Comparative evaluation of the performance of online databases in answeringtoxicology queries

An evaluation of toxicology information resources is reported, comparing co mmercial online databases and a specialised in-house database. A mixed qual itative/quantitative approach, using 10 test queries and detailed failure a nalysis was used. The main conclusions are: the in-house database is superi or to any 'general' database in recall and precision; commercial databases are a useful complement, usually providing unique material; a range of data bases should be used for good recall; for the commercial databases, complex search strategies are necessary, using the specific access points of each database; retrieval failures are due primarily to coverage, secondly to poo r indexing of specific toxic effect. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.