Introducing HEAL: The Health Education Assets Library
Chris Candler, The
University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, USA
ABSTRACT:
Digital multimedia files such as images and videos, have become essential teaching aids in health sciences education. Educators, however, often do not have the time or resources to create high-quality materials.
The Health Education Assets Library (HEAL) was started in 2000 with funding from the National Science Foundation in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine. HEAL is a component of the National Science Digital Library. The HEAL team works closely with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to ensure that HEAL meets the multimedia needs of medical colleges across the country, both today and into the future.
The prototype version of the HEAL application is available for use online. In early January 2003, an updated version of the prototype was released with increased capabilities, including browsing by medical subject headings (MeSH) and an upload wizard for use by contributors.
We are beginning the development of the collection beyond the initial prototype collection. The HEAL application will provide easy access to both the core HEAL collection and to other collections of digital multimedia, with seamless searching using a variety of cataloging criteria. The HEAL application is a component of the National Science Digital Library, an initiative of the National Science Foundation.
The principal goals of HEAL are:
1. Provide access to a high-quality, diverse and growing collection of freely available health sciences materials appropriate for all levels of health sciences education, including K-12, higher education, professional health sciences education, and patient and consumer education. The multimedia files include images, videos, animations, illustrations, presentations, and chemical structures.
2. Create an online repository that allows contributors to upload and catalog multimedia collections, with peer review and other quality assurance mechanisms.
3. Act as a clearinghouse for health sciences education resources by collaborating with other organizations that harbor collections of multimedia.
4. Update and maintain HEAL's metadata (cataloging) schema in accordance with international metadata models.
BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:
Participants will be made aware of a new, web-based resource that contains freely available multimedia supporting healthcare education.
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Chris Candler 941 Stanton L. Young Blvd BSEB 100 Oklahoma City, OK 73104 Phone: 405-271-9333 Fax: 405-271-9334 |
CO-AUTHORS: Sharon Dennis, The University of Utah Sebastian Uijtdehaage, UCLA Website: http://www.healcentral.org |