[The Sociedad Española de Cardiología on the Internet: current resources and future prospects. The Internet Committee of the Sociedad Española de Cardiología].
The Internet can help physicians to identify needed clinical information quickly providing continued medical education. Internet also improves medical information of the non-medical population. Researchers have quick access to library catalogs, Medline and other important databases from the most recognized research centers. Furthermore, it can put physicians in ready contact with other specialists for communication and consultation, facilitates administrative procedures of multicenter studies and accelerates editorial processes of biomedical journals. Since its creation, the website of the Spanish Society of Cardiology has evolved rapidly to the present model, providing different kinds of services to its members including faster communication, information from national and international societies and congresses, earlier access to the full content of Revista Española de Cardiología and to a variety of graphic resources and of continuing education. Nowadays, the website of the Spanish Society of Cardiology is consulted by one thousand visitors a week, even at weekends. The degree of activity increases from 3 h P.M. with a peak from 11 h P.M. to 1 h A.M. In the near future, our website will incorporate its own courses of continuing medical education with on-line evaluation and credit granting, will give support to multicenter studies and will initiate the publication and discussion of clinical cases of interest.