Encyclopedia of Public Health: Information Technology

Many areas of public health, including vital statistics, investigation and research, surveillance, epidemiology, surveys, laboratories technology, maternal and child health, and environmental health, use information technology (IT) to achieve their goals and objectives. IT includes the use of computers and communications, and the transformation of data into information and knowledge.




In the 1960s, "number crunching" was one of the first applications for which computers were used in the hospital environment. A decade later, in the early 1970s, IT applications were being used



Table 1



Text, Graphics, Multimedia Common Sound, Still-Video, and Motion-Video Formats on the Web

Extension Text & Graphics Formats Explanation

TXT, DOC MS Word Word processing application

WPD WordPerfect Word processing application

RTF Rich Text Format Method of encoding text formatting and document structure using ASCII character set.

PPT Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation Graphics application

PRS Harvard Graphics Presentation Graphics application

XLS MS Excel Spreadsheet application

HTM MS FrontPage Editor: application for creating and editing Web pages. Explorer: application for maintaining, testing, and publishing webs.

Extension Sound Formats Explanation

RA RealAudio Used with RealAudio Web Server and RealAudio Player add-on for browsers

SBI Sound Blaster Instrument Used for a single instrument with Sound Blaster cards

WAV MS Waveform Sound format used in Windows for event notification

Extension Still-Video/Graphics Formats (SVF) Explanation (Raster or bitmap images)

GIF Graphics Interchange Format Compressed graphics format commonly used on CompuServe

BMP Windows bitmap

PCC, PCX PC Paintbrush Bitmap images

JPEG, JPG Joint Photographic Experts Group Highly compressed format for still images, widely used for multi-platform graphics

TIFF Tagged Image File Format High-resolution, tag-based graphics format used for the universal interchange of digital graphics

PCD Photo CD A graphics file format developed by Eastman Kodak Company

PDF Portable Document Format Adobe's format for multi-platform document access through its Acrobat software

PS PostScript Adobe's type description language, used to deliver complex documents over the Internet



in admissions, patient care, clinical laboratories, and intensive care units. In the 1990s, the fusion of computers and all forms of communication have become commonplace in all aspects of life. The Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) are now tools that both professionals and laypeople use for all type of businesses. An evolution has occurred in the ways people use computers, in the power, capacity, and speeds of computers, and in



Table 1, continued



Text, Graphics, Multimedia Common Sound, Still-Video, and Motion-Video Formats on the Web [CONTINUED]

Extension Still-Video/Graphics Formats (SVF) Vector Images

SOURCE: Courtesy of author.

AI Adobe Illustrator

CGM Computer Graphics Metafile

DRW Micrografx Drawing

PCT Macintosh PICT

WMF Windows Metafile Used mostly for word-processing clip art

WPG WordPerfect Graphics Word-processing clip art

Extension Motion-Video Formats (MVF)

DVI Digital Video Interactive MVFs found in CD-ROMs

FLI Flick Autodesk Animator MVF

MPEG, MPG Motion Picture Experts Group Full-motion video standard using frame format similar to JPEG with variable compression capabilities

MOV Quick Time Apple's motion video and audio format (originally for Macintosh, available for Windows)



the way systems are put together and integrated (see Table 1).



Most people tend to think about computers in terms of the systems that they use at home or at work. Most of the time these are "stand-alone" models, such as desktops, laptops, or notebooks, and sometimes they are wireless devices, such as palm pilots, personal organizers, and third-generation cellular phones that allow access to e-mail and the Internet. Although public health has not yet taken full advantage of these technologies, it is important to understand the basics of these technologies in order to visualize their potential uses in the near and long-term future.