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  Databases in Health and Nutrition   

Citation Guides - correct format for proper documentation
Consumer Health Sites - best of
Databases - scholarly materials, citation indexes and full text
E Books - use free electronic texts when you can't find the printed book 
Government Resources - state, local, federal and international; also historical texts
Quick Reference - quality, credible, and timely reference resources -mostly all are free Specialized Search Engines - gateway sites, specialized search engines, Web portals
Web Directories - subject guides to selective and carefully chosen sites on the Web  
Web Resources - selected list of free sites

Web Search in a Nutshell - getting started in library research
 

Subscription Databases Available Only to the WSC Community:

Health Reference Center Academic -   From InfoTrac Web. Over 2.5 million articles; can limit to full text and/or peer reviewed.
Also look in Academic One File for coverage of popular topics in health. Indexes peer-reviewed, full text articles available in HTML or PDF formats from the world's leading journals and reference sources. Also has full text New York Times content back to 1995, hundreds of podcasts and transcripts from radio and television broadcasts. Search Tips (PDF)
Funded by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the six Massachusetts Regional Library Systems.
 

     Academic Search Complete.  Good general coverage of popular topics in health and medicine. Search Tips (PDF) In addition to general academic subjects, there are separate indexes devoted exclusively to medical and health topics.  

• Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic. Designed for doctors, nurses, students, clinical specialists with access to 100 full text journals covering clinical medicine, nursing, health care system, etc. All 100 journals are also indexed in MEDLINE.
• CINAHLwith Full Text - The authoritative resource for over 1,700 nursing and allied health journals, now with more full text. 
• Health Source: Consumer Edition -  food and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine, and general health. Full text for nearly 300 journals including Consumer Reports on Health and Men's Health, as well as abstracts and indexing for 180 general health and professional health care publications.
• MEDLINE - created by the National Library of Medicine, users can search abstracts from over 4,800 current biomedical journals.
• Clinical Pharmacology - provides access to up-to-date, concise and clinically-relevant drug monographs for all U.S. prescription drugs, hard to find herbal and nutritional supplements, over the counter products and new and investigational drugs. 
   

  C S A Illumina.  Cambridge Scientific databases now include Biology and Medical databases: Biology Digest (1989+), MEDLINE, and TOXLINE (1994+).  Also contains a free Hot Topics section - pathfinder guides with overviews, key citations, selected websites, and extensive bibliographies. Recent topics added are Anthrax, bipolar disorders, and genetically modified foods.

Gale Virtual Reference Library. Available through InfoTrac. Contains full text of standard reference works:

• Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine 2nd ed. (2005) 4 volumes
• Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer (2006) 2nd ed. 2 volumes
• Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders (2006) 2nd ed. 2 volumes
   

    Public Affairs International.  Public affairs and worlds issues with coverage from 1972 to the present. An index to over 1/2 million articles, books, government documents, Internet sites and documents from more than 120 countries. Obviously useful for global issues in health and nutrition.
 

AGRICOLA - FREE  3.3 million bibliographic records covering all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines; browse by subject or use the search box - there is an entire section devoted to food and nutrition .  This is the primary public database for access to world-wide agricultural information. List of journal titles indexed in 2007 (PDF)
 

  Newspaper Resources -   Includes links to current media outlets, international sites, television news, as well as three resources for archival research: Newspaper Source, Lexis-Nexis and Massachusetts Newsstand  (Boston Globe and Worcester T & G and 12 others).

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Other Web Resources - selective list of free sites

• Evidence Based Practice for Public Health
• Food Pyramid - from the US Dept. of Agriculture. Section for kids, also has section on tips and resources for a healthy lifestyle.
• Gray's Anatomy - classic edition (1918). Searchable by keyword, table of contents, or subject. Contains 13,000 entries. 
• Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy - 17th ed., 1999 (latest edition- online version of the 18th edition will be posted in October 2006)
• National Eating Disorders Association - information for professionals, general information, and information for people with eating disorders
• Natural Pharmacist - Physicians and pharmacists offer objective information derived from scientific studies about alternative therapies. Discusses herbs and supplements (both positive and negative aspects) so that users can make informed decisions. Best feature: list of herbs and their interactions with other herbs and prescription drugs.
• Natural Health Web - A searchable directory of natural health and alternative medicine websites containing organized links, articles and newsletters. Covers acupuncture, herbal medicine, yoga, bodywork, healing and spiritual practices.
• Partners in Information Access for Public Health Professionals - a collaborative project to provide public health professionals with timely, convenient access to information resources to help them improve the health of the American public
• Physician's Desk Reference - Disease overviews, clinical trials, drug information
• Public Health Foundation -
• Specialized Information Service - a division of the National Library of Medicine, responsible for information resources and services in toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and specialized topics in minority health
• US Pharmacopeia - 
• Violence Against Women - from the National Women's Health Information Center, provides information on a variety of violence issues facing society
• Whole Health MD - a source for alternative medicine, complementary medicine, and integrative medicine. A searchable site combining the best of conventional medicine and alternative therapies. Features the Healing Kitchen and a Reference Library of chronic conditions, supplements, food, and a glossary.
• World Health Reports - from the World Health Organization
• World Health News - a news digest from the Center for Health Communication of the Harvard School of Public Health

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Government Resources

• Healthfinder. Your reliable guide to health information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human services. Also has a Spanish and a kids version. Health news, information about doctors, public clinics, hospitals, long term care, etc. Great link to organizations, carefully selected health information on the Web from government agencies, clearinghouses, non-profits and universities. 
• National Center for Health Statistics.
• Health United States, with Chartbook - "an annual report on national trends in health statistics." Chartbook assesses the current state of the Nation's health and how it is changing over time; contains a special feature on adults ages 55-64.
• Food & Nutrition Information Center - From the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Factual information for lay audiences and schoolteachers, with selected technical reports and policy statements for health care professionals and researchers.
• Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition - by the US Food and Drug Administration.  Section on food labeling, information for consumers, links to related agencies, international and non-governmental information.
• Nutrition.Gov- from the US Department of Agriculture. Gateway to reliable information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety for consumers, educators and health professionals. Information comes from various agencies across the federal government.
• Global Health.Gov - Links to international organizations and travel Web pages from the CDC along with travel advisory information. Under the "Data Resources" heading are health profiles of various countries, links to foreign government Websites; world health statistics; Web pages and documents relating to hot topics such as bioterrorism, HIV/AIDS, bird flu and more.
• Healthy People 2010 Information Access Project -
• Pandemic Influenza Plan - from the U S Dept. of Health and Human Services (PDF format)
• Find other government sites in health and nutrition with our Research Guide to Government

Best of the Consumer Health Sites

Reliable consumer health information is notoriously difficult to find on the Web, especially for patients. Check these sites and find quality health information for patients, friends, or yourself.

•  Medline Plus. "Health Information you can Trust" from the National Library of Medicine. Easy to use resource designed for the general public. Current health news, a featured site changed weekly, clinical trials, dictionaries, drug information (including herbs and supplements), a medical encyclopedia, interactive slide shows, and more.
• Centers for Disease Control – Health topics from A to Z
• Complete Home Medical Guide - sponsored by Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
• Family Doctor - from the American Academy of Family Physicians
• Health & Living - provides reliable doctor produced health and medical information designed to help people improve their health and well-being. Owned by WebMD.
• Health World Online - believes individuals should be major players in their own health care, and that integrative medicine—the blending of the best of alternative and conventional medicine - can help achieve wellness and health
• A Healthy Me - from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Has news, special self-care sections such as high blood pressure, weight control, prostate health; also covers current issues such as prescription drug cards.
• Healthline - medical search engine offers medically filtered results developed by trained medical personnel. Formerly Your Doctor.com.
• InteliHealth - featuring Harvard Medical School's Consumer Health Information
• Revolution Health - "Learning Centers" by disease/conditions, drug information, community sites, and "module" based info (diabetes, heart disease, etc.)
• MayoClinic - Excellent source of health information for the general public provided by the well-respected Mayo Clinic. Also has resource libraries in areas such as cancer, pregnancy, women's health, etc.
• WebMD - a leading provider of online information, educational services and communities for physicians and consumers

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Search Engines  

 These are "gateway" sites: they don't have medical information, but link you to sites that do. Less exciting than TV's Scrubs, but more practical.

• Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources-Nursing. Access to comprehensive sites on health-related and nursing subjects. It is a list of lists, but the best on the 'Net - it leads you to sites containing health information. 
• Martindale's Health Science Guide -
• Scirus - the "most comprehensive science-specific search engine on the Internet." Scirus searches over 200 million science-specific Web pages, enabling you to quickly pinpoint scientific, scholarly, technical and medical data on the Web, and find the latest reports, peer-reviewed articles, patents, pre prints and journals that general search engines miss. Now also handles the links to free documents cited in MEDLINE.
• Vivisimo Velocity for Life Sciences - a unique search engine which meta searches across many online sources (including PubMed) and clusters the results. Takes a little getting used to, but can be helpful for organizing your search.
• Omni Medical Search - Basic search (for lay public) and Med Pro version for professionals. Searches Web sites, images, and medical news sources; also pointers to 72 medical databases, medical journals, medical associations and more.

Web Directories

There are excellent subject directories on the web. that can point you to the best online resources in specific areas of health and patient education. These human guides to the Internet are a great way to find the best of the Web, and often find sites that can't be accessed by search engines. The best ones to use for scholarly material are:

• Librarians Internet Index - Provides a well-organized point of access for reliable, trustworthy, librarian-selected Internet resources. Covers a broad range of subjects, has both a topical directory arrangement and search capabilities.
• InfoMine - Virtual library of scholarly Internet resources. Features well organized access; notable for its collection of annotated and indexed links.
• Academic Info - gateway to freely available academic resources on the web, with annotated entries. General links, related topics, in the news sections.

More subject directories on the web

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