Patient health education materials are an important resource for both caregivers and patients, allowing health care providers to provide important information to patients for their ongoing care in a written format. This may include printed pamphlets handed out at the conclusion of a hospital visit, emergency department discharge instructions, and electronic resources patients can access from home during their recovery.

Like many health authorities, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and Providence Health Care (PHC) manage databases of such materials, and each has recently upgraded the website used to provide access to these resources for staff and the public. Using our Andornot Discovery Interface, two modern, accessible and mobile-friendly search engine sites were built, one for VCH and one for PHC:

• https://vch.eduhealth.ca
• https://phc.eduhealth.ca

Staff and patients may search by keyword or select a health topic from the home page, then narrow their results by topic, format and critically, language, as many resources are available in multiple-language translations.

Spelling corrections, search suggestions and relevancy-ranked results also help connect a user with a resource quickly and accurately, and a synonym list helps connect different terms for a condition to the same resources. For example, a search for blood clots returns the same results as a search for coagulation, and vice versa, allowing different terms to be used to find all relevant resources.

When viewing a record, those available translations are shown so a user can quickly select the best version for their needs.

Many records provide the PDF online for patients and staff to access, but staff may also use these systems to monitor resources which are under review, or to request that a review be initiated or obtain other information about the resource.

A table view of search results is available for rapid scanning of resources, primarily for health care staff already familiar with the resources who only need quick access to the relevant PDF.

Behind the scenes, a DB/TextWorks database shared by both VCH and PHC is used to catalogue and manage the resources.

The two sites are hosted by Andornot, along with the DB/TextWorks software and database, as part of our managed hosting service.

Andornot works with health authorities throughout British Columbia and across Canada to provide information management solutions for other patient health resources and health care libraries.

The Canadian Medical Association publishes policies and briefs on a wide range of health topics, representing the position of the CMA's members.

This database has long been available online, but is now powered by our Andornot Discovery Interface.

The new site is available at https://policybase.cma.ca and is hosted by Andornot within our Managed Hosting service.

The site offers users the features they expect from a modern search engine: spelling corrections, "did you mean" search suggestions, relevancy ranked results powered by sophisticated algorithms, and facets such as topic, year, and type of policy to quickly and easily refine a search.

Policies are available as PDFs linked from search results, and the full text of each PDF is indexed and searchable too. If any search words are found in the full text, a snippet of the relevant passage showing the words in context is displayed in search results. The user may then click a single button to open the policy in their browser with their search words pre-highlighted, where ever they may appear in the document. This feature saves the user from having to download, open and search all over again within the PDF for the relevant passage.

The site is available in English and French - not only the user interface, but all the metadata and PDFs too - allowing users to search and fully interact with the site in either language.

Policies are managed in a DB/TextWorks database by CMA Library staff. 

Updating the CMA PolicyBase was long overdue. We needed to update the interface and functionality to make it more user friendly. While it seemed like an overwhelming task, Jonathan guided us through each step of the process.  We're really pleased with the end result, so much so that we're now converting other databases to the Andornot Discovery Interface.

-- Debbie Ayotte, Associate Director, Policy Research & Support, Canadian Medical Association

A separate Physician Workforce Survey search engine is available at https://surveys.cma.ca and is also powered by our Andornot Discovery Interface and hosted by Andornot.

Contact Andornot for information management and search solutions for your medical and other collections.

Arctic Health, intended for students, researchers, and anyone with an interest in health aspects of the Arctic, is a central source for information on diverse aspects of the Arctic environment and the health of northern peoples. The Arctic Health website provides access to a database of over 280,000 evaluated publications and resources on these topics. To improve access to this collection, a new search engine has just been launched at https://arctichealth.org

Search results in Arctic Health include published and unpublished articles, reports, data, and links to organizations pertinent to Arctic health, as well as out-of-print publications and information from special collections at the University of Alaska. Resources come from hundreds of local, state, national, and international agencies, as well as from professional societies, tribal groups, and universities.

Arctic Health is managed by the Alaska Medical Library at the University of Alaska Anchorage, by Prof. Kathy Murray and a team of staff. Andornot has worked with this group since 2005 and designed several previous search interfaces using Inmagic WebPublisher PRO and dtSearch.

Prof. Murray approached Andornot last year with several updates in mind, such as to ensure the search results are accessible on mobile devices, not just desktops. Rather than simply adjust the existing site, this precipitated a complete review of the current system, including data entry workflow and the actual content to be included, as well as discussions on a more modern search engine.  

As we do with many projects, Andornot began this challenge by separating out the user groups and functions. Library staff need a system to manage and upload records, with features for adding, editing, converting and validating data. Researchers and health care practitioners, on the other hand, need an easy to use, robust system for searching the vast archive of resources. With such a large number of records, a sophisticated search engine is needed to float the most relevant results to the top of any search.

For the back-end, Andornot developed a web application that uses Inmagic DB/TextWorks for data storage, and Inmagic WebPublisher PRO as a middle layer. We were able to update and re-use an XSLT we'd previously developed that UAA uses to import records in XML format from PubMed. This hybrid approach of using existing commercial software and a custom-developed web application provided the features needed by library staff at a more economical cost than a completely custom written system. 

For the public search interface, we used our Andornot Discovery Interface (AnDI). AnDI is a modern search engine based on the popular Apache Solr system, with features such as:

• Excellent keyword search engine and relevancy-ranked search results.
• Automatic spelling corrections and “did you mean?” search suggestions.
• Full text indexing of linked documents.
• Facets, such as subjects, authors, places, dates, and material types, to allow users to quickly and simply refine their search.
• A selection list allows users to mark items of interest as they search, then view, print or email the list.

AnDI helps users quickly find relevant materials from the large collection at Arctic Health and is a significant improvement over the previous search options.

Both systems in this solution are hosted by Andornot as part of our Managed Hosting Service.

Check out the new iteration of the Arctic Health resource database at https://arctichealth.org, and contact Andornot for help with your project.

The Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) Library is a long-time Inmagic DB/TextWorks site, using the software to manage collections in Richmond, Vancouver and North Vancouver. Andornot has helped library staff in many ways, including hosting a web-based search interface to the catalogue for 15 years.

IT requirements and procedures at the health authority have, over the years, made it challenging for library staff to keep their software up to date. After considering several options, Librarian Shannon Long opted to merge the VCH collections into an instance of the Inmagic Genie library system that is shared with the BC Cancer Agency and BC Children's and Women's Hospital libraries. This cost-effective approach allows the collection to remain in a familiar Inmagic environment, with the whole system hosted, maintained and upgraded by the Provincial Health Services Agency. Andornot helped set this system up in 2015, and blogged about it here. 

While the collections of all three of these health agencies is managed in the shared Genie system, each has their own public-facing search system. The new interface for the VCH library collection is available at https://librarycatalogue.vch.ca and is built upon the Andornot Discovery Interface, a modern search engine widely used by Andornot clients. 

Key features of the site include:

• Sophisticated search engine with relevancy scoring, spelling corrections and 'did you mean' search suggestions, and facets to refine search results.
• RSS feed of latest additions to the catalogue.
• Selection list to allow  library patrons to save items and request them from the library.
• Quick Start pre-defined searches lead patrons to unique materials within the library’s collection.
• Graphic design and branding to match main VCH website.

"Working with Andornot Consulting over the years has always been a pleasure. We are happy to be able to continue this relationship and are looking forward to using our new Genie and AnDI systems to manage our library collections. Andornot staff made this transition seamless; the conversion came in under budget and on time. We love the modern features of the new AnDI interface, especially the RSS feeds and Quick Start topics, and believe that our library patrons will find these helpful as well." Shannon Long, Librarian

All of the health authority libraries in British Columbia use Inmagic software to manage their collections, with a combination of systems supported by Andornot for web-based searching by staff and others. These systems include Andornot Discovery Interface, VuFind and the Umbraco Content Management System.

Catalogues for each health authority are available at these links:

• Fraser Health
• Northern Health
• Interior Health
• Vancouver Island Health Authority
• Vancouver Coastal Health

Andornot also works with health units and hospitals across Canada, and attends the Canadian Health Libraries Association annual conference each year.

Contact us to discuss systems for managing your health care library collection, patient education materials, and similar information.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has used Inmagic DB/TextWorks for many years to manage their library collections. This year, VIHA joined other health authority libraries around British Columbia in upgrading their web-based library catalogue search interface to a modern, feature-rich system: the Andornot Discovery Interface (AnDI).

The new catalogue is available at http://viha.andornot.com 

The updated system is comparable to the search interfaces found in most university and public libraries, with a quick search box and then the ability to drill down through the results. Features include:

• A sophisticated search engine and relevancy-ranked search results put the most useful items in front of users quickly.
• Automatic spelling corrections and "did you mean?" search suggestions improve the search experience, especially when dealing with medical terminology.
• Facets such as library location, material type, subject, author and date and allow users to quickly and simply refine their search.
• An eResources facet allows users to bring up materials that are available online as e-Books or links to websites.
• A selection list helps users to mark items of interest as they search, then view, print or email the list, as well as complete a form to request those items form the library.
• The new interface is fully usable on tablets and smartphones for on-the-go access.

The site includes canned search links for special topics and collections and a more prominent listing of new titles, also available as an RSS feed. Book covers from Open Library are included automatically if available, based on ISBNs in the record.

The site is hosted and maintained by Andornot with automated updates from DB/TextWorks, which remains the back-end data management tool.

Contact Andornot to discuss similar upgrades to your search interfaces.