Jeanne Sewell's Informatics & Nursing Blog: April 2013

Friday, April 26, 2013

Security of Data When Using Online Surveys for Research

I was offering advise this morning to a colleague who is doing her research online. When doing so, I questioned the validity of something I said regarding using Google Drive forms for research. I investigated the topic and found a webpage, Keeping your account secure, by Google to be extremely useful. The website is at http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46526

If you followed all of the advise on the website, research data should be secure if you use Google Drive forms. The two-factor authentication is very important. The information regarding security is applicable to everyone, whether they are doing research or not.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Two-Factor Authentication for Online Accounts

If you have been following the news, you will note that the stock market lost $200 BILLION dollars in two minutes after the AP Press Twitter account was hacked with an erroneous posting about a bombing at the White House. You can read more about the hack in the article, The power of one wrong tweet, at http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/23/tech/social-media/tweet-ripple-effect/index.html?hpt=te_r1 The common person probably would not be sought out to hack, but it could happen.

PC World has an excellent article, How to set up two-factor authentication for Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more, at http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036252/how-to-set-up-two-factor-authentication-for-facebook-google-microsoft-and-more.html

You may have already set up two-factor authentication without realizing it. When a website, such as Facebook or Google sends a code your cell number and requires you to enter it in addition to the login and password, you have two-factor authentication. So if your account it hacked, the hacker may have your login and password, but not the second authentication code.

Smartphone Sales Changes

I follow Tomi Ohonen's blog about smartphones. He has been really good at predicting the changes in sales of smartphones. In today's blog at Tomi Ohonen's Blog he noted that the Blackberry Rim was the second (behind Nokia) largest smartphone producer three years ago. Today the Blackberry is no longer in the top ten and Nokia is sinking to the bottom of the list. The game changer is China's Coolpad. The changes we have seen with mobile devices in the past three years is mind boggling.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Google Labs

Google has created Google Labs where users can experiment with different settings. The term "labs" is fitting because the features provide a test ground for users and developers. Like most of my colleagues, my work schedule has little free time, so I missed the notification that was posted on April 19th.

I found the labs function when adding dates to Google calendar this morning. For example, I am able to add attachments to a Google calendar event. That feature will be wonderful for meeting agendas!

There are several "labs" available. For example, there is a gmail lab at

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/29418?hl=en

Information about calendar labs is at http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1187241

Hope this information is helpful to everyone.

The Importance of Information Technology in the Recent Boston Bombing

I read a wonderful article about the importance of information technology in the recent Boston bombing at http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/it-key-boston-bombing-patients?topic=09,16,17
The article provide personal stories of individuals, Jonathan Teich, John Halamka, and Scott Ogawa.

My personal thanks to every healthcare worker who contributed to the aid of the victims. I share my prayers and healing thoughts for every person who was affected. It is good to know that the outstanding leadership, coordination of care, and use of information technology made a difference.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Request for Reviewers for the 4th edition of Informatics and Nursing

The information below is an email sent out today by Dan Reilly, the Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Editorial Assistant who works with Christina Burns, the Acquisitions Editor, and Roxanne Ward, the Product Manager. If you would like review the 4th edition, please respond using the hyperlink below. Thank you.

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins is the proud publisher of AJN Award Winning Informatics and Nursing (ISBN: 978-1-60913-695-6) byJeanne Sewell and Linda Thede. We hope you’ve had a chance to become very familiar with the current edition of this text, but in case not, some of its noteworthy features include:

Google cloud computer software and Microsoft Office 2010 discussed in Unit 1
Students can download digital versions of all the examples used for the office software chapters
Units IV, V and VI were updated to reflect changes coordinated by the United States Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Concepts related to business continuity planning and disaster recovery in Chapter 18
Integrated coverage of EHR and HIPAA in Unit IV, V and VI

If you would like to review a desk copy of the 4^th edition of Informatics & Nursing, please let us know.

In addition to The Point, the textbook is supported with an authors’ website (http://dlthede.net/Informatics/Informatics.html) that is updated weekly. Did you know that Jeanne Sewell also has a blog that is updated regularly? http://jeanne-sewell.blogspot.com/ As you know, in a field like Informatics, it is a constant challenge to keep the information up-to-date and relevant to today’s nursing students. These resources include links to relevant and current articles, informatics teaching tips, information about her textbook! I encourage you to check it out!

In that same vein, to keep the book on the cutting edge, we are already planning the 5^th Edition of this text and are seeking reviewersto share thoughts on how we might make this the ideal book to incorporate into your informatics curriculum.

The review will consist of looking over the current edition of the text (which we will provide) and then completing an online survey. The timeframe for completion will be two weeks, and the honorarium will be $75.

If you are interested in participating, please follow this link to complete our reviewer profile form:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SFJKWWP

You will be notified in the next day or two if you have been selected as a reviewer and will be sent a copy of the textbook. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Apps for Creating eBooks

I started the quest for exploring the creation of eBooks in February 2012 when iBooks Author was released. When preparing for two presentations on ePublishing, I found new apps for creating eBooks as noted below.

iBooks Author is still available free, but only on a Mac computer. eBooks created with it open only on an iPad. It provides interactivity not available in other eBooks creation apps.

I have included Pages, the word processing software for the Mac. You can save Pages files as an ePub file format. ePub formats support the use of media such as sound and video. Pages for the iPad files can be "shared" but not saved with the ePub format.

Composer Pro (Demibooks), eBook Creator, Creative Book Builder, Book Creator for the iPad, and eBook Magic+ are apps that work on the iPad or also on the iPhone. Most are associated with a nominal fee.

When creating an eBook it is important to consider the audience, the file size, whether interactivity is important, and how the eBook will be distributed.

iBooks Author

Free - Works only on Mac computers

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks-author/id490152466?ls=1&mt=12

Pages

$19.99 for Mac computers

Available through the Apple App store. Used to save files in ePub format. Allows for the use of media.

Apps for the iPad and iPhone

Composer Pro

Free

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/composer-pro/id537026880?ls=1&mt=8

eBook Creator

$3.99