The regulations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) require that investigators provide Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) with documentation demonstrating that alternatives to procedures that may cause more than momentary pain or distress to the animals have been considered and that activities do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments. A thorough literature search regarding alternatives meets this Federal mandate. An alternative is any procedure which results in the reduction in the numbers of animals used, refinement of techniques, or replacement of animals.

D'Anna Jensen, Technical Information Specialist from the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC), will be conducting the workshop.

The objectives of this workshop are to provide:

• An overview of the AWA and its information requirements;
• A review of the 3Rs alternatives concept;
• A comprehensive introduction to NAL, AWIC and other organizations;
• Instruction on the use of existing research-related databases/websites; and
• A short hands-on literature searching experience.

This hands-on workshop is targeted for principal investigators conducting research on animals, members of IACUCs, information providers assisting researchers with access to scientific literature, administrators of animal use programs, and veterinarians.

Laptops will be provided for attendees to use during this session.