Important Lessons Derived from X.500 Case Studies

X.500 is a new and complex electronic directory technology, whose basic specification was first published as an international standard in 1988, with an enhanced revision in 1993. The technology is still unproven in many organisations. This paper presents case studies of 15 pioneering pilot and operational X.500 based directory services. The paper provides valuable insights into how organisations are coming to understand this new technology, are using X.500 for both traditional and novel directory based services, and consequently are deriving benefits from it. Important lessons that have been learnt by these X.500 pioneers are presented here, so that future organisations can benefit from their experiences. Factors critical to the success of implementing X.500 in an organisation are derived from the studies

The Astronomical Information Infrastructure from the End-User Perspective

Information Technology (IT) today has found so many applications in as- tronomy, that we may speak of an electronic `Astronomical Information Infrastructure' (AII). At this moment, the AII really is nothing but a collection of disparate services. Over the last few years the collection has grown so large, that it leaves the End-User in a rather desperate state. This paper provides an inventory of End-User problems, regarding net- work information systems, astronomical software packages, and electronic publishing. Solutions to the problems may be found through the coordi- nation of efforts, and the definition of standards and principles. Examples of what may be achieved are the AstroWeb project, which provides a directory of astronomical IT services, the Starlink project in the United Kingdom, concerning astronomical software packages, and the initiatives of the American Astronomical Society with respect to electronic pub- lishing. The paper also discusses the concepts of a modular client-server system, which may serve as the basic ingredient for a transparent and integrated Astronomical Information Infrastructure

Videotex Message Service Systems

Electronic message services supported by interactive videotex-like systems are described, classified, and analyzed in terms of the specific characteristics of such systems. A comparison of videotex message systems with other similar media is undertaken and the introduction of such service on an experimental basis is suggested. Recommendations are made to integrate special features, such as gateway services and an integrated Electronic Directory System, into such systems

Information architecture for a federated health record server

This paper describes the information models that have been used to implement a federated health record server and to deploy it in a live clinical setting. The authors, working at the Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education (University College London), have built up over a decade of experience within Europe on the requirements and information models that are needed to underpin comprehensive multi-professional electronic health records. This work has involved collaboration with a wide range of health care and informatics organisations and partners in the healthcare computing industry across Europe though the EU Health Telematics projects GEHR, Synapses, EHCR-SupA, SynEx and Medicate. The resulting architecture models have fed into recent European standardisation work in this area, such as CEN TC/251 ENV 13606. UCL has implemented a federated health record server based on these models which is now running in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Whittington Hospital in North London. The information models described in this paper reflect a refinement based on this implementation experience

London SynEx Demonstrator Site: Impact Assessment Report

The key ingredients of the SynEx-UCL software components are: 1. A comprehensive and federated electronic healthcare record that can be used to reference or to store all of the necessary healthcare information acquired from a diverse range of clinical databases and patient-held devices. 2. A directory service component to provide a core persons demographic database to search for and authenticate staff users of the system and to anchor patient identification and connection to their federated healthcare record. 3. A clinical record schema management tool (Object Dictionary Client) that enables clinicians or engineers to define and export the data sets mapping to individual feeder systems. 4. An expansible set of clinical management algorithms that provide prompts to the patient or clinician to assist in the management of patient care. CHIME has built up over a decade of experience within Europe on the requirements and information models that are needed to underpin comprehensive multiprofessional electronic healthcare records. The resulting architecture models have influenced new European standards in this area, and CHIME has designed and built prototype EHCR components based on these models. The demonstrator systems described here utilise a directory service and object-oriented engineering approach, and support the secure, mobile and distributed access to federated healthcare records via web-based services. The design and implementation of these software components has been founded on a thorough analysis of the clinical, technical and ethico-legal requirements for comprehensive EHCR systems, published through previous project deliverables and in future planned papers. The clinical demonstrator site described in this report has provided the solid basis from which to establish "proof of concept" verification of the design approach, and a valuable opportunity to install, test and evaluate the results of the component engineering undertaken during the EC funded project. Inevitably, a number of practical implementation and deployment obstacles have been overcome through this journey, each of those having contributed to the time taken to deliver the components but also to the richness of the end products. UCL is fortunate that the Whittington Hospital, and the department of cardiovascular medicine in particular, is committed to a long-term vision built around this work. That vision, outlined within this report, is shared by the Camden and Islington Health Authority and by many other purchaser and provider organisations in the area, and by a number of industrial parties. They are collectively determined to support the Demonstrator Site as an ongoing project well beyond the life of the EC SynEx Project. This report, although a final report as far as the EC project is concerned, is really a description of the first phase in establishing a centre of healthcare excellence. New EC Fifth Framework project funding has already been approved to enable new and innovative technology solutions to be added to the work already established in north London

Accessible Interactive Campus Mapping System For Syracuse University/SUNY-ESF

This written component of my Capstone Thesis in Computer Science covers the conceptualization and realization, and the process in between those stages, of my project, the Syracuse University Accessible Interactive Campus Map system. The system in its present state is launched at http://map.syr.edu. This project creates a usable and useful map and directions system for the Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF communities, which have long suffered without any properly oriented or fully functional map, much less an online one of any use. What this project also does is turn the Syracuse University Accessibility Map, produced by the Office of Disability Services in 2004, into an updated electronic resource which the university as a whole can use. Bringing in directory information as well, this project provides a comprehensive directory, map and directions system which will serve the university community for many years to come