Bibliographic Instruction Presentation (LIS 5916) U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) By George Nichols (June 2005)

FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) Website: A large governmental organization, the FDA is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services and is further subdivided into eight centers (CBER, CDRH, etc). Features resources on many topics, including food safety, medical product safety, regulation of radiological products (microwave ovens, lasers, etc), and veterinary health. This site is accessible to a broad audience that includes consumers and health professionals. Mission Statement (excerpt): “...protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health.”

Information is mainly organized by: Product News Technical Docs Hot Topics Activities Audience

Users may also browse using site map, or A-Z index

Basic Search Let’s go to the homepage to do a basic keyword search.

Basic Search Results Does this interface look familiar? FDA uses Google search technology. Scroll down and hyperlink on “More Search Options.”....

Advanced Search Advanced options are similar to that of Google’s advanced search. May limit results to any of the site’s 14 data categories (Medwatch, dockets, etc.). Next, scroll down the advanced search page to hyperlink on “Database Search”...

FDA Databases You may select from any of 36 databases, such as Adverse Event Reporting System, Medical Device Approvals, and Warning Letters.

Search Tips The search tool has an easy learning curve. It uses Google search technology, so it shares the same approach regarding Boolean operators, lack of support for stemming or wildcards, intuitive text-entry fields, as well as drop down boxes and checkboxes for limiting fields. However, access to the advanced search page is clumsy. To access, you may either: –1) Scroll to bottom of homepage and click on the tiny footer link entitled "Search FDA site.“ OR –2) do any search in the basic search box, which takes you to a "more options" link that, in turn, takes you to the advanced search page. Results are generally of high quality, though you may need to use advanced options to avoid a flood of results for common topics. Also, some medical info is outdated. For example, a search for hypertension yielded a consumer-education document from 1990 (fortunately, the FDA provided a disclaimer warning the document may be outdated).

Conclusion I found FDA.gov to be an invaluable resource, particularly for topics such as food safety, medical product warnings or approvals, radiological health, and veterinary medicine. Among its advantages: Fairly easy search interface. High quality—and often exclusive or original—information. Credibility (a well-known federal institution). Lack of advertising or product selling. Comprehensive privacy policy. Designed to be accessible to people with disabilities.