Publications
APS Bulletin • Volume 13, Number 4, 2003
Web Site Reviews
Michael E. Clark, PhD, Department Editor
Organization: International Association for the Study of Pain
Reviewed by Ronald J. Gironda, PhD
Site Audience
This is the home page of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), the parent organization of the American Pain Society (APS). Consistent with the mission of APS, IASP is dedicated to promoting research on pain and improving the care of patients with pain. The site may be of interest to practitioners and researchers seeking information about a variety of pain topics, treatment advances, professional meetings, job and educational opportunities, and IASP publications, grants, awards, and membership. An “IASP Members Only” link provides members with access to additional online resources.
Content Appraisal
This simple site contains a significant amount of clinical, theoretical, empirical, and professional information accessible without IASP membership. Most useful to many APS members may be past issues of Pain Clinical Updates, an IASP quarterly clinical newsletter, and other reprinted articles addressing a broad range of issues in pain treatment and research. Educators and trainees alike may benefit from the outlines of IASP- recommended pain curricula for dentistry, medicine, nursing, occupational and physical therapy, pharmacy, and psychology. Catalogs of IASP publications provide descriptions of books and other printed resources available for purchase, although online ordering is currently not an option. Also posted are a limited number of job opportunities in North America and Australia.
If visitors are unable to find the information they are seeking on the IASP site, the site offers many links to a variety of other pain resources. Perhaps the primary purpose of this Web site is to serve as a resource for IASP members. Accordingly, meeting calendars, chapter contacts, grant and awards announcements, special interest/working group information, and other related material comprise a large portion of the site’s content.
Navigation/Ease of Use
The IASP site has a relatively simple design and is easy to navigate. Because of the generic labeling of buttons, the depth of information provided on the site is not immediately apparent. However, most of the useful information is readily accessible and linked to more than one primary or secondary button. A weakness of the site is the absence of a search engine, but an alphabetized subject index provides quick access to all of the site’s contents.
Recommendations
This Web site may be most useful to IASP nonmembers as a source of general information about pain practice and theory, professional and educational meetings, and IASP publications.
Review content represents the opinion of the reviewer, not APS.
Please submit your suggestions for future Web site reviews to Michael E. Clark, PhD, Web Site Review Department Editor, michaeleclark@highstream.net.