Newsletter No. 131
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Free Pint
"Helping 57,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 20th February 2003 No.131
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Susie Jones
FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JOBS
Client Information Officer
Information Officer
Research Executive
Senior Information Content Analyst
Broadcast Media Co-ordinators x 2
TIPS ARTICLE
"France - Business and Economics Sources on the Web"
By Michelle Romero
BOOKSHELF
"Getting and Staying Noticed on the Web: Your Web
Promotion Questions Answered"
Reviewed by Sophie Graham
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Poisons, Potions and Toxins - Toxicology Sources on the Web"
By Teresa Loughbrough
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/200203.htm>
ADOBE ACROBAT VERSION WITH NEWSLETTER FORMATTING
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/200203.pdf>
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**** FREE TICKETS for the UK's national library show! ****
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>>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<<
Free Pint is an online community of information researchers. Members
receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips on
finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet.
Joining is free at <http://www.freepint.com/> and provides access to
a substantial archive of articles, reviews, jobs & events, with
answers to research questions and networking at the Free Pint Bar.
Please circulate this newsletter which is best read when printed out.
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EDITORIAL
With all the travel difficulties we're experiencing here in London at
the moment, I really did wonder how many people would make it to our
Electronic Copyright Exchange last Thursday. The majority of the
services we offer here at Free Pint don't require our patrons to
physically move much more than their eyes and their hands (to read
and possibly respond). So with 52 bookings for an afternoon
workshop amid winter weather, tube delays, and with delegates coming
from Europe by train and plane, I was a little concerned about how
many would actually turn up.
As it turns out, the Free Pint community is a resilient and
resourceful bunch of people. All but two made it to what was an
extremely informative and enjoyable afternoon. It's a light, modern
and airy venue, and from the feedback forms it was a timely topic.
Thank you to the presenter and delegates for making it such an
informative and interactive event.
Gary Price of ResourceShelf.com is over from the States in March for
the Internet Librarian International conference and Total Library
Solutions show in Birmingham. Since Free Pint is there too, we're
nabbing him for a 'Search Tools Exchange' on March 27th in London.
He'll cover the latest search engine news and features, will look at
specialised research tools and gadgets, and share with us the
forthcoming trends and developments he's picked up from his insider
contacts at all the major search companies. It's going to be popular,
so book early at <http://www.freepint.com/exchange/st270303.htm>.
It's also not too late to book a place on the forthcoming Exchanges on
patent information, intranet management and governance, and deep
linking and Website evaluation <http://www.freepint.com/exchange/>.
Today's Free Pint is as cosmopolitan as ever, with featured Web
resources ranging from French business sites to toxicology and
poisons databases. Don't forget to check out the fully formatted
printable version of this edition which is freely available
online at <http://www.freepint.com/issues/200203.pdf>.
Cheers
William
William Hann BSc(Hons) MCLIP, Founder and Managing Editor
Email: <william@freepint.com> Tel: +44 (0)1784 420044
Free Pint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2003
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*** Library + Information Show 2003 - Biggest + Best***
LiS is the original, biggest + best event for all librarians and
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existing ones. Put this together with the comprehensive, free seminar
programme and the opportunity for you to meet Roger McGough and Joanne
Harris, spending a day at LiS will prove to be invaluable.
<http://www.lishow.co.uk/pint> 30th April + 1st May 2003, ExCeL, London
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This month's feature title from Euromonitor, on which
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Susie Jones
* BDS Sponsorship <http://www.sponsorship.co.uk/> has a monthly
online newsletter which keeps me up to date with corporate
sponsorship activity UK and Europe-wide.
* The World Travel and Tourism Council <http://www.wttc.org/> has
detailed economic research on the tourism industry by country
and by region.
* StarUK <http://www.staruk.org.uk/> has statistics and research
on UK tourism.
* The Carlton Screen Advertising site
<http://www.carltonscreen.com/site/index.html> is a mine of
information on the UK cinema industry and has a monthly email update.
* Museum Marketing Tips <http://www.museummarketingtips.com/> is a
friendly site with loads of great links for all people working in
leisure industry marketing.
Susie Jones is Marketing & Research Executive for At-Bristol
<http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/>, a science and natural history visitor
attraction which also offers consultancy services.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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****Subscribe to Factiva's InfoPro Alliance Newsletter****
As a member of the InfoPro Alliance, you will receive our
monthly e-mail newsletter telling you about the latest enhancements to
Factiva.com, product tips, TechTalk and links to our new online
sessions for advanced searchers
<http://www.factiva.com/infopro>
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FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Need help with a research question? Post it alongside the 19,000
others at the Free Pint Bar. Help is free and usually comes from
other Free Pinters very quickly <http://www.freepint.com/bar>.
If you're studying on an information-related course, then make the
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help with projects, career suggestions, etc. If you don't use it,
you might lose it!
To get a digest of postings twice a week, modify your account online
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FREE PINT JOBS
<http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
Free Pint Jobs is THE place to find and advertise information
vacancies.
JOB SEEKERS -- search the database for free and set up a profile to
be notified weekly of new vacancies.
ADVERTISERS -- post a vacancy and receive significant publicity and
matching against 800+ stored job-seeker profiles.
As well as the selected listings below, check out the weekly Bar
posting which lists the latest additions to Free Pint Jobs.
This week's can be found at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b22393>
and last week's at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b22284>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Client Information Officer
Records and people manager required by city law firm
for varied and challenging role.
Recruiter: Recruit Media
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j2160>
Information Officer
Take this opportunity to develop your online skills, especially using
DataStream, as a member of this busy financial research team.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j2274>
Research Executive
Vacancy for information Research Exec to join award winning
business information, research and tech company.
Recruiter: j4b plc
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j2295>
Senior Information Content Analyst
Senior strategic role dealing with market data & content management
for top financial services client. Very high neg. salary.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j2296>
Broadcast Media Co-ordinators x 2
Records management, advice and guidance. Select material for
retention in Document Archives to facilitate historical research.
Recruiter: BBC
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j2306>
[The above jobs are paid listings]
Find out more today at <http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/200203.htm#tips>
"France - Business and Economics Sources on the Web"
By Michelle Romero
Business researchers seeking information about the business and
economic climate in France are rewarded with a wealth of available
information on the web, much of it free. This is due in part to an
impressive public statistical system that provides access to data and
analysis in both French and English across the spectrum of
demographic, industrial, and regional information. Non-government
sites, including those of major publishers, market research
organizations and other information providers complete the picture.
But how many French resources contain documents in English? The answer
is that it depends. Some sites link to a complete English version,
some sites contain English versions of certain documents or datasets,
or simply English titles and French full text. There are also
French-only sites with buried documents in English. I've included
some relevant sites here that are wholly in French. If your school
French is not quite up to the challenge, the French/English Business
Glossary <http://www.e-anglais.com/ressources/glossary.html> might
come in handy. Adding to the research challenge is the French
predilection for applying confusing acronyms to just about everything.
So expect rewards and aggravation - not unlike life in the country
itself! Herewith, a (non-exhaustive) survey of sites containing data
or analysis relevant to researching French business and the economy.
Government information - Demographics and Economic Statistics
=============================================================
The French National Council for Statistical Information (CNIS)
<http://www.cnis.fr> is the co-ordinating body for all
government-produced and/or funded statistics in France. They are
charged with the oversight of major projects like the census and
other surveys, from conception to dissemination. They also guard
against duplication of efforts across all the nation's statistics
gathering bodies.
The main source for French statistics within the system is the
National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE)
<http://www.insee.fr>. They conduct the population census
<http://www.recensement.insee.fr>, surveys of business, as well as the
preparation of the consumer price index and National Accounts and
other major indicators. Other searchable databases include France in
Facts and Figures, and Profiles of French Regions. Many of the data
series from INSEE are available in English, and historical series are
available in PDF format.
Other major sources for economic and business statistics are the
research units of relevant government ministries:
The Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Solidarity (DARES)
<http://www.travail.gouv.fr/etranges/english_v.html> produces
employment and labour market-related data
<http://www.travail.gouv.fr/etudes/etudes_i.html> and offers articles
from Work and Employment, a Ministry research journal.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Rural Affairs
(Agreste) <http://www.agreste.agriculture.gouv.fr/> provides
statistics and research on agriculture, forestry, land use, facilities
and the environment in rural areas.
The Ministry for the Infrastructure, Transport, Housing, Tourism and
the Sea (DAEI-SES) <http://www.equipement.gouv.fr/statistiques/>
includes downloadable data in spreadsheet format for a variety of data
under its broad mandate. Search the drop-down menu under Domaines
d'activite. This includes, for example, the tonnage of merchandise
coming through France's ports, housing statistics by type in metres
squared, airport usage statistics, and the holiday destinations of
French tourists.
The Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry (SESSI)
<http://www.minefi.gouv.fr> features a Data and Surveys link to
statistics for energy, commodities, and official foreign exchange
reserves, among other data sets, and analyses of French industries.
To access other units within the government, consult the
Service-Public Portal <http://www.service-public.fr>, a
well-structured civil service directory in English.
La Documentation Francaise <http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/>
serves as an ordering platform for research, journals, and other
publications produced by the government and quasi-government
organizations, similar to the UK Stationery Office or US GPO.
Government Information - Intellectual Property
==============================================
The Institut National de la Propriete Industrielle (INPI)
<http://www.inpi.fr>, which is administered by the Ministry of
Economics, Finance and Industry, controls the domain of French
intellectual property. This site features four searchable databases
of trademarks, patents, designs, and companies registered in France.
Trademarks
----------
Use the IciMarques database <http://www.icimarques.com> to search by
trademark holder, trademark name, or number and generate a list of
registered trademarks. Fee-based full-text visualization is available.
Patents (Brevets)
----------------
Two years' worth of French, European and international patent
applications in France are available through
<http://www.inpi.fr/brevet>. Search by description, holder,
or patent number.
Designs and Models
------------------
Search <http://dm.inpi.fr/inpidm/> by description, classification, or
registrant for designs from the latest Bulletin Officiel de la
Propriete Industrielle (BOPI). Updated every 15 days.
Registered Companies
--------------------
Euridile <http://www.euridile.inpi.fr> can be considered the French
equivalent to the UK's Companies House, and this database of 3 million
business enterprises is searchable by company name, director name,
address or registration number. Fee-based reports are available for
order.
Economic Development
====================
Invest in France Agency <http://www.ifana.org> is the government
agency which promotes investment in France. Included on this site is
data on key industries in France, a "Doing Business" guide providing
basic procedural information, and quarterly reports featuring specific
cases of corporate foreign direct investment in France, organized by
industry. There's also a database of North American companies with
operations in France, searchable by parent or subsidiary details.
While this site focuses on North America, IIFA sites targeted to other
countries are searchable from <http://www.afii.fr/France/>.
Business-in-europe.com <http://www.business-in-europe.com> is designed
to help companies establish operations in France, and arranges links
to relevant chambers of commerce and economic development agencies,
organized by region and industry. It includes useful data repackaged
from INSEE and AFII Invest in France.
Major press (French only)
=========================
Les Echos <http://www.lesechos.fr> is one of the premiere business
journals, and from the main page you can find links to industry group
profiles that lead to the "classements", or searchable company
rankings within industries. The data is provided by the Coface Group
<http://www.cofacerating.fr>, a rating and analysis firm, and the
additional searchable industry rankings they provide on their own site
are impressive (See the section "Les Chaines Eco France").
L'Expansion <http://www.lexpansion.com> is a weekly which features the
annual French company ranking, "Les 1000". L'Entreprise
<http://www.lentreprise.com> includes the annual "Les 100 Plus Belles
Entreprises de France", a ranking of private companies.
Weekly news and current affairs magazines such as L'Express
<http://www.lexpress.fr>, Le Point <http://www.lepoint.fr>, and Le
Nouvelle Observateur <http://permanent.nouvelobs.com> are also
valuable sources of data and analysis.
Company press releases are available on Company News
<http://financier.companynews.fr/>, a subsidiary of French newswire
L'Agence France Presse <http://www.afp.fr>.
Public Opinion and Market Research
==================================
Three major polling organizations in France are BVA: Institut d'Etudes
de Marche et d'Opinion <http://www.bva.fr>; IFOP <http://www.ifop.com>;
and CSA/TMO <http://www.csa-fr.com>. All three feature searchable
archives of public opinion surveys on a wide variety of economic,
political and societal issues. The CSA/TMO site features English
titles organized chronologically.
A fee-based catalogue of market research reports concerning the French
market and elsewhere can be found at PlusDetudes
<http://www.plusdetudes.com>.
Company Directories
===================
There are several searchable directories of French businesses. The
Bottin directory <http://www.bottin.fr> provides basic contact
details, company sales, trademarks, and a web address. Societe.com
<http://www.societe.com> is searchable by name, address, director name,
and trademark. It provides free key annual financials, corporate
events and directors' names, and offers fee-based reports. The data
is taken from Registre National du Commerce et des Societes (see
Euridile, Intellectual Property.) France Telexport
<http://www.telexport.tm.fr> is an importers and exporters directory
produced by the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry. It is
searchable by product category and activity, and provides contact
details. ABC France <http://www.abc-d.fr> is a business-to-business
directory, and is searchable by region and controlled product
vocabulary in English. ABC also offers an export directory at
<http://www.france.abcexports.com>.
Financial Markets
=================
The Stock Exchange Commission (COB) <http://www.cob.fr/cobgb/>
administers the Paris Stock Exchange (La Bourse) and provides access
in PDF format to its operational statistics, amongst other data.
Paris Europlace <http://www.paris-europlace.net> is an organization
that serves to promote Paris as a financial center. The site includes
analysis and data relating to equity markets, fixed income markets,
asset management, insurance and the economy in France and the
Eurozone. Sites like Boursorama <http://www.boursorama.com> and
Ramibourse <http://www.ramibourse.fr> offer up-to-the-minute quotes,
indices and news.
Other Sources
=============
Find French trade shows at Foires & Salons de France
<http://www.foiresalon.com>.
Annual reports can be found at <http://www.rapport-annuel.com>, a site
administered by CompanyNews.
For French law-related information, use the governmental portal
Legifrance <http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr> for the constitution,
codes, treaties and courts information.
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Michelle Romero is an independent business information specialist who
has been living in Paris for the past three years. Her research
specialities include, amongst other areas, the industries of wine,
cheese, and skiing. She writes here in a personal capacity.
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Related Free Pint links:
* Resources for France in the Free Pint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/c75>
* Post a message to the author, Michelle Romero, or suggest further
resources at the Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/200203.htm#feature>
* Access the entire archive of Free Pint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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information on how you can keep abreast in your industry contact us at
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Esmerk ... We are here to keep you ahead!
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>>> KEEP UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LATEST INFOPRO NEWS & RESOURCES <<<
ResourceShelf is an invaluable tool for information professionals.
It is free to access and is updated throughout the day, every day,
with the latest resources and news of interest to infopros.
Sign up for the weekly Update email too and stay current:
<http://www.resourceshelf.com/>
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FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Getting and Staying Noticed on the Web: Your Web
Promotion Questions Answered"
Written by Phil Bradley
Reviewed by Sophie Graham
This new book by Phil Bradley promises to answer all your web
promotion questions, and in many ways, it does just that. In only
fourteen chapters the author covers first steps, design issues,
search engines, use of images, and much more to help develop and
maintain an Internet site.
The style of the book is very informal, almost conversational and
occasionally humorous. Reading it sequentially is not recommended and
there is a tendency by the author to overuse! Exclamation!! Marks!!!
which grated a little on this particular reader. Stylistic differences
aside, there is lot to recommend the book: a clear and straightforward
table of contents, suitable for dipping in and out of, and minimal use
of jargon. However, a glossary would be a useful addition for complete
novices.
The book is well laid out in a 'question and answer' format with
helpful use of screen dumps and many references to relevant library or
information professional sites. They would certainly prompt any reader
to go and have a look at them to get some further ideas for their own
projects. There is also a brief paragraph on the use of themes, such
as Christmas, which is interesting and fun.
The author treats practical issues such as picture sizes on websites
or deep linking with common sense (keep picture sizes small to keep
download speeds of your site high). Useful references to search engine
simulators (to check how a search engine might index your site) and
other varied resources (such as the holiday themes website) would be
very useful to follow up on. As the author is also an independent
Internet consultant, there are a number of inevitable small plugs of
his own work or website. The book concludes with a case study on the
Free Pint Website, which rounds the text off well.
This book is useful for anyone thinking of setting up an Internet site
and also for those of you who might like to revamp or know how to
maintain your existing Internet site. Although it is very externally
focused, many of the tips and guidance given by the author could
equally be used for an intranet site.
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Sophie Graham is Manager of the Information Centre at Pfizer
Pharmaceuticals Group in Surrey, responsible for setting up and
developing the Information Centre within the UK.
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Related Free Pint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/noticed.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1856044556/freepint0c>
* "Getting and Staying Noticed on the Web: Your Web Promotion
Questions Answered" ISBN 1856044556, published
by Facet Publishing, written by Phil Bradley
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Free Pint
Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
* Read about other Internet Strategy books on the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/strategy.htm>
To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to <bookshelf@freepint.com>.
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>>> Willco's 'Business Information Group' <<<
Free Pint's sister company Willco now provides the technology
to many information-related organisations and individuals.
See them all together at BiG <http://www.digbig.com>.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/200203.htm#feature>
"Poisons, Potions and Toxins - Toxicology Sources on the Web"
By Teresa Loughbrough
The book "Walkabout" is the story of 2 young American children
stranded in the Australian outback after a plane crash. It quickly
becomes clear to them that they need food in order to survive but
wherever they look they can't find anything edible. Their luck changes
when they meet a 13-year-old Aboriginal boy who is on a six month
initiation test for manhood called a Walkabout. He of course knows
what to eat and where to find it and how to survive in these seemingly
harsh conditions. This story illustrates that it is crucial to have
the right information on what is safe and what isn't. And that is the
subject of this article, information on the toxicology and safety of
substances.
"Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living
organisms" (Ref: "You and Toxicology" by H Bruno Schiefer, D Irvine &
S Buzik 1986 Toxicology Research Centre, University of Saskatoon, Sask
ISBN 0-88880-195-5).
This definition of toxicology helps us to focus on the 3 main concepts
of a toxicology search. The first concept is Adverse Effects: the
harmful effects caused by a substance can occur in many forms, ranging
from immediate death to subtle changes not realised until months or
even years later. They can also occur at various levels within the
body, such as an organ, a type of cell or even a specific biochemical.
The second concept is Chemicals: people usually look for toxic effects
caused by a particular chemical, family of chemicals, natural product
or extract.
"All substances are poisons - the difference is in the dose". This
quote is originally attributed to Paracelsus (1500 AD) who determined
that specific chemicals were actually responsible for the toxicity of
a plant or animal poison. Most substances are only considered to be
poisonous or harmful depending on the dose received and the body's
response to it. Small doses can be harmless or even beneficial whereas
larger doses can be toxic and this dose-response relationship is an
important aspect of the toxicity of a chemical. Physical agents such
as radiation, noise, pressure and dust can cause toxic effects as
well.
The third concept is Living Organisms: most of the time people are
interested in the response of the human body to a particular chemical
but scientific study on the response of other animals or in vitro
studies can be useful in developing an understanding of the toxic
profile of a substance.
So with these concepts in mind we can focus on particular websites in
the area of toxicology.
General Toxicology and Hazardous Substances
-------------------------------------------
If you need an introduction to Toxicology there is a good tutorial
from the US National Library of Medicine (NLM)
<http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/Tox/ToxTutor.html>. A number of American
agencies also have toxicology information on their websites. The
National Toxicology Program <http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/> has
factsheets about specific aspects of toxicology and results of the
toxicity studies it undertakes for specific chemicals. The EPA has a
Pollutants/Toxic topics page
<http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/pollutants.html>, which includes
information on toxic substances. The ATSDR (Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry) has a CERCLA list
<http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/clist.html>, which is published on a
biannual basis. This list contains substances which are considered to
be a threat to human health due to their frequency, toxicity and
potential for human exposure. The Carcinogenic Potency Project
<http://potency.berkeley.edu/cpdb.html> is a database on the results
of chronic, long-term animal cancer tests.
Toxicology Databases
--------------------
TOXNET <http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/> is one of the
best toxicology web sources. The databases have good and regularly
updated search interfaces covering toxicology, hazardous chemicals and
the environment. In TOXNET you can find TOXLINE which is one of the
most well known toxicology databases containing bibliographic
information on the biochemical, pharmacological, physiological and
toxicological effects of drugs and other chemicals. It contains over
3 million citations, most of which have abstracts and CAS Registry
numbers. The database is divided into two parts: TOXLINE Core, which
covers the standard journal literature for toxicology and continues to
be updated as a subset in MEDLINE (available on the Internet as PubMed
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi>), and TOXLINE Special,
which is a historical backfile of closed specialised sources. You can
search the individual parts or both together on TOXNET.
I have searched toxicology sources for a number of years and it was a
puzzle to me when in 2000 the US National Library of Medicine (NLM)
stopped TOXLINE as an independent database. So for those of you not
familiar with TOXLINE and those like me who wondered why, here is
brief summary of the main reasons behind the decision. TOXLINE has
developed as a separate collection since 1972 and a lot of diverse
sources have been included over time. These secondary sources were not
owned by NLM and caused them a lot of expense. Also MEDLINE, NLM's
bibliographic medical information source, has included toxicology
information which led to confusion in choosing which source to search.
If you need further information see the article "Next Generation
TOXLINE" <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/jf01/jf01_toxline.html>.
REPROTOX <http://www.reprotox.org/> has current assessment information
on the potentially harmful effects of environmental exposure to
chemicals and physical agents on human pregnancy, reproduction, and
development. If you need information on poisonous plants then two good
websites are FDA/CFSAN Poisonous Plant Database
<http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~djw/readme.html> and the Veterinary Toxic
plant list <http://gateway.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/comlist.htm>.
Professional Organisations
--------------------------
There are a number of professional organisations and bodies who work
in the area of toxicology. These are some, which might be of interest:
British Toxicology Society <http://www.thebts.org/>; Society of
Toxicology <http://www.toxicology.org/>; The Canadian Network of
Toxicology Centres <http://www.uoguelph.ca/cntc/>; American College of
Toxicology <http://actox.org>; American College of Medical Toxicology
<http://www.acmt.net/default.htm>; Society of Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry <http://www.setac.org/>; Society of Forensic
Toxicologists <http://www.soft-tox.org/>; International Society of
Exposure Analysis (ISEA) <http://www.iseaweb.org>; Society for Risk
Analysis <http://www.sra.org>.
Environmental Toxicology
------------------------
Environmental issues have become much more important over the past few
years as we all take more responsibility for what happens to the
environment around us. Information on the environmental fate and
environmental breakdown of individual chemicals can be found in the
Syracuse databases <http://esc.syrres.com/interkow/onlinedb.htm>.
EXTOXNET <http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/> has information on
pesticides and an environmental toxicology newsletter. The University
of Minnesota has a database on the biocatalysis and biodegradation of
chemicals <http://umbbd.ahc.umn.edu/index.html>. The ECOTOXicology
database <http://www.epa.gov/ecotox/> is a useful tool for examining
the impact of a chemical on the environment. It has toxicity
information on single chemicals for aquatic and terrestrial life.
There are several places where you can get information on
environmental contaminants <http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/research/ecr/>
and <http://www1.nature.nps.gov/toxic/index.html>. The US Department
of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a set of Ecological Risk
Analysis tools and applications
<http://www.esd.ornl.gov/programs/ecorisk/ecorisk.html> which contain
information that can be used to conduct ecological screening and risk
assessments.
Food Toxicology
---------------
There are a number of sources that have information on
pesticides and pesticide residues. These are some that I found:
Pesticide Tolerances <http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/tolerance/tisinfo/>;
FDA Pesticide Program Residue Monitoring
<http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/pesrpts.html>; AMS at USDA Pesticide Data
Program <http://www.ams.usda.gov/science/pdp/index.htm>; Pesticides and
the Environment
<http://www.ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/faqs/pesticide/pesthome.htm>; EPA
Pesticide Reregistration - Chemical Status
<http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm>.
Food additives and food allergies are important topics and there are a
number of useful websites in this area: The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis
Network <http://www.foodallergy.org>; the US Center for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) has a food allergy site
<http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/wh-alrgy.html> and also a site on food
ingredients and packaging <http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/foodadd.html>.
EXTOXNET also has some food additive information
<http://www.ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/faqs/additive/fapage1a.htm> and
the FAO/WHO have a joint expert committee that has evaluated over 1500
additives <http://apps3.fao.org/jecfa/additive_specs/foodad-q.jsp>.
Mycotoxins are compounds produced by fungi that are harmful to human
and animal health and so cause a problem for food safety. The CFSAN
has information as part of the Food Compliance program on Mycotoxins
in Imported Foods <http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/cp07002.html> and in
Domestic Foods <http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/cp07001.html>. The
Medical Research Council of South Africa has the PROMEC unit, which
works on Mycotoxins, and their reports and publications are on their
website <http://www.mrc.ac.za/promec/contents.htm>.
Chemical Identification
-----------------------
If you are focusing on a particular chemical it is important that you
define and identify your substance adequately and correctly. There are
some very useful sources for this on the web. Two that I find
particularly useful are: Chemfinder
<http://chemfinder.cambridgesoft.com/> and ChemIDplus
<http://chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/>.
And if after all these sources you still can't find what you need then
there are some excellent online science and technology databases on
hosts such as STN <http://www.stn-international.de/>.
Finally ... a quote that I found, which serves as a reminder that the
dose is important and leaves us with something to think about when we
next reach for the coffee cup! "On learning that coffee was considered
to be a slow poison .... I think that it must be so for I have been
drinking it for 65 years and I am not dead yet" (Francois-Marie Arouet
Voltaire, French writer & philosopher, 1694-1778).
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Teresa Loughbrough is an Information Scientist within the Knowledge
and Information Science Unit at Unilever R&D Colworth in Bedfordshire.
She specialises in scientific and technical literature and patent
searching for food, biosciences, safety and toxicology. She is a
Member of CILIP and the RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry).
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- Publication Date: 20th February 2003
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