The use of internet for online literature search

The internet offers charge-free access to electronic online databases and thus has revolutionized the handling of information. Today's challenge is the rational management of the large amount of attainable data. This overview presents the various databases - particularly databases for online Medline search - and basic knowledge for effective and successful search strategies. There are numerous important advantages of online access to literature databases: availability at any time and any place in the world, easy handling due to the user-friendly surface of the World Wide Web, capability of linking directly to the private database. Clinicians, scientists, and ophthalmologists in private practice can equally profit from the advantages of fast, easy, and charge-free online-search in medical literature databases. Literature search should thus be an important tool to obtain the latest scientific knowledge for every physician.