TOWSON UNIVERSITY

ISTC 651 INFORMATION LITERACY & ACCESS

ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION SOURCES

EVALUATION CRITERIA
Physicians Desk Reference
BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION:
Physicians Desk Reference. (2002). 56th ed. Montvale, N.J.: Medical Economics.
REVIEW SOURCES: Indicate if readily available.
COST:
rd
Amazon.com $68.36 for 63 edition.
Online requires access via registration and is free to certain qualified medical
professionals. I was able to view the site for review only.
Available at local library in reference department. Could not be taken out at that library.
AUTHORITY:
From Wikipedia.com
Thomson Reuters is an information[1] company created by The Thomson Corporation's
purchase of Reuters on 17 April 2008.[2] It is a dual listed company with two parent
companies: Thomson Reuters plc is a British company and a constituent of the FTSE 100
Index, and Thomson Reuters Corporation is a Canadian company and a constituent of the
S&P/TSX 60 index. The combined group's operational HQ is in New York. Thomson
Reuters operates in 93 countries, and has over 50,000 employees.
VIEWPOINT/OBJECTIVITY:
From Thomson Reuters website.
The Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) has been the authoritative source of FDAapproved information on prescription drugs for more than 60 years and is available for all
healthcare-related professionals, pharmacists in healthcare and industry, medical libraries,
and medical/pharmacy school faculty and students. Delivered in multiple formats in print,
online, and electronically on CD-ROM the PDR provides instant access to all the
information contained in the PDR, the PDR for Nonprescription Drugs, Dietary
Supplements and Herbs, and the PDR for Ophthalmic Medicines.
PDR provides instant access to the trusted drug information source counted on for
years. PDR now offers PDRhealth.com to consumers and healthcare information seekers.
PDRhealth is based on the same trusted prescription, over-the-counter drugs plus herbal
medicines that we offer physicians but are now written for the consumer. Other critical
tools on the site include: interactions checker, disease and condition information, and the
Treatment Option Profiler Tools for cancer, heart, and lung.

PURPOSE:
To provide information in the medical field.
SCOPE:
From Amazon.com editorial.
Product Description
The authoritative source of FDA-approved information on prescription drugs.
The new 2009 Edition of PDR is now here - ready to provide the vital information you
need to know about all the newly approved drugs available.
PDR has been the authoritative source of FDA-approved information on prescription
drugs for more than 62 years. No medical reference is more comprehensive, more
current, more user-friendly, or more recognized and respected. The 2009 PDRincludes
more than 3,000 drugs organized by brand and generic name, manufacturer and product
category. It also provides usage information and warnings, drug interactions, plus more
than 1,800 full-size, full-color photos, cross referenced to the drug. You will also find:
* A key to controlled substances
* Contraindications
* Phonetic spelling
* Adverse reactions
* Dosages
* Pediatric use
* FDA use-in pregnancy ratings
* Clinical pharmacology
* Other FDA-required information
And this year it's even more important to receive your new PDR, since there are so
many new treatments you'll want to learn about including:
* Afluria
* Doribax
* Exforge
* Ixempra
* Kuvan
* Renvela
* Tekturna
* Xyzal
For absolutely accurate information you need the 2009 PDR!

TIMELINESS/CURRENCY:

FORMAT/ARRANGEMENT: Availability in print, digital and other format.

Print, available as for pda (portable digital assistance) and as reference data base for
computers.
Online website at http://www.pdr.net/login/Login.aspx
SPECIAL FEATURES: Indexes, annotations, abstracts, study aids, illus., etc.
From Physicians Desk Reference website.
With Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR), you can:

Search and retrieve data on drug interactions, side effects, dosages, uses,
contradictions, and more
Access data on more than 3,000 drugs by brand and generic name, plus more than
1,800 full-size, full-color images of products, cross-referenced to the
corresponding prescribing information

Why choose Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR)?

Contains detailed FDA-approved package insert information

Delivers crucial data quickly and in a familiar, easy-to-reference format
Includes photos, charts, tables, and chemical structures for convenient comparison

Online offers links to drug & supplements, disease & conditions, clinical trials, surveys,
and interactive tools.
Indexes include content, manufactures index, brand and generic name index, product ID
guide (gave picture of medicine and dosage available), product info (listed by company).
At the end of the book was a volunteer Med Watch form, The FDA Safety Information
and Adverse Event Reporting Program, and VAERS=vaccine adverse event reporting
system form.
Not all medicines were listed in book like I expected, the ones that were listed the
description, usage, does, clinical pharmacology, organic structure, chart,
indications/usage, general recommendations, contradictions, warnings, precautions, drug
interactions, adverse reactions, drub abuse/dependence, over dosage,
dosage/administration, how supplied, reference, how to supply, storage and handling.
AUDIENCE:
For high school students interested in the medical field and college medical students
through adults.
MULTICULTURAL TREATMENT:
No bias.

PERSONAL REFLECTION AND EVALUATION:

Although I love this book as a personal reference to medical issues I dont see a need for
its use unless doing research on medical concerns and for pre-med high school students,
or emergency medical technician students. Might be used by nurse at school or science
teacher as a reference for high school biology or other science students. Use is very
limited.