Dear Keith
The MIDIRS (Midwives Information and Resource Service) database includes a fair
amount of information from developing countries - though only English language
material. Access to the database online (www.midirs.org) is available by
subscription only - a supplement of
£3.00 a quarter on top of a subscription to
our quarterly journal, MIDIRS Midwifery Digest. Full details of charges are in
the "Services" section of the MIDIRS website.
The database now holds over 87,000 bibliographic records from a variety of
sources including journal articles, books, chapters, videos, pamphlets, and grey
literature. We regularly scan over 500 journal titles for its content. Most
records (all recent ones) include an abstract or short summary.
We also have around 450 "standard" pre-prepared subject searches which can be
downloaded for no extra cost by online subscribers.
The MIDIRS services continue to be available in print format - the standard
searches and tailormade searches can be sent out by post or e-mail to
non-ubscribers to the new internet-based service. Full details of all charges
are on our website, or e-mail me and I can post you a guide to services.
I have just had a very quick search for systematic reviews on midwifery in
developing countries and have only found one hit. This becomes more that 40 hits
if reviews (not necessarily systematic) are searched for. We could also probably
improve the search results if we knew of specific aspects of midwifery care that
were of interest. Also, the ability to limit searches by type of article, such
as reviews, is only available for records added since mid 1995.
The best thing would be to get your user to contact us direct (unless they have
access to our database) and we can produce a tailor-made search. A one-off use
of our services is allowed at the considerably reduced subscribers rate, so the
costs shouldn't be too prohibitive. Copyright law permitting, we can also supply
photocopies of the full text of articles.
Also, for anyone who is still reading this e-mail, a selection of about 6,000 of
our database records is now (since last week) available to everyone over the
NeLH (midwifery protal) www.nelh.nhs.uk. This covers all records of articles
which have ever been published or reprinted in our journal MIDIRS Midwifery
Digest (the bright pink journal) and all the references used in our series of
informed choice leaflets, as well as the full text of the first 10 of these
"informed choice" leaflets, both those for health professionals and for pregnant
women. These are curretly being updated, and 5 new titles are being added,
available later this year. The NeLH service does not allow access to our
standard searches or the photocopy service.
At present we do not have an institutional access facility to the enquiry
service part of our website (we are a self-funding charity and rely on
individual subscriptions for our survival). However, if anyone would like a
trial username and password for access to our full database, please contact Andy
Fisher at [log in to unmask]
If anyone has any queries or wants to know more, please contact me - details
below. Oreders should be addressed to customer services at [log in to unmask]
Best wishes
Kathy Levine
Information Officer
MIDIRS
9 Elmdale Road
Bristol BS4 2DA
Tel: 0117 925 1791 / 907 7588 (direct line); customer services freephone no (for
orders): 0800 581009
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Website: www.midirs.org
Do contact me if you want any more information
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