ePIC brings together in one search interface seven digitized plant information resources available through the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Searchable resources include International Plant Names Index, the Kew Web site, Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature, Plant Micromorphology Bibliography, Living Collection, Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi‐Arid Lands, and Seed Information. Detailed descriptions of these authoritative resources are available on the site. In addition, links to the Web sites of four other botanical gardens in Europe and North America are available through the Partner link. Unfortunately, ePIC’s search mechanism does not extend to the partner Web sites.
ePic loads quickly, as the site comprises solely text. The clean opening page provides a brief description of the site, a link to the search page, and a menu bar containing links to “Help”, “News”, “Data sources”, and “Partners”. Links are also available to contact the producers and receive permission to link to the site. A detailed terms of use is included. The search interface allows users to select which of the seven resources to search but does not offer any advanced search techniques or limiting functions. The search suggests the use of scientific plant names, although limited success was found using common plant names such as violet and geranium. ePIC allows users to e‐mail results to themselves in text or XML formats by clicking on “Download”. The “Help” files are minimal, as the search functions are straightforward and do not need lengthy explanations.
ePIC allows anyone to access the immense amount of resources available through the Royal Botanic Gardens. The search results are much better when using scientific plant names, though this limits the audience to those who are already familiar with the scientific names or who can locate the scientific names in other resources. Overall, ePIC is an excellent resource for academic librarians who serve biology and botany students and for public libraries who serve amateur gardeners.
