[Construction of directory for biomedical databases on INTERNET].

Objective: To construct a global directory of biomedical databases(DBD), which can be used free of charge on INTERNET. It will be convenient for researchers to find out related databases quickly, easily and accurately by using DBD since there are not enough useful tools for database retrieval. Biomedical databases will be an accelerator in development of biomedicine with the help of DBD.

Methods: PubMed and Google were main tools for searching related databases. Proper search strategy with rigorous indexing rules helped us to filter databases. The database management system was Microsoft SQL-Server 2000. The web pages of DBD were designed with Macromedia Dreamwaver MX. ASP (active server pages) technology was used to deal with the key words and scores sent by users.

Results: There were 66 subjects and 1 258 databases in DBD at this time. We released the Chinese and English versions of DBD on the INTERNET at the same time http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/DBList/index.htm http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/DBList/index_en.htm . Score system was also established to evaluate the content of the indexed databases. Users can search DBD by subjects key words and alphabetic databases' names easily.

Conclusion: DBD has laid the primary foundation for further core biomedical database evaluation system. DBD, as a useful tool for biomedical database retrieval, will be of great aid to users since databases have played a more and more important role in the biomedical research.