Free, Reliable
Internet resources in
Medicine
Fred Pond, MLS
Vice Rector, Library & Internet
Medical Resources
Dartmouth Medical School
USA
Free, Reliable Internet Resources in
Medicine
Where can
you find
them?
12 November 2001
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 Matrix
www.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
• Searchable. Also
medical references and
includes consumer
textbooks-- as
level texts.
emergency medicine,
• Free, requires
dermatology,
registration.
wilderness, medicine,
pediatrics, neurology,
orthopedic surgery,
plastic surgery, and
radiology.
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/Medline
AN 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,25
• 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
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
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.
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 Search
Click on Journal browser
Enter 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!