What's on line?

Bruce P. Squires, MD, PhD
Editor-in-chief

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 154: 295

In At a Glance this issue (see page 371), there is a short entry announcing that the directory of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMs) has been adapted for the Internet within CMA Online. This electronic directory, which is an essential resource for medical students, has distinct advantages over the 417-page printed version: it will always be current, it is easier to use, it is readily available to anyone who wants to consult it, and users who want hard copies of particular programs can print them out.

Immediate and convenient access to databases, be they on the Internet or on CD-ROM, is one of the greatest advantages of the computer age. My CD-ROM versions of Scientific American Medicine and Microsoft Bookshelf now accompany me daily to work and home, are almost weightless and are infinitely easier to use than their print counterparts. MD-Select, the CD-ROM version of the Canadian Medical Directory, allows me to search for doctors' names in ways that were impossible with the print version -- by city, specialty, graduation year, even telephone number -- and is much easier than the print version on these presbyopic eyes!

But CD-ROM will, I believe, ultimately become obsolete as more and more databases become available on the Internet. There, publishers and authors can revise the information whenever necessary, without the hassle and cost of producing new editions. Most important, those wanting information immediately will no longer be daunted by the difficulty and tedium of finding it.

One of the main databases within CMA Online is CPG Infobase, the collection of full-text clinical practice guidelines published in CMAJ over the last few years. During 1996 we will be adding, as available, guidelines published by others in Canada. Of course, we are constantly considering other possibilities for databases within CMA Online. Proposals anyone?

| CMAJ February 1, 1996 (vol 154, no 3) |