Question: What are some of the products offered by the National Library of Medicine, in addition to Medline?

Answer: Many health care providers are aware of Medline, the huge database of professional biomedical literature produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). It's freely available on the Web via PubMed, and from many other vendors as well, usually for a fee. 

But far fewer are aware of the many other databases produced by the NLM and its partners through its division of Specialized Information Services. Just a quick mouse-click away, these databases cover fields such as toxicology, environmental health, HIV/AIDS, drug and consumer product information, and disaster/emergency preparedness and response. For example:

HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank) provides extensive information on about 5,000 chemicals, both in terms of their chemical properties as well as the impact they have on human and animal health. If your patient has come in contact with a hazardous chemical, HSDB will tell you about its toxicity, pharmacology, regulatory status, how it's metabolized, and much more.

LactMed (Drugs and Lactation Database) offers records on drugs which might be used by breastfeeding mothers and the effects of those drugs on their babies. These records include information on likely levels of the drug in both mothers and infants, alternate drugs to consider and more. LactMed has recently announced the gradual addition to the database of records for complementary and alternative medicine substances. 

DART contains citations to literature on developmental and reproductive toxicology. While some of the citations found in DART are duplicates of those in PubMed, many others are unique to DART, which makes this a very useful database for thorough coverage in this field. To eliminate PubMed citations from your results, use the limit provided. 

These databases, along with a handful of others, form TOXNET (Toxicology Data Network). There's a wealth of free, authoritative information here on these very specialized topics. Check them out!

Question: I'm interested in learning more about the structure of AAPA organizations, particularly organizations focused on certain medical specialties. How can I learn more about these groups?

Answer: The AAPA recently redesigned their Web site, and it offers a universe of information, including specific information about what AAPA calls constituent organizations. Navigating to the information is a snap, using the screen-shots below as a guide. First go to the Constituents and Groups page, which lists the types of constituent organizations: chapters, specialty organizations, caucuses, and special interest groups (Figure 1).

From each of the highlighted pages, you can access lists and links of organizations, Web sites, and contacts, allowing you to learn more about all of the constituent organizations. As an example, see Figure 2 (specialty organizations). 

 

Jim Anderson is a clinical informatics educator for University of Washington Medicine—IT Services and a member of the clinical faculty of the MEDEX Northwest PA program at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Susan Klawansky is a medical librarian at Seattle Children's Hospital.