Welcome to the LIMSwiki informatics resource portal
This collection of web links represents an attempt to collate as many useful online scientific and health informatics-related materials and research tools as possible. As entities often change the URLs of their material or delete it in total, it's quite likely you may discover a bad URL or two. We'll try to keep this updated as often as possible, but please do help if you are able.
An attempt was made to be as thorough as possible in most categories, though we realize some entities — especially non-English websites — may have escaped our search efforts. The books category is somewhat of a special case, as we tried to focus on relevant books published within the last 10 to 12 years, primarily those with positive feedback on Amazon and other online retailers. However, search tools for finding other informatics books have been included to allow you to research and decide for yourself if a particular book is worth looking into.
Books
Magazines, journals, and blogs
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Magazines
- American Laboratory: provides "analytical chemists and life scientists with up-to-date information about equipment, instrumentation, and applications that they use in their labs every day."
- Bio-IT World: "provides topical news coverage and analysis of cutting-edge technologies to handle the data deluge in petascale computing and the tools to deliver individualized medicine."
- CAP TODAY: a healthcare publication with "feature articles, concise news items, editorial columns, and scientific abstracts"
- Clinical Lab Manager: "provides readers with information and tips on finance and business strategy for the clinical lab."
- Drug Discovery World: "cover[s] the latest news and events in the global pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotech sectors, as well as the technology and processes to help create vaccines, therapeutics and drugs."
- European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer: keeps "readers abreast of the latest offerings and developments in R&D and manufacturing products and equipment, ingredients and contract services."
- Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News: covers "the entire bioproduct life cycle from early-stage R&D, to applied research including omics, biomarkers, as well as diagnostics, to bioprocessing and commercialization."
- Health Data Management: "guides the healthcare community with insight that anticipates how advanced computing—analytics, artificial intelligence, digital health, virtual care platforms, interoperable systems and more—can support care improvement and clinical efficiency."
- Healthcare Innovation: "draw upon decades of experience in covering the industry, sharing insights and analysis with readers through feature articles, web interviews, blogs, and news coverage."
- HIT Consultant: "provides editorial insights on health IT, EHRs, population health management, digital health, telehealth, accountable care, patient engagement and startups."
- Lab Manager: "the only publication specifically focused on all aspects of running a lab, including ensuring your lab is meeting health and safety standards, budgeting, hiring and retaining staff, managing people, designing and furnishing your lab, and choosing the right technologies for your lab."
- Laboratory Design: serves the "community involved in the design, construction, and operation of laboratory facilities, including building owners and operators, high-level lab users and managers, and the building team."
- Laboratory Equipment: "bringing laboratory professionals the products, news and research innovations that help them excel at their jobs."
- Laboratory Informatics Guide: a yearly special supplement to Scientific Computing World subscribers that provides articles and information about laboratory informatics.
- Laboratory News: provides "readers with comprehensive and detailed coverage of the issues facing contemporary science."
- Laboratory Talk: "provide the most comprehensive resource for everything from the latest products and research solutions, to white papers, application notes and case studies."
- Life Science Leader: provides life science executives with the industry's best practices and "motivate[s] them to implement those best practices in their own businesses."
- Medical Lab Management: a "peer-to-peer information source for clinical laboratory management," including discussions of new products and technologies.
- Medical Laboratory Observer: provides "lab professionals with peer-reviewed editorials, answers to critical questions and important product information."
- Modern Healthcare: delivers "healthcare business and policy news, research and information."
- Pharma Manufacturing: "devoted to the drug product’s journey from end stage development, through scaleup, to commercial manufacturing, providing strategies and best practices for facilities whose goals include reducing risks, improving product quality and increasing efficiencies."
- Pulse+IT: eHealth and health IT topics primarily targeted at the Australian and New Zealand health sectors.
- R&D World: "deliver interesting and informative content to engineers, scientists, laboratory professionals, R&D managers, and others involved in the world of research."
- Scientific Computing World: "the only global publication dedicated to the computing and information technology needs of scientists and engineers."
- The Scientist: "dedicated to covering a wide range of topics central to the study of cell and molecular biology, genetics, and other life-science fields."
- Wiley Analytical Science: a Wiley-backed magazine about sample preparation, electrophoresis, chromatography, genomics, and laboratory informatics
Journals
Numerous journals concerning many types of scientific informatics pursuits — from nursing informatics to cancer informatics — are produced for the scientific community and beyond. Many are only accessible through subscription or purchase, while others are open-access journals, available to anyone with Internet access.
Click the link above for the compiled list of related journals and journal resources.
Blogs
Individual blogs
- The Health Care Blog: "everything you always wanted to know about the Health Care system. But were afraid to ask."
- The Healthcare IT Guy: focuses on "healthcare IT with an emphasis on e-health, EHR/EMR, meaningful use, data integration, medical device connectivity, health informatics, and legacy modernization," by software analyst Shahid Shah.
- HIStalk: offers news and opinion on healthcare IT.
- Hodge's Model: "provides a space for reflections on a health, social care, and informatics model with universal potential in terms of application and users," by mental health nurse and informatics specialist Peter Jones.
- Informatics Professor: "maintains the thoughts on various topics related to biomedical and health informatics by Dr. William Hersh, Professor and Chair, Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University"
- Lab Soft News: covers topics of healthcare IT and pathology informatics, by Bruce Friedman, Emeritus Professor of Pathology in the Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School
- PLOS Blogs Network: "provide a venue for Open Science news and updates as well as diverse perspectives on science and medicine from across our researcher communities."
- Telehealth & Telecare Aware: aims to help telecare and telehealth "suppliers and service providers around the world keep up to date with what each other are doing."
Corporate and organizational blogs
- AmericanEHR Blog: the official blogs of AmericanEHR Partners, which "features original commentary, opinion pieces, and news stories about electronic health records (EHRs) and the meaningful use of health information technology."
- Astrix Blog: the official blog of laboratory informatics consultancy Astrix, Inc.
- KevinMD Tech Blogs: these represent the medical tech-related blogs of KevinMD, "where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories."
Open-source project blogs
Web portals
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This is a collection of news portals and user communities that relate to anything from dental informatics to healthcare IT. If you don't find the site you're looking for here, it may be in the Blogs or Knowledge base, research, and reference sections of the resources page.
- analytica-world.com: an information portal for analytics and lab technology, complementing analytica, the International Trade Fair for Laboratory Technology, Analysis, and Biotechnology
- ASCLS Open Forum: an ASCLS-hosted user forum for discussing clinical laboratory science
- Ecoinformatics.org: a web portal acting as an "online resource for managing ecological data and information"
- FierceHealthIT: a web portal for "healthcare IT news with a special focus on CPOE, EMR adoption, HIPAA compliance, and other critical areas"
- Health IT Briefing: a news portal for "blogs, news, tools, and other items of interest to the healthcare IT community"; formerly "HITSphere"
- Healthcare IT Briefing: a web portal "covering the people, policy and technology driving next-generation healthcare in the U.S."
- Journal Watch: a web portal "providing brief, clearly written, clinically focused perspectives on the medical developments that affect practice"
- krisp: formerly "BioAfrica.net," this portal contains a variety of information about the application of genomics, precision medicine, and big data in Africa
- Laboratory LOINC: a user forum for discussing the application of LOINC in laboratory test ordering
- LabWrench: a comprehensive user forum for discussing various aspects of lab equipment, instruments, and their use
- PathLabTalk: a user forum for discussing work in a pathology laboratory
- PflebIT: a nursing informatics portal and knowledgebase (in German)
- Pharma IQ: "an international online community focusing on providing pharmaceutical and biotechnology professionals with knowledge, information and biotechnology articles"
- Technology Networks: a wide collection of web resources pertaining to numerous scientific communities and topics, including informatics
Organizations, not-for-profits, and special interest groups
Organization, associations, special interest groups, institutes, and not-for-profits related to scientific informatics pursuits exist all over the world. Many have open membership while a few are very selective in their acceptance.
Click the link above for a compiled list of these entities from around the world.
Government and academic
Government entities
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Bulgaria
Canada
- Canada Health Infoway: "works as a strategic investor of funds provided by the Federal Government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories" towards the effort of "transforming health care through health information technology"
- Canadian Institute for Health Information: strives to "collect, analyze and publish data and information in a standardized way ... that allows every jurisdiction to understand, compare and use the data and information effectively to make the decisions that lead to healthier Canadians"
Cuba
European Union
Germany
Global
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility: "an international government-initiated and funded initiative focused on making biodiversity data available to all and anyone, for scientific research, conservation and sustainable development"
India
- ERNET India: "provides IT connectivity to a range of institutional centers" in India
Poland
United States of America
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: "delivers insight into the full landscape of technologies, tools, and business/regulatory strategies that help scientists and executives accelerate the pace and productivity of drug research and development."
- AHRQ Digital Healthcare Research Program: "to produce and disseminate evidence about how the evolving digital healthcare ecosystem can best advance the quality, safety, and effectiveness of healthcare for patients and their families."
- Data.gov: strives to "increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government"
- HealthIT.gov: "support[s] the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care"
- National Library of Medicine: makes available various print and electronic documents; "supports and conducts research, development, and training in biomedical informatics and health information technology"
- Science.gov: "searches over 55 databases and over 2100 selected websites from 13 federal agencies, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information including research and development results"
Educational programs, training, and certifications
Bio, health, laboratory, medical, and nursing informatics education programs are arguably abundant in higher learning institutes and other entities. This compilation attempts to cover those academic programs, department, and facilities.
Click the link above for the full list of resources.
Conferences and trade shows
Conferences
Scientific informatics is unsurprisingly an advancing field with a lot to talk about and share with others. Societies, associations, or professional groups will often turn to the conference to better disseminate and share information and ideas with other like-minded individuals and entities.
Click the link above for the full list of scientific informatics conferences.
Trade shows
Like conferences, trade shows are another way for individuals in broad or very focused scientific pursuits to learn about the technology affecting their field. Information, ideas, and innovative product demonstrations can be shared with attendees looking to learn more about or gain a competitive advantage in their trade.
Click the link above for the full list of scientific informatics trade shows.
Discussion groups and social networks
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- GMANE: a public mail / bulletin board system for numerous fields of science and tech; in January 2020, major changes were taking place, and the available discussion lists were only available via a newsreader, until a website was recreated containing more info
- Inospin: an "academia-industry partnering network for scientific innovations in pharma & biotech, veterinary, crop science & agriculture, food & beverages, medtech, consumer care & cosmetics, chemistry, material sciences, IT and engineering"
- JISCMail: "a large collection of groups which enable academics, support staff and researchers to collaborate"
- LIMSforum: a diverse web portal and discussion group for anything related to laboratory and scientific informatics
Market studies and reports
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Rather than linking directly to specific studies and reports, this list focuses on entities that provide (occasionally or frequently) studies and reports related to healthcare, healthcare IT, and scientific applications of informatics as well as broader fields of research.
- ARC Advisory Group: a list of "studies [that] cover the full breadth of enterprise software, manufacturing applications, automation products, and related services"
- Kalorama Information: a "publisher of market research in medical markets, including the biotechnology, diagnostics, healthcare, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries"
- KLAS Enterprises: "helps healthcare providers make informed technology decisions by reporting accurate, honest, and impartial vendor performance data"
- President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology: a U.S. "advisory group of the nation's leading scientists and engineers who directly advise the President and the Executive Office of the President;" the group occasionally releases science and technology reports and documents to the public
- research2guidance: "provide[s] market intelligence on the mobile applications market"
- Transparency Market Research: "a market intelligence company providing global business research reports" into pharmaceuticals, medical devices, chemicals and materials, technology, and more
Knowledge base, research, and reference
There are a variety of Internet-based tools available for people researching about or in the field of scientific informatics.
Click the link above for the full list of resources.
Specifications and standards
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Resources for researching specifications and standards
American National Standards Institute: "oversees the creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector"
ASTM International: handles the "development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards"
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine: "the international standard for medical images and related information"
FindACode: "an online database of medical billing codes and information"
Health Information Technology and Health Data Standards at NLM: "the central coordinating body for clinical terminology standards within the Department of Health and Human Services"
National Council for Prescription Drug Programs: develops "ANSI-accredited standards, and guidance for promoting information exchanges related to medications, supplies, and services within the healthcare system"
National Institute of Standards and Technology - Standards.gov: aims "to equip U.S. industry with the standards-related tools and information necessary to effectively compete in the global marketplace"
Specific specifications and standards
- 21 CFR Part 11: provides compliance information regarding electronic records and electronic signatures
- 40 CFR Part 3: provides for electronic reporting (in lieu of a paper document) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- ASC X12: develops and maintains electronic data interchange (EDI) and context inspired component architecture (CICA) standards as well as XML schema
- DICOM Standard: official listing of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine standards
- GAMP Resources: a Good Automated Manufacturing Practice resource list from the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering
- HL7 International Standards: "a framework (and related standards) for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information"
- ICD-9 and ICD-10: the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code set "used to code and classify mortality data from death certificates;" tools for looking up ICD-9 and -10 codes: IDC9Data.com and CMS code lookup
- ICNP: the International Classification for Nursing Practice "establishes an international standard to facilitate description and comparison of nursing practice"
- NCPDP Standards: "NCPDP standards have transformed the pharmacy industry, saving billions of dollars in health system costs while increasing patient safety and quality of care."
- The Omaha System: a standardized health care terminology consisting of an assessment component, an intervention component, and an outcomes component
- SNOMED CT: a set of "comprehensive, multilingual clinical healthcare terminology"
- UMLS: Unified Medical Language System: "integrates and distributes key terminology, classification and coding standards, and associated resources to promote creation of more effective and interoperable biomedical information systems and services"
Jobs and career search
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While you can search any online job board, these sites specifically seem to contain a significant number of science and medical informatics jobs.
- Biohealthmatics.com: a "career networking portal for biotechnology and healthcare IT" in the U.S. and U.K markets
- Bioinformatics.ca - Job Postings: the informatics and bioinformatics job focus is mostly in Canada, though jobs in the U.S., U.K., and other parts of the world occasionally show up; job posting limited to Bioinformatics.ca members
- HireLifeScience.com: an "employment resource and networking tool to connect you to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and life science industries"
Consultants
Scientific and laboratory informatics are complex, constantly advancing fields. Given the pace of change and sheer amount of related information, sometimes a quality consultancy is required to get the most out of your scientific endeavors.
Click the link above for the full list of resources.
Miscellaneous
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Projects
- OpenNotes: "an initiative that invites patients to review their visit notes written by their doctors, nurses, or other clinicians"
- p-medicine Project: a European initiative to create "an innovative and integrated technological solution to enable personalised medicine"
Datasets
- Data.gov: a U.S. initiative "to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government"
- Mouse Genome Informatics: a massive collection of resources (books, datasets, analysis tools, etc.) related to the study of the mouse genome
- NHS iView: "a free resource that provides flexible access to a wide range of health and social care data"
- WorldWideScience.org: "a global science gateway comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals"
Research centers and organizations
Videos
- CSols Videos: videos from laboratory informatics consultancy CSols, Inc.
Bids and RFPs
- LIMSforum Bid Opportunities: postings of laboratory informatics software and laboratory analysis bid opportunities at LIMSforum, updated weekly.
