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| The range of potential users of alternative medicine research information is broad and
varied and the needs of patients, caregivers, and community resource organizations overlap
with those of biomedical researchers, physicians, practitioners and other health care
workers. This site is a professional research resource made openly, publicly
available.
This directory listing concentrates on publicly accessible sources of primary research information, that is, mainly bibliographic but also other primary research data, such as toxicologic data on botanicals. The listing gives priority to larger holdings of relevant research data but some very small resources are listed if they cover a unique area of research, such as the Qigong database. Electronic media and, above all, Internet technology have opened up access to basic research information, but not all of the resources below are available electronically. A few are distributed only in paper form; some electronic databases are not accessible but form the basis for a search service; databases may be run on a commercial or not-for-profit basis; they may differ vastly in size and scope. However, provided the resource contains either unique or primary information for research into alternative and complementary medicine, it is included. There is no attempt to quality rate these databases. All information resources hold some interest within the research context. The term "database" is problematic. Its usage covers a variety of types of
media, and the term often denotes an in-house filing system created to serve the specific
needs of an organization or office. Increasing numbers of "electronic databases"
are adv ertised in the medical literature, alternative and conventional, which are
compilations of material designed for a specific educational or professional audience.
They are usually more like a book or information catalogue but in electronic format. Both
the internal filing systems and the "electronic books" have been excluded from
this listing, unless they are so comprehensive and/or unique that they constitute an
important resource, or form the basis of an information or search service. Similarly,
resource libraries have generally been excluded; one exception is HOM-INFORM with its
valuable collection of homeopathy references. There are numerous community resource
libraries now available, often built on the well-established Planetree model, which may also provide
searches of primarily National Library of Medicine (NLM) databases; these are not
considered primary resources for the purpose of this compilation. Page updated June, 2007
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