The Autism Data web site is run by the UK's National Autistic Society (NAS) whose “aim is to provide individuals with autism and their families with help, support and services that they can access, trust and rely upon … ”. The database which covers autism and Asperger syndrome has been live since 2006 and describes itself as “the best online tool for autism research”, which the Society believes is the “only database on published material on autism open for all to access on the web”. Its claim appears to be justified as the only other database relating to autism research seems to be the American National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) which is linking with the British National Institute of Mental Health (NIME) in 2010 to provide access to its database but only for those enrolled in research into autism.
This database contains bibliographic details of more than 18,500 online resources, books, pamphlets, journal articles, and videos some of which can be found in the Society's Information Centre. It is difficult to find the database on the web site as it is not, as you might expect, at the top level of the NAS's main web page but can only be located by clicking on the left‐hand heading Working with People with Autism and scrolling down to the bottom of that page to a large box. A small icon on the front page would benefit site users and increase the usage of what appears to be a very comprehensive and informative database.
Simple and advanced searches are available to locate records and there is also a Guide to the database dated 2006. The results are displayed five per page starting with the record number first, then the author, title, publication, year of publication and its availability in the Society's Information Centre. The lack of a date in many records at this stage of searching is a real disadvantage as searchers cannot quickly see which are the most current.
To see the full bibliographical record the user must click on View Details, which opens in a new window. This contains the record's details plus an abstract – often very detailed – and keywords, which bizarrely are listed in one long string of words with no punctuation. The reviewer is so used to keywords being listed clearly either in separate lines or with dashes or some other punctuation between them that for inexperienced searchers it must be very confusing. For example, a search using the keyword Asperger results in 2,577 records and appears to list the most current websites before other types of publications. One of these records is an article in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2009, Vol. 39(1), pp. 115‐125, for which the keywords are High Functioning Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Conversation Pervasive Developmental Disorder, not Otherwise Specified Speech.
A search for a specific publication by the National Strategies, Department for Children, Schools and Families entitled Inclusion Development Programme: Supporting Children on the Autism Spectrum: Guidance for Practitioners in the Early Years Foundation Stage was successful and was listed on the second page of records.
Having located relevant records you either then have to make a note of them, request them – £3.00 charge for copyright cleared items or print them by tagging and then processing them, which in the reviewer's case brought her back to the simple search box! There is no back button to enable you to return to your original search terms with the only options being the next or previous records or a new search. This feature would be a useful addition as sometimes you just want to quickly check what keywords you used rather than having to go back to the search box and click to drop down your search history.
At every point in the use of the database there appears on the left‐hand side of the page a list headed About Autism which contains other useful information sources, allowing users to surf off into other related pages.
The reviewer believes that the Society's claim to “be the best online tool for autism research” can only really be achieved by placing a simple Autism Data icon on its front page, adding a back button and making the records less librarian orientated in layout and more simple for the ordinary person who may be using the web site for the first time to find information about autism or Asperger. The Society should be shouting about this fantastic information database rather than trying to hide it away.
