Mark, This episode serves as a nice reminder that we need to help our non-tech colleagues distinguish between specific software applications (e.g. Micorsoft Word) and data-interchange formats (e.g. MS Word-97 document, RTF, PDF, etc). No one can possibly be good at running committees, winning nominations/elections, and know the difference between Microsoft Word and the various data-interchange formats that Microsoft Word supports. :-)
I think AMIA will be more likely to accept help from AMIA members. I don't know whether Tim Cook is an AMIA member or not but I am in full support of his efforts to solicit your help. It really does not help AMIA's standing to leave things as is. IMHO, this has nothing to do with "open source" or not. It is a simple example of an informatics association making a common informatics error. Let's see if AMIA is capable of making good use of constructive feedback. Best regards, Andrew --- Andrew P. Ho, M.D. OIO: Open Infrastructure for Outcomes www.TxOutcome.Org [Tim, I hope you obtained prior permission from Mark and Dennis to repost their private email to the entire OpenHealth List :-)] Quoting Tim Cook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Mark, > > Thanks for your comments. > > Mr. Reynolds' objections to PDF are reasonable but I note he totally > evaded the mention of Postscript and Rich Text (RTF) both > non-proprietary and both maintain the capabilities desired by the > Editorial Committee. > > The choices we make determine the results we get. > > Regards, > Tim > > On Mon, 2003-09-08 at 12:22, Mark Musen wrote: > > On Monday, September 8, 2003, at 11:30 AM, Tim Cook wrote: > > > This seems the appropriate forum within AMIA to address the issue of > > > requiring a proprietary document format for submissions. > > > http://www.medinfo2004.org/call/index.html > > > > > > Requires a Microsoft Word document. > > > > > > Certainly the AMIA document management system can accept RTF or PDF > or > > > PostScript? > > > > > > > > > > I was amused to see your note, and I of course agree with you regarding > > > the underlying philosophy. Alas, Medinfo is an international meeting > > rather than an event organized exclusively under AMIA control. Dennis > > > Reynolds, executive director of AMIA, offers the comments attached > > below. > > Mark Musen > > > > ------------------------------------------ > > We in fact have typically accepted pdf for AMIA meetings. > > However, unlike an AMIA meeting, the Medinfo Editorial Committee > > anticipates needing to reformat a number of the final versions of > > authors' documents for purposes of ensuring uniformity of > > appearance and editorial practice within the Proceedings. In the > > past, Medinfo - as well as AMIA - has found that many authors do > > not strictly adhere to formatting requirements as prescribed in the > > Call for Participation and elsewhere. We do not have the general > > practice of rejecting a manuscript based on minor formatting > > concerns, but when manuscripts are received in pdf or some other > > unmodifiable format, it does present an obvious problem to > > ensuring some degree of rigour in consistent appearances in those > > cases where authors have inadvertently not followed all layout > > requirements. > > > > For AMIA meetings when we encounter such an instance, we have > > typically either (a) included the papers as is, if the variances from > > requested formatting is not too appreciable, or (b) have had to e- > > mail PDF versions back and forth to authors - some of whom > > respond, some of whom don't - until an author's changes brings it > > into conformance, which in some cases takes several attempts. > > > > The relevant Medinfo committees examined the advantages and > > disadvantages of accepting pdf closely, and opted to request > > documents in Word. > > > > Dennis > > > >
