Unless I've missed some postings, there seem to be 3 requests for info to
lis-medical about UpToDate and no replies (to the list anyway). We too
have been asked (by a consultant haematologist) about subscribing, and
taking advantage of the free trial it looks pretty impressive, if one can
trust it to really be kept 'up-to-date'. The links to Medline and drug
info work nicely.
There seems to be a crying need for a *one-stop* information shop for
clinicians, and this type of product seems absolutely the thing, rather
than the (comparatively) cumbersome indirectness of Medline, or the
Cochrane archipelago.
Is there yet a functioning, reasonably comprehensive UK equivalent? or
should we bite the bullet and subscribe? 8,000 dollars minimum is not
unreasonable for a product which will save us 3-4,000 pounds a year in
textbooks and at a stroke make this knowledge available throughout the
hospital.
My other main fear is that, although we have espoused e-solutions in so
many directions, there has always been a fallback, but I feel that now (as
with the recent postings about eBMJ) we are getting to the bridge-burning
stage, where we may "save money" by having no print back-up. It's worked
OK with Medline, so far, but am I alone in fearing that these
e-developments are, if not unsustainable, at least potentially very
vulnerable? (Cf. warnings in BMJ (was it?) recently about the instability
and rapid decay of electronic storage media)
Jonathan Hutchins,
Library Services Manager,
Royal Surrey County Hospital,
Guildford,
Surrey.
GU2 7XX
Tel: 01483 464138
Fax: 01483 576240
Mob: 07989 553724
E-Mail : [log in to unmask]
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