From cmb04@health.state.ny.us Fri Jul 30 16:36:42 1999 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.01) with ESMTP id QAA15886 for ; Fri, 30 Jul 1999 16:36:41 -0700 From: cmb04@health.state.ny.us Received: from gate1.health.state.ny.us (gate.health.state.ny.us [192.135.176.62]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.06) with SMTP id QAA15264 for ; Fri, 30 Jul 1999 16:36:40 -0700 Received: by gate1.health.state.ny.us id TAA07212 (InterLock SMTP Gateway 3.0 for WAPHGIS@u.washington.edu); Fri, 30 Jul 1999 19:36:40 -0400 Message-Id: <199907302336.TAA07212@gate1.health.state.ny.us> Received: by gate1.health.state.ny.us (Internal Mail Agent-1); Fri, 30 Jul 1999 19:36:40 -0400 X-Lotus-Fromdomain: NYSDOH To: WAPHGIS@u.washington.edu Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 19:36:06 -0400 Subject: GIS and Public Health Information Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline American FactFinder is a data access and mapping components World Wide Web technology tool for the general public to get quick access to Census information. American FactFinder accesses data from the Decennial Censuses of Population and Housing, the American Community Survey (with updates of the decennial census data collected every year beginning about 2002), and the 1997 Economic Census. One can search Census STF databases, with metadata description, and format the results to create customized tables (or download to spreadsheets), construct reference maps to show boundaries and features for geographic entities, and produce quick thematic maps to reveal geographic patterns in statistical data. There is ongoing discussion as to how the full Decennial microdata files data can be included with confidentiality filters. The main contractor for FactFinder is IBM, with ORACLE handling the database and ESRI the mapping components, respectively. One can visit the American FactFinder by following the link from http://www.census.gov/dads/www/ to http://factfinder.census.gov/java_prod/dads.ui. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice The March and July 1999 special issues (vol 5, no 2 and 4) of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice might be of interest. Both issues are available in Wadsworth library. [Editors: Thomas Richards, Charles Croner and Lloyd Novick.] The issue focus is Geographic Information Systems in Public Health, divided into two roundtable themes (1) an atlas of working maps prepared by public health practitioners at the state and local level, and (2) a toolbox of practical information for those practitioners who want to begin to use GIS technology. The first theme illustrates how state and local public health practitioners can use GIS to improve community health planning, decision making, and the effectiveness of community health programs. The theme of the second roundtable is on getting started with GIS, and includes: an overview of the steps in a GIS mapping project; options for GIS hardware and software; state initiatives in geocoding vital statistics data; methods to evaluate geographic access to health services; and an introduction to spatial statistics. Articles in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice are now indexed under the National Library of Medicine Pub Med system, under Health Star. On the Web, go to http://igm.nlm.nih.gov/, then select Health Star Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Data Analysis--NCHS Conference There will be a Concurrent Session U, on Tuesday, August 3, 1999, at the National Conference on Health Statistics, "Health in the New Millennium: Making Choices, Measuring Impact, "National Center for Health Statistics" conference, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C. Public health applications that use GIS technology are presented in this session. GIS topics to covered include geocoding, the incorporation of market research into epidemiological data, spatial statistical modeling of low birth weights, and mapping survey data with synthetic estimation. GISDataDepot Check out http://www.geocomm.com , for access to free spatial data for use in GIS applications, as well as pointers to free resources, translators, utilities, web links, and much more. There are also areas to place free classified ads, several discussion forums and more. Workspace Control 1.0 Workspace Control software provides a range of powerful tools to simplify workspace maintenance tasks. This $70 software is available from http://4thbeachsoftware.com/Products/products.htm. With batch tools, multiple tables are more easily managed. The tools can copy, move, pack, change paths and generate thumbnails. Workspace Control also allows you to generate, analzye and create reports based on, table information (identify all table properties quickly and easily); table structures (report on one or all tables within a workspace); thumbnail images (package table information and thumbnails in the one easy step) and table dependencies. MapInfo ProViewer You can download a free copy of this software at MapInfo's web site, at: http://www.mapinfo.com/software/proviewer/index.html This easy viewing tool designed for MapInfo Professional users lets you share your MapInfo Professional maps and analyses with others, who may easily view and manipulate your maps even if they do not have MapInfo Professional. ProViewer Key Features include: -Open MapInfo tables and workspaces -Print maps, tables, graphs and layouts -Select objects on maps or tables -Zoom in or out and scroll in every direction -Get information on data behind the map -Drag map to other applications -Measure distances -Display map legends -Display statistics on selected data NCI Awards Contract for GIS To Support Breast Cancer Research on Long Island The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a contract to AverStar, Inc., of Vienna, Va., to develop and implement a prototype geographic information system (GIS) for breast cancer studies as part of the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP). The contract award is for $4,872,309 for Phase 1 (two years) and Phase 2 (three option years). Phase I is to develop and deliver the GIS system, and Phase 2 is for system maintenance and data expansion to respond to research needs. "The Long Island geographic information system provides the opportunity to apply a powerful emerging technology to the study of environmental causes of breast cancer," said G. Iris Obrams, M.D., Ph.D., associate director of NCI's Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program (EGRP), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). "This prototype GIS will be the first such system developed to study relationships between environmental exposures and breast cancer, and will provide researchers a new tool with which to conduct their investigations." A detailed description of the study is provided in the July, 1999, GIS and Public Health Newsletter. You can receive this informative newsletter simply by e-mailing Charles Croner, editor, at cmc2@cdc.gov. Colene Byrne Public Health Information Group New York State Dept. of Health Room 750 Corning Tower 518-474-2543 .