Insights into the issues facing pharmaceutical companies for information provision: a report on the P-D-R special meeting, La Grande Motte, 28-29 February 2008.

Purpose — This paper aims to report on the Pharma Documentation Ring (P-D-R) special meeting 2008 on access and use of publishers' content through multiple channels. Design/methodology/approach — After an introduction to the goals and activities of the P-D-R, the paper describes the different sessions of the meeting and then summarises the topics related to document supply. Findings — The paper reports on the use of primary information in pharmaceutical companies, on global services arising from national functions, on outsourcing information management, and on technical solutions to control, monitor and limit access. One of the hot topics of the conference was restriction by digital rights management (DRM) measures. Originality/value — This report provides insights into the issues currently facing the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry is the only corporate sector with a long and profitable tradition of networking between information professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]