Transcript Bibliographic Instruction Presentation (LIS 5916)

Bibliographic Instruction Presentation (LIS 5916)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
By George Nichols (June 2005)
FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
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Website: http://www.fda.gov
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A large governmental organization, the FDA is an agency of the Department
of Health and Human Services and is further subdivided into eight centers
(CBER, CDRH, etc).
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Features resources on many topics, including food safety, medical product
safety, regulation of radiological products (microwave ovens, lasers, etc),
and veterinary health. This site is accessible to a broad audience that
includes consumers and health professionals.
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Mission Statement (excerpt): “...protecting the public health by assuring
the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological
products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and
products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the
public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and
foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get
the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and
foods to improve their health.”
Information is mainly organized by:
• Product
• News
• Technical Docs
• Hot Topics
• Activities
• Audience
Users may also browse using site map, or A-Z index
Basic Search
• Let’s go to the
homepage to do a
basic keyword
search.
Basic Search Results
• Does this interface
look familiar? FDA
uses Google
search technology.
• Scroll down and
hyperlink on “More
Search Options.”....
Advanced Search
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Advanced options are
similar to that of
Google’s advanced
search.
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May limit results to any
of the site’s 14 data
categories (Medwatch,
dockets, etc.).
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Next, scroll down the
advanced search page
to hyperlink on
“Database Search”...
FDA Databases
• You may select from
any of 36
databases, such as
Adverse Event
Reporting System,
Medical Device
Approvals, and
Warning Letters.
Search Tips
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The search tool has an easy learning curve. It uses Google search technology, so it
shares the same approach regarding Boolean operators, lack of support for
stemming or wildcards, intuitive text-entry fields, as well as drop down boxes and
checkboxes for limiting fields.
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However, access to the advanced search page is clumsy. To access, you may either:
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–
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1) Scroll to bottom of homepage and click on the tiny footer link entitled "Search FDA site.“
OR
2) do any search in the basic search box, which takes you to a "more options" link that, in
turn, takes you to the advanced search page.
Results are generally of high quality, though you may need to use advanced options
to avoid a flood of results for common topics. Also, some medical info is outdated. For
example, a search for hypertension yielded a consumer-education document from
1990 (fortunately, the FDA provided a disclaimer warning the document may be
outdated).
Conclusion
• I found FDA.gov to be an invaluable resource, particularly for topics
such as food safety, medical product warnings or approvals,
radiological health, and veterinary medicine.
Among its advantages:
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Fairly easy search interface.
High quality—and often exclusive or original—information.
Credibility (a well-known federal institution).
Lack of advertising or product selling.
Comprehensive privacy policy.
Designed to be accessible to people with disabilities.