SCIE media releases 2005

SCIE launches Social Care Online

24 June 2005

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has launched Social Care Online - the UK's most extensive database of social care information.

Formerly the electronic Library for Social Care (eLSC), which included CareData, Social Care Online is free and easy to use.

The database contains tens of thousands of pieces of information including good practice guidance, government publications, inspection reports, legislation, service user knowledge, social care practice reports, standards documents and training material, consultation documents, directories of other social care resources and organisations, and free access to other major social care databases and websites.

Director of Knowledge Management at SCIE, Diane Gwynne-Smith, who led the development of Social Care Online, believes it will be a crucial tool for all people working in social care.

"Social Care Online is social care's equivalent of Google. Whatever it is you want to find, whether you're a practitioner, student, researcher or service user, you'll find it all with a click of a button. It's a virtual warehouse of information and it's free so everyone can access it."

Social care practitioners will be able to use Social Care Online to inform their practice and to find out about the latest legislation and debates. It will be particularly useful for registered social workers who can use it to help fulfil their post-registration training and learning obligations.

It is also a must for students who can use it to research their essays and dissertations, while researchers and academics can use it as the first stop in their literature surveys.

You can find results both by browsing social care topics and also by creating your own search query. There are different levels of searching available, ranging from a simple search for people who are 'feeling' their way around and who want a quick and easy response, to a complex search that can search for this and not that, with a side order of that but not this.

Updated daily by SCIE's experienced information managers, Social Care Online offers unrivalled free access and ease of use.

Social Care Online is free. To access it go to:
www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk

Media contact

Margaret Lynch | Press Officer | T: 020 7089 6858 | M: 07834 194 896