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The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) databases provide free access to quality assessed evidence to inform health and social care policy, practice and research. The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED) assist decision makers by systematically identifying and describing systematic reviews and economic evaluations, appraising their quality and highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses. The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database provides a comprehensive listing of ongoing and published health technology assessments.
Users of the databases include health professionals and managers, information specialists, health and social care policy makers, researchers, and students from around the world. In 2009 over 400,000 identifiable unique users from around 209 countries and territories viewed over 4 million records free of charge by means of the CRD Web site (www.crd.york.ac.uk/crdweb/). The content is also available through several other platforms, including the Cochrane Library, however, CRD's dedicated search facility gives access to the most current records.
The CRD databases have, since 1994, evolved to best meet user needs, keep pace with developments in research and exploit new technologies. This article aims to provide an overview of the value and content of the CRD databases and an introduction to the new developments being implemented in 2010.
THE CRD DATABASES
DARE contains over 8,000 critical abstracts of quality assessed systematic reviews, in excess of 3,800 bibliographic records of systematic reviews, and summaries of all Cochrane reviews and protocols. A new feature is the inclusion of summaries of all relevant Campbell Collaboration reviews and protocols.
The production process for DARE is set out in Figure 1. Reviews for inclusion in DARE are identified from regular searching of bibliographic databases (e.g., MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE), and by scanning gray literature and selected web sites. The BMJ, Lancet, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Archives of Internal Medicine are hand searched on publication; identified reviews are fast-tracked and available to users usually within 1 week of journal publication.
Figure 1.
Production process for DARE.
To improve the timeliness of content, as soon as reviews potentially meeting the DARE inclusion criteria are identified, details are loaded onto the...