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ACOG is recognized internationally as a leading association for Obstetrics and Gynecology. They continue to demonstrate their leadership with the evolution of their Internet presence. ACOG offers a wealth of information to their members via the Internet.
ACOG's Manager, Educational Electronic Resources, Mark H. Graves shared these insights with us.
OBGYN.net: How are you better serving your membership with Internet Technology?
Graves: Our web site allows our members to access a keyword search engine of the full-text of our publications, including: Newsletters, Committee Opinions, Criteria Sets, Educational Bulletins, Obstetrics and Gynecology articles, Patient Education Pamphlets, Practice Patterns, Press Releases, and Woman's Health articles. Additionally, members may view publications by type and access our meetings calendar, division and district pages.
OBGYN.net: Why did you decide to build a web site?
Graves: ACOG's Web Site is actually an extension of our very popular bulletin board, ACOGNET, that the College brought online in 1987. With the advent of the world wide web, and the fact that the Internet is now available to almost anyone, the College decided to move the information base off the text-orientated BBS, to the graphic orientated web site. ACOG's Web Site allows members access to the full text of our publications, now including complex tables, photographs, and figures that were not possible to display on ACOGNET. Additionally, the web site allows members to access the information in a user friendly, point and click environment.
OBGYN.net: When was your site launched?
Graves: Development on ACOG's Web Site started October 1995 when The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists received an Internet Connection for Medical Institutions grant from the National Library of Medicine. Under this grant we were able to purchase equipment, software, and a 56K line to the Internet and display "a work in progress" at last year's Annual Clinical Meeting. The site wasn't launched until November 1996, when Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation sponsored a T1 line that could handle the traffic to our site. For this year's ACM, we have given the site a face lift and have expanded the public side of the web.
OBGYN.net: What has been the greatest advantage in using the Internet?
Graves: The greatest advantage in using the Internet is that the College may provide information to our members, world-wide, in a user friendly manner.
OBGYN.net: What is the future goals of your organization on the Internet?
Graves: Oh, there are a lot of things we have on the burner. The two items I am working on right now that are exciting are an online catalog and a message conferencing/chat section. Of course the Internet is constantly changing and offering more features, my staff and I are always exploring how the College may take advantage of these new technologies.
Mark H. Graves
Manager, Educational Electronic Resources
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
409 12th Street, SW
PO Box 96920
Washington, DC 20090-6920
202-863-2481 (voice)
202-484-7480 (fax)
mgraves@acog.com (email)
http://www.acog.com (Web Site)
telnet://bbs.acog.com (ACOGNET)
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