Aitken, C.

Burstein, Frada

Crofts, N.

Linger, Henry

Zaslavsky, Arkady

English

Burstein, F

Linger, H

Crofts, N

Aitken, C

Deakin Research Online

Intelligent support for epidemiological research through an organizational memory information system

AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)

Association for Information SystemsAIS Electronic Library (AISeL)ICIS 1997 Proceedings International Conference on Information Systems(ICIS)December 1997Intelligent Support for Epidemiological ResearchThrough an Organizational Memory InformationSystemFrada BursteinMonash UniversityArkady ZaslavskyMonash UniversityHenry LingerMonash UniversityN. CroftsThe Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical ResearchC. AitkenThe Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical ResearchFollow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis1997This material is brought to you by the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been acceptedfor inclusion in ICIS 1997 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contactelibrary@aisnet.org.Recommended CitationBurstein, Frada; Zaslavsky, Arkady; Linger, Henry; Crofts, N.; and Aitken, C., "Intelligent Support for Epidemiological ResearchThrough an Organizational Memory Information System" (1997). ICIS 1997 Proceedings. 59.http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis1997/59502INTELLIGENT SUPPORT FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICALRESEARCH THROUGH AN ORGANIZATIONALMEMORY INFORMATION SYSTEMF. BursteinH. LingerA. ZaslavskyMonash UniversityN. CroftsC. AitkenThe Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical ResearchOrganizational memory provides information about past experiences in order to improve the effectiveness andefficiency of organizations.  This paper shows how organizational memory may influence the efficiency of a researchactivity.  In survey-based research, new projects are seldom built on their successful predecessors due to inadequateretention of information and a poor record of past experiences. This paper proposes a framework for an organiza-tional memory information system (OMIS) that addresses the problem of continuity in this type of research.Epidemiology studies are based on surveys and suffer from lack of continuity. Such studies rely  on complexconcepts that are constructed as a combination of factors measured by questions that elicit unambiguous responses.The construction these concepts builds on the experiences of past surveys, relying on the history and evolution ofthe concepts.  Documentation providing the reasoning behind the design of each survey can give an opportunity forfuture evaluation and improvement of questionnaires. This highlights the need to explicitly record expertise as a partof organizational memory.The proposed framework for an OMIS ensures that the memory is updated and maintained while it is used to supportongoing epidemiological research. Such an OMIS provides a means for recording developmental, conceptual, andother supporting information, as well as knowledge and expertise gained from the research task:  conducting surveys.The proposed framework incorporates some intelligent features for knowledge processing, reuse, and learning.Aspects of the framework are illustrated using a major Australian epidemiological project as a case study. Thesoftware resulting from the proposed framework will be used to explicitly construct an organizational memory forindividual research units and has the potential to become an intelligent support tool for survey-based research acrossthe discipline.

Intelligent Support for Epidemiological Research Through an Organizational Memory Information System

https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&amp;context=icis1997

Intelligent Support for Epidemiological Research Through an Organizational Memory Information System

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