Always the last to know?

Am I the last to know that the National Research Register is dead? It's been superseded by the UK Clinical Research Network, which is still searchable, but registration doesn't appear to be a requirement for NHS organisations now. The link to search the new register is here: http://public.ukcrn.org.uk/search/

Hopefully the new register will be as useful as I found the old one to be.

The statement is here: http://www.nrr.nhs.uk/OfficialStatementToNRRProviders.pdf

It's still possible to search the archive of the NRR though.

New version of TRIP

I'm really quite excited about the new version of TRIP being launched. I use the database for almost every search I do, often as a scoping search, sometimes after having already searched the primary biomedical databases & Cochrane Library.

Here's what John Brassey has been saying on the TRIP blog:

• Much improved search algorithm, more relevant results at the top and less 'noise'.
• 26 specialist search engines. 26 today and more in the near future. These specialist search engines allow users to simultaneously search the core TRIP content plus the top 10-15 journals specific to that area. I see it as a bridge between users having to go from TRIP to the full, difficult to use Medline.
• New content, we've added a load of web 2.0 content, wikis, podcasts and webcasts.
• A trial of linking to UK-approved education. Today the UK but if the trial works we'll introduce education from around the world.
• A new category 'More' to house the new content.
• Ability to arrange results by relevance or by year.
• We've removed the big google ads banner.

There's more, but those are the main improvements.

I think I'll be using TRIP even more in future!