Executive Director, Blume Library
PubMed
PubMed is a key database for finding journal citations for biomedical literature. Currently, there are over 29 million citations in the database.
PubMed covers journals indexed by MEDLINE as well as non-MEDLINE journals. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) selects journals included in MEDLINE and indexes each with a MeSH subject heading, a controlled vocabulary. MeSH provides a hierarchy of organized terms for searching and understanding the topics in each journal.
This box also links to a few key PubMed-related resources to help you navigate this database successfully.
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowComprises more than 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher websites.
Note: only abstracts and open-access articles are available through this resource.
Selected PubMed Sources
- MEDLINE DescriptionDescription of the journal coverage in MEDLINE, the relationship to PubMed, links to MeSH subject headings, sample records, etc.
- MeSH Medical Subject HeadingsDescription of MeSH, video tutorials and webinars, and links to headings.
- PubMed HelpDescription, FAQ, extensive quick start search guide, and links to video tutorials.
NIH
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a large federal agency that engages in research and research support in a large variety of areas. This box will focus on a few of the NIH's activities. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), which produces PubMed, is a NIH institute. This section highlights some important NLM databases.
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)Main NIH website with links to health information, grants, news, research & training, and related organizations.
- Grants & Funding (NIH)The NIH is a major source for biomedical research funding. The Grants section provides application information, and forms library, compliance information, and information about funded grants.
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
- BLAST (NLM)The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) "inds regions of similarity between biological sequences. The program compares nucleotide or proteinsequences to sequence databases and calculates the statistical significance."
- ClinicalTrials.gov (NLM)Registry for clinical trials and observational studies, recruitment information, and preliminary results
- MedlinePlus (NLM)Consumer health information, vetted by the National Library of Medicine. Includes topics like wellness, diseases & conditions, pharmaceuticals, lab tests, and healthy recipes. Types of sources include calculators, encyclopedias (background info), magazines, videos. Also available in Spanish.
More Biology-Related Agencies
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)Main website with information on diseases & conditions, health living tips, traveler information, emergency preparedness, and more.
- Data.CDC.govCDC data portal with statistics on health, vaccinations, injury & violence, disability, and more. Data catalog and video guides.
- Wonder (CDC)Numeric and text databases about topics like mortality, cancer incidence, HIV/AIDS, vaccinations, and more. Public health data along with census data.
More Resources
- Congressional Budget Office: Health CareThe CBO provides information to Congress about topics, in this case, health care. Public policy focus.
- Food & Drug Administration (FDA)Regulatory agency for topics like food, drugs, medical devices, vaccines, etc. Information at various levels such as consumers, patients, industry, health professional, and government officials.
- Food & Nutrition Information Center (USDA)Department of Agriculture center that provides nutrition information, dietary guidelines, food composition data, and more.
- Healthcare (OSHA)Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) information for individuals employed in health care. Topics like infectious diseases, safety, hazards, etc.
- Surgeon General (HHS)Public health commission that examines topics like addiction, public health threats, tobacco (smoking) and more.
Print: Biology & Medicine Sources
Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiements, Final Report.Call Number: PR 40.8:R 11/H 88/1995. Print and online. This Committee reviewed experiments conducted between 1944 and 1974 with the following aims: to determine the government's role in the experiments, to determine by what ethical standards it is appropriate to judge the experiments, and to identify lessons to be learned from the study of past and present research standards and how this knowledge can be applied in the future.- Compilation of Selected ActsCall Number: Y 4. C 73/8: [Congress no.- LETTER]The House of Representatives' Energy & Commerce Committee periodically publishes collections of laws under its jurisdiction, many of which pertain to environmental topics. They are simple compilations of laws in force, with no explanatory material. Relevant volumes: Food, Drug & Related Law, Health Law
- Epidemiologic Trends in Drug AbuseCall Number: HE 20.3969:The meetings from which these proceedings are taken are held to provide "community-level public health surveillance of drug use and abuse through presentation and discussion of quantitative and qualitative research data." There is a highlights/summary volume and a proceedings volume each year.
- Health. United States.Call Number: see belowHE 20.6223: (1975,1979-92); HE 20.7042/6: (1993- ). Annual, some years have supplemental volumes. Largely consists of statistical data, with some narrative explanations and summaries. A "Statistical Abstract" for health issues and concerns, the reports cover all aspects of morbidity, mortality and health care in the US.
- Healthy PeopleCall Number: HE 20.2:2000, 2010. The Healthy People initiative outlined specific goals for the Public Health Service, and the reports monitor the initiative and provide background information. These and other publications related to the initiative are available online from the CDC.
- Surgeon General's Reports on SmokingCall Number: HE 20.7614, 7615:.Irregular. 1971, 1979-2001. Deals with a different topic each year, such as "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People," and "Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation." These and more recent reports are available online from the CDC.
Biology: Related Guides
- Biology & Medicine Research GuidesCourse guides, and other material, produced by Blume Library librarians to assist students with research projects