Personal Digital Assistants

1. Personal Digital Assistants PDAs - Information at Your Fingertips, or a Handful of Trouble? Peter Morgan Cambridge University Medical Library PDAs - Peter Morgan

2. Outline • PDA technology • healthcare applications • library and information services • barriers • what’s next? PDAs - Peter Morgan

3. PDAs PDA = Personal Digital Assistant also known as… • palm-top/palm-held/palm-based computer • handheld computer • pocket computer • personal organizer • MeSH = “computers, handheld” PDAs - Peter Morgan

4. PDAs PDAs - Peter Morgan

5. PDA technology- history • 1984: Psion 1 personal organiser released • 1992: Apple’s John Sculley coins term “Personal Digital Assistant” • 1993: First PDA, called “Penpad”, released by Amstrad • 1993: Apple introduces Newton MessagePad • 1996: Palm releases Palm Pilot, using Palm OS • 1996: Microsoft releases Windows CE OS • 2000: Microsoft releases Pocket PC OS replacing Windows CE PDAs - Peter Morgan

6. PDA technology- operating systems Two major players • Palm OS • Microsoft Pocket PC PDAs - Peter Morgan

7. PDA technology- operating systems Palm: • cheaper • lighter, slimmer • easier to use • simpler OS requires less processor power • faster • longer battery life (especially mono display) • aimed at individual consumer • dominates PDA world market • big choice of software PDAs - Peter Morgan

8. PDA technology- operating systems Pocket PC: • Windows-type applications • more powerful • more memory • more functionality • better security • full-colour display • aimed at corporate users • increasing market share (especially in Europe) PDAs - Peter Morgan

9. PDA technology- extras • synchronization cradles • beaming • folding keyboards • memory cards • wireless PDAs - Peter Morgan

10. PDA technology- basic uses • personal organizer • appointments, addresses, memos, alerts, etc. • internet access • email, WWW, databases, etc. • office software • multimedia • data capture and transmission • phone PDAs - Peter Morgan

11. Healthcare applications • education • medical, nursing, allied health professionals • clinical practice & research • physicians • nurses • allied health professionals • patients • administrators PDAs - Peter Morgan

12. Healthcare applications- education • PDAs compulsory in some medical schools • synchronised timetable information • optimal time management • assessment of students’ experience • capture of lecture notes • exchange of information PDAs - Peter Morgan

13. Healthcare applications- clinical practice & research • point-of-care information • patient records & patient tracking • clinical practice guidelines • drug information • literature retrieval • clinical librarian • data capture & transfer • fieldwork support (GPS etc.) • patients’ use PDAs - Peter Morgan

14. PDAs and the library • training users • ongoing user support • advice on what to buy • provision of content • co-ordination & advocacy • library uses PDAs - Peter Morgan

15. PDAs and the library- training users • workshops • emulators • instructions (documents & web pages) • help desk • technical advice • security advice PDAs - Peter Morgan

16. PDAs and the library- ongoing user support • user groups • subject-based, experience-based • discussion lists • in-house, open • library help-desk • web pages PDAs - Peter Morgan

17. PDAs and the library - advice on what to buy • hardware & software samples • links to computer journals • links to PDA websites • vendors’ fairs • exchange of experience among users PDAs - Peter Morgan

18. PDAs and the library- provision of content • commercial • e-books (textbooks, reference books) • e-journals • databases • drug pharmacopoeias • locally-produced • “what’s new?” - products & services • current awareness & bibliographies • PDA instructional material • library orientation & guidelines PDAs - Peter Morgan

19. PDAs and the library- co-ordination & advocacy • demonstrations • testbed • institutional infrastructure • shared buying advice & purchase • clearinghouse • being a PDA champion PDAs - Peter Morgan

20. PDAs and the library- library uses • personal organizers for library staff • library staff management • duty rotas, priority tasks, news, • reference work • email access • data capture of library statistics PDAs - Peter Morgan

21. Barriers • technophobia • safety in numbers • error-prone text/data entry • handwriting recognition not reliable • stylus/keyboard awkward to use • security of equipment & data • lack of evidence-based PDA evaluation PDAs - Peter Morgan

22. What’s next? • falling sales, but… • Pocket PC catching up - more programs • student use of PDAs extends into career • increased wireless network connectivity • shift from personal to corporate • new phone/PDA generation PDAs - Peter Morgan

23. Further help . . . • library websites • Alberta: http://www.library.ualberta.ca/pdazone/index.cfm • Arizona: http://educ.ahsl.arizona.edu/pda/index.htm • Illinois libraries: http://pdagrant.osfsaintfrancis.org/ • Leicester: http://www.le.ac.uk/li/lgh/library.htm • Oulu: http://kirjasto.oulu.fi/english/palvelut/mobileservices/ • M. Al-Ubaydli: “Handheld Computers for Doctors” (Chichester: Wiley, 2003. ISBN 0 470 85899 0) plus related website - http://www.handheldsfordoctors.com/ PDAs - Peter Morgan

24. Contact Peter Morgan Librarian Cambridge University Medical Library Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2SP, England +44 (0)1223 336757 pbm2@cam.ac.uk PDAs - Peter Morgan