|
 |
|
|
|
||
 |
 |
|
||||
 |
||||||
|
|
Session D5: Information Providers, Resources, Tools, and DatabasesChairs: Barbara Grune (Germany) and Lisa Libowitz (USA) D5: New Sources for Alternative Methods on the Internet: The Objectives of Databases and Web Sites One of the main demands of animal welfare legislation is proof of the necessity of performing experiments with animals. Thus, a study using animals should not go forward if another scientifically reliable method that either avoids animal experiments altogether or minimizes pain and suffering of animals or reduces the number of animals involved is available to obtain the desired results. Scientists are required by law to search the literature and other relevant sources for alternatives prior to any research study with animals. Access to the information has become much easier with the advent of the Internet as a standard tool. Today a variety of online sources is available, e.g. web-based bibliographic databases and specialized web sites providing details about alternatives to animal studies. Nevertheless, scientists will have to work out the most appropriate search strategies, depending on the objectives of the relevant web sites and their own line of research. Are these sources sufficient to fulfill the demands of the animal welfare law? A critical discussion of this issue will take into consideration both the objectives of the different source providers and the information retrieval systems. D5: Proposal for International Recognition, Support and Cooperation with the Internet Clearinghouse on the Three R's (AltWeb) This presentation will focus on the establishment and current international scope of AltWeb, the clearinghouse of resources and information about the Three R's. The need for an international CRP was established by ECVAM Workshop #25, which was followed by the development and implementation of AltWeb through a Project Team. The growth of the Project Team to include representatives from several European countries and Canada, in addition to widespread support in the United States, and the Project Team's role in shaping this important resource will de discussed, as well as the role AltWeb will continue to play in spurring the development of information resources on the Three R's at an international level. Ways of encouraging use and reducing redundancy with other information providers will be explored. A proposal will be introduced to initiate annual meetings in the field of information resources. D5: Search Strategies on the Internet--General and Specific Some of the most up-to-date information on scientific activity is to be found on the Internet; for example, on the web sites of academic and other research institutions and in databases of currently funded research studies provided on the sites of funding bodies. Such information can be valuable in suggesting new approaches and techniques that could be applicable in a Three R's context. However, the Internet is a chaotic medium, not subject to the meticulous classification and organization of classical information resources. At the same time, Internet search engines do not match the sophistication of search systems used by database hosts. Also, although some offer relatively advanced features, user awareness of these tends to be low. Furthermore, much of the information on the Internet is not accessible to conventional search engines, giving rise to the concept of the "Invisible Web". General strategies and techniques for Internet searching are presented, together with a comparative survey of selected search engines. The question of how the Invisible Web can be accessed is discussed. Finally, examples are presented of the types of Three R's-related information that can be found on the Internet. D5: A Guide to Animal Research Databases on the Deep Web According to Completeplanet.com, the World Wide Web that is searched by conventional search engines provides access to an estimated one billion documents, the Deep Web or Web Information found in searchable databases that can only be discovered by a direct query, contains more than 550 billion documents. The ALTWEB pain management database is an example of an animal research database located in the Deep Web. Much of this information is available for free or at minimal cost. This guide will focus on easily accessible databases, such as ToxNet, the Science and Technical Information Network, AltWeb, Scirus, the annotated databases on refinement of housing, husbandry, and handling conditions and environmental enrichment for animals from the Animal Welfare Institute, and others. D5: The ECVAM SIS Projects The ECVAM Scientific Information Service (SIS) provides information on various aspects of alternative methods, including full method descriptions, as well as the INVITTOX protocols for their use, details on validation studies, and relevant ECVAM workshop reports. During the development of the concept for the establishment of SIS, the ready availability of the information to be included was one of the major matters of concern. The main customers being policy makers and researchers, as well as information scientists, the information to be offered by ECVAM and the data retrieval approaches needed to be developed accordingly. To best achieve these objectives, two complementary projects have been undertaken by ECVAM: the SIS databases and the ECVAM Thesaurus. For the database project, ECVAM chose the establishment of a data retrieval system containing factual and evaluated information with different levels of information content. The classification system has been chosen to be transparent and easily comprehensible for the end-user, in order to ensure easy storage of the information and ready availability during data retrieval. The ECVAM Thesaurus aims to define a systematically ordered collection of harmonized terms for the alternatives topic area, which could be used for the indexing of articles and for their retrieval, mainly via literature databases.
|
|
|
|
|
