pm2mail - pubmed to email k brauchli 1, k chanda 2, f asah 3, f oyabola 4 1 university of basel,...
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pm2mail - Pubmed to Email
K Brauchli1, K Chanda2, F Asah3, F Oyabola4
1 University of Basel, Switzerland2 University of Lusaka, Zambia
3 University of Natal, South Africa4 Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Nigeria
Contact: [email protected]
The problem I
Access to health information is becoming more and more difficult in developing countries. Example Zambia: once 250 journals in medical library, now 20. Example Cameroon: currently 0 subscribed journals !!!
Current and relevant health information is more and more published in electronic form and online.
Internet access in many developing countries is slow, expensive and there are few access points.
The problem II
On-line Health Information is scattered over many sites.Example: search in Medline, fulltext articels on publishers websites.
Online access to resources provided - e.g. WHO HINARI - often not possible due to technical restrictions.
Available Technology
Most commonly available and usable technology is plain email.
often faster than on-line access.often used in daily work.simple.
Even implementable in remote areas:e.g. through VHF radio (EHAS in Peru, no power and no phone line) or satellite-email
Possible Solution ?
Use existing technology.
Provide access to current literature by email.
provide single access point to literature search AND full text retrieval.
--> Pubmed-to-Email
pm2mail
Software: http://www.freesoftware.fsf.org/pm2mail(open source, released under GPL)
Test-server (WADN): http://ipath.krot.org/pm2mail
Test email address: [email protected]
Result
Fulltext Access
Fulltext Access
Fulltext Access
Based on links to publisher sites provided through NLM linkout.
journal specific rules for finding fulltext on link provided by linkout. (based on set of regex)
basic retrieval as html stripped of images(small file size)
optional retrieval as pdf.(with maximum file size check)
Fulltext Access
The Website
Weekly Alerts
Further Plans for Website
Personalised web page with list of current abstracts on selected topics.
Tutorial for searching Pubmed by email. (Available through email)
“query constructor using MeSH” (ev. with off-line version)
Queries based on speciality of journal.
How to Set up pm2mail
Set up pm2mail as single access point for the whole world. E.g. HINARI or Publishers
How to Set up pm2mail
Set up pm2mail as single access point for the whole world. E.g. HINARI or Publishers
--> YET ANOTHER ACCESS POINT !!!
How to Set up pm2mail
Release pm2mail as tool to set up regional or specialty specific access point.
Tools to create local access pointsto Health Information
Possibility to adapt to regional/specialty specific needs.
Faster access to (local) on-line services.
easier for admins to interact with and help their users.
Creation of regional usergroups
Tools to create local access pointsto Health Information
Examples:
West African Doctors Network (WADN). Provides pm2mail server as part of their information services: http://www.wadn.org
Healthnet Nepal wants to offer pm2mail as part of their integral access to health information for health professionals in Nepal:http://healthnet.org.np/pm2mail
University of Zambia. Integrating pm2mail into the medical library's health information services (also off-line access for students).
current state
Start: July 2002
first released: August 2002
usage: >1200 queries
fulltext: BMJ & BMC only
next steps
Increase the number of fulltext journals availble(e.g. through WHO HINARI)
Improve documentation and user guides
Improve support for users unfamiliar with PubMed.
Pm2mail
Credits: Paul Fontelo, Francis George, Kirill Miazine, Gideon Chonia, Nabin Limbu
Software: http://www.freesoftware.fsf.org/pm2mail(open source - GPL)
Test-server (WADN): http://ipath.krot.org/pm2mail
Test email address: [email protected]
Contact: [email protected]