Association for Veterinary Informatics
Information Sheet
Noell Moseley (Memphis, TN) - President; Harmon Rogers (Lake
Stevens, WA) - President-Elect;
James T. Case (UC-Davis) - Secretary Treasurer; Ronald D. Smith (Illinois)
- Newsletter Editor.
Founded by a group of about 20 veterinarians meeting in St. Louis for
the 1981 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) convention, the
Association for Veterinary Informatics (AVI) operated under the name American
Veterinary Computer Society (AVCS) until 1995. It currently operates as
a non-profit organization recognized by the AVMA. The society functions
under a constitution, configured under guidelines provided by the AVMA,
and meeting the requirements for a nonprofit corporation in the state of
Mississippi. The constitution and by-laws are currently under review and
revision.
Membership incorporates a range of levels intending to invite participation
from all segments of the profession, including veterinarians and non-veterinarians,
as well as its supporting organizations. Voting rights are accorded to full
and corporate members who are interested in the field of veterinary informatics
and include veterinary practitioners and their staff, faculty and staff
of veterinary colleges and diagnostic laboratories, medical records personnel,
medical librarians, students, software and hardware developers and corporations
supplying veterinary products and services. The majority of the members
are individuals working directly in the field of clinical veterinary medicine
both in the United States and internationally.
The goals of the society were realigned at a strategic planning meeting
of members in 1994. These include: serving the membership as an educational
resource, promoting the use of information technology and electronic communications
in all aspects of the profession, and the development and promotion of standards
in veterinary information management. The Association intends to communicate
options and unbiased evaluations of existing technology and methods in the
management and dissemination of veterinary information. Members are encouraged
to communicate their experiences and innovations within the Association
through the bimonthly newsletter and as broadly as possible throughout the
profession through the use of existing electronic forums and in peer-reviewed
journals. Individual interests can best be met through participation in
one of six current working groups including:
- practice management systems
- communications and networking
- computerized patient records
- data and messaging standards
- computer-aided instruction/computer assisted learning
- American Medical Informatics Association
It is through these groups that members with similar interests or specific
problems can have them best addressed.
In the past, the Association sponsored Symposia on Computer Applications
in Veterinary Medicine (the 6th Symposium occurred in August 1989 at the
University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada) and facilitated the distribution
of the proceedings of these symposia. Educational events are now presented
in conjunction with the AVMA annual meeting following the establishment
of the Richard B. Talbot Symposium on Veterinary Informatics. The AVI also
sponsors presentations at major veterinary meetings throughout the country.
Upon request it will provide veterinary organizations with the names of
potential speakers on topics relevant to the informatics field. The members
of the Association are encouraged to write articles and/or make presentations
regarding their experiences, as these are valuable in establishing veterinary
informatics as a legitimate discipline and encourages the individuals in
the veterinary community to become more involved in the information age.
The Association currently provides telecommunications among members via
the Internet on the AVI-L listserv discussion list. To subscribe to the
list, send an e-mail message to:
LISTSERV@WULIST.WUSTL.EDU
leaving the subject line blank and the following command in the body of
the message:
SUB AVI-L <yourfirstname> <yourlastname>
substituting your real first and last names where indicated, without the
brackets.
The bi-monthly newsletter has been the major communication tool of the Association.
The newsletter is prepared by the newsletter editor and incorporates at
least one major informative article, along with administrative news of the
society and of the informatics community in general. Members are particularly
encouraged to communicate their experiences in the newsletter.
You may apply for membership in the AVI by completing an application form
and paying the annual dues. Forms are available on the WWW at <http://netvet.wustl.edu/avi.htm>
or from the Secretary/Treasurer. Dues are payable on January 1 of each year.
Your membership category is determined as described in the application,
and only active members have voting privileges. All other member categories
share the privileges of the newsletter and communication services of the
society. We hope you will join and support our effort to expand the use
of the computer as a tool in veterinary medicine.
For additional Information and applications for membership, write to Dr.
Jim Case, AVI Sec./Treas., 2742 Concord Ave., Davis, CA, 95616; or send
email to Jcase@cvdls.ucdavis.edu, JimCase@AOL.COM or 74232,31@compuserve.com.
Revised January 3, 1997
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