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A valuable resource - present and future
1
A valuable resource - present and future THE British Small Animal Veterinary Association has always prided itself on being at the forefront of the profession, be it in establishing Practice Standards, providing continuing education or publishing user-friendly textbooks. The provision of a website is an extension of this ideal. throughout industry, the professions and the domestic market has been prodigious. Twenty-nine per cent of adults in the UK have access to the Internet, a figure predicted to reach 40 per cent by the end of the year. Most veterinary practices have some form of computerisation in place and the advent of ‘smart boxes’, which will empower television sets to become interactive, will further extend the user base. The pressure on the technology industry to develop systems for secure financial transactions has been enormous and when these are in place E-commerce is expected to grow exponentially. It was with this background in mind that the BSAVA investigated and commissioned a website under the purview of an IT Committee. Very quickly it became apparent that just as a journal needs an editor so does a website. Accordingly, Jackie Wilson was appointed Web Editor and the current content and style is largely due to her efforts. The BSAVA is also grateful to the CLIVE team at the Royal (Dick) School ofveterinary Studies, and in particular to Andrew Short, who put much effort into getting this project off the ground. services to members is only too apparent to those who are familiar with it. In addition to acting as a doorway to the almost limitless information available to the individual, the Internet offers particular advantages in the fields of communication and data exchange. For example, we can post information on Regional meetings, Continuing Education courses and Congress timetables. Furthermore, we could display cancellations and last minute availability for those on waiting lists to facilitate attendance. We could also monitor members’ CPD uptake and provide them with an annual printout, making filling in the RCVS CPD record simpler. The BSAVA also intends to provide resources via the website. At BSAVA Congress in April we announced the release of the BSAVA COSHH/HSE resource. The BSAVA commissioned Peter Gripper to collate current health and safety information as it pertains to veterinary practice. The pages contain searchable information on all aspects of legislation,with clear interpretations for practitioners. Many of the examples of Standard Operating Procedures can be downloaded and personalised for practice use. BSAVA’s Scientific Information Documents are also on-line and available for downloading. The increased use of computers and of the Internet The potential of the Internet to augment and extend our The BSAVA website has three main areas: 0 Password-protected access for BSAVA members. This will ensure that resources for members are available only to members. Passworded access will also permit provision of more detailed information on courses, and allow members to check availability and reserve places on courses. We anticipate that members will be able to pay for Congress, courses and publications via this route. We are also planning a bulletin board where discussion of pertinent topics, case discussions and chat can take place. The members’ area is expected to grow as more of our members come on-line and take advantage of the services offered. In particular, the site can act as a repository for information which would not always be economical to print and circulate to all 5000 members. 0 The second zone is freely available to all visitors, but designed to convey information of interest primarily to veterinary surgeons, both in the UK and abroad. It will carry details of BSAVA Congress, BSAVA Publications, Petsavers and the BSAVA Practice Standards Scheme. 0 The PetZone will be accessible to all visitors to the site. It will provide information to pet owners on such topics as choosing a veterinary practice, information on how to start a career as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse and links to reliable sources of information about pet animals. The PetZone will also contain intrinsic items ofinterest; in particular, the ‘virtual tours’. Clive Elwood (of Davis White Referral Services) and Brendan Corcoran (University of Edinburgh) have kindly provided endoscopic pictures of the alimentary and respiratory tracts. These have been reproduced and linked with a commentary to provide ‘virtual tour< which illustrate the normal structure of the gut and respiratory tract. Although overseeing the development of the website has been the biggest project that IT Committee has administered it must not be regarded as finished business. Websites need to be topical, informative and useful if they are to survive. We hope to ensure that we utilise this technology to help the BSAVA provide high quality scientific educational and practice resources for members. We also anticipate that the website will allow us to improve communication within the Association. Finally, BSAVA members who do not have Internet access should not feel that they will become second division members. The BSAVA is an inclusive organisation and every effort will be made to ensure that those members who do not have Internet access are not disadvantaged, while at the same time encouraging them to visit us at www.bsava.com Richard Harvey Chairman of IT Committee JOURNAI. OF SMALI ANIMAL PRACTICE VOL 40 JULY 1399 305
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Transcript of A valuable resource - present and future
A valuable resource - present and future
THE British Small Animal Veterinary Association has always prided itself on being at the forefront of the profession, be it in establishing Practice Standards, providing continuing education or publishing user-friendly textbooks. The provision of a website is an extension of this ideal.
throughout industry, the professions and the domestic market has been prodigious. Twenty-nine per cent of adults in the UK have access to the Internet, a figure predicted to reach 40 per cent by the end of the year. Most veterinary practices have some form of computerisation in place and the advent of ‘smart boxes’, which will empower television sets to become interactive, will further extend the user base. The pressure on the technology industry to develop systems for secure financial transactions has been enormous and when these are in place E-commerce is expected to grow exponentially.
It was with this background in mind that the BSAVA investigated and commissioned a website under the purview of an IT Committee. Very quickly it became apparent that just as a journal needs an editor so does a website. Accordingly, Jackie Wilson was appointed Web Editor and the current content and style is largely due to her efforts. The BSAVA is also grateful to the CLIVE team at the Royal (Dick) School ofveterinary Studies, and in particular to Andrew Short, who put much effort into getting this project off the ground.
services to members is only too apparent to those who are familiar with it. In addition to acting as a doorway to the almost limitless information available to the individual, the Internet offers particular advantages in the fields of communication and data exchange. For example, we can post information on Regional meetings, Continuing Education courses and Congress timetables. Furthermore, we could display cancellations and last minute availability for those on waiting lists to facilitate attendance. We could also monitor members’ CPD uptake and provide them with an annual printout, making filling in the RCVS CPD record simpler.
The BSAVA also intends to provide resources via the website. At BSAVA Congress in April we announced the release of the BSAVA COSHH/HSE resource. The BSAVA commissioned Peter Gripper to collate current health and safety information as it pertains to veterinary practice. The pages contain searchable information on all aspects of legislation, with clear interpretations for practitioners. Many of the examples of Standard Operating Procedures can be downloaded and personalised for practice use. BSAVA’s Scientific Information Documents are also on-line and available for downloading.
The increased use of computers and of the Internet
The potential of the Internet to augment and extend our
The BSAVA website has three main areas: 0 Password-protected access for BSAVA members. This will ensure that resources for members are available only to members. Passworded access will also permit provision of more detailed information on courses, and allow members to check availability and reserve places on courses. We anticipate that members will be able to pay for Congress, courses and publications via this route. We are also planning a bulletin board where discussion of pertinent topics, case discussions and chat can take place.
The members’ area is expected to grow as more of our members come on-line and take advantage of the services offered. In particular, the site can act as a repository for information which would not always be economical to print and circulate to all 5000 members. 0 The second zone is freely available to all visitors, but designed to convey information of interest primarily to veterinary surgeons, both in the UK and abroad. It will carry details of BSAVA Congress, BSAVA Publications, Petsavers and the BSAVA Practice Standards Scheme. 0 The PetZone will be accessible to all visitors to the site. It will provide information to pet owners on such topics as choosing a veterinary practice, information on how to start a career as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse and links to reliable sources of information about pet animals. The PetZone will also contain intrinsic items ofinterest; in particular, the ‘virtual tours’. Clive Elwood (of Davis White Referral Services) and Brendan Corcoran (University of Edinburgh) have kindly provided endoscopic pictures of the alimentary and respiratory tracts. These have been reproduced and linked with a commentary to provide ‘virtual tour< which illustrate the normal structure of the gut and respiratory tract.
Although overseeing the development of the website has been the biggest project that IT Committee has administered it must not be regarded as finished business. Websites need to be topical, informative and useful if they are to survive. We hope to ensure that we utilise this technology to help the BSAVA provide high quality scientific educational and practice resources for members. We also anticipate that the website will allow us to improve communication within the Association.
Finally, BSAVA members who do not have Internet access should not feel that they will become second division members. The BSAVA is an inclusive organisation and every effort will be made to ensure that those members who do not have Internet access are not disadvantaged, while at the same time encouraging them to visit us at www.bsava.com
Richard Harvey Chairman of IT Committee
JOURNAI. OF SMALI ANIMAL PRACTICE VOL 40 JULY 1399 305
