Library Guides: Pharmacy: Recommended resources

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias

Australian medicines handbook
Publication Date: 2021
Dictionary of pharmaceutical medicine by Nahler, G.
Publication Date: 2017
eBook
Martindale: The complete drug reference
Publication Date: 2023
Mosby's dictionary of medicine, nursing and health professions
Publication Date: 2016

Quick links

eBook collections

AccessPharmacy This link opens in a new window
A McGraw-Hill resource on pharmacy and related subjects featuring a collection of 35 eBooks and a number of other learning and teaching resources.
AccessPharmacy is published by McGraw-Hill and covers the fields of pharmacology, pharmacotherapy, pharmacokinetics, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacogenomics, pathophysiology, biochemistry, physiology, biostatistics and more.

The main resource is a collection of more than 100 eBooks with key titles including the latest editions of Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological basis of therapeutics, Pharmacotherapy: a pathophysiologic approach, Pharmacotherapy casebook: a patient-focused approach, and Harrison's Principles of internal medicine.

AccessPharmacy also includes a number of other resources:
• Multimedia resources including animations from Goodman & Gilman;
• Learning and teaching resources including a section of Q&As;
• A US Drug database plus a herbs and supplements database;
• Regular updates from the online journal Topics in Evidence-Based Pharmacy Practice;
• A section of Quick Answers to clinical conditions;
• Case studies;
• A set of Patient Education handouts;
• A book on diagnostic tests;
• Calculators.

Most of the content is updated monthly.

To make use of personalised features, including creating quizzes, saving images, and saving favourites, create a (free) MyAccess Profile. You can do this from the Charles Sturt University drop-down at the top-right of the AccessPharmacy screen. See also McGraw-Hill’s MyAccess Profile video.

This resource works on an iPad, and there is a mobile-optimised version for use on iPhone, Blackberry Bold, and Android devices.
AusDI This link opens in a new window
AusDI, previously known as Catalyst, is an Australian database of independent drug monographs, pharmaceutical company product information (PI), consumer medicine information (CMI) documents, product summaries, drug product images, and Interactions and Safety monographs.
AusDI contains over 80,000 pages of medicines information, covering over 5,000 products including prescription medicines, hospital use, over-the-counter (OTC) products including many complementary medicines, devices, diagnostic agents, and dressings.

You can browse datasets by Product List, Product Summary, Product Information, Independent Drug Monograph, Consumer Medicine Information, Indications, and Therapeutic class.

Search options include Quick Product Search, Advanced Product Search, and Free Text Search, and you can search medicines information by brand, active ingredient, therapeutic class, or indication, and even by dose form, colour, markings, and shape.

AusDI features the new "Mobile Optimised AusDI". which means it has been optimised for iPhone, iPad and Android devices via a web browser. You can access all the medicines information and features via a mobile device, but ....

* Please note: Before using the mobile application you must register for a personal account with AusDI. You need to be connected to Charles Sturt's network in order to register. This would most likely be by way of a desktop computer or via Wi-Fi if you are using a mobile device. Once registration is finalised, the mobile application can be accessed from anywhere with an active internet connection. For more information, see Catalyst Mobile Release Notes.

** Please also note: CSU has only 2 concurrent user licences for AusDI. You can get alternative access to Product Information (PI), and Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) at the FREE online resource, TGA Medicines.
ClinicalKey Student: Medicine This link opens in a new window
An interactive platform with a range of resources for learning and teaching in Medicine. Note: To access content on this site you need to follow a login process. We recommend that you use or create an Elsevier account - see more information... below.
ClinicalKey Student:Medicine is a collection of medicine and medical science resources comprising:
• more than 200 textbooks covering 40 medical specialties, including Gray's Anatomy for Students and Medical Physiology
• more than 850 associated videos, ranging from practical demonstrations of anatomical dissections to instructional clinical examination examples
• more than 85,000 images
• more than 1,500 quick-access summaries of medical conditions.

To access the content you will need to follow a login process: we recommend that you choose the option to create and use an Elsevier account. If you already have a ScienceDirect, Scopus, or Mendeley registration then you can use that. If you do set up an account you will need to remember the email address you use, and your password. If, when logging in, you are asked to Choose Organization, go with the default (Charles Sturt University, IP_CSU_Bathurst) and click on Continue.

Once you are signed in you can access and read content directly, or via the Bookshelf, which gives you enhanced navigation and personalisation features. (Note: When you use Bookshelf for the first time you need to be in a book chapter before you click the ‘Launch Bookshelf’ link. After the first time, you can access Bookshelf from the 'Bookshelf' link at the top of the screen or from within a book chapter.)

You can also use the Bookshelf mobile app or desktop app to read content offline and use the personalisation features.

This resource does not allow for printing sections of text.

For more on access and use, go to the ClinicalKey Student Support Center.

This site is more than just a collection of resources. It also offers interactive teaching and learning tools. Teaching staff can create and assign assessments, and track students’ performance, while students can enhance their learning by creating quizzes.
LWW Health Library This link opens in a new window
A collection of eBooks and multimedia resources related to health sciences.
The eBooks are published by Lippincott Williams and Wilson (Wolter Kluwer), and there are no limits on concurrent users. Content is continually updated.

Key eBooks include:
• Clinically oriented anatomy
• Marks’ basic medical biochemistry: A clinical approach
• Medical physiology: Principles for clinical medicine
• Rubin’s pathology: Clinicopathologic foundations of medicine.

LWW Health Library also includes:
• videos covering anatomy, biochemistry, epidemiology, pathology/pathophysiology, and physical examination
• images
• quiz banks tailored to specialities
• patient education handouts.

You have the option to listen to an audio recording of chapter content.

You can download eBook chapters but you need a personal account to do this. Use the Sign in or the Create a free personal account link. With a personal account you can also save favourites, set up email alerts, and create personalised quizzes.

To download a book chapter, use the Print option at the top right of the chapter content. You have options to print, or save as PDF.

See more tips on finding and using eBooks.

Library databases

Cochrane Library This link opens in a new window
Free (in Australia) access to international evidence-based healthcare resources, with much in full-text. Produced by the Cochrane Collaboration.
The Cochrane Library is the main product of the Cochrane Collaboration, whose stated role is to make available systematic reviews of healthcare interventions, while promoting the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions.

There are two main databases in the Cochrane Library, as follows:
* Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (aka Cochrane Reviews, CDSR)
* Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (aka CENTRAL, Clinical Trials).

Cochrane Library also includes Cochrane Clinical Answers - short, clinically-focussed entry-points to research; Special Collections - curated collections on specific healthcare topics; and search access to the Epistemonikos health evidence database.

For detailed descriptions of these databases and resources, go to About the Cochrane Library.

It is the Database of Systematic Reviews that is the main resource. This database includes all Cochrane Reviews (and protocols, which are reviews in preparation) prepared by Cochrane Review Groups. It also includes editorials and supplements. Material in this database is available in full-text.

When you search the Cochrane Library you will get results, in a tabbed format, from: Cochrane Reviews, Cochrane Protocols, Trials, Editorials, Special Collections, and Clinical Answers. A search performed in Basic Search will also return results from Epistemonikos (under the tab of "Other").

Cochrane Library is a subscription resource, but under an arrangement between the Australian Government and the Cochrane Collaboration, the resource is available free to internet users anywhere in Australia.

In addition to access via Cochrane, Charles Sturt users can access the Cochrane Library databases via the Ovid platform, where they are listed separately with titles beginning with EBM Reviews ....
Therapeutic Guidelines This link opens in a new window
Treatment guidelines, mainly pharmacological guidelines but also including non-pharmacological guidelines, for specific medical conditions. Previously known as eTG: Electronic Therapeutic Guidelines.

Unlimited Access
These guidelines are produced by Therapeutic Guidelines Limited (TGL), an Australian not-for-profit independent organisation that prepares, publishes and distributes nationally-based prescribing guidelines. The Guidelines are endorsed by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the National Prescribing Service, the Royal College of Nursing Australia, The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, and other peak bodies.

The guidelines cover all common disorders seen in clinical practice and are a source of independent, evidence-based, practical treatment advice to assist practitioners with point-of-care decision making. According to TGL itself, the guidelines are "are regularly updated, based on the latest international literature, interpreted by Australia’s most respected experts, with input from an extensive network of general practitioners, pharmacists and other users".

The Therapeutic Guidelines site also includes: a browsable drug index; information on antibiotic prescribing and on drug use in pregnancy and breastfeeding; patient-information sheets and other useful PDFs; calculators, and a list of tables, boxes, and figures.
MEDLINE (includes MeSH headings) [1996 - Present] This link opens in a new window
This major international health and medical database is available from Ovid in various date packages. The version here includes material from 1996 to current.
MEDLINE is recognised as the premier index of biomedical literature. It covers health and medicine,allied health, and veterinary science, plus the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to health care. It is produced by the United States National Library of Medicine and covers thousands of international journals from 1950 - .

It is primarily a database of citations, but the Ovid version includes links to some full text journal titles from the database CSU Full Text Journals@Ovid, listed in the Charles Sturt databases lists as Journals@Ovid CSU Full Text Subscribed.

MEDLINE is provided by Ovid in various date packages. These can be accessed from the Library's list of M-databases or from the Ovid menu of databases.

MEDLINE is also available free on the Internet as PubMed.
MIMS Online This link opens in a new window
Convenient access to essential information on over 2,300 prescription and non-prescription drugs. 10 users at a time can access only
MIMS Online is the web version of the MIMS prescribing information for pharmaceuticals available in Australia. It contains both abbreviated prescribing information, which is equivalent to the MIMS Bi-Monthly (a paper product), and full prescribing information, which is equivalent to the MIMS Annual (a paper product). It also contains product images, and consumer medicines information (MIMS CMI).

The database offers access to information on more than 4,500 prescription and non-prescription drugs.

MIMS Online has Simple and Advanced Search options, and also allows for browsing of the product information by Brand Name, Generic Name, or Therapeutic Class. There is also a Pill ID module, where you can search for a tablet/capsule image, and a Drug Interactions module, where you can identify drug interactions.

The database is updated several times a year.
ProQuest Health and Medical Collection This link opens in a new window
A ProQuest database which indexes more than 3300 publications, with nearly 2800 available in full-text, covering medical sciences, health management, and health marketing.
This database combines clinical research journals with hundreds of consumer and administration titles, and it covers all major clinical and healthcare disciplines, including medical sciences, surgery, nursing, pharmacy and pharmacology, gerontology, immunology, radiology, public health, health management, health marketing, and physical fitness and hygiene.

Coverage is from 1987 current.

Once you are in the ProQuest platform, you can change to any other ProQuest database by clicking on the hamburger menu at the top left of screen, then on Change databases. Other health-related databases in ProQuest include ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Database and ProQuest Consumer Health Database. All ProQuest databases can be searched individually or in combination. There is a subject package of databases available at ProQuest Health & Medicine Databases.
UpToDate This link opens in a new window
UpToDate is an evidence-based clinical medical resource which includes medical and patient information, drug information, and a number of medical calculators. It is continuously updated and is designed as a point-of-care clinical resource.
The main content consists of 11,000 topics across 25 medical specialities, which are written, edited, and reviewed by authors, experts, and peer-reviewers from around the world. Each topic includes a prominent Summary section or Summary and Recommendations section.

Other features include:
• 1500 patient education topics
• 33,000 graphics
• access to Lexi-comp drug monographs
• more than 175 medical calculators
• What’s New and Practice-Changing Updates
• UpToDate Pathways.

UpToDate has an uncluttered user-friendly interface. You can search across the whole resource, or, from the top tab-bar, you can access the Contents, Calculators, Drug interactions, and UpToDate Pathways. You can navigate between topics using hyperlinks in the text.

For information about UpToDate's peer review process, see the page on Editorial Policy.

See all Pharmacy databases.

Need some help with understanding how to use Library databases? See our Database Help Guide.

Websites

Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement (7CPA)
This site provides access to a wealth of information about the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement (6CPA) between the Australian Government and The Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
Department of Health and Aged Care - Medicines
Provides access to information on complementary medicines, medical devices and medicines.
Medicines Australia
Represents the pharmaceutical industry in Australia.
Pharmaceutical Services - NSW Department of Health
NSW Government Department of Health information for pharmacists, includes legislation.
TGA Medicines
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is Australia's regulatory authority for therapeutic goods.

Professional organisations

Pharmacy Board of Australia
Regulating Australia's pharmacists.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
The national professional organisation for pharmacists in Australia.
The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia
Professional body representing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians practising in all parts of the Australian health system.

Legislation and codes

Legislation

The Therapeutic Goods Act, Regulations and Orders
The Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 sets out the legal requirements for the import, export, manufacture and supply of therapeutic goods in Australia
Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 No 31 (NSW)
Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 (NSW)

Australian Pharmacy Standards

National Competency Standards
Competency standards describe the individual practitioner’s skills, attitudes and attributes based on knowledge and experience that together is considered sufficient to enable the individual to practise as a pharmacist.
Professional Practice Standards
PSA’s Professional Practice Standards articulate the values of the pharmacy profession and expected standards of professional behaviour of pharmacists towards individuals, the community and society.
The Poisons Standard (the SUSMP)
The Poisons Standard consists of decisions regarding the classification of medicines and poisons into Schedules for inclusion in the relevant legislation of the States and Territories.
National Medicines Policy
Australia's National Medicines Policy is a cooperative endeavour to bring about better health outcomes for all Australians, focusing especially on people’s access to, and wise use of, medicines.

Codes

Codes, Guidelines and Policies - Pharmacy Board of Australia
The Pharmacy Board of Australia has developed codes, guidelines and policies to provide guidance to the profession.
Medicines Australia - Code of Conduct
Medicines Australia’s Code of Conduct sets the standards for the ethical marketing and promotion of prescription pharmaceutical products in Australia.
Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia - Code of Ethics
A code of ethics for all Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia.