Present and Future of a Private Biomedical Database

Abstract

We describe a databank built and used to support local and remote needs of biomedical information in various functions of a pharmaceutical industry. Published papers on the Company's products generate a database with references and with exhaustive keyword indexes. Papers on competitors and related subjects are in a parallel database with simpler indexing. Details of the record, of search and retrieval possibilities and of the available facilities are given. The databank is the basis of information activity, not only in the center where it originated, but also in several locations in other countries, linked through a private network. Expansion of the number of items in the product paper collections and of customers requesting papers after the online retrieval of references is continuous. To obviate difficulties in handling the requests of photocopies and in storing the product collections in the available space, the acquisition of a modern electronic document management system appears as a possible development. Features of optical disk systems, of their interfacing with the existing databank and of their possible impact on the information group activity are briefly examined.