Cochrane Library: Free access for all?

  In an ideal world, all health information would be available to all people. The databases contained in the Cochrane Library are an invaluable resource for health professionals, particularly the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and there is a global movement to make the Cochrane Library available to all.
A number of countries now offer their [...]

A Google Scholar Primer

 Almost a year ago I wrote A Google Primer, which some of you have told me you have found useful. This week I took a careful look at Google Scholar, and I’ll pass on some of the things I discovered. Scholar’s advantages and disadvantages have been well documented and I won’t go into them in detail [...]

The changing library: what clinicians need to know

  This article adapted from grand rounds presented by faculty from the Mt. Sinai Medical Center and published in the October 2006 issue of the Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine provides a nice overview of the services currently offered by medical libraries. The authors discuss the following myths, issues I deal with every working day:
Myth [...]

Free literature databases: a selection

  Here is a selection of databases or search engines that are free on the Web, listed by broad category.
Biomedicine/Evidence-Based Medicine:
PubMed [U.S. National Library of Medicine]
NLM Gateway [U.S. National Library of Medicine]
The Cochrane Collaboration [citations only, without subscription]
Cochrane Reviews abstracts & summaries
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Databases
  [including Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)]
TRIP Database: [...]

Professional & Medical Ethics: Internet Resources

Earlier this week I was asked to compile a list of resources on professional ethics. Now I am sharing it with you. Below is a selection of Internet resources in three broad categories. All are free online, but full text of retrieved resources usually requires subscriptions. For best searching results, read the search tips and [...]

PubMed’s new AbstractPlus display: automatic display of Related Articles

I just discovered a new display option in PubMed: AbstractPlus. This wasn’t here earlier today when I was demonstrating PubMed to some students. I really like this about PubMed … You never know what you’re gonna get. (Never chocolates, alas.)
Anyway, look at the difference in these displays:
Abstract display   AbstractPlus: Note how the first few “Related [...]

Mapping the Literature of Nursing: JMLA April 2006; Volume 94 (2 Suppl)

  The current issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) is a supplement entitled Symposium: Mapping the Literature of Nursing, a project of the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section of the Medical Library Association. JMLA is an Open Access journal and free full text is available through PubMed Central.
Sample titles from [...]