Craig L. Scanlan, EdD, RRT, FAARC

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Using the Internet - Effectively!

• Craig L. Scanlan, EdD, RRT, FAARC
• Professor and Director
• MS and PhD Programs in Health Sciences
• UMDNJ-SHRP

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Workshop Objectives

• Identify the tools needed to exploit the Internet
  for learning
• Search for, evaluate and find quality online
  learning resources
• Communicate and collaborate with other learners
  online
• Successfully manage ones online learning
  experiences

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But First - a Pretest!

• (demonstration of automatically scored online
  self-assessment)

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Educational Uses of the Internet A Short Tour

• Communicating/collaborating
• Getting and sharing information
• Professional development

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Communicating Collaborating

• E-mail and attachments
• LISTSERV (targeted group E-mail)
• UseNet and threaded discussion
• Collaboration software
• Chatrooms

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Getting Sharing Information

• Getting
• NLM Medline database
• World Wide Web Information
• Sharing
• Web Publishing
• Personal Databases

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Professional Development

• Online Tutorials
• Online Courses and Degrees
• Online Continuing Education

Take a Self-Assessment for Online Learning
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Tools You Need
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What is the Internet?

• 100,000 computers
• One billion pages
• Linked via world-wide networks
• Includes e-mail, WWW, Telnet, Usenet, etc
• Accessible to all

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Key Components of the Internet
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Basic Toolset

• Internet Access
• Web Account (College or ISP)
• Web Publishing Tools
• Word Processor (Saves HTML)
• HTML Editor
• FTP Client
• Telnet Client

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Internet Access

• Computer
• Internet connection
• Internet service provider
• Browser software
• Remote software

(if combined home and office work plan)
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Internet Connections
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Factors to Consider in Selecting anInternet
Service Provider (ISP)

• Connection (dial-up, DSL, cable)
• Download/Upload Speed
• Cost (hourly/monthly/fees/contracts)
• Reliability
• Software/Extras
• Technical Support

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Highly Rated National ISPs

• _at_Home (cable)
• MindSpring
• ATT WorldNet
• EarthLink
• MediaOne (cable)

AOL, Compuserve, MSN, Prodigy, Juno rated below
average
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Browser/E-Mail Client

• NetscapeCommunicator
• MS Internet Explorer withOutlook Express

Dont forget plug-ins!
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Finding and Evaluating Quality Online Learning
Resources
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Scenario

• Your facility is planning to implement a cardiac
  rehabilitation program
• The director wants you to prepare a report on
  cardiac rehabilitation that includes a review of
  program models and their evaluation and any
  guidelines that may apply

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Example the Wrong Way
The wrong way Go on line, do a quickie computer
search using cardiac rehabilitation, bada-bang,
bada-boom!
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Locating Relevant Source Documents

• Primary Sources
• Journal Articles
• Conference Abstracts
• Research Reports
• Theses and Dissertations
• Secondary Sources
• Books
• Literature Reviews
• the Popular Literature
• Internet/World Wide Web

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Journal Articles

• Clinical trial
• Literature review
• Cross-sectional study
• Case report
• Meta-analysis
• Multicenter trial
• Feasibility study

• Letter to editor
• Survey of practice
• Case-control study
• Consensus statement
• Practice guideline
• Review of cases
• Cohort study

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Where to Search

• Primary Sources
• Computerized structured databases
• Manual
• Cumulative indices
• Journal indices
• Secondary Sources
• Library Card Catalog
• Books in Print
• WWW Search

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Structured Databases(Using Controlled
Vocabularies)

• Journal Articles (use specific databases terms
  index)
• MEDLARS Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
• CINAHL subject heading tree/permuted index
• Excerpta Medica (Embase) EMTREE
• Books and Monographs
• library cataloging system ( Dewey, NLM, LoC)

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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

• The MeSH Supplement to Index Medicus
  (alphabetical and hierarchical listing of terms)
• The MeSH Annotated Alphabetic List (an alphabetic
  listing includes notes/ historical info)
• The MeSH Tree Structures (a hierarchical listing)
• The Permuted MeSH (a listing of each significant
  word or root appearing in any MeSH heading)
• NLMs Online MeSH Browser
• Key Term Mapping/Translation (e.g., OVID)

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Example Chest X-Rays
Chest x-rays" not a MeSH term Using Permuted
Index MeSH Tree Diagnosis E01
Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures E01.370
Diagnostic Imaging E01.370.350
Radiography E01.370.350.700
Angiography E01.370.350.700.060
Fluoroscopy E01.370.350.700.225
Mammography E01.370.350.700.500
Neuroradiography E01.370.350.700.560
Radiography, Abdominal
E01.370.350.700.715
Radiography, Dental E01.370.350.700.720
Radiography, Interventional
E01.370.350.700.725 ? Radiography,
Thoracic E01.370.350.700.730
Tomography, X-Ray E01.370.350.700.810
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Boolean OR
A OR B
Example asthma OR exercise yields pages that
include either word e.g., aerobic exercise and
atopic asthma
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Boolean AND
A
B
AB
Example asthma AND exercise yields pages that
include both words
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Boolean NOT
A NOT B
Example asthma NOT exercise yields pages that
include asthma but not exercise
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Demonstration UsingFree NLM MedlinePubMed
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The Web as an Information Source
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The Problem
Knowledge
Information
The Web is the ultimate expression of too much
data and not enough information David Seuss,
CEO, Northern Light
Data
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Finding Your Way Around

• Random surfing
• Link Pages
• Directories
• Search engines
• Metasearch tools

UC Berkeley Tutorial Finding Information on the
Internet
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Random Surfing

• No Road Maps
• Low Hit Rate
• Time-Consuming
• Easy to Get Off Track
• ButFun

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Link Pages (PT Examples)

• Andrews University
• Cal State Long Beach
• Univ Kansas Medical Center
• PTNetwork.com

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Internet Directories

• Provide categorized lists of Web sites,
  constructed by humans (professional and/or
  volunteer editors)
• Tend to be selective rather than all-inclusive
  (most aim for quality over quantity)
• Usually include searchable database containing
  descriptions of the directorys Web sites
• Require some knowledge of subject matter
• Some categories can quickly become outdated

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Internet Directories

• General Directories, e.g.Yahoo!
• Medical Directories (Examples)
• Medscout
• Galaxy Medical List
• Achoo
• MedWeb
• Hardin MD

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Search Engines

• A computer-generated index of all the
  infor-mation found on all searched Web pages
• Aims to include all Web pages that contain the
  information, but without assessing quality
• Takes you to the exact page on which the words
  you are looking for appear
• Regularly updated by automated processes

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Top 7 Search Engines (By Coverage)

• Google
• WebTop
• Alta Vista
• Fast (All theWeb)
• Northern Light
• Excite
• Inktomi (HotBot, MSN, Snap)
• Go (Infoseek)

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Search Engine Coverage
KEY GGGoogle, WTWebTop, AVAltaVista,
FASTFAST, NLNorthern Light, EXExcite,
INKInktomi, GoGo (Infoseek)
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Improving Search Results

• Boolean Operators
• AND
• OR
• NOT
• Search Engine Math
• Proximity
• Near
• With
• Wildcards

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Search Engine Math
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Proximity Searching
Asthma NEAR exercise
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Wildcard (Truncation) Searching
Asth substitutes for any characters
Yields asthma, asthmatic, asthmatics,
asthmaticus, but also asthenia
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Other Search Engine Tricks

• Search by domain (e.g., edu, gov)
• Search by URL (e.g, umdnj.edu)
• Search by document title
• Search by popularity/hits (DirectHit)

For more tips/tricks Powersearching for Anyone
(SearchEngineWatch)
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Metasearch Tools

• Metasearch tools search the search engines
• Best tools rank findings eliminate dups
• Best results with customization
• No medical-specific metaseach tool
• Example Savvy Search
• Guide to Metasearcher Tools

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Whats Out There?

• the Good...
• the Bad...
• and the Ugly

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Evaluating Web Resources

• Authority
• Accuracy
• Objectivity
• Currency
• Coverage

Widener University Tutorial Evaluating Web
Resources
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Web Treasure Hunt
Find the AHCPR (NIH) Guidelines on Cardiac
Rehabilitation (Full-Text!)
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Now that Ive Got all this Info, What am I
Suppose to Do with It?

• Bibliographic Management Software
• Provides mechanism to search for, download, store
  and retrieve citations
• Automatically creates reference lists and
  bibliographies
• Examples End Notes, Procite

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On the Internet
Content is King!
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Example
Nontechnical Issues Related to Computers and
Information Technology
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Tools for Web Publishing

• Word Processor (saves HTML)
• Word 97 (avoid Word 2000!)
• Wordperfect 8.0
• HTML Editor (examples)
• Simple/free Netscape Composer
• Mid-level () Adobe Pagemill
• High-End Site Managers () Frontpage or Fusion
• FTP Client
• May be included in HTML editor (above)
• WS-FTP free for academic use
• Telnet Client (comes with Windows)

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Create/Test/Edit (Web Authoring)

• Goal Develop a Simple Web Page Using NetScape
  Composer
• Objectives
• Create Page
• Add a Table and Some Graphics
• Add Content with Headings
• Add Interactivity (Links E-Mail Response)

Handout Provided by Workshop Instructor
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Web Page Contents

• Formatted Text
• Tables
• Input Forms
• Graphics
• Sound/Video (usually via Plugins)
• Invisibles - scripts, applets

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Design Tips

• Create for Lowest Common Denominator
• VGA Screen Resolution (800x600)
• Use Default/Basic Fonts
• Minimize Bells/Whistles (plug-ins, etc)
• Provide Clear Navigation Tools
• Embed URLs
• IDST3510 instead of
• http//www.umdnj.edu/rspthweb/scinquir/sciframe.ht
  m
• Always Test in both Netscape and IE
• Experiment and Be Creative!!!

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Goal

• Have Fun!