Slice of Life June 2003

TUSK: The Tufts University Sciences

Knowledgebase(formerly the HSDB):

A Knowledge Management System

Susan AlbrightTarik Alkasab

Slice of Life June 2003

TUSK Perspecitives• Faculty• Students• Curriculum Planners

Slice of Life June 2003

TUSK Features OverviewContent•HTML/XML Documents•Images•PDF Files•Audio (Real, Quicktime, MP3)•Video (Real, Quicktime)•Animations•Zoomable images

Course Management•Course description and objectives•Announcements•Faculty list•Reading list•Grading policy•Teaching sites

Indexing/Searching•UMLS•Full-text•Course•Author

Curriculum Support•Schedules•Quizzes•Evaluations•Announcements•Discussion Groups

Slice of Life June 2003

Open Source Perspective• Built on open source software

– MySQL, Apache, mod_perl• Beta test of TUSK system portability

– NYMC– University of Natal, Durban SA

• Future: – Distributed development

Slice of Life June 2003

Faculty Perspective

• Easy metadata input• Markup for special significance• Search and include relevant text,

multimedia from colleagues• Concept mapping: find documents

with like objectives – make connections across the curriculum

Slice of Life June 2003

Search/Include Content

Slice of Life June 2003

XML Markup for Meaning

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Select UMLS Keywords

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Link to Curricular Objectives

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Create Concept Maps

Slice of Life June 2003

Student Perspective• Personal notes through the

curriculum• Personal collections of TUSK data• Personal information carried

forward through 4 years of med school and beyond

Slice of Life June 2003

Student Views• Log in page• Home page• Discussions• Announcements• Content of various types

Slice of Life June 2003

Student Home Page

Slice of Life June 2003

Curriculum Planner• Where are things taught in the

curriculum• Where are the connections –

concept mapping• What are the prerequisites

learning objectives for each course

Slice of Life June 2003

Content Management

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CMS Site Map

Slice of Life June 2003

The Future• Link TUSK to the Rest of the

World– Open archive linkages—e.g., to HEAL– Shibboleth authentication– UMLS-indexed external material

represented in TUSK– Seamless searching of Tufts-licensed

material from within TUSK

Slice of Life June 2003

The Future• Concept Maps

– Web of curricular information• Personal annotations ubiquitous

within TUSK and external content