Effective use of medical-scientific Internet resources

Problem: The Internet is not structured hierarchically and therefore it dis tinguishes from today's common knowledge sources. The rapidly growing numbe r of medical websites offers comprehensive but not easy to find information resources and continuing education opportunities for ophthalmologists. Methods and results: The efficiency of an Internet search is related to kno wledge about: existing search strategies. Several search systems are descri bed (search engines, catalogs, databases, indices, etc.). Additional advice about efficient usage (Meta-Search, use of Boolean operators, phrase searc h, etc.) is provided. The suggested search strategies are evaluated regardi ng their specific results, update status, and the usability of search engin es used. New applications such as SemioMap and intelligent Agents are descr ibed. Conclusion: Today the Internet provides practitioners and scientists who ar e able to use efficient search strategies with easy and fast to use informa tion resources. The total number of scientific-medical documents on the Web is growing very quickly. More and more, their content is related to curren t problems in patient treatment and future trends in clinical research.