• The internet can help a busy practitioner keep abreast of the burgeoning volume of medical literature in many ways. www.amedeo.com/index.htm is a simple yet effective resource. Choose a topic—there is a fair selection—pick your preferred journals, and a weekly literature digest with citation details will be emailed to you. This is a helpful means of minimising information overload.

• The NHS lies at the centre of British medicine and its history touches not only its staff but also the whole population. So a site that looks at the history of the NHS since its launch in 1948 (www.nhshistory.com) is likely to have broad appeal. Although this site is not fully comprehensive, it is a good chronicle of the main events in the NHS. A frame on the left side of the site acts as a guide to the main topics. The webmaster is keen for feedback.

• There are not that many psychiatric sites that aim (and succeed) to be educational and vibrant, but the United Kingdom oriented www.psychejam.com certainly scores highly on both accounts. It will be of particular interest to psychiatric trainees, although it will appeal to anyone with an interest in psychiatry. It is by no means complete but offers helpful services such as mnemonics, a chat room, and, of course, a links section. On a more relaxing note, there is also a film review section.

• Ever got lost in a sea of acronyms and not had a clue what they meant? Well www.pharma-lexicon.com, a collection of pharmaceutically related acronyms, is one site that might help. The database is searchable using an inhouse search engine or via an index. In addition, there are other good collections available from this site such as libraries, journals, and other useful data related to the pharmaceutical arena.

• If you are interested in the field of travel health then you might want to check out www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/osh/prof_e.html. This Canadian initiative is a well produced links page connecting with a range of helpful resources. It begins with a list of travel health issues currently in the news.

•  Harry Brown general practitioner, Leeds DrHarry@dial.pipex.com

•  We welcome suggestions for websites to be included in future Netlines. Readers should contact Harry Brown at the above email address.