A former medical librarian, she was a predoctoral fellow at the Center for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, and received her PhD in library and information studies/medical informatics in 2002. Prof. Arnott Smith also holds master's degrees in information science/medical informatics (Pitt, 2000), American History/Administration of Archives, and Library and Information Studies (both University of Michigan, 1992). Her research interests include consumer health vocabulary, the personal health record, and the history and development of both of the above.