French mirror site of the NPAC Visible Human Viewer: first year evaluation

The NPAC visible human viewer (NPAC VHV), graphical interface written in JA VA, freely accessible by the Web, allows the display of anatomic cross-sect ions of the Visible Human Project developed by the National Library of Medi cine. In April 1997, the Medical Media Library of Lyons undertook the const ruction of a French-language mirror site of the NPAC VHV. The aim of this w ork is to evaluate first year utilisation of this site. From May Ist, 1997 to April 30th, 1998, the mirror site was consulted 34,752 times. In 45.14% of cases, the request came from France, in 4.42% of cases from Belgium, in 3.98% from Canada and in 2.12% from Switzerland. Other connections came eit her from a country responsible for fewer than 1% of connections or from uni dentified computers. Data analysis showed a peak of connections between 15: 00 and 17:00, and an increased number of connections from September to Marc h 1998. The NPAC VHV is housed in 5 sites in the world. It is a software ve ry simple to use. As the figures have no legends, it is more appropriate fo r group teaching than for self-teaching.