When public health issues an alert, they e-mail it to a specified address. Library faculty identify, acquire targeted information, and format and add metadata for uploading it to the digital archive system, IDEA [Indiana Digital Electronic Archives], using D-Space architecture.  After the information has been reviewed by Public Health Officials, the public health alert is transferred to the Web Accessible Open Archives. 

The alert will then be sent to specified classes of providers (e.g., infectious disease specialists or pediatricians) using the DOCS4DOCS clinical messaging system to deliver it.

Provider surveys will provide insight into the value of the alerts.  In addition, we carry out structured interviews of public health officials to obtain their impressions of the efficacy of this activity.

OTC Pharmacy Sales

Utilize the national pharmaceutical resource developed by the RODS laboratory at University of Pittsburg. We planned to complete this work during the first year of the project, but it has already been completed. Used in conjunction with encounter data for public health surveillance and with other data for epidemiologic research projects. We will solicit feedback from public health users and researchers on the utility of this data for their specific needs through structured and unstructured queries.