This is the third in a series of IAIMS symposia. The first took place at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in October 1984—a little over a year into the IAIMS process. It reported the planning of the initial four sites. 1 At the second symposium, in March 1986, the original four sites reported the early part of their model development work and the second wave of sites presented their planning activities. 2
Today, we are doing something different. Although many of the presentations are from IAIMS sites, the presenters are charged with identifying site-independent lessons. I set the stage by reviewing the evolution of the IAIMS concept. The next three talks focus on planning, architecture, and organization and people, topics that we have found to be foundational elements of IAIMSs. The subsequent three talks focus on the future of IAIMSs : our ability to evaluate what we do ; the need to support regional affiliate networks ; and the basic informatics research that will be necessary to move IAIMSs forward. We close by asking the question, “What do we have to do to bring IAIMSs to the point where the changing health care market will want to invest in them as an essential infrastructure ?”
References
- 1.Planning for Integrated Academic Information Management Systems. Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, October 17, 1984. Bethesda, MD : The Library, 1985.
- 2.Support of Health Sciences Education by Integrated Academic Information Management Systems (IAIMS). Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, March 12, 1986, Bethesda, MD : The Library, 1987.