Databases for searching the scientific literature: |
PubMed
PubMed was created by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The PubMed database includes all of MEDLINE as well as some additional articles. Particularly useful features include:
- An easy-to-use interface -- type a keyword, author, whatever in the box and go. It also supports Boolean logic.
- "Limits", which allows you to restrict a search to certain article types (such as review articles), human vs. animal studies, certain subject areas or years, etc.
- "History", which saves your search strategies for one hour and allows you to combine searches
- Direct links to full text of some articles
Web of Science
Electronic version of Science Citation Index, and Social Sciences Citation Index. Features:
- Useful for finding the most important (heavily cited) articles and books in the sciences and social sciences.
- Can be used to find articles citing a known work on your topic.
- Can limit searches to certain types of articles, such as reviews -- scroll down to "SET LIMITS AND SORT OPTION" on the Search screen.
Biology Digest
Covers magazines such as Scientific American, Science News, and Discover as well as leading life science journals and certain other publications (e.g., WHO reports). Notable features:
- Extended abstracts (the "digests") written in a non-technical give you a really good idea of the contents of an article.
- Aimed at undergraduates.
- The type of coverage and the non-technical summaries make Biology Digest a good place to start for students or non-scientists to begin research in an unfamiliar field.
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Databases for searching popular press and social science literature: |
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) International
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature,
research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, and more. Features:
- Topics covered include economic, political, business, finance, law, international trade and relations, public administration, government, political science, public policy and social issues.
- Publications from more than 120 countries.
WilsonWeb
The H.W. Wilson Information Retrieval System for the World Wide Web provides several search tools for accessing information stored in databases, the most useful of which are:
Wilson OmniFile Full Text, Mega Edition - a multi-disciplinary database providing the complete content - indexing, abstracts, and full text - from six of Wilson's full-text databases: Education Full Text, General Science Full Text, Humanities Full Text, Readers' Guide Full Text, Social Sciences Full Text, and Wilson Business Full Text. You can select the subject area database within OmniFile.
Readers' Guide Retrospective - a database containing comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America. Useful for historical information. Current coverage for this database includes the years 1890 through 1982.
Academic Universe
LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic Universe provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. Useful for finding newspaper articles. |
Agencies & organizations: |
World Health Organization
Good for an international view. Particularly useful information includes:
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
CDC has a wealth of information, although, of course, it's centered on the U.S. Some particularly useful pages are:
Emerging Infectious Diseases, Division of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases at the NIH
Includes fact sheets, brochures, reports, articles, and links to specific diseases.
ProMED - Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases, from the Federation of American Scientists. Monitors both human and animal diseases. Links to maps, mail archives, and internet resources. |
Online textbooks, tutorials, etc.: |
Microbiology Webbed Out
An online microbiology textbook from the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin. Selected as a quality web site for current web contents by the Institute for Scientific Information.
Medical Microbiology, 4th ed.
edited by Samuel Baron, M.D., The University of Texas Medical Branch, with Chapters by many experts. Last updated 1996. The online version of this book is also mirrored at the NIH.
All the Virology on the World Wide Web
The most comprehensive source of virus information on the web. Includes information on specific viruses and links to on-line courses and tutorials.
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