Evaluation of the Hepatitis Knowledge Base System

摘要

The report describes and documents the results of the evaluation of the prototype Hepatitis Knowledge base information transfer system, a full-text online information system designed for use by the health practitioner and under development at the Lister Hill Center for Biomedical Communication of the National Library of Medicine. Addressed are the methods used in the construction of the initial draft Hepatitis Knowledge Base; methods used for consensus development by a panel of experts; methods used for maintaining the currency of its contents over time; use of a computer conferencing network as the principal medium of communication linking the geographically dispersed experts and Lister Hill Center staff; an assessment of the adequacy of the knowledge base contents; and support of online access to the knowledge base contents. Also examined in detail is the establishment of a limited field test of the online access system and the results of that test conducted over a 14 month period.