Zoologist Uses askSam to Catalog Animals' Illnesses, Cures

Reprinted with Permission

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At the Tulsa Zoological Park in Oklahoma, askSam gets nearly as much attention as the 1,200 animals that reside in the park.  Staff veterinarian Dr. William "Bill" C. Russell says the award-winning information manager has come to the rescue many times, often at a moment's notice.  

"When Wanda the camel gets sick, we can use askSam to look up when she was last ill and how we treated her," he said.

"We've used askSam for about four years and I think it is without question, the most powerful information management system in existence today," he added.

Russell read a review of askSam in a computer magazine and called the company for more information.  askSam Systems sent him a copy to try out and he has been a devoted user ever since.

He keeps individual health and safety reports for each animal on file with askSam.  The records include events, observations, medical diagnoses and/or treatments.  The zoo also keeps a catalog of laboratory supplies and equipment ordered, bibliography files for scientific publication purposes, charts and dosage calculations for different species of animals, survey weights for the 400 captive exotic animals, and immobilizing drug selections and dosage calculations for emergency capture of escaped animals.  

Russell uses askSam as a database for animal diets and food items, enabling dietetic and medical personnel to easily access information needed for calculating the nutrient intake of specific species.

"We've found that, of all the database management programs available, askSam definitely belongs in a zoo," he said.

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As of October 1996, Dr. Russell confirms continued use of askSam with these added comments.  "Our use of askSam is still pretty much the same as stated in the original newsletter article.  We now use a commercial animal nutrition program for more in-depth dietary analysis (Animal Nutritionist from N-Squared Computing). We also are using a literature review database (Veterinary Librarian by First Move Software) which is a 6MB askSAM database of avian and exotic veterinary literature reviews updated twice a year (really a GREAT help in this line of work). We have also developed an in-house diagnostic database which helps us with our selection of homeopathic remedies to treat sick and injured zoo animals."

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Dr. William "Bill" C. Russell

Tulsa Zoological Park

5701 East 36th Street North

Tulsa OK 74115

Email:  zoodoc@merck.utulsa.edu