November 1998
Volume 62 |
Number 11
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VENTILATIONS
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| You Can't Judge
a Web Site by Its Home Page |
Each year, thousands of anesthesiologists attend major annual
meetings like our Orlando soiree and walk the corridors of the
technical exhibit hall. Amid the rows and aisles, our attention
is drawn to the professional text displays. There, resplendent
in their glossy covers and with strategically placed color plates,
the potential purchaser is drawn to the books like a magnet. More
often than not, orders are placed for future shipment or carried
away tucked in a complimentary pharmaceutical bag.
I have purchased hundreds of texts, mostly to serve as
a reference source so that a key citation might be within reach
during manuscript preparation. I even scatter older editions about
the surgical areas or residents' rooms so that important information
(hopefully not outdated) can be readily accessed. To further enhance
my ability to "quickly" place my finger on that esoteric but essential
reference, I peruse a half-dozen or so monthly journals. I proceed
to select pertinent articles for photocopying in hopes of reading
the key sections (usually in airplanes or hotel rooms) and ultimately
for filing into one of six cabinet drawers reserved for this purpose.
Often, the articles sit in piles of various heights awaiting my
next opportunity to organize them. In reality, I find myself shuffling
through these piles to extract salient articles in order to prepare
a lecture or for drafting a manuscript past its deadline.
With each passing month, I find myself slowly "drowning
in this ancient sea" of literature cataloging, yet feeling the
pressures of maintaining this system lest I fall behind in my
current knowledge of the "cutting edge" concepts. I have reached
the point where I either must change my referencing habits or
go the way of the dinosaurs.
If my particular situation sounds vaguely familiar to
you, then this issue on electronic media may just be what you
need in order to undergo a "paradigm shift" for obtaining reference
material. There are several excellent articles written by ASA
members who have actively made the change to "electronification"
and are loving it. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that
a certain amount of electronic transfer and storing of information
is on the horizon for anesthesiology specifically and medicine
in general. It is fast, efficient, economical and multisensory.
In fact, a few of the authors even outline how the future of ...
I best stop here before I divulge their observations, insights
and prognostications.
Regrettably, none has intimated that wrist communication
devices will eliminate journals, textbooks and filing cabinets;
but would you settle for a palmtop computer as their replacements?
Read on for some enjoyable information.
Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D.
Editor
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