Ch. 10— Information Resources and Computer Systems • 235 
to advise NLM. It met in 1977 and 1978 to con- 
sider reports from the NLM and Battelle staff and 
to respond both to specific requests for guidance 
concerning LADB developmental aspects and to 
feedback from the 13 outside users. The NLM staff 
further requested ILAR to review the basic con- 
cept, purpose, scope, validation of data, and utili- 
ty of LADB. 
In 1978, ILAR prepared such a report and rec- 
ommended that peer review of data for inclusion 
in LADB be performed, together with peer exami- 
nation of the criteria for data acceptability (13). 
NLM contracted with the Life Sciences Research 
Office (LSRO) of the Federation of American Soci- 
eties for Experimental Biology (FASEB) to organize 
an ad hoc LADB User Assessment Panel to review 
data descriptors and coverage of various disciplines 
by LADB. 
In 1979, each member of the LSRO ad hoc panel 
had a computer terminal with unlimited access 
to the LADB database. The resulting hands-on ex- 
perience provided the basis for an objective assess- 
ment of the data descriptors and the scope of 
coverage of LADB. The ad hoc panel's report, pub- 
lished in 1980 (2), made some 20 suggestions for 
improving LADB. The recommendations focused 
on increasing the data coverage, ensuring the qual- 
ity of the data included, and facilitating statistical 
comparisons of data within LADB. The panel’s prin- 
cipal recommendations were: 
• put the individual animal data files on-line with 
the grouped animal data files; 
• standardize diagnostic terms for pathology 
data, by using a system such as Systematized 
Nomenclature of Medicine; 
• add new data elements to LADB for growth, 
development, reproduction, and teratology; 
• provide capability for on-line statistical anal- 
ysis for determining relationships between 
different data sets; and 
• adopt new acceptance criteria for data sub- 
mitted to LADB. 
Public Accessibility , 1980-81 
LADB first became available on-line to the pub- 
lic in April 1980, via the Battelle computer in Co- 
lumbus, OH. Some 100 subscribing organizations 
logged 96 billable hours over the first 6 months 
of public availability . This usage was far lower than 
that of other databases operated by NLM, even 
in their beginning stages. The paucity of user 
hours, coupled with other financial considerations 
(see following section) led NLM to stop LADB file- 
building in January 1981. Slightly more than 1 mil- 
lion animal measurements were contained in L ADB 
at this point, mainly obtained from 30,000 rats and 
mice. A small amount of data came from cats, dogs, 
hamsters, minipigs, monkeys, and tree shrews (2). 
Approximately 80 to 85 percent of the total was 
obtained from investigators holding contracts 
awarded by the National Cancer Institute, under 
its cancer treatment and bioassay programs. When 
the collection of data was halted, 44 organizations 
and 15 Federal contractors had contributed data, 
and 9 other sources had agreed to do so. The Fed- 
eral commitment to LADB from 1975 through 1980 
totaled slightly over $3 million. 
Battelle continued to make the file available to 
the public, but usage did not increase sufficiently 
to make the project self-sustaining. In early 1982, 
just 2 years after becoming available on-line, LADB 
was taken off-line. The file was turned over to the 
National Technical Information Service for pub- 
lic distribution via licensing. One copy of LADB 
has been licensed by NTIS to date, to Pergamon 
International Information Corporation. In 1985, 
Pergamon, in a joint venture with FASEB, published 
hard-copy data books created from LADB records 
(1). There are no plans to add data to the existing 
file, or to make it publicly available on-line. 
Reasons for the Failure of LADB 
Financial Considerations 
As mentioned, only 96 on-line hours were logged 
by about 100 LADB users over the first 6 months 
of public availability. This total was far too small 
to provide any useful base for self-sufficiency— 
one of the initial goals for the system. When the 
Federal Government was vigorously seeking wavs 
to reduce its long-term financial commitments in 
late 1980, NCI dropped its major financial support 
in December, and other agencies of the Depart- 
ment of Health and Human Services declined to 
pick up the slack, under pressure from the Office 
of Management and Budget to reduce expenses. 
The LADB contract with Battelle was terminated 
in early 1981 for lack of funding. 
