Information resource

Alcohols Economics andFuture U.S. Gasoline Markets, Information Resources, Inc., Washington, D.C., 1984. 

The three basic Internet appHcations of remote login, electronic mad, and file transfer are also budding blocks of more sophisticated appHcations that offer increased functionaUty and ease of network use. Tools such as Gopher, Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS), and World Wide Web (WWW) go beyond the three basic Internet functions to make information on the network easier to locate and use. Detaded descriptions of these tools are avadable (10). This trend toward more powerful, user-friendly networked information resource access systems should continue as Internet grows and matures. 

Private (EPA) Databases. The U.S. EPA maintains a Hst of approximately 600 current information systems, as weU as some of the models and databases used within the organi2ation. The Hst is pubHshed in Information Systems Inventoy (ISI) which is updated yearly and maintained by the Information Management and Services Division of the Office of Information Resources Management (109). ISI Hsts the system name and acronym, system level, responsible organi2ation, contact person, legislative authorities, database descriptors, access information, hardware and software, system abstract, and keywords. 

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has a 30-year history of involvement with process safety for chemical processing plants. Through its strong ties with process designers, builders, operators, safety professionals and academia, the AIChE has enhanced communication and fostered improvement in the high safety standards of the industry. AIChE publications and symposia have become an information resource for the chemical engineering profession on the causes of accidents and means of prevention. 

The reader can find an almost endless supply of chemical and physical properties for hundreds of thousands of chemicals and tradename products on the Web. The easiest access to general information resources that contain health risk and some air transport properties are those sites which contain Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs). The following are a list of but a few sites worth exploring for chemical-specific information ... 

For over 30 years the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has been involved with process safety and loss control issues in the chemical, petrochemical, hydrocarbon process and related industries and facilities. AIChE publications and symposia are information resources for the chemical engineering and other professions on the causes of process incidents and the means of preventing their occurrences and mitigating their consequences. 

One of the world s largest environmental information clearinghouses. In addition to being an information resource, EnviroLink provides environmental and animal rights non-profit organizations with free Internet sendees. 

Verv alin, C. H., Environmental Control Information Resources, Hydrocarbon Processing V. 67, No. 10, 1988, p. 70. 

It is worth noting that the past few years have witnessed tremendous development of web-based information resources. Notably, the PubMed search tool [4] has made the investigation of any life sciences topic much easier. It offers keyword and author (as well as structure and sequence) searches and covers a wide range of medicinal chemistry-related journals. This resource, coupled with e-journals, affords the medicinal chemist the tools to keep up with any research topics of interest. Because of the public nature of the Web, now a chemist can sometimes find critical journal articles on the Web that do not show up until much later in traditional literature sources. It is not uncommon that scientific meeting presentations can be found on the Web. Indeed, the Internet tools we have all become familiar with also have made the professional life of the medicinal chemist much easier. 

A medical genetics information resource with comprehensive articles on many genetic diseases.)... 

A drug information resource for Australian school communities, containing a comprehensive database of information about resources, policies and materials for drug education and incident management. Website www.redi.gov.au/default.asp... 

M. Ash and I. Ash, Handbook of Industrial Chemical Additives, Synapse Information Resources, Endicott, NY (2000). G. Pritchard, Plastics Additives. An A-Z Reference, Chapman Hall, London (1998). 

Information resources on dietary supplements are available on the Internet, via textbooks, and through Medline searches. The reliability and credibility of some resources is lacking. Pharmacists need to evaluate the information and to choose reputable sources. The following should be evaluated to determine whether the resource is reliable and credible [54]. 

Tertiary publications, as described by Sewell [52] in Guide to Drug Information, are those publications that are the furthest removed from the literature of original research. The tertiary literature is a distillation and evaluation of data and information first presented in such primary literature sources as research reports, meeting presentations, and journal articles. Being furthest removed from the primary report, the tertiary literature characteristically is the least current and the most vulnerable to misinterpretations, biases, and inaccuracies. But just as characteristic, the tertiary literature is the most accessible, easiest to use, and perhaps the most used of all information resources. Information searches generally start with a perusal of... 

Narrative descriptions of the information resources presented in the following sections were drawn from public descriptions of the resource provided by their publisher. 

Validity describes accuracy and reflects the soundness of the information. The information retrieved is valid if it is accurate, precise, unbiased, and provides a true picture of what is in the literature. The usefulness of the information is directly related to relevance and validity and inversely related to the work needed to access the information. While the work expended is under the direct control of the searcher, it is not unlimited. Therefore, given the limited amount of work time that is available to the information searcher, the most useful information resources will be those that are easy and quick to use and provide relevant, valid information. Skillful searchers can control work time, but relevance and validity are intrinsic characteristics of the resources themselves. A knowledgeable searcher will not only choose resources that are known to be relevant and valid, but will also use search techniques and filters that winnow out the irrelevant and invalid. 

Even brief searches, without a significant increase in the time to complete the search, can benefit from a watchful eye for new gold mines of information. Resources available on the Internet are particularly dynamic and continue to challenge our effort to... 

Invest in learning the features of computerized textbooks, bibliographical databases, and specialized information resources to increase your efficiency. 

The Department of Energy Fundamentals Handbook entitled Instrumentation and Control was prepared as an information resource for personnel who are responsible for the operation of the Department s nuclear facilities. A basic understanding of instrumentation and control is necessary for DOE nuclear facility operators, maintenance personnel, and the technical staff to safely operate and maintain the facility and facility support systems. The information in the handbook is presented to provide a foundation for applying engineering concepts to the job. This knowledge will help personnel more fully understand the impact that their actions may have on the safe and reliable operation of facility components and systems. 

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