HINF 6220 - Assignment 4

Note: You may have to do some research to answer these questions. All your answers should be self-contained and aimed at a non-technical audience, for example a non-technical health professional, that has no more than the basic experience of using email, word processing and browsing and searching the Web. Make sure your answers are free of acronyms, and technical jargon, which should be defined in intuitive terms when it is used for the first time. Do not exceed the indicated page limit, measured based on an 8.5x11 page, single spaced, with 1in margins, 12pt size in Times-new-roman font. Use Web search to find the information you require. Wikipedia may be useful. Remember to use your own words in all your answers. Paraphrase, do not copy from Web sources. Reference all your sources. The page limit does not include references.

Submission instructions:
Please submit your assignment electronically by emailing it to the instructor. Due time is 12 midnight on the due date posted. If no due date is posted, the date when the next assignment is posted is the due date of the previous assignment.
Use the following format for the subject line:
Subject: HINF6220 - Assignment N (where N=1,2,3,4)
Your submission should consist of one file in pdf format.
Use Acrobat (the full version, not the Reader), if you already have it, or one of the free converters (1 2). About the Portable Document Format ( pdf)
The name of the file should be the following:
HINF6220-AN-loginname.pdf , where loginname is your cs login name, and the N in AN is 1,2,3,4

Grading:
Each question will be graded with a letter grade, based on quality of content, quality of writing and demonstration of understanding of key concepts discussed in the lectures. Your answer should be self-contained and easy to read. The overall grade for the assignment will be a weighted average of the individual grades, where the weight is proportional to the size limit of each question (not counting program outputs, if any). Letter grades are being averaged using their GPA equivalent. No rounding takes place.
The meaning of the grades is as per the University Calendar, section 17.1.
This style of grading will be used in all evaluation components of this course.

1. The term Web 2.0 is a buzzword in Web circles these days. Research the meaning of the term and its connection to the Semantic Web, and report your findings (2 pages max, including references).

2. Research the type and extent of usage of PubMed by doctors, and report your findings (2 pages max, including references).

3. Ideally doctors would update themselves the electronic health records of their patients, instead of handwriting the information and having data entry personnel type the information. Discuss the benefits of this approach, and the obstacles (technological, social and attitudinal) to it being adopted. For the technological obstacles, speculate on the types of technology required to overcome them (2 pages max, including references).