DEVELOPING AN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BASED EXPERT SYSTEM FOR HEALTHCARE IN DAIRY CATTLE
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Date
2012
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COLLEGE OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES-MANNUTHY,THRISSUR
Abstract
The objectives of the study were to develop an IT based expert system on
common dairy cattle diseases and to assess the effectiveness of the expert system
developed. The veterinary officers working in Wayanad, Thrissur and
Thiruvananthapuram districts under the Department of Animal Husbandry, Kerala
were the respondents of the study. The research was conducted in three phases i.e.
need analysis, development of expert system and assessment of applicability of
expert system developed.
Need analysis was conducted among an accidental sample of ninety
veterinarians of the selected districts to prioritize the common dairy cattle diseases
occurring in Kerala. The content for the expert system was developed based on
the extensive information on healthcare aspects related to the prioritized diseases.
The content was validated by experts concerned before incorporating into the
system using the Visual basic 6.0 and Microsoft access 2007 software tools. The
perceived applicability of the expert system was assessed based on the rating of
expert system in terms of utility, simplicity, technicality, feasibility, design and
user attributes among a sample of ninety veterinarians selected through stratified
proportionate random sampling.
Majority of the respondents rated the expert system as highly satisfactory.
Simplicity and design aspects of the system received top ranks. Most of the
respondents held favorable attitude in computer usage. The veterinarians’
knowledge of computer applications and skills in using computer were found to
be high.
The personal profile of respondents and variables under computer
usage such as access to computer, confidence in using computer and frequency of
using computer had no significant association with the perceived applicability of
the expert system. However, the respondents’ attitude towards computer usage
and their knowledge of computer applications had significant intercorrelations
with their skills in using computer.
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