MANAGING INFORMATION IN THE ACADEMIC-MEDICAL-CENTER - BUILDING AN INTEGRATED INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT

The strategic importance of integrated information systems and resourc es for academic medical centers should not be underestimated. Ten year s ago, the National Library of Medicine in collaboration with the Asso ciation of Academic Medical Centers initiated the Integrated Advanced Information Management System (IAIMS) program to assist academic medic al centers in defining a process for addressing deficiencies in their information environments. The authors give a brief history of the IAIM S program, and they describe both characteristics of an integrated inf ormation environment and the technical and organizational structures n ecessary to create such an environment. Strategies some institutions h ave used to implement integrated information systems are also outlined . Finally, the authors discuss the role of librarians in integrated in formation system design.