Drug Information Defined
It is called drug information, medication information, or drug informatics. It’s really the discovery, use, and management of information in the use of medications. Drug information covers the gamut from identification, cost, and pharmacokinetics to dosage and adverse effects. You may also need information about the body, health, or diseases in order to better utilize the drug information.
Classification of Information Sources
Drug information sources have been traditionally classified in three different categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary. For a more complete discussion of these categories of information resources, please refer to the following chapter:
PRIMARY SOURCES
Primary literature consists of clinical research studies and reports, both published and unpublished. Not all literature published in a journal is classified as primary literature, for example, review articles or editorials are not primary literature.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Secondary literature refers to references that either index or abstract the primary literature, with the goal of directing the user to relevant primary literature.
TERTIARY SOURCES
Tertiary sources provide information that has been summarized and distilled by the author or editor to provide a quick easy summary of a topic. Some examples of tertiary resources include textbooks, compendia, review articles in journals, and other general information, such as may be found on the Internet.