The Structure Of Information

Experts suggests that keeping abreast of the revolutionary and evolutionary changes in medicine is extremely challenging. He poses the question: “How do we make sense of the roller-coaster ride we have embarked upon?” His answer is that “we turn to professional journals, textbooks, and the proceedings of specialty meetings to find answers.” But medical information in scientific and medical journals has grown beyond a manageable level. Approximately 34,000 references from over 4000 journals are added monthly to the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE database. These journals represent only 4 percent of the scientific journals currently published. They also suggests that if someone were to read every potentially important biomedical piece published in these journals, it would be necessary to read 6000 articles a day. By the year 2000, the knowledge available in 1950 has not only doubled but is found in 30 times as many publications which means that one new article is added to the medical literature every 20 seconds.

But the overabundance of information can actually keep an individual from finding the information needed. While drowning in information, the individual may starve for knowledge. Students often feel this way when they have stuffed themselves with information that has no relevance or meaning to them. John Lawton, a veteran reporter speaking to the American Association of Broadcast Journalists in 1995, said, “The irony of the information age is [that] it gives new respectability to the uninformed opinion. The question is “How much information is transferred to the minds of readers and is incorporated into practice or changes of behavior?”

As the body of worldwide information explodes, knowing how to manage and process that information in order to make decisions that support practice is of monumental importance. Information technology provides a solution for managing the abundance of information and has become part of the daily professional life of all allied health disciplines. Throughout the past 3 decades, the literature in all healthcare fields has described the growing impact of technology on health and human services.