Medical Reference Sources - Print Reference and Online Indexes

This guide provides an overview of the Health Sciences print and electronic reference sources available in the library. Most are comprehensive in nature, but many specialized resources are also available. Ask a Reference Librarian if you need assistance in locating them.

Contents: Online Indexes & Databases | Electronic Sources | Encyclopedias and Dictionaries | Handbooks, Manuals, and Guides | Statistics

About off-campus access

Online Indexes & Databases

Alt-Health Watch (1990 - )
A full-text database focusing on the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. In-depth coverage from more than 160 international publications, on both professional and consumer levels.

CINAHL Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (1982- )
Indexes all major nursing periodicals published in English, as well as selected periodicals for health education, laboratory technology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and rehabilitation, radiology, respiratory therapy and social services in health care. Includes some selected full-text.

Cochrane Library
A database for locating evidence-based information on the effects of health care. Includes the Database of Systematic Reviews, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, and the Controlled Trials Register.

HAPI Health and Psychological Instruments (1985 - )
A tool for finding quantitative and qualitative measures both published and unpublished. Provides references to instruments such as questionnaires, checklists, coding schemes and manuals, interview forms, scenarios and vignettes, index measures, projective techniques, rating scales and test.

Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition via EBSCOhost
Features nearly 540 scholarly full-text journals.

MEDLINE
Provides comprehensive access to international biomedical literature. Indexing more than 3,200 biomedical journals published in the U.S. and abroad, and chapters and articles from selected books. Abstracts are available for roughly 60% of the citations.

OTSearch
As the catalog for the American Occupational Therapy Association, this database covers the literature of occupational therapy and related subject areas, such as rehabilitation, education, psychiatry or psychology, and health care delivery or administration.

Registry of Nursing Research
Published and unpublished research studies in nursing. Also includes access to The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing.

Electronic Sources

Health and Medicine in the News maintained by the University of Minnesota's Bio-Medical Library, allows you to search or browse for health related articles appearing in the Star Tribune from May, 1994 to the present.  A similar site at the University of Connecticut Health Center indexes articles from the  New York Times .

HSTAT (Health Services/Technology Assessment Text) provides full text of AHCPR Clinical Practice Guidelines and NIH Clinical Studies.

Merck Manual Online a web version of the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary REF R121 .D73 2000
A concise medical dictionary complete with over 800 illustrations, etymologies, and medical subject headings.

Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health
REF R121 .M65 1997
A concise work for the nursing and allied health fields with emphasis on patient care and education. The appendix includes medical symbols, common hospital abbreviations, sources for patient education materials, and addresses for state nursing organizations.

Encyclopedia of Human Biology REF QP11 .E53 1997
A multi-volume resource covering all biological fields relating to humans including: biochemistry, biophysics, cytology, genetics, immunology, pharmacology, physiology and toxicology.

Encyclopedia of Public Health REF RA423 .E53 2002
A multi-volume set providing information about important aspects of the sciences, arts, practical skills, organization, essential functions, and historical traditions of public health.

Mosby's Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Dictionary REF R121 .M89 1998
Medical dictionary with a special focus on nursing and allied health. Has 70 appendices which cover a broad range of topics including assessment guides, nursing diagnoses, nutritive values and more.

Handbooks, Manuals and Guides

Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment REF RC71 .A14 2002
General medical text covering all fields of internal medicine, designed for use by practitioners. More than 1,000 diseases and disorders are covered. Updated annually.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders REF RC455.2.C4 1994
Provides diagnostic criteria for mental disorders including laboratory finds and cultural, age and gender features of each disease.

Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy REF RC55.M4 1999
Entries include a definition or description, etiology, symptoms and signs, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Also available on the Web at http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/.

Physician's Desk Reference REF RS75. P5 2002
Lists and describes 2,500 FDA approved drugs. Descriptions include clinical pharmacology, indications and usage, contraindications, warnings, precautions, adverse reactions, dosage and administration and how drug is supplied. Updated annually.

Statistics

Health, United States, 1998 with Socioeconomic Status and Health Chartbook
REF RA407.3 .U57a
Presents national trends in health statistics on the population, children's health, and adults' health through a chartbook and detailed tables.

Statistical Abstract of the United States REF HA 202
Although a general statistics work, this is an excellent source for health-related statistics. Data is presented in table format and usually covers a period of 15 to 20 years. Updated annually. Also available online at http://www.census.gov/ftp/pub/statab/www/.

Statistical Record of Health and Medicine REF RA407.3 .S73 1998
A comprehensive compilation of national, state and municipal health statistics. Much of the material dates from 1990 or later.

World Health Statistics Annual REF RA651 .A485 1996
Provides statistical overviews, by country and worldwide, of changing trends in health patterns and mortality. Updated annually.