Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters - vol. XI - n. 3 - September 1998

INFORMATIC NEWS

TECHNICAL REPORT

We are pleased to announce that MBC from Ist December 1996 will have its space on the Internet. Here we describe the project that will be carried out over the next few months.

Information support system for the activities of the Mediterranean Club for Burns and Fire Disasters

The Mediterranean Club for Burns and Fire Disasters (MBC), in the general framework of its institutional activities of information and publication of news in the field of burns, is in the process of activating an information system in order to convey all relevant information by means of the Internet.
To achieve this aim, MBC is availing itself of the technical support of Informed sr], a company with wide experience in the application of multimedia technologies in the medical field which has already co-operated with MBC in the COMETT and TEMPUS European projects. In collaboration with CRES (Centro per la Ricerca Elettronica in Sicilia: Sicilian Electronic Research Centre), a research centre at Monreale (Palermo) on the GARR network which connects numerous national and international universities and research centres, MBC intends to provide its Members and more generally all Internet users with the following packet of information and communication services:

1. WELCOMING SYSTEM
2. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA BANK
3. E-MAIL SERVICE
   

The services will be activated by installation of a server system at CRES, which is connected in local network with the Internet 24 hours a day. Internet users will be able to access to the services put on line by the server by contacting the following address:

http://www.cres.it/mbc/

The MBC staff responsible for managing the service will access to the server by means of a PC with an appropriately configured modem and a telephone line switched direct to the MBC office in Palermo, after dialling the correct number.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICES

The services will be made available to users by the creation of a hypertext navigation interface that will make it possible to associate key objects with video pages or other multimedia objects. This is now the standard navigation system on the Internet.

1. WELCOMING SYSTEM
   
   This is MBC's first interface with Internet users and provides access to the various services. When Internet users contact the above address, they are connected to the MBC server and enter a welcoming system which illustrates in a maximum of three video pages:

   • Head Office
   • Constitution
   • Objectives and Purposes
   • List of National Representative Members
   • Institutional Activities
   • Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters
   • International Relations
   • International Scientific Participation
   • Scientific Activity
   • Bibliographic Data Bank
   • Invitation for MBC Membership
   • E-Mail Service
   • MBC News

2. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA BANK
   
   This service gathers together all articles, publications and significan published material concerning the field of burns. Each unit filed will be defined by title, content synthesis, name of one or more authors, and one or more subjects considered. The user will be able: a) to obtain reports on the bibliographies present by selecting: title subject b) to consult the Abstracts in the data bank c) to request a copy of the whole article in the publication selected
   MBC members are entitled to receive free of charge copies of whole articles in the Club's possession. All applications must be sent by e-mai to the MBC Secretariat.

3. E-MAIL SERVICE
   
   E-mail is an essential means of dialogue with other users who use geographical networks. The services will be managed by the MBC Secretariat staff from the following e-mail address:

mbcpa@cres.it

This address must be used in all communications regarding the services
The Club Secretariat has arranged for the presence of at least on operator for management of the services who will insert publications in the relevant data bank, reply to e-mail messages, satisfy requests from Club Members, and inform the Secretariat of the interest shown in th various services offered.