Searching for information on the Internet using the UMLS and Medical World Search

• Published in: Proceedings - AMIA Annual Fall Symposium pp. 824 - 828
• Main Authors: Suarez, H H, Hao, X, Chang, I F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Medical Informatics Association 1997
• Subjects: Computer Communication Networks; Databases as Topic; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Information Services; Information Storage and Retrieval; Methods; Software; Unified Medical Language System
• ISSN: 1091-8280

Medical World Search is a search engine for medical information on the Internet that distinguishes itself from other search engines by its built-in knowledge of medical terminology through its use of the National Library of Medicine's UMLS and its carefully selected but large database of medical sites. After discussing some of the previous uses of the UMLS for medical information retrieval, we describe the Medical World Search system. In October 1996, Medical World Search became operational on the World Wide Web at http:@www.mwsearch.poly.edu. It has been operating uninterrupted since then. We review our experiences with creating a search engine for medical information on the Internet and using the UMLS in this application. The UMLS has some clear advantages in this application. Some aspects of the UMLS also decrease its usefulness in information retrieval. Medical World Search's usage by medical information seekers is summarized. future directions for research are outlined.