Medline and Embase complement each other in literature searches

EDITOR—Greenhalgh briefly mentions some important differences between the Medline and Embase databases.1 To compare the usefulness of the databases in the drug information setting we carried out a prospective study of all requests for drug information that required a literature search during July and August 1996. For each inquiry both databases were searched back to 1992 with current CD ROMs. Standard search strategies were used, based on indexed subject headings and textwords. Relevant articles were selected on the basis of the information in the abstract …