Title: NIAAA May Discontinue the Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database (ETOH)

Author:

Section/SPIG: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs

Issue Date:

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The Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists report that NIAAA may discontinue its Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database (ETOH). The NIAAA Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database (ETOH) has been the major alcohol bibliographic resource for researchers, clinicians, and policy makers around the world since its Web debut in 1997. Even before that, librarians, especially those in the substance abuse field, used and depended on ETOH in all its pre-Internet forms since its creation more than 30 years ago. As committed users of and advocates for ETOH, SALIS librarians have advised NIAAA on all aspects of the ETOH database for more than 25 years.

NIAAA has apparently made a decision to discontinue ETOH and maintain it only as an archival resource, cutting off all updates as of December 2003. We say ‘apparently,’ because there has been no formal announcement of this decision, and as far as we know, no prior consultation with the alcohol research community. The NIAAA Web site still lists the database but with no mention of discontinuation or change. In spite of the lack of public notice, since Jan. 2 more than 40 letters and e-mails (that we know of) have been sent to NIAAA from individuals and research organizations to protest the institute’s action. We believe that NIAAA has an obligation to thoroughly assess the value of the ETOH database and supporting Thesaurus in consultation with the community of alcohol researchers and librarians before making any drastic decisions about its future.

To read more on SALIS's position, please go to <http://salis.org/ETOHPositionPaper.pdf> for The Value of the ETOH Database: A Position Paper.