NETLINES

British Medical Journal, April 7, 2001 by Harry Brown

* Because the web is complex and there is a massive variety on offer to a medical surfer, some people like to use signposts to good sites. They may want to try the offering from www.medicalaudit.co.uk/ which is a helpful guide--for both experienced and new surfers--to some of the classier medical sites and resources on the web. It is neatly laid out and easy to navigate with some broad-based links sections that include audit and statistics as well as evidence based medicine. Within a few clicks, it is easy to jump off and explore a new and potentially interesting site.

* An interesting way of using the web can be found at www.diseasesdatabase. com. Type a single symptom, sign, disease, non-branded drug name or investigation result on an inhouse search engine, and it generates a list of associated subjects. In turn the search term can also be submitted to some highly respected external internet resources, generating an impressive range of useful links. The best way to understand this resource is simply to use it.

* A practical help page from the Harvard School of Public Health is at www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html. Most of the information that health professionals will need to deal with head lice in their patients is here. There is a hypertext index at the beginning of the page, so users can quickly jump to the relevant section.

* The sheer number and variety of options available on some links pages can be daunting. But the University of Washington has compiled a small listing of dermatology resources at http://healthlinks.washington.edu/ clinical/dermatology, html. If you want a more substantial selection look at www.medwebplus.com/subject/ Dermatology

* From Quebec comes a helpful and functional evidence based medicine page at www.medecine.quebec.qc.ca/english/ repertoire.htm. Its creators have resisted the temptation of cramming too much data and material into the site and instead have opted for a few signposts to resources that have been evaluated, and a search facility. A nice touch is a subdirectory of sites that have been appraised in the last month.

Harry Brown general practitioner, Leeds DrHarry@dial.pipex.com

We welcome suggestions for websites to be included in future Netlines. Readers should contact Harry Brown at the above email address.