The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7429 p673-674
2 December 2006

Society summary

Pharmacy information on the internet

A huge amount of information relevant to the practice of pharmacy is available online at the click of a button. This article highlights some evaluated, quality internet resources as suggested by Karen Poole and Sarah Butler of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Information Centre

With many pharmacists able to access the internet at work, home, at the Society libraries in London and Edinburgh or free at their local public library, a huge amount of information is available online at the click of a button. However, time pressures and the need for an immediate answer can lead to reliance on sources that may not always be trustworthy. This article highlights some evaluated, quality internet resources.

Search for quality Have you ever searched using a search engine only to retrieve hundreds of pages of results, become overwhelmed with the number of possibilities returned and then taken the first answer you are given regardless of its quality? One solution is to use subject specific gateways and databases, both of which are searchable by keyword, to ensure that you are accessing credible and accurate information online.

The start for any search should be the Society’s library catalogue. We list not only books, CD-ROMs and videos held in the library but also websites and PDF files of complete publications that can be accessed immediately. The library now also provides a list of key authoritative sites relevant to the subject of pharmacy (including those discussed in this article) on its web pages.

Another key database is PubMed. This contains over 16 million citations from Medline and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s, and includes links to full text articles and other related resources. If you require evidence-based practice resources, including articles, patient information leaflets and medical images then consider the TRIP database. A significant gateway to evaluated, authoritative internet resources in health and medicine is the health and life sciences section of Intute. Pharmacists may also be able to access electronic resources through the NHS’s own gateway, Core Content. Details of which journals and databases can be accessed and how to register is available. Community pharmacists should contact their local primary care trust to register.

Good information is not always free Many publishers who produce accurate and objective material may only make it available online after a certain period. For the full text version of current information you may face a charge. In some cases an abstract of a relevant article will be available online and may be enough for your needs. If not, contact the library and we will help you obtain it.

Choice of search engine Google is an excellent search engine, which is why so many people use it. However, other search engines are available. Consider using Scirus, which focuses on scientific information, or Google Scholar, which focuses on scholarly literature. A metasearch engine will cross-search many popular search engines at the same time producing a wider range of results. See ixquick for an example of a metasearch engine. And finally, consider trying Exalead, a powerful search engine that gives you the option of refining your search with related terms.

Open access journals Many peer reviewed journals publish back issues on their websites. In some cases, as with The Pharmaceutical Journal (www.pjonline.com), they are open access and you can see current content. PubMed Central is the US National Institutes of Health free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. Also available is the Directory of Open Access Journals , listing free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals. In other cases access is restricted to older material, with delays for accessing current material of up to a year being common. Examples of these include the BMJ, The Lancet and Bandolier. If you have identified an article that you wish to obtain it is always worth searching for the journal’s website to see if it has granted free access to it.

Drug information/technical information Also available online are resources that will help to answer specific scientific and technical queries. The Electronic Medicines Compendium provides free electronic data sheets, summaries of product characteristics and patient information leaflets. The British National Formulary can be accessed at www.bnf.org (free registration required). Practical, reliable, evidence-based guidance is available from Prodigy and from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. A useful tool is the National Library for Health Guideline Finder. The Department of Health and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency also have information online.

Among other useful free resources are the Cochrane Library, including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, a source of reliable and up-to-date information on the effects of interventions in health care and the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy and others in the Merck Manual series

For help identifying foreign medicines see the list of internet sites maintained by the Society’s Technical Information Service.

Pharmacy practice resources Information and practical guidance on the new pharmacy contract can be found on the pharmacy contract section of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee website, with a section on medicines use review as well as other essential, advanced and enhanced services. Medicines Partnership focuses on compliance and concordance and has a section on medication review. For audit templates see the Society’s collection

Other recent Society practice guidance, law and ethics factsheets and other publications are also available from the Society’s website

A possible future The library offers many services to members who are unable to visit the Society’s headquarters, such as postal loans, article delivery and literature searching. As yet it does not provide access to electronic resources that require a paid subscription more widely than within the walls of the Society.

We are now seeking feedback from members as to the desirability of us providing such resources, along the lines of those described in an article on resources available to accountants (PJ, 17 December 2005, p742). The library has the technological capability to make available subscription journals and bibliographic databases online. You would be able to read your favourite pharmacy-related journals at your desktop, and search for articles relevant to your continuing professional development aims without needing to visit the library in person.

Now is your opportunity to tell us whether or not this is the way forward. Please take just five minutes to complete the survey below.