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Specialized Information Services division of the world's largest medical library to prototype new interface with Visual Net
InfoToday 2002, New York, NY, May 14, 2002 -- Antarctica Systems Inc. (ASI), a pioneer developer of information visualization software, today announced that the Specialized Information Services (SIS) Division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), as part of their initiative to prototype new interfaces, has chosen to apply Visual Net to their DIRLINE (Directory of Information Resources Online) database to provide health professionals and consumers with a more effective way to search and access healthcare information.
SIS is responsible for information coverage, services, and directories to information repositories concerned with specialized areas of health and biomedicine. The deployment of Visual Net is part of a new initiative by SIS to investigate the use of graphical user interfaces and display techniques for exploring large databases. By prototyping visual mapping user interface technology and then testing the searching and discovery effectiveness, SIS hopes to improve access to, and understanding of the many health-related databases it provides for NLM users.
"We are working with Antarctica to experiment with alternate user interfaces as a means of augmenting accessibility of information in large, text-based databases," states Martha Szczur, Deputy Associate Director of SIS, "Given the exponential growth of biomedical information, it is essential to facilitate access to it, for physicians, researchers and consumers. We are interested in how effective visual interfaces may be for navigation and browsing."
Visual Net is data visualization software that gives information repositories a unique Graphical User Interface allowing users to get more and better use out of data. Visual Net combines a superior navigation system with a context-rich mapping framework to create large-scale maps of datasets and knowledge bases.
"Research demonstrates that maps communicate more information than any other display technique," says Antarctica founder Tim Bray, "Timely access to relevant information is the core of effective research and there is no where that is more critical than in healthcare."
About Antarctica Systems Inc.
Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Antarctica is a pioneer developer of data visualization technology. The flagship product, Visual Net (VN) is a highly customizable knowledge management tool using visual mapping techniques that enable users to navigate and browse information easily across multiple databases and in multiple formats. VN is widely applicable to areas such as research libraries, corporate Intranets, and Ecommerce and cataloging. Antarctica was founded in 1999 by search engine pioneer and XML co-creator Tim Bray. Privately held, Antarctica's investment partners include BDC, Bosa Ventures Inc., Royal Bank Capital Partners, the Working Opportunity Fund and Primaxis Technology Ventures Inc. For additional information, please visit antarctica.net or call 866-NET-MAPS.
About Specialized Information Services and National Library of Medicine
The Specialized Information Services (SIS) Division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) is responsible for information resources and services in toxicology, environmental health, HIV/AIDS, and specialized topics in minority health. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials in all areas of biomedicine and health care, as well as works on biomedical aspects of technology, the humanities, and the physical, life, and social sciences. NLM is a national resource for all U.S. health science libraries through a National Network of Libraries of Medicine(r).
Antarctica and Visual Net are trademarks or registered trademarks of Antarctica Systems Inc. in Canada and foreign countries. All other referenced trademarks belong to their respective owners.
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