title: How to design a radiation safety computer system.
abstract: If an institution needed a radiation safety database, where would they begin? Would they buy or design a database? If they purchase a database, should it be a commercial off-the-shelf system? Or should they use a hosted database accessed from the Internet? What should the database do? What should be its purpose? Many aspects of system design are the same at any institution. Therefore, the design, development, and deployment of a radiation safety computer system is discussed that primarily is useful for a large biomedical research institution but could be adapted to smaller facilities. The discussion also includes the use of a hosted database system but not developed systems that could be purchased.
authors.affiliation: CSI-Radiation Safety Academy, 481 N. Frederick Avenue, Ste. 302, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, USA.
authors.forename: C Bruce
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D012984:Software; D012985:Software Design; D014481:United States