| The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's new-look website, launched at this year's British Pharmaceutical Conference in Birmingham, has been designed to be an information resource, says website editor Mary Snell. With members' needs in mind, the website focuses on providing easy access to a wide range of information about and from the Society. It now includes several documents that have not been made available in such a way before. For example, in the section named "About the Society", the Society's Royal Charter and Byelaws are available in full; this means that any changes to the Byelaws can be incorporated rapidly, so that a definitive version of the Byelaws will always be available. Several other types of document, such as law and ethics fact sheets and practice guidelines, are also accessible through the site. Other new features include a policy document section where new policy papers will be available, and separate sections on Education (comprising information on careers, undergraduate training, postgraduate training, preregistration training and continuing professional development) and science (including items on, for example, the medicinal use of cannabinoids). Some of the information will be in areas of the website that are accessible only to members of the Society; access is through a straightforward members' log-in facility. However, the site is not aimed solely at pharmacists, and there will also be sections for the public to help them find out more information about medicines and the services that pharmacists provide. Commenting on the structure of the website, Mrs Snell said: "We now have a framework which supports the Society's current needs for disseminating information to pharmacists and the public, and is also flexible enough for future expansion". |