The quality and usability of resources provided on the web can vary
greatly. The Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs) Portal Zone is a high quality,
user-friendly source of information on the clinical aspects and basic
science of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). The stated mission of the site is
to "represent all the aspects of OAE research and related developments till
today". This is an enormous task, and the web editor, Stavros Hatzopoulos
Ph.D., from the Center of Bioacoustics and Department of Audiology at the
University of Ferrara in Italy, admits that this project cannot be
accomplished without help. Assistance is provided in two ways. First, Dr.
Hatzopoulos has put together a team of international experts to serve as
his assistant web editors and as the web editorial board. This team
appears to provide much of the research and content of the web page. The
second way in which the plethora of information regarding OAEs is collected
is to accept contributions from outside authors on topics that might be
useful to the OAE community. The outside submissions undergo a peer-review
process prior to publication in the OAE Portal Zone, in order to ensure the
validity of the material. In this way, Dr. Hatzopoulos hopes that the
website can "evolve into a true PORTAL".
Evolve is a very appropriate term for the OAE Portal. The material
already on the site is frequently updated and new information continues to
appear. Due to this expansion of information the web site material must be
clearly organized or it would loose usability. The OAE Portal successfully
uses a standard web site organization to bring order to the large body of
information. The website homepage provides current information such as a
bi-monthly "Guest Editorial" and a section on "The Latest News".
Navigation within the site is accomplished by selecting highlighted topics
in the various content pages or selecting topics from the "sidebar". The
sidebar is arranged in three categories; on-line information references
(types of OAEs, biophysical research and other topics) clinical
applications of OAEs (books, software and hardware reviews etc.) and
educational material (on-line power point courses and white papers on
aspects of OAEs). Within each of these topics there is a separate content
list so the user does not have to scan through pages of irrelevant
information in order to find what they need. Many of the topics will link
to outside sites, as would be expected in a true portal. When a link to an
outside site occurs the new web page either opens in a separate window or
retains the OAE Portal sidebar, so navigation back to the portal is easily
accomplished. In addition to the sidebar, the web site has a traditional
"top navigation bar". This bar provides general contact information,
guidelines for submissions and information about the site's sponsors. Once
again these selections are clearly organized with easy navigation back to
the home page. The easily understood organization of the OAE portal
greatly increases its value as a resource.
The content on the OAE Portal offers material for a range of knowledge
levels. The site includes both basic definitions and advanced biophysical
research, such as the current guest editorial on Time- Frequency (TF)
analysis for TEOAE interpretation by A. Graznaka. The educational
materials also range in level. There are powerpoint slides covering
introductory information on distortion product otoacoustic emissions and
hearing loss from such familiar names as M. Gorga and S. Neely, as well as
advanced topics, including a 32-slide presentation on Thyroid Sensitive
periods and DPOAEs by M. Knipper. These presentations are available to
download for free, as long as you notify the web site when you intend to
copy something and give credit to the original author. The ease of
downloading the powerpoint presentations, however, is less than desirable.
Either by design or unintended omission, presentations cannot be downloaded
as a whole, only as individual slides. If the purpose of providing these
presentations was as an educational tool, the difficulty downloading
multiple slides will greatly limit the use of this tool.
| Editor's Note: The policy of the Portal regarding the on-line lectures has changed from 1/3/2002. Despite the fact that many of you are connected to the INTERNET with fast 56K modems, we have been signalled that many times it was very difficult to save all the pages of an on-line lecture. Now you can download the lecture you are interested in directly from the appropriate pages (Biophysics, clinical, etc). The files you can download are self-unzipping (each file ends with an "exe"). Each lecture is saved in an HTML format and you can view it by any currently available browser (Netscape or Explorer). A "preview" feature for each lecture will be available after 11/3/2002. |
The question arises "If the information is free to users, how is the
site supported financially?" This is accomplished through site
sponsorship. A list of sponsors, as well as some limited logos placed in
the top panel, generates the revenue needed to support this project. These
"advertisements" are not intrusive and, thus far; do not detract from the
value of the content on the web site. In addition, there appears to be no
bias towards these sponsors in relevant materials.
Perhaps the most unique and beneficial quality of the OAE Portal is
it's ability to change. Unlike a published text or software package this
resource can quickly adapt to the interests and demands of the OAE
community. Corrections of material, new advances, and conflicting views
can easily be incorporated into the medium. The web editors encourage
users to contact them with feedback and the site can only benefit by this
ability to interact. With this in mind, individuals interested in OAEs
should not only visit the site but also contribute to its expanding body of
knowledge. Contributions, in the form of feedback to the site editors or
submissions of materials, will improve this already valuable resource.
