Just as its name implies, My RSNA^®—the new personalized member portal on RSNA.org—is designed to help RSNA members easily find the information on the RSNA Web site, and the Web at large, that is most important to them.

"Many Web sites have sophisticated mechanisms and flashy appearances but no content," said Paul J. Chang, M.D., a professor and vice-chair of radiology informatics at the University of Chicago School of Medicine and member of the RSNA Radiology Informatics Committee. "RSNA has all this great vetted educational content, but we've found our biggest barrier was user discovery of this content."

Users of My RSNA, which just moved out of its initial test version, will likely notice that the site evokes elements of customizable sites like Amazon.com™, Netflix and iGoogle™, said Dr. Chang. The bottom line, he said, is that before people can use information on the Internet, they need to know it exists. Without search engines like the one powering My RSNA, many people would be unaware of most of the Web sites that provide the information and services they're seeking, he said.

To that end, My RSNA offers users a number of drop and drag "widgets" to find and prioritize information important to them:

1. It all starts with My Profile, where the user can indicate his or her specialties of interest, including a primary specialty.

2. The Online CME widget gives the user a list of free online CME programs, including self-assessment modules, in their specialty area(s).

3. With My Bookmarks, the user can bookmark articles and pages for later access and organize those pages within My RSNA, rather than sort through unrelated bookmarks on their Internet browser. "More importantly, if I bookmark or tag a page on my personal browser, I can only get to it through my own computer," said Dr. Chang. "With My RSNA, users can bookmark assets in their own personal RSNA bookmark list and then get to them anywhere in the world."

My Bookmarks also serves as an extension of the RSNA annual meeting experience, said Dr. Chang. "Over 1,000 people discovered last year that, a week after the meeting, all the education exhibits they tagged at the meeting were in their bookmarks," he said. "Now, when you go to the meeting and you see this great paper or this great exhibit, instead of taking extensive notes, you can go to your bookmarks and refer to the presentation later." Lectures can also include links branching out to blogs and other discussion, he said. "It doesn't replace the meeting, but it enhances the experience so the lectures have a life after the meeting."

Internet search box
Results for a search on "breast imaging CT dosage" are shown by type (from top to bottom): Yottalook, video and images.

4. An Internet search box, accessible from the RSNA.org home page as well as My RSNA, produces results through the radiology-specific engine Yottalook™, along with Google and other sources on the Web. Results are organized by type. "Sometimes I just want an image, sometimes a scientific exhibit, sometimes a video," said Dr. Chang. "Google has Google Image Search. We have something richer—RSNA article, RSNA video, RSNA image, RSNA electronic exhibits."

In addition, the Yottalook Image Engine plug-in allows the user to search images based on certain keywords and save the searches for future reference. Results can also be added to My Bookmarks.

5. Also incorporated into My RSNA are powerful Radiology and RadioGraphics plug-ins that prioritize journal content based on the user's indicated specialties. "First on my list are articles related to gastrointestinal radiology," Dr. Chang said. In the future, he added, My RSNA will incorporate the RadLex® radiology lexicon to offer recommendations based on pages the user has viewed. "The system will be able to deduce, 'Hey, this guy spends a lot of time looking at liver articles—we'll give him more liver articles."

6. The Electronic Exhibits plug-in provides a list of electronic presentations, in the user's declared specialties, from the last RSNA annual meeting.

7. Other plug-ins can be added by clicking the Add Content box in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

"We are very excited about the launching of My RSNA, which will hopefully enhance the value of RSNA membership by providing a one-stop information portal," said Burton P. Drayer, M.D., RSNA Board Liaison for Annual Meeting and Technology.

To access My RSNA now, click here.