The UMLS Knowledge Source Server: an experience in Web 2.0 technologies.

The UMLS Knowledge Source Server (UMLSKS), developed at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), makes the knowledge sources of the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) available to the research community over the Internet. In 2003, the UMLSKS was redesigned utilizing state-of-the-art technologies available at that time. That design offered a significant improvement over the prior version but presented a set of technology-dependent issues that limited its functionality and usability. Four areas of desired improvement were identified: software interfaces, web interface content, system maintenance/deployment, and user authentication. By employing next generation web technologies, newer authentication paradigms and further refinements in modular design methods, these areas could be addressed and corrected to meet the ever increasing needs of UMLSKS developers. In this paper we detail the issues present with the existing system and describe the new system's design using new technologies considered entrants in the Web 2.0 development era.