From Mrs K. E. Snell, RegPharmTech
As The Pharmaceutical Journal is available online, do we really need to receive weekly copies?
In this day and age, most of us get our information online, even applying or searching for jobs. Even though we can recycle these journals, it would save a lot of money with printing on glossy papers, postage, and saving the planet and environment. These savings could either reduce the membership costs or be put to better use.
I am sure in this economical climate most of us would agree with this idea.
Kim Snell
Prescribing Support Technician
Shropshire Primary Care Trust
from the Editor, The Pharmaceutical Journal
Since The Pharmaceutical Journal is the official journal of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society we carry its Official Notices.
It has always been understood that these must be sent to everyone on the Register which is not the same as making something available online.
We will continue this policy at least until the establishment of the General Pharmaceutical Council and The Journal’s role in delivering Official Notices is determined.
Not all of us get our information online
From Dr R. C. Jacob, MRPharmS
In responding to Kim Snell, it is pertinent to point out that many of us are not computer literate and, therefore, do not get our information online. Having the weekly delivery of the PJ, usually late, is for me part of being a pharmacist.
I am aware that many pharmacists file their copies of the PJ under the waste paper bin or only cast a casual eye over the obituaries and letters. That, however, is not a sound reason to deny the enjoyment that many thousands of pharmacists derive from the PJ, whether or not they read every dot and comma.
Further, I was not surprised to see a justification for stopping the PJ was that it would “help save the planet”. What utter drivel! I can envisage the banner headlines in the world’s leading newspapers: “The planet is saved. UK pharmacists give up their professional journal.”
In the editor’s footnote to the letter, do I detect a hint that the PJ might be in danger if disappearing? I sincerely hope not. If this were to be so I suspect that the pharmacist register would lose even more entries and I believe that the new professional body would have something to say in this context.
R. C. Jacob
Orpington, Kent
Down the pub
From Mr P. W. Pound, MRPharmS
I take my copy of the PJ down the pub and read it there.
If, in the future, as Kim Snell suggests, your publication will be available online only, it would be most frightfully inconvenient.
Bill Pound
Cottingham, North Humberside
Option to opt out of paper version
From Miss J. T. F. Aling, MRPharmS
Having seen the suggestion by Kim Snell to abolish the paper copy of the PJ and the subsequent responses by colleagues not so impressed by the idea, I have two comments to make.
My experience of PJ Online has recently been hampered by the website’s changes, which appear to have made access much more complicated than it was a few months back. In the current form, one is more likely to end up purchasing a new subscription than finding the articles.
As a compromise solution, would it not be possible for members to opt out of the paper version or, alternatively, donate it to one of the schools of pharmacy for pharmacy students. Opting out, of course, would be accompanied by a warning and acceptance that official notices from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society may be missed.
My household receives multiple copies of the PJ and being able to cut this down to a single copy would certainly make the postman and the recycling people grateful a week later.
Joanna AlingLondon
PJ Online and opting out of the paper PJ
PJ Online has been redesigned as an online resource and no longer provides an alternative way of reading individual issues of the PJ. As a separate electronic publication, it presents content derived from the PJ, Hospital Pharmacist, Retail Round-up and Tomorrow’s Pharmacist, and a growing range of additional content in web formats.
Users who have read the terms and conditions will also know that we no longer guarantee that content is identical to that which appears in print. This is because the website is edited separately from the print cycle and is frequently updated. A consequence of this is that we cannot include tables of contents of specific print issues. However, we will shortly be introducing a “past seven days content” service for all PJ Online users.
All content is readily searchable and we will also be redesigning the delivery of the search results to make it more user friendly. Content that previously appeared in the PJ can be found by using the search facility in the Library section but a specific issue of the PJ can no longer be accessed.
On the issue of delivery, the latest advice is that if there is more than one pharmacist at the same address, it is possible to elect to receive only one journal by contacting the Society’s registration department on 020 7572 2532.
The loss of an on-line
The loss of an on-line version of the PJ is a matter of great regret - maybe the website should be re-named 'not the PJ online'.
Many highly respected journals allow users to search past issues on-line rather than having to retain hard copies - the PJ appears to have moved in the opposite direction!!
I am yet to find a single pharmacist who thinks that the change in website is for the better.