Giovanna F. Miranda, Co-Editor & Publications

Someone has tried to estimate where the Net is headed; someone predicts that the spurt has peaked, and growth may level off by 2003. Can we predict that people will not spend their time in searching new sites to get information but will be able to concentrate their attention on the quality of information? More and more papers are published on quality of information. Quality of the medical information on the Internet is extremely variable. Key criteria, standards and/or quality indicators are suggested to evaluate health related web sites. The article "The writing is on the web for science journals in print" refer that the US Association of Research Libraries calculates that its 114 member libraries spent 142 per cent more on journals in 1997 than ten years before, but ordered six per cent fewer titles. The exsistence of research libraries as we know them is in doubt. Shifting resources from handling paper, cataloguing and shelving journals to the electronic journals seems to be the future.

JOURNAL ISSUES

Since the Newsletter of February 1999, the following journal issue of Health Libraries Review has been received : vol. 15, 1998, no. 4 - Special Issue NHS 50 Fifteen years of growth and development, 1984-98.

Tributes to Shane Godbolt as the hands over the Editorship. p. 217-220.

Sir Alan Langlands. NHS 50: past achievements and future goals. p.221-222.

V. Fraser : Editorial - p. 223-224

Regional library and information services in the NHS. p. 225-245

These articles describe the setting up, work and development of four different regions : South West England, Midland, Wales and Scotland. A list with contacts is given for all the regional networks, the NHS Regional Librarians Group (RLG) and the LINC Health Panel.

Regional library and information services in the NHS - why, where, what and whiter. M. Carmel.

SWEHSLinC + WRLIN = SWRLIN : the past, present and future of health care library co-operation in the South West of England. C. Plaice and J. Gill.

West Midlands Health Libraries Network. E.M. Edward and P. Prior.

NHS Library and Information Services in Wales. J. Grey-Lloyd, J. Lancaster and S. Pritchard.

Association of Scottish Health Librarians (now SHINE-Scottish Health Information Network). M. Thom.

J. Hewlett. Performance indicators in NHS libraries. p. 245-254.

This paper looks at some aspects of performance measurements. Performance indicators are one way to assess the quality and efficiency of a library information service (LIS). Performance indicators point out how something has been done. Performances indicators, performance ratio or performance standards are derived from performance measures, which show how much of it has been done.

B.J. Cumbers and A. Donald. Using biomedical databases in everyday clinical practice: the Front-Line Evidence Based Medicine project in North Thames. p. 255-265.

The aims of the Front-Line Evidence Based Medicine project were to assess the feasibility of using biomedical databases in everyday clinical settings, and to assess the infrastructure needed to support such practice.

M.E.S. Forrest. Fifty years of patient's libraries. p.267-278.

The purpose of this article is to help librarians who are working primarily for health professionals to become more aware of another aspect of health care librarianship, namely, library services for patient.

NHS records: past, present and future. p. 279-288. Good records management is vital to support efficiency and quality health care. These articles give a general introduction to record keeping and show the developments of patient records from the early stone tablet to the paper record to the electronic future.

NHS records: past, present and future. L. Wishart.

A look back over 50 years of NHS record keeping. M. Marsh.

Confidentiality of patient records. L. Coelho.

Supporting clinical care with Electronic Patient Records. S. Brennan.

Innovation on Internet. B. Anagnostelis Series Editors. p 289

D. Smith. NHSweb Directory: pointing NHSweb users to relevant knowledge bases. p.289-293.

B. Gann. Centre for Health Information Quality. p. 295-296.

C. Flowler. Accreditation for health care libraries in the United Kingdom. p.297-299.

BOOKS REVIEW

Benefit-Risk balance for marketed drugs: evaluating safety signals. The final report of the CIOMS Working Group IV on Drug Safety. This report presents and explains a standardised methodology for reassessing the established benefit-risk relationship of a marketed drug when a new safety problem arises. WHO, 1998. 160 p, SW Fr 15. ISBN 92 9036 068 2. WHO, Distribution and Sales, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, fax:+44-22-7914857; publication@who.ch

Encyclopedia of Biostatistics. Biostatistics is defined as "statistical methods in medicine and health sciences". The Encyclopedia of Biostatistic provides extensive coverage of statistical issues pertinent to life scientists, health care professionals and practising statisticians. It has several types of entry : basic statistical concepts, practical issues arising in medical research methods, advanced methods and theoretical development. John Wiley and Sons, 1998. 4898 p (6 volumes), stlg1495. ISBN 0 471 97576 1.

Aslib Directory of Information Sources in the United Kingdom 10th edition. Provides access to over 10,000 listing of associations, societies, educational establishments, government bodies, etc. which provide information freely or on a fee basis. Over 3,500 email addresses, and 3,200 web sites addresses. Member price stlg236 (non member stlg 295). ISBN 0 85142 409 0. A CD-Rom is only available with the hard copy directory. Member price stlg 288 (non member stlg 360).

PAPERS REVIEW

An end in sight for Internet growth ? J. Kaiser. Science, 1999, 283, 295.

Towards quality management of medical information on the Internet: evaluation, labelling, and filtering of information. G.Eysenbach and T. L. Diepgen. BMJ, 1998, 317, 1496.

Published criteria for evaluating health related web sites: review. P. Kim et al. BMJ, 1999, 318, 647.

Les outils de recherche du Web. Limites et aleas du referencement. A. Le Guelvouit. Documentaliste - Sciences de l'infomation, 1998, 35, n. 6, 315.

The writing is on the web for science journals in print. D. Butler. Nature, 1999, 397, 195.

Free medical news and current event Internet sites for medical librarians. V. Haas. Medical Reference Services Quarterly , 1998, 17, no. 4, 29.

Breaking down information barriers: a guide to international research of medical resources on the World Wide Web. J.A. Risin. Medical Reference Services Quarterly , 1998, 17, no. 4, 39.

INFORMATION SOURCES

....... Web-based

Diet Supplement Data on the Internet. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has started a database of bibliographic information on dietary supplements (vitamins, minerals, herbal, botanical agents, etc.). Currently the database contains 300 000 citations from the published scientific literature dating from 1986. It include abstracts (where available) but not full reports http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/

The BIOtech Web. Elsevier Science has launched a free Web site giving access to its scientific publications and databases on biotechnology and related disciplines. The site give access to approximately 22.000 articles from 89 key biotechnology journals , with new records added every two weeks. http://www.elsevier.com/homepage/sah/biotech/

....... CD-ROM

The OECD Health Data 98. The CD-ROM provides the users with a tool for the comparative analysis of key aspects of the health care systems in 29 countries. The 1000 different data series cover the period from 1960 to 1996. The Windows 95/98/NT database is available in English, French, German and Spanish. Cost $ 295 for stand alone ($ 195 for a non-profit organisation). http://www.oecd.org/

The PDR Electronic Library. Over 9000 pages of drug references including chemical structure, illustration and pill images. The Cd-Rom contains the full text of the 1999 Physicians Desk Reference, PDR for Non-prescription Drugs and Dietary Supplements, PDR for Ophthalmology and PDR Drug Interaction and Sides Effects. Update : three times a year. The disc cost stlg 155. http://www.microinfo.co.uk

1999 PDR Nurse's Handbook. Provide drug data from the nurse's perspective. The disc cost stlg 32. http://www.microinfo.co.uk

NEWS FROM EDITORS/PUBLISHERS

EBSCO Online was released in January 1999. It is a World Wide Web-based service that provides access to 1200 electronic journals. Full text is located on Ebsco's or on the publisher's servers. Ebsco Online provide librarians, information professionals and end users with one source engine, one authentication process and one company from which to meet their electronic subscription needs.

The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) has announced the development of a Web format for the Journal Citation Reports (JCR Web) that will be available for site-wide purchase in the First Quarter of 1999.The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and Online Computer Library Center Inc. (OCLC) have reached an agreement to collaborate on building links between the bibliographic and abstract information available in the ISI Web Science and the full text publication hosted on the OCLC FirstSearch Collection Online (ECO) service. Currently almost 2,000 individual journal titles are available from ECOco service.

The British Library and Elsevier Science bv have signed a three years agreement for the supply and use of material in electronic form. The agreement will allow the electronic full-text of all the titles published by Elsevier in its ScienceDirect Onsite system to be stored by British Library for use in the reading rooms and to satisfy both library privilege and copyright-fee paid document delivery.

NEWS FROM EUROPE

Surfing a content-monitored Internet - European action plan for the period 1999 to 2002. In order to ensure a safer environment, the EU will set up a network of "hot lines" which allow Internet users to reports content which they believe to be illegal. National bodies will keep in touch with each other and with their counterparts outside the EU. The action plan will also encourage Internet service providers, and the industry in general, to adopt codes of conduct designed to keep black sheep away from the information highway. A quality label will allow surfers to recognise sites which adhere to these codes of conduct.