CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

IN BRIEF

COLUMNS

REVIEWS

TUTORIAL

VIEWS & POSITIONS

EVENTS DIARY

LETTERS

SHORT PAPERS

MEETING REPORTS

CLASSIFIED

Issue 1, June 1997

ISSN 1368-1591

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man

OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man) is a classic Web site. It contains high-quality information that has existed for many years in print, and has been available on the Internet for several years. It is a comprehensive and authoritative resource, with two-way links to many other related genome and molecular biology information resources on the Web. OMIM is a catalogue of human genes and genetic disorders, with over 8 350 entries, authored and edited by Dr. Victor A. McKusick and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere. It is intended for use 'primarily by physicians and other professionals concerned with genetic disorders, by genetics researchers and by advanced students in science and medicine'. The database is a compilation of review articles, each concerned with a specific disease or syndrome, and each detailing the current state of the molecular genetics knowledge-base. The database includes pictures (e.g. images of clinical phenotypes via a link to the Genetics Image Archive of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), and is extensively referenced. The OMIM gene map shows the cytogenetic map location of disease-causing genes and other expressed genes as described in OMIM.

Using the interface to OMIM at the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) you can search through the whole text of records, or limit your search to the title field, clinical synopsis field, etc. You can also display links to related records in other databases using the Entrez system. Through Entrez's powerful 'neighbouring' feature for locating similar records, you can expand your searches at the touch of a button. The interface at the UK Human Genome Mapping Project Resource Centre (HGMP-RC) is based on the (less flexible) SRS system. The search capabilities are similar to those of Entrez but the records are not so extensively linked into related resources. With either interface it is possible to limit a search to records that are new or that have changed recently. A tutorial on using OMIM is available at the HGMP-RC site:

<URL:http://www.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk/Courses/omim/5day.top.html>

Center for Medical Genetics at Johns Hopkins University, National Center for Biotechnology Information at National Library of Medicine. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. 1996. Available from: URL:http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/.

Frank Norman BSc, ALA, MIInfSc
Deputy Librarian
National Institute for Medical Research, UK

World Health Organisation

The World Health Organisation has been a leading information provider on the Internet for several years. Its Gopher service was one of the first biomedical Gophers to be established, and was rivalled only by the US National Institutes of Health Gopher for its depth and breadth of coverage. Similarly, the WHO launched a Web site early in the history of the WWW, and this remains one of the best sites for a range of medical information. Their web site has information about all major WHO programme areas (e.g. Global Tuberculosis Programme, Global Vaccines Programme, Division of Emerging & Communicable Diseases, Division of Child Health, AIDS, etc.). You will find something on just about any major health problem at this site - try using their Excite search engine if you don't want to work your way through the menu hierarchy. Information from the WHO statistical information system (WHOSIS) is available, giving valuable epidemiological summaries for many diseases. More valuable epidemiological data is provided by the full-text Weekly Epidemiological Record. Tables of contents (and some abstracts) for other WHO publications are available. Details of all WHO publications may be traced via the WHO Library catalogue. Other valuable resources at this site include executive summaries of the annual World Health Report, plus significant statistics from that report, a directory of WHO staff, and information on health for international travellers.

It is also worth noting that several of the WHO's regional offices have independent web servers. The European (http://www.who.dk/) and Pan-American (http://www.paho.org/) offices have well-established servers, while the East Mediterranean (http://www.who.sci.eg/) and South East Asian (http://www.who.ernet.in/) offices have established servers more recently.

World Health Organisation. WHO Home Page. 1997. Available from: URL:http://www.who.ch/.

Frank Norman BSc, ALA, MIInfSc
Deputy Librarian
National Institute for Medical Research, UK

Infectious diseases Web site for western NY

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo Division of Infectious Diseases launched a Web site on 31 January 1997:

<URL:http://www.smbs.buffalo.edu/id/>

Drs John Sellick and Joseph M. Mylotte developed the Web site which provides surveillance data for large hospitals, small hospitals (<200 beds), and nursing homes in the western New York State area (in addition to the usual information about the Division, faculty, and fellowship program). This data includes statistics on nosocomial infections and antibiotic resistance patterns. There is also a fairly extensive list of references related to infections and infection control in long-term care facilities. Infection control personnel and hospital epidemiologists should find the surveillance data useful for comparative purposes. The surveillance data will be updated periodically. The authors would appreciate feedback on the site.

Jack Woodall PhD
Director, ProMED-mail
New York, USA

Society for the Internet in Medicine

Comments to: simq@cybertas.demon.co.uk

Copyright © 1997 Society for the Internet in Medicine. All rights reserved.
Date: May 29, 1997
Document URL: http://www.cybertas.demon.co.uk/simq/issue1/reviews.html