Pharmacy Resources

a select list of resources available on the Internet and World Wide Web

JCU Library Resources
           Catalogue | Databases - General Information | Indexing/Abstracting Databases | Full Text Databases | Electronic Journals

Pharmacy Community
Professional Organisations, Associations and Societies | Conferences | Discussion lists and newsgroups | Jobs/Career Opportunities | Pharmaceutical Companies

General Pharmacy Resources on the WWW
           Directories of Internet pharmacy resources | General Pharmacy and Health | Consumer Information | Governments & Organisations | News

Specialised Pharmacy Resources on the WWW
           Drug Information | Evidence Based Pharmacy | History of Pharmacy | Law and Ethics | Molecules and Modelling | Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics | Pharmacology | Phytopharmacy & Pharmacognosy | Toxicology

Search Engines

Study, Assignment & Research Aids

JCU Library Resources

• InfoHelp home page - questions answered, assistance given online, or by phone or email

Catalogue

• Tropicat - JCU's library catalogue 

Databases - General Information

• Electronic Databases - a listing of all databases available through JCU
• How To Guides - read them online or print out for help on how to use internet resources better [JCU]

Indexing/Abstracting Databases

Off campus access is available for most databases and electronic journals. Simply click on this link, and follow the instructions. You will be returned to this page and can then simply click on the required resource to access it. If a password is required, this can be obtained from InfoHelp

• International Pharmaceutical Abstracts - indexes pharmaceutical science and health related literature from 1970. Via OvidSP
• MEDLINE via OvidSP - the premier database for every aspect of health
• Medline - the premier biomedical database (via PubMed)
• Web of Science / Current Contents - indexes 8,500 of the world’s most cited journals across all disciplines
• Australian Medicines Handbook - includes 'class' information about types of drugs, 'monographs' on individual drugs including lists of commercially available forms and 'treatment' documents for some common diseases where drugs are an important part of management.
• AusDI - is the first comprehensive, authoritative, unbiased source of drug and therapeutic information developed for Australian pharmacists, medical practitioners, nurses and other health care professionals
• Martindale - the complete drug reference
• DRUGDEX - Designed to deliver unbiased drug information for those who prescribe, order, dispense, or administer medications. FDA-approved and investigational drugs, along with nonprescription and non-U.S. preparations, are covered with regard to dosage, pharmacokinetics, cautions, interactions, clinical applications, and comparative drug efficacy.
• Biological Abstracts - the major source of references to the life sciences journal literature [via Ovid]
• CAB Direct - covers many aspects on the bio-sciences (password required from InfoHelp)
• CINAHL - Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature covering 1200+ journals. Via OvidSP
• Informit - indexes Australian articles including those in these health related databases [password required from InfoHelp]:

• Australasian Medical Index AMI Australian Public Affairs Information Service APAIS - Health
• DRUG - Drug Database
• Health & Society Database H&S
• HIVA - HIV/AIDS Database
• RURAL - Rural and Remote Health Database
• Ingenta.com - search for journal articles (was UnCover Plus): online articles searches c5,500 electronic journals; fax/Ariel articles searches the Tables of Contents of c.28,000 print titles

Full text databases

• Blackwell Scientific - full text of Blackwell Scientific journals via Synergy
• ScienceDirect - online access to 290 Elsevier, Harcourt and Academic Press journals (subsumes IDEAL)
• Wiley Interscience - full text of Wiley journals
• InfoTrac - indexes over 2,000 journals with full-text articles from over half available online
• ProQuest 5000 - another indexing and full-text database complementing InfoTrac

Electronic journals

Electronic journals - hot-linked, alphabetical listing of full-text journals available to members of James Cook University You can also link directly to journals via Tropicat: the JCU Library Catalogue using the web (but not the text) version

• Australian Prescriber - "an independent review of therapeutics"
• British Medical Journal - online, excellent and e-friendly - includes collections of BMJ articles on special topics
• Medical Journal of Australia - free full text issues and collections of articles on topical subjects
• Pharmaceutical Journal: PJ Online - official journal of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
• US Pharmacist - important US electronic journal for practising pharmacists
• Australian Journals On-line: Health and Medical - links to Australian medical journals [National Library of Australia]
• Biomedical Journal Title Search - links to sites that return the full journal title from an abbreviation or vice versa
• Directory of Electronic Health Science Journals - information on the electronic versions of English-language peer-reviewed journals
• Free Medical Journals - links to free online full-text journals, including pharmacy and pharmacology titles
• List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus - bibliographic and other information on all serials indexed by Medline [US National Library of Medicine]
• Medical Journals - links to the websites of thousands of medical and bioscience journals

Pharmacy Community

Professional Organisations, Associations and Societies

• American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) - appears online as AAPS Pharmaceutica with rich resource content
• American Pharmaceutical Association APhA - promotes the appropriate use of medications, devices and services to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes - another content-rich site with a massive list of pharmacy web links
• American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists - links, position papers, resource areas (including one for students), news, reports, current literature reviews, vacancies, commentaries and the American Journal of Health System PharmacyAustralian Association of Consultant Pharmacy - develops and implements accreditation for professional pharmacy services
• Australian College of Pharmacy Practice
• Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management
• International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists - non-profit organization representing pharmacists who compound custom medications
• National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association
• Pharmaceutical Society of Australia - professional organisation for Australian pharmacists - policies and guidelines, pharmacy practice, employment, links etc.
• Pharmacy Guild of Australia - national employers' organisation for Australian retail pharmacies -site includes current issues, Quality Care Pharmacy Program, pharmacy resources, employment
• Pharmacy-Related Academic Institutions on the Internet - World Wide Listing of Pharmacy Schools from PharmWeb
• There is another list at the WWW Virtual Library - Pharmacy
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain - Includes news, event and society information, links and details of publications
• Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia - information about the society and its publications, links to resources, some full text position papers etc.
• WWW Virtual Library: Pharmacy Page of Associations - most complete list available on the web

Conferences

• Pharmacy Related Conference Calendar - from PharmWeb
• HCN Conference Calendar - Australian site listing world-wide health conferences, including pharmacy [Health Communication Network]
• Pharmacy Related Conferences, Workshops, Meetings - from the WWW Virtual Library - Pharmacy

Discussion lists and newsgroups

• AusPharmList - the Internet discussion group for Australian pharmacy
• PharmWeb list of pharmacy-related newsgroups and discussion lists - pretty exhaustive
• Virtual Library's list of Pharmacy related listservs or other mailing lists - from WWW Virtual Library - Pharmacy

Jobs/Career Opportunities

• Jobs in Pharmacy - links to world-wide sites offering jobs in pharmacy

Pharmaceutical Companies

• Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) - trade association for UK companies producing prescription medicines
• Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association APMA - professional and trade association of Australia's prescription pharmaceutical industry; includes links, Code of Conduct etc.
• International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations IFPMA - represents the world-wide research-based pharmaceutical industry
• Pharmaceutical Company list A-Z - another good compilation of links to company websites [part of the WWW Virtual Library - Pharmacy]
• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America - information about drugs in development, industry facts and figures, etc.

General Pharmacy Resources on the WWW

Directories of Internet pharmacy resources>

• Hardin Meta Directory: Pharmacy and pharmacology - links to important Internet gateways which list pharmacy, pharmacology and pharmaceutical resources
• MedWeb: Pharmacy and Pharmacology - excellent large and up-to-date list of pharmacy sites including news; University and pharmaceutical company sites; databases; documents; and electronic journals
• Omni - major UK database of reviewed, annotated biomedical Internet resources including subsets for pharmacy and pharmacology
• Pharmacist relevant sites - Links Australian and world  sites of interest to pharmacists [Tasmanian Pharmacy Computer Users Group]
• Pharmacy web Australia - comprehensive Internet directory of Australian pharmacy resources and a forum for pharmacists to share information
• PharmWeb: Pharmacy Information on the Internet - for professionals [Manchester University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences]
• WWW Virtual Library: Pharmacy - one of the most comprehensive lists of pharmacy Internet resources [David Bourne, University of Oklahoma]

General Pharmacy and Health

• Compliance to Concordance - an approach to prescribing and taking medicines which takes into account the patients beliefs and wishes [Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain]
• HELIX (Healthcare Education Learning Information Exchange) - access to CE, drug databases, forum etc. Specialist Pharmacy section [Glaxo Wellcome]
• InPharm Internet Services - major UK pharmacy industry gateway providing news, jobs, company information, bulletins, links to Internet resources, etc.
• Martindale: the Virtual Pharmacy Center - drug, pharmacy & pharmacology courses, resources and databases: too huge to even start to describe, this is a site you must visit to get an inkling of the treasures it stores [Jim Martindale]
• Medscape for Pharmacists - peer-reviewed, practice-orientated information including a large library of drug information, resource links, education materials and full text journal articles and the journal Clinical Drug Investigation
• Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy - free with 300+ expert-contributed chapters on diseases, disorders, drug information and clinical pharmacology
• North Queensland Rural Health Training Unit - essential site with the NRHTU website library providing annotated resource links on health and pharmacy topics
• Online Pharmacy Professional Health Resource Centre - look under "For Pharmacists" for useful professional resources for Australian pharmacists
• Public Health Resources on the Internet - QUT School of Public Health's renowned selection of useful sites

Consumer Information

• InteliHealth - Consumer health information from sources such as the Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins; includes a useful Drug Resource Center
• Mayo Clinic - expert medical information, including an informative Medicine section with drug news, information and resources

Governments and Organisations

• Australian Department of Health and Aged Care - information about Department activities and downloadable publications
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - includes AIHW publications
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC (US) - a wealth of health information including Travelers' Health, Health Topics A-Z, Publications, Data & Statistics, Links to other sites etc.
• European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products - provides scientific advice about the efficacy of medicinal products and procedures for authorisation, surveillance and withdrawal of products in the European Union, and advises companies on the conduct of pharmaceutical research
• Food and Drug Administration FDA (US) - has patient as well as professional sections giving drug, medical products, foodborne pathogens and toxins and applied nutrition information; links to the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
• Health Insurance Commission - information to support health decision-making and ensure optimal health outcomes; includes information about pharmaceuticals and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
• Medicines Control Agency (UK) - government regulatory body to ensure medicines sold in the meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy
• National Institute for Health (US) - starting point for information about US government sponsored health research
• National Library of Medicine NLM (US) - primary site for all aspects of health information and research
• Pharmacy Board of Queensland - registration requirements, links to pharmacy legislation, publications, bulletins, forms etc.
• Quality Use of Medicines - improving the way medicines are prescribed and used to ensure better health outcomes using an evidence based approach
• Queensland Health Information Network
• Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits
• Therapeutic Goods Administration - Information about the regulation of therapeutic goods in Australia including OTC Medicines, Medical Devices, Complementary and prescription chemicals, Gene Technology, product recalls, Australian adverse drug reactions bulletin, Australian therapeutic device bulletin, and other publications
• World Health Organisation (WHO) Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy (EDM) - information related to essential drugs, National Drugs Policies, traditional medicine and other health related matters with selected articles from recent issues of Essential Drugs Monitor

News

• Reuters Health - latest world-wide health news - also try
• CNN Health News
• BBC health news
• ABC Health Matters

Specialised Pharmacy Resources on the WWW

Drug Information

• Medication Information - product information (abbreviated) and CMI leaflets from MIMS
• Antibiotic Guide: Antimicrobial use guidelines - Hypertext guide to hospital antimicrobials [Department of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin Hospital ]
• Australian Prescription Products Guide - full text of CMI leaflets incorporating additional reference materials and associated web links; free registration required [Australian Pharmaceutical Publishing Company]
• CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service - results of the latest clinical trials and information on new FDA approved drug therapies
• CYP450 Drug Interactions - a hypothesis testing, teaching and reference tool for drug interactions on the human cytochrome P450 system [David Flockhart Division of Clinical Pharmacology at Georgetown University ]
• Doctor's Guide to New Drugs or Indications - news of the [US] approval of new drugs or of new indications for previously available drugs
• International generic-brand drug dictionary of psychotropics, analgesics and CNS drugs - comprehensive list US, UK, Australian etc. brand names [Dr Ray Mottarelly]
• Martindale: the Extra Pharmacopoeia - standard drug reference prepared by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain [available via HCN]
• Material Safety Data sheets - links to sources of chemical and other hazardous or toxic substances safety data
• Medicines and Drugs - links to medicine and drug websites including the British National Formulary and the Electronic Medicines Compendium; part of Patient UK, set up by two GPs in Newcastle (England)
• electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC) - information on branded prescription medicines available in the UK with Data Sheets, Summaries of Product Characteristics and Patient Information Leaflets; free registration required [Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry]
• Medline Plus - guide to 9000+ prescription and over-the-counter medications (from the US Pharmacopeia etc.) plus pre-formatted MEDLINE searches and links to a wide range of other resources [US National Library of Medicine]
• Medscape Drug Info - indications, side effects and precautions for medical professionals based on the National Drug Data File and the American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information; free registration required
• Rxlist: The Internet drug index - drug information, patient education materials, top 200 prescriptions, drug research bulletins, links to other websites
• Safemedication - drug information from Medication Teaching Manual: The Guide to Patient Drug Information - why the medication has been prescribed, how it should be used, dietary instructions, side effects, precautions and storage measures [American Society of Health-System Pharmacists]
• US Pharmacopeia - the organisation which establishes officially recognised standards for the use of  medicines
• WHO Guide to Good Prescribing: a Practical Manual - covers the process of prescribing drugs, understanding standard treatment guidelines, suitability of drugs, writing prescriptions, basic pharmacology, essential references etc. [Australian mirror]

Evidence Based Pharmacy

• Centre for Evidence Based Pharmacy - supports and promotes evidence based practice and research in pharmacy [Oxford University]
• Cochrane Library - primary source of evidence-based health-care research and reviews of clinical trials [free via the Australian Government]
• Evidence based medicine links - sites which help you find, understand and use evidence based health information [JCU]
• Therapeutics Initiative - evidence based drug therapy - evidence based practical information for pharmacists [University of British Columbia]

History of Pharmacy

• The Apothecary Shoppe - illustrates the spread of Pharmacy from the Middle East, plus snake oils and show globes
• History of Pharmacy - in 40 pictures taken from Great Moments in Pharmacy [G A Bender and R A Thom, Parke David, 1965]
• History of Pharmacy Museum - take a virtual tour of this museum and view pharmacy artefacts [University of Arizona]
• MedHist - annotated gateway to high quality Internet resources in the history of medicine and pharmacy.[Wellcome Trust]
• Navigator History of Pharmacy - Internet resources of special relevance for historians of pharmacy
• Perbo´s History of Pharmacy Web Pages - links to history of pharmacy WWW sites [Swedish Society for the History of Pharmacy]

Law and Ethics

• Biomedical & Health Care Ethics Resources on WWW - good starting point to find out about bio- & health care ethics [University of British Columbia]
• Codes of Ethics Online: Health Care - web access to codes of ethics of professional societies, corporations, government and academic institutions [Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology]
• Council of Australian Governments National Competition Policy Review of Pharmacy Legislation
• Forensic Pharmacist - resources on the application of medication sciences to legal issues
• pharmacoethics.com - explores the ethical issues related to the development, promotion, sales, prescription, and use of pharmaceuticals.
• Pharmacy act (Queensland)

Molecules and modelling

• ChemFinder - Search chemical information on the web via chemical name, CAS number, molecular formula, or molecular weight [Cambridge Soft]
• Martindale's Virtual Chemistry Center - a dauntingly huge but vital list of annotated university-level sites covering all aspects of chemistry
• Web-Elements: Periodic Table - with links to Chemdex, a major directory of Internet Chemistry resources [Mark Winter, University of Sheffield]
• 3D Structural Database of Chemicals with Pharmaceutical Activity - requires Chime/RasMol and VRML plug-ins to view
• Chemical and Drug Information at the NLM - search thousands of chemical and drug information files by chemical structure and other identifiers to display 3-D molecular structures; requires Chime [National Library of Medicine]
• Chime - free Chime download (allows viewing and manipulation of molecule models in your web browser) with links to support sites
• Online Macromolecular Museum - dedicated to the display and study of macromolecules with a large selection of exhibits [California Lutheran University]
• RasMol - download RasMol, the molecular graphics visualisation tool - or try RasTop (a user-friendly graphical Windows interface)
• RasMol, Chime and Protein Explorer Resources - almost all you need to know about the top molecular visualisation freeware [University of Massachusetts]
• WebMolecules - examine molecules in 3D with basic attributes displayed; includes pharmaceuticals; requires Chime/VRML
• World Index of BioMolecular Visualization Resources - links to sites devoted to specific molecules, galleries, tutorials etc. [San Diego Supercomputer Center]

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

• A first Course in Pharmacokinetics and Biopharmaceutics - free online course [David Bourne, University of Oklahoma, College of Pharmacy]
• Basic Pharmacokinetics - online textbook for an introductory pharmacokinetics course [Michael Makoid, Creighton University]
• Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Resources - links to information about Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics [David Bourne]

Pharmacology

• Medical Pharmacology - Tutorial on the fundamentals of pharmacology covering general principles, autonomic, endocrine, autacoids, renal, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, central nervous system, chemotherapy, hemo/immunopoietic, anti-inflammatory etc.
• NetPharmacology - web-based hypertext multimedia materials teaching cardiovascular pharmacology including antianginals, diuretics, antihypertensives, anti-arrhythics [University of Utah]
• Neuropharmacology: Drugs, Brains & Behavior - online version of text Principles of Behavioral by Timmons & Hamilton
• Pharmacology Central - detailed information on drug structure and mechanisms organized according to standard drug types
• Pharmacology Glossary and Programmed Problem Sets - [Boston University School of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics]
• Pharmacology Guide - agonists/antagonists, receptor binding and dictionary of terms [Glaxo Wellcome]

Phytopharmacy & Pharmacognosy

• Medicinal Plant Databases - Links to information and research on medicinal plants including pharmacognosy, chemistry and herbalism
• Modern Herbal Home Page - hypertext version of A Modern Herbal by Mrs M Grieve containing information on the medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic properties, cultivation and folklore of herbs
• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (USA) - includes the CAM Citation Index among other resources [National Institutes of Health]
• Southwest School of Botanical Medicine - links to herb manuals, medicinal plant images, materia medicas, classic texts, research etc. [Michael More]
• University of Sydney Pharmacy Internet Guide: Herbal Medicine - links to sites supporting research and education on herbal and complementary medicines

Toxicology

• Toxnet - Indexes the world-wide literature of toxicology via a cluster a databases such as TOXLINE (TOXicology information onLINE); coverage includes chemicals and pharmaceuticals, biological and adverse effects of drugs etc. [US National Institute of Health]
• Australian Venom & Toxin Database - online guide to venomous animals crosslinked to the Australian Venom Research Unit database for medical and first aid information [Department of Pharmacology University of Melbourne]
• Toxicology Internet Resources - from the Chemistry Library at Louisiana State University

Search Engines

• Google - simple, fast with excellent results (Australian Site)
• Alta Vista - good for complex searches (Australian Site)
• Ixquick Metasearch - gets selected results from 12 search engines simultaneously
• Searching the Internet - check out some other good search engines (and how to use them)

Research, Study and Assignment Aids

• InfoHelp VISA: Virtual Information Skills Activity - JCU's online information literacy tutorial. Become expert in finding and using information.
• Internet Pharmacist - excellent online tutorial on Internet information skills for pharmacists.
• How to Read a Medical Journal Article - by Steve Simon, a medical biostatistician
• How to Read a Paper - Articles from the British Medical Journal to assist readers in evaluating journal literature
• How to Read a Scientific Research Paper a four-step guide for students and for faculty by Ann McNeal, Hampshire College
• Evaluating Internet resources - links to information
• Instructions to Authors in the Health Sciences - links to Web sites providing instructions to authors (and home pages) for over 2,000 journals in the health/biomedical sciences [Medical College of Ohio]
• Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals - [International Committee of Medical Journal Editors]
• QuackWatch - guide to health fraud, quackery and intelligent decisions
• Study Skills - Interactive, self-paced JCU tutorials on writing assignments and other study skills
• Purdue Online Writing Lab - has over 130 instructional handouts to help you write better
• Referencing styles - JCU's guide to information on referencing and citing sources in assignments