I was doing some poking around to find out about OpenNet (which the Department of State uses), and I came across a DOE implementation of it (they apparently helped invent it.) Clicking the author link works really well! The site is clean and crisp. Very professional looking.
The sirens call of natural language processing has been issued again. In this study, the researchers compared the use for free text searches to administrative codes to see which would give better indication of safety based on 20 indicators. The authors rightly suggest that instead of relying only on the notoriously poor check boxes used with discharge orders that the hand written notes form the discharge nurse or physician might be much more instructive.
Indexing is becoming one of the key information management methods. That is not new news. The fascination of categorizing and putting vast information in a findable form is what drives good taxonomy building.
Indexing enables accurate, consistent retrieval to the full depth and breadth of the collection. This does not mean that the statistics-based systems the government loves so much, will go away but, they are learning to embrace the addition of taxonomy terms as indexing.
3M, the designers of the ICD-10 Procedure Coding System, will help the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) prep its computer systems for ICD-10 coding.
All the talk is about big data, but what about changing data? If a knowledge domain doesn’t change, it becomes stagnant. Even the Dead Sea Scrolls are changing as more and more is discovered about them by different scientists and researchers. Change was the topic recently when, Access Innovations’ president, Margie Hlava, sat down with Steve Arnold, a technology and financial analyst, owner of ArnoldIT and writer of Beyond Search.
Shelf Awareness is a Web-based resource for readers and those in the book trade. It was brought my attention by Marilyn Dahl, Shelf Awareness’s book review editor. (Full disclosure, Marilyn is my cousin.) I bring this wonderful resource to your attention for a variety of reasons not the least of which is their free email newsletter service for readers and one for professionals in the book trade. Twice a week I get an email containing reviews of a wide variety of new, recent, and sometimes classic, fiction and nonfiction works.
With the volume of data doubling every four to six months, findability within that data has never been more important. Many are looking to indexing as the solution to this problem.
In a blog post last week, I discussed Robert Darnton’s recently published article in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “The Chronicle Review”, where Mr. Darnton identified and debunked, “5 Myths About the Information Age.” The first myth he debunked was the notion that the book is dead. Not only is the book not dead, it is thriving. I commented on the relationship between the printed page and how it can be supported by digital content and vice versa. One can drive greater usage of the other, if the digital content is effectively designed.
Reading anything on digital devices has many physical, behavioral, and psychological limitations as well as advantages. At the very least, eye fatigue sets in even before the battery warning light starts scolding you. A digital summer read at the beach becomes fraught with hazards as sand starts creeping into your iPad and the glare has given you a crushing headache. Will your pursuit of a great vacation read drive you indoors? Under the porch? Into the deep woods? Will you become a pasty white, reclusive figure forever lurking in the darker recesses of society in search of shadowy environs so you can catch, glare free, that illusive, perfectly crafted phrase? Digital readers are getting better at handling varied lighting conditions, but there are still challenges.