Annual Scientific Meeting - 2001

Educational Resources on the Internet

Dr Douglas Russell, Consultant Anaesthetist, South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust

The internet contains a huge amount of information, to which an estimated 500 million individuals have access[1-3]. It allows rapid and relatively inexpensive publication, and with a few restrictions anyone with basic I.T. skills can publish a website[4]. However, there is no guarantee of the accuracy and validity of the information present, although a number of sites do have a formal peer review process.

As one would when reading a book, there a number of questions one should ask oneself before deciding how much weight to attach to information on the internet[5]. These include:

§         Where did the information originate; who posted it?

§         Is an individual or organisation responsible for the resource, are they qualified, and are any contact details available?

§         Is the information accurate, unbiased and peer reviewed?

§         When was the information posted, and/or when was it last updated?

One method of identifying interesting sites is to use an internet search engine, and it is essential to use appropriate keywords or phrases; this will have a huge influence on the nature of the sites which are identified. When seeking Intravenous Anaesthesia sites using MSN Search[6] the keywords “propofol”, “TIVA”, “anaesthesia” and “intravenous anaesthesia” will have varying results. Having identified sites which are of interest, one can often then identify additional sites from links on that site. A good web designer will ensure that the new site opens up in a new window, to leave the original open on the individual’s computer!

The following are some of the sites that might be of interest to “intravenous anaesthetists”:

§         UK Society for Intravenous Anaesthesia – http://www.sivauk.org

§         European Society for Intravenous Anaesthesia – http://www.eurosiva.org

§         The Virtual Anaesthetic Textbook, particularly the chapter on TIVA & TCI – http://www.virtual-anaesthesia-textbook.com/vat/iva.htm

§         World Anaesthesia Online, particularly an article on ketamine - http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ndainfo/wfsa/html/u04/u04_010.htm

§         GasNet, which has an online peer review process and a number of papers on TIVA - http://gasnet.med.yale.edu/societies/wfsta/journal/sep97.gnk.html

§         AstraZeneca’s Anaesthesia site - http://www.anaesthesia-az.com

§         The International Society for Anaesthetic Pharmacology - http://www.isaponline.org

§         Dr Barry L Friedberg - http://www.doctorfriedberg.com

References:

1.       Accessibility and Distribution of Information on the Web – http://wwwmetrics.com

2.       NetNames Global Domain Name Database – http://www.domainstats.com

3.       NUA Internet Surveys – http://www.nua.com

4.       http://www.davidarussell.co.uk

5.       BIOME – http:biome.ac.uk

6.   MSN Search - http://www.msn.co.uk