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Sources

Unlike print materials, there have typically been few large reliable producers of quality health science media materials. Often what you most needed for educational purposes was being produced at another school. Pharmaceutical companies made donations of media and equipment, some of which was very desirable, and some of which was compromised by their lack of knowledge of what was needed in education and their desire to promote their own products. Both IBM and Apple provided grants of funds and equipment to software developers in schools, as well as donating some materials they developed themselves.

Computer Companies
IBM Tools Cover
IBM made available programs for which they had funded development through their large catalog, Tools for Learning. IBM also funded substantial development of programs for their proprietary platform, Infowindows. These were usually distributed through an agreement with the Health Sciences Consortium, which also distributes audiovisual media as a consortium.
IBM Tools TOC
This is the first page of the Table of Contents from one issue of Tools for Learning. [Enlargement of health sciences portion available.]
HyperCard
When Apple developed HyperCard and made it freely available with every Macintosh purchased, they revolutionized education media by placing an easy to use development tool accessible to virtually every teacher at every level.
MM Encyclopedia
Apple also developed and distributed freely innovative and visionary resources such as this Encyclopedia of Multimedia.
Slice of Life
Slice of Life
Slice of Life originated with the University of Utah. They are notable for functioning as a consortia, gathering resources from a number of schools and making them commonly available at minimal cost to contributing members. What was particularly unusual about them, was that they were not beholden to any given corporation, and thus developed materials with greater variety and breadth than, for example, the Health Sciences Consortium, which developed solely for the IBM.
Drug Companies We Know and Remember
Miles LVD
Miles is remembered for their early 80s contribution to most medical schools of their set of interactive videodiscs on surgical techniques. [Enlargement of center detail available.]
Miles CAI
Now Miles has taken to supplying computer-aided instruction programs.
Roche: NCME
Roche Labs has for decades generously supported the production of quality continuing medical education materials, which are available in most hospitals.
Roche: NCME
The Network for Continuing Medical Education programs typically represent cutting edge information, and have a history of being produced based on the needs of the consumers. Roche wisely gives the editorial board full discretion in matters of content and selection.
Sandoz 1
Sandoz created a whole series of wonderful programs, of which this is one example. It is interesting that Sandoz, like some of the other companies, tended to select one computer platform for which they would develop exclusively. In their case, the Macintosh was the platform of choice.
Sandoz 2
The programs were innovative at the time, including high quality images and animations. The utility of this series was compromised by requiring what was, at the time, a cutting edge computer system and excessively large hard drive, meaning that many schools were unable to make them generally available to their students. In addition, there were design flaws that impaired the usbility of the programs for students.
Upjohn 1
Upjohn provided an extensive film series on a variety of cutting edge techniques, much as Roche Labs does now. These were also provided at minimal cost. In later years, Upjohn provided a set of text-based case studies for the PC platform.
Upjohn Film Library Logo
Upjohn Film Library Logo
Upjohn 2
 
Upjohn 3
 


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