Knowledge-Based Client-Server Approach to Structural Information Retrieval: The Digital Anatomist Browser

Brinkley, James F and Eno, Kraig R and Sundsten, John W (1993) Knowledge-Based Client-Server Approach to Structural Information Retrieval: The Digital Anatomist Browser. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine 40:pp. 131-145.

Abstract

Structural information can be defined as data and knowledge about biological objects ranging in size from molecules to the whole body. A framework is described for organizing structural information around a well-defined set of terminology and semantic relationships, and for disseminated multimedia structural information by means of a wide-area information server that is accessible over the internet. A Macintosh-based client of this server, called the Digital Anatomist Browser, has been used to teach neuroanatomy for the last 2 years. The client-server approach provides each student unlimited access to a rapidly growing knowledge base of structral biology that, while immediately useful for anatomy teaching, has the potential to be an organizing framework for other kinds of medial knowledge as well.