ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ J a n u a ry 1 9 9 9 /3 1 In te r n a tio n a l M o n e ta r y Fund. Access: h ttp ://w w w .im f.o rg . A m ajo r n e w s to p ic lately is th e im p e n d in g financial disasters in th e A sian a n d Russian m arkets. T h e In tern atio n al M onetary F u n d (IMF) W eb site is a v alu ab le so u rc e o f data fo r th o se w h o are trying to m a k e se n s e o f th e alarm ing h e a d lin e s a b o u t th e state o f th e glo ­ b al eco n o m y . IMF, e stab lish ed in B retton W oods, N ew H am p sh ire, in 1944, strives to e n su re in ter­ n atio n al eco n o m ic stability th ro u g h c o o p e ra ­ tio n a n d su p p o rt am o n g its 182-country m em ­ b ership. IMF’s m ission is to “m aintain a stable system o f b u y in g a n d selling th e ir currencies so th a t p a y m e n ts in fo reig n m o n e y can take p la c e b e tw e e n co u n tries sm o o th ly a n d w ith ­ o u t d e la y .” E ach m e m b e r n atio n is a ssig n ed a q u o ta, b a s e d o n its w ealth a n d co n trib u ­ tio n to th e IMF fund. T h ese q u o ta s are th e n c o n v e r te d in to “S p ecial D ra w in g R ig h ts” (SDRs), from w h ic h m e m b e r co u n tries m ay b o rro w , in acc o rd a n c e w ith th e th e o ry th at b o lsterin g n atio n al coffers will h e lp c o n trib ­ u te to th e international m onetary balance. T he IMF also w o rk s to e n su re th e v o lu n tary co m ­ pliance o f m em b er countries to financial prac­ tices th a t will n o t actively th reaten global e c o ­ n o m ic stability. O f m o re im p o rtan ce to librarians a n d their u sers is th e ro le IMF plays in g ath erin g an d p u b lish in g tim ely statistical data o n th e e c o ­ n o m ic affairs o f its m e m b e r natio n s. M uch o f IMF’s m o re re c e n t p u b licatio n s are available in full-text, PD F-form at, o n its W eb site. (T he PDF-files m ust b e d o w n lo a d e d into an A dobe- A crobat Reader, w h ic h is av ailable for free via th e In te rn e t.) IMF’s h o m e p a g e h as links to re c e n t n e w s releases a n d “P u b licatio n s,” su c h as th e ir sem inal p u b licatio n W orld E co­ n o m ic O utlook (W EO), a sem ian n u al re p o rt o n th e p re s e n t a n d fo re c a ste d state o f th e w o rld ’s econom y. Available from th e Web site in fu ll-tex t, P D F -form at, W EO p ro v id e s a m o u n ta in o f historical d ata a n d p ro je c te d sta­ tistical info rm atio n o n su c h financial indica­ tors as: e x c h a n g e rates, in terest rates, price o f oil, gross d o m estic p ro d u c t (G D P), lab o r force characteristics, exports, b a la n c e o f p a y ­ m ents, e x tern al d e b t a n d d e b t service, infla­ tion, a n d n e t capital flows. Statistics are given fo r in dividual co u n tries, g eo g ra p h ic reg io n s (i.e. ‚ Sub-S aharan Africa), o r classifications o f co u n tries ( “a d v a n c e d e c o n o m ie s,” “d e v e lo p ­ ing c o u n trie s,” a n d “c o u n trie s in tran sitio n ”). B ecau se th e tex t is in PD F-form at, th e “F in d ” c o m m a n d c a n b e u s e d to search e a c h se c ­ tio n fo r specific w o rd s. O th e r u seful p u b licatio n s available in full- tex t form at from th e site’s “P ublications” p ag e are th e b iw eek ly IMF Survey, th e a n n u a l I n ­ te r n a tio n a l C apital M arkets, IMF’s an n u a l re ­ p o rt, a n d th e qu arterly electro n ic v ersio n o f th e IMF p erio d ical Fi­ n a n c e & D evelopm ent. A lso acces­ sible from th e “P u b licatio n s” p ag e are “IMF W orking P ap ers in Full T ext,” “P a­ p ers o n IMF Policy Analysis a n d A ssessm ent in Full T ext,” a n d “IMF Staff C ountry R eports in Full T ext.” T h ere is a n a lp h ab e tical in d ex a n d a site m ap , b o th accessible from th e h o m e p a g e , as w ell as a “Site Search” feature, w h ic h em ploys th e sta n d a rd b o o le a n o p e ra to rs o f “a n d ,” “or,” a n d “n o t.” T h e re is also a m o re ad v a n c e d search feature o n th e “P ublications” p ag e that allow s th e u se r to search IMF P ublications b y title, au th o r/e d ito r, subject, series, date, an d language. T h e IMF W eb site h as a p le th o ra o f tim ely a n d re le v a n t in te rn a tio n a l e c o n o m ic data, h ow ever, it c o u ld b e o rg an ized better. Most o f th e statistical d ata th at m a k e s it su c h a notew orthy site is b u ried o n the “Publications” p ag e. T h e site c o u ld b e m a d e m u c h m o re user-friendly if it h ig h lig h ted its full-text p u b ­ lications o n th e h o m e p a g e a n d p o in te d o u t w h a t types o f data are available. T h e site d o es a n adm irable job o f m aintaining historical an d cu rre n t info rm atio n a b o u t IMF a n d its o p e ra - Sara A m a to is e le ctro n ic services a nd W e b d e v e lo p m e n t librarian a t Bowdoin College, e-mail:samato@bowdoin.edu Sara Am ato, editorI n t e r n e t R e v i e w s http://www.imf.org mailto:samato@bowdoin.edu 32 / C&RL N ew s ■ Ja n u a ry 1999 tions. I re c o m m e n d th e IMF W eb site fo r an y ­ o n e n e e d in g tim ely in fo rm atio n o n th e state o f th e w o rld ’s e c o n o m y .— G era ld in e Foudy, SU NY S to n y B rook; gerald in e.fo u d y@ su n ysb . e d u Q uackw atch . Access: http://www.quackwatch. com Q u a c k e ry is o b v io u s w h e n b izarre m ed ical claim s are m a d e to c u re certain illnesses a n d d iseases, y e t o th e r form s o f q u a c k e ry are n o t so ob v io u s. Q u a c k w a tc h is a “g u id e to h e a lth fraud, q u a c k e ry a n d intelligent d ecisio n m ak ­ in g .” S te p h e n B arrett, a re n o w n e d c o n su m e r a d v o c a te a n d author, o p e ra te s Q u ack w atch . T h ro u g h this W eb site, h e a n d m e m b e rs o f Q u a c k w a tc h Inc. a re co m b atin g h e a lth fraud. It offers access to daily u p d a te s o n q u ack ery , q u e stio n a b le p ro d u cts, services, th eo ries, a d ­ v ertisem en ts, c o n s u m e r p ro te c tio n , a n d reli­ ab le h e a lth p u blications. A search fo r m o re h e a lth in fo rm atio n can b e d o n e b y clicking “Search Q u a c k w a tc h .” T h e G lim pse search e n g in e w ill q u ick ly p ro ­ v id e a list o f p a g e s th a t co n ta in th e w o rd o r w o rd s y o u ty p e in. T h e se a rc h in g capability o f r e t u r n i n g o n l y file s m o d ified w ith in a certain n u m b e r o f d a y s w ill b e v a lu a b le to h e a lth a n d al­ lied scien ces stu d e n ts a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l s w h o a r e l o o k i n g f o r c u r r e n t so u rc e s. R esults w ill in ­ clude short a n d lengthy ar­ ticles fro m th e m o re th a n 300 p a g e s c o n ta in e d in Q u ack w atch . In ter­ n atio n al u se rs w ill e n jo y th e F ren ch a n d G er­ m a n tran slatio n s o f this W eb site. Clearly, Q uackw atch is fo r researchers w h o are se e k in g so u rc e s th a t w ill so rt o u t th e facts a n d fallacies in co n tro v ersial h e a lth p ro d u c ts a n d s e rv ic e s .— N a n c y A lle n , U n iversity o f S o u th F lo r id a a t S a r a s o ta /N e w C ollege, N allen@ virtu.sar.usf.edu P h a r m l n f o N e t . A c c e s s : h t t p : / / w w w . p h a rm in fo .c o m / T h e P h arm aceu tical In fo rm atio n N etw ork, o r P h arm ln fo N et, is a W eb site sp ecializin g in n e w dru g inform ation. P harm lnfoN et contains info rm atio n o f re lev an ce to b o th h e a lth care p ro fessio n als s e e k in g tech n ical in fo rm atio n a n d th e lay p e rs o n w a n tin g to k n o w m o re th a n w h a t his o r h e r p h y sician h as tim e o r is w illing to tell. T h e site is ex trem ely w ell o r­ g an ize d , easy to navigate, a n d attractively d e ­ sig n ed . T h e m ajor a re a s o f c o n te n t a re D rug In fo rm atio n , P ublications, D isease C enters, G lossary, M edical M eeting H ighlights, D iscus­ sio n G ro u p s, Pharm M all, P h arm acy C orner, Pharm Links, a n d e v e n a G allery. O n e o f t h e m o s t u s e f u l a r e a s in P harm lnfoN et is th e D rugD B (d ru g database). W hile th e n u m b e r o f d ru g s listed c a n ’t c o m ­ p a re in n u m b e r to w h a t y o u w o u ld fin d in w o rk s su c h as th e P h y s ic ia n ’s D esk R eference o r th e M erck In d e x , y o u will find m u c h m o re re c e n t in fo rm atio n o n d ru g s su c h as Viagra a n d P ro p ecia (a n e w h a ir loss rem ed y ). T h ere are ev en entries fo r co m m o n m edications such as ib u p ro fe n a n d a c e ta m in o p h e n . A typical d ru g e n try lists tra d e n a m e , g e n e ric n am e, m anufacturer, use, a n d links to full-text online h e a lth a n d m edical journals. T w o o f th e m o s t fre q u e n tly cited jo u rn als are th e M e d ic a l Sciences B u lle tin a n d P N N P h a rm a co th era p y Line. W hile th e articles co n ­ ta in e d in th e s e p u b lic a tio n s are w ritte n in a fairly tech n ical style, th e y a re still re a d a b le e n o u g h to b e o f u s e to th o s e w ith o u t a te c h ­ n ical b ac k g ro u n d . A c o m p le te list o f p u b lic a ­ tio n s can b e fo u n d at h ttp ://w w w .p h a rm in fo . c o m /p u b s /p u b s _ m n u . h tm l. All o f P h a rm ln fo N e t’s o n lin e p u b licatio n s are e ith e r p ro d u c e d b y th e m o r th e ir affili­ ates. N one o f th ese journals are p e e r review ed. H ow ever, th e ir articles o ften d o c o n ta in ref­ e re n c e s to sta n d a rd p ro fessio n al jo u rn als like th e N e w E n g la n d J o u r n a l o f M e d ic in e an d L ancet. P h a rm ln o N e t is p ro d u c e d b y VirSci C or­ p o ra tio n (w w w .v irsci.co m ), a h ig h te c h co m ­ p a n y th a t a p p lie s “v irtu al te c h n o lo g ie s to m ed ical co m m u n icatio n s, m ed ical a n d p h a r­ m a c e u tic a l m ark etin g , a n d p h a rm a c e u tic a l sales tra in in g .” T h ey are a d a m a n t, h ow ever, a b o u t n o t b e in g affiliated w ith an y specific p h a rm a c e u tic a l co m p an y . N ev erth eless, th e overall to n e o f this site is th a t o f a v eh icle for p h a rm a c e u tic a l c o m p a n ie s to ad v ertise th eir p ro d u c ts.—J im Rible, S o u th e r n O regon U ni­ versity, rible@ sou.edu ■ http://www.quackwatch mailto:Nallen@virtu.sar.usf.edu pharminfo.com/ http://www.pharminfo http://www.virsci.com mailto:rible@sou.edu C&RL News ■ J a n u a ry 1999 / 33