The expanding body of medical information presents two challenges: (1) finding the relevant information for a given problem and (2) keeping up-to-date with new literature.

Time constraints dictate the need for a very efficient strategy in retrieving the relevant information. Internet connection and CD-ROM now provide us access to numerous databases that may contain the information we require. Finding a reliable evidence-based review or guideline saves time because it has already framed the clinical question, retrieved all the relevant information, appraised it, and integrated it to provide a summary finding or recommendation. Therefore, it may be most efficient to first search databases that are likely to contain this type of information (eg, The Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews, The National Guideline Clearinghouse). If information is not available from these types of resources one may next search for individual studies and other sources of integrative literature on the vast electronic database of MEDLINE, now also easily accessible via the Internet.

This section of the book, and its companion Web page in Chapter 6, provides strategies for searching the Internet, links to EBM resource Web sites, and a detailed strategy for searching MEDLINE. In addition, a chapter presenting an approach for keeping up-to-date with the medical information is included.