Free, Reliable Internet resources in

MedicineFred Pond, MLS

Vice Rector, Library & Internet Medical Resources

Dartmouth Medical School

USA

12 November 2001

Free, Reliable Internet Resources in Medicine

Where can you find them?

The Internet is:• Big, but is usually

overwhelming

• Powerful, but requires effort & patience

Today’s Presentation• Focuses on three

types of information on the Internet

• Identifies methods to find exactly and specifically what you want to find

Internet Resources in Medicine

• Internet Directory

• Internet Textbook

• Internet Database of Journal Articles

Internet Directory• Medical Matrix

• http://www.medmatrix.org

Medical Matrix http://www.medmatrix.org

Medical Matrixwww.medmatrix.org

• “Full content, unrestricted access, Internet clinical medicine resources.“

• Medical Matrix assigns ranks to Internet resources based on their utility for point-of-care clinical application.

• Quality, peer review, full content, multimedia features, and unrestricted access are emphasized in the rankings.

• Free, requires registration.

Internet Textbook• eMedicine

• http://www.emedicine.com/

eMedicine  http://www.emedicine.com/

• Peer-reviewed online medical references and textbooks-- as emergency medicine, dermatology, wilderness, medicine, pediatrics, neurology, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, and radiology.

• Searchable. Also includes consumer level texts.

• Free, requires registration.

Internet Database of Journal Articles

• PubMed/Medline

• www.pubmed.gov

PubMed/MEDLINE http:www.pubmed.gov

• Contains bibliographic citations and author abstracts from more than 4,000 biomedical journals in 70 languages.

• Free, no registration.

• Comprehensive, 11 million citations dating back to the mid-1960's

• Offers web access to reliable free journals.

PubMed/MedlineAN EFFECTIVE

METHOD OF SEARCHING MEDICAL JOURNAL LITERATURE

How to Search PubMed• Use MeSH Browser

• Consider subject term subheadings

• Use Limits to reduce retrieval

• Combine terms to find references on two or more topics

MeSH Browser

• Helps identify correct subject heading– ‘Translates’ our clinical terms to

‘academic’ terms– e.g.. Use Neoplasm instead of

Cancer– e.g Use Cross Infection instead of

Nosocomial infection

Subheadings

• Located under MeSH Browser, click on ‘detailed’ display after searching term

• Choose correct subheading relating to the focus of your search– Drug therapy, rehabilitation, therapy– Blood, diagnosis, epidemiology, etiology– Adverse effects, contraindications, poisoning

• Subheadings differ with the different terms

Limit Your Search• Human

• Language

• Years; e.g. 1995-2001

• Patient age

• Abstracts

Patient Age Groups• Infant, <30 days

• Infant, >30 days to 2 yrs

• Child, preschool,2-5

• Child, 5-12 yrs

• All Child, 0-18 yrs

• Adolescent, 13-18

• Adult, 18-44 yrs

• Adult, middle age 45-64 yrs

• Aged, 65-79 yrs

• Aged, over 80 yrs

• Adult, all years

Combine subject terms• Use to combine two or more

subject terms

• For Example: penicillins & urinary tract infections

Finding full text articles

• Display abstract to see publisher icon

• Visit publisher web site

Full Text Journals on PubMed

A Journal list of free full text articles in PubMed is available at: (fill in)

User registration, a subscription fee, or some other type of fee may be required to access the full text of articles for some journals. Policies vary by provider and by journal.

BMJ 2000;321:1103 ( 4 November )Bleeding and pneumonia in intensive care patients given ranitidine and sucralfate for prevention of stress ulcer: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

More Search Methods• Author searching• Journal searching• Finding complete

references • Saving searches

Author Search• Family name, first & second

initials

• No first names

• For example.. IVANOV SJ

IVANOV SJ

For more help

Journal SearchClick on Journal browserEnter journal title or

abbreviation, e.g.>BMJ>British Medical Journal

BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL

Finding complete references Find the abstract to a journal

reference you want to know more about.

Saving Searches• Save a complicated search to

conduct at a later time

• Requires free registration

• Can be customized to your needs.

For More Information• Overview

• HELP/FAQ (frequently asked questions)

• Tutorial

• News/Noteworthy

Internet Directory• Medical Matrix

• http://www.medmatrix.org

Internet Textbook• eMedicine

• http://www.emedicine.com/

Free Books on the Internet

http://www.pubmed.gov

Thank you!