific research. We have entered a new era of science. Some call it e-science, while others call it the 4th paradigm of science. Scientists, with the aid of technology, are continually amassing larger and more complex datasets. These data are accumulated are at an ever-accelerating rate. How will this information be organized? What, if any of it should be preserved for future use? How will it be preserved? If it is preserved, how will it be made publically accessible? The NSF and others describe the solving of problems such as these as some of the major challenges of this scientific generation. They also state that tackling these problems will take expertise from many fields, including library and information science. A recent movement of this new era of science is an increasing requirement for scientists to archive and make their research data public. For example, the National Science Foundation (as of January 18, 2011) is requiring scientists to articulate how they will accomplish these goals within data management plans that must be submitted with each grant proposal. What role can libraries play in this new realm of science? What role are libraries already playing? Several libraries have taken the lead in initiating efforts in assisting scientists with a variety of data management needs. This presentation will include a brief overview of the current trends as well as possible future directions in librarianship that this new era of science may lead.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Inventing the Electronic University
    (American Library Association, 1988-07) Lewis, David W.
    Higher education is confronting a fundamental change. The transition from print on paper to digital and electronic technolgies is transforming instruction, scholarly communication, and the storage and preservation of knowledge. What is required is not the automation of old sytems, but the restructuring of institutions. The drive for autonomy, needed for effective scholarship, and the push for standardization, needed to assure easy and open access to information, will create conflicts difficult to resolve. Universities must find new ways of funding and financing information services and new staffing patterns if they are to continue as effective learning and research institutions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the nation’s public health information systems infrastructure: synthesis of discussions from the 2022 ACMI Symposium
    (Oxford University Press, 2023-05-05) Acharya, Jessica C.; Staes, Catherine; Allen, Katie S.; Hartsell, Joel; Cullen, Theresa A.; Lenert, Leslie; Rucker, Donald W.; Lehmann, Harold P.; Dixon, Brian E.; Health Policy and Management, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Objective: The annual American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) symposium focused discussion on the national public health information systems (PHIS) infrastructure to support public health goals. The objective of this article is to present the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities (SWOT) identified by public health and informatics leaders in attendance. Materials and methods: The Symposium provided a venue for experts in biomedical informatics and public health to brainstorm, identify, and discuss top PHIS challenges. Two conceptual frameworks, SWOT and the Informatics Stack, guided discussion and were used to organize factors and themes identified through a qualitative approach. Results: A total of 57 unique factors related to the current PHIS were identified, including 9 strengths, 22 weaknesses, 14 opportunities, and 14 threats, which were consolidated into 22 themes according to the Stack. Most themes (68%) clustered at the top of the Stack. Three overarching opportunities were especially prominent: (1) addressing the needs for sustainable funding, (2) leveraging existing infrastructure and processes for information exchange and system development that meets public health goals, and (3) preparing the public health workforce to benefit from available resources. Discussion: The PHIS is unarguably overdue for a strategically designed, technology-enabled, information infrastructure for delivering day-to-day essential public health services and to respond effectively to public health emergencies. Conclusion: Most of the themes identified concerned context, people, and processes rather than technical elements. We recommend that public health leadership consider the possible actions and leverage informatics expertise as we collectively prepare for the future.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    UITS Communications & Planning Office: 2002-2003 Year in Review Portfolio
    (2005-07-21T20:40:15Z) Hoffman, James C.
    This is an interactive portfolio showcasing the work of the UITS Communications & Planning Office. The portfolio presents a sampling of projects completed during the 2002-2003 fiscal year.