Dear Colleagues,

Great news, the TRIP Database (www.tripdatabase.com) is now freely
available to low-income countries (as defined by the World Bank, see the
full list below). If anyone can help disseminate this information to those
who would benefit it would be much appreciated.

For non-subscribers in the rest of the world you can still take advantage
of our five free searches per week.

Very best wishes

jon

Jon Brassey
TRIP Database[*]
www.tripdatabase.com

Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad,
Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep, Congo, Rep., Cote d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, India, Indonesia,
Kenya, Korea, Dem Rep., Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique,
Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sao Tome and
Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan,
Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen,
Rep., Zambia, Zimbabwe
__________________________

About TRIP

INTRODUCTION
The TRIP Database started in 1997 as a small search engine with a focus on
medical articles considered evidence-based. Since then it has grown
significantly in terms of ease of use, coverage and popularity. The aims of
the TRIP Database have remained the same since 1997 - allow health
professionals to easily find the highest-quality material available on the
web. The TRIP Database is produced by TRIP Database Ltd. For more
information on TRIP Database Ltd click here.

The TRIP Database is increasingly looking and feeling like a mainstream
search engine (such as Google or Yahoo) as this is what users are
comfortable and familiar with. With our high-quality content and ease of
use the TRIP Database is probably the leading clinical search tool.

The content of the site is reviewed monthly and new material from the
publications covered is added to the site. Typically 300-400 new articles
are added monthly. See 'Publication Selection' (at the foot of this page)
for more details of how we select publications to be included.

To subscribe to the TRIP Database click here. Non subscribers are currently
restricted to 5 free searches per week and this is likely to be reduced
shortly.

CONTENT
The content of the TRIP Database is separated into a number of categories
(see Publications for the full list of publications used within the site):

* Evidence-based. Sites included in this section invariably have an
explicit process of secondary review of primary papers. Content includes
systematic reviews, CATs, and journal clubs. The TRIP Database has the
world's largest explicit collection of evidence-based articles.
* Guidelines. Clinical guidelines are central to modern healthcare and we
have gathered collections from around the globe. As with the evidence-based
category the TRIP Database has the world's largest collection of clinical
guidelines.
* Query-answering. A rapidly expanding area within the health sphere.
Query-answering services essentially allow users to ask a clinical question
and then specialists answer the question. This is a very specialised area
and generates clinical answers to real clinical questions making the
answers highly relevant to clinical care. Again the TRIP Database has the
world's largest collection of clinical questions and answers.
* Medical Images. With over 80,000 medical images we believe this is the
world's largest searchable collection of medical images on the web.
* eTextbooks. eTextbooks tend not to be as up to date as other sources
(although sources such as eMedicine.com are frequently updated) but they
can be very good for giving a broad understanding of an area. Our
collection of eTextbooks is again the world's largest collection.
* Patient Information Leaflets. A useful recent addition to the TRIP
Database this brings together a number of patient information sources from
around the world.
* Peer-reviewed journals. Using a special interface the TRIP Database
automatically searches PubMed using validated search filters to return
highly-focussed results. PubMed is the world's largest searchable source of
primary research articles.

___________
Open Email: The Health Science Library Partnerships Committee






Dear colleagues,

The Health Science Library Partnerships Committee of the (U.S.) Medical

Library Association's International Cooperation Section would like to

announce the launching of the group's Website -

http://www.ics.mlanet.org/hslp.htm. This Website is envisioned as a

resource to encourage and facilitate library partnerships between

institutions in developing and industrialized countries.

The Health Science Library Partnerships Committee (HSLP) has compiled a

collection of resources including current health library partnerships

databases, educational tools for librarians in partnerships, grant

information for international cooperation, sample templates for health

sciences library partnership training, tips on becoming a sister library,

and Web-based health information for developing and transitional

countries. We are optimistic that these resources will facilitate the

initiation of more partnerships.

The HSLP seeks to encourage and facilitate the formation of health science

library partnerships throughout the world. The Committee is comprised of

individuals interested in assisting libraries in developing countries to

bridge the health information gap between the North and the South. We work

in collaboration with the UK based Partnerships in Health Information -

http://omni.ac.uk/hosted/phi/.

If you are interested in participating in a health library partnership or

have additional questions or information, please contact Jie Li at

jli@jaguar1.usouthal.edu or any of the area coordinators listed on the

Committee's Website at www.ics.mlanet.org/hslp.htm.

Lenny Rhine

Health Science Center Libraries

University of Florida

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international not-for-profit organisation, providing up-to-date information on the effects of health care.