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| Montgomery College Libraries > Beth Thoms > Biomedical Scholars | |
Webpage created by Beth Thoms, Montgomery College Libraries
As we discussed in the library instruction session, here are some reminders about how to locate the resources you will need for this course.
1. Boolean Keyword Searching | 2. Articles in Databases | 3. Journal Titles | 4. Encyclopedias | 5. Web Sites
A search expression that uses Boolean operators is one of the best ways to pinpoint information in a library catalog, database, or search engine. There are three components to Boolean search expressions:
- Keywords: tend to be the nouns that best describe a topic
- Boolean Operators: AND, OR, and NOT
- Punctuation: quotation marks "" for phrases, parentheses ( ) with OR, truncation symbols * ? for root word searches
Here are some sample searches using keywords and Boolean operators:
- ("avian flu" OR "bird flu" OR "avian influenza")
- "global warming" AND (oceans OR "marine life" OR coast)
- (DNA OR "deoxyribonucleic acid") AND replication
- "chesapeake bay" AND pollut*
- "cell cycle" AND cancer
- DNA and (mutation OR mutate OR error)
- Academic OneFile
- A very large database covering all subjects. (Gale)
- Academic Search Premier
- A very large database covering all subjects. (EBSCO)
- National Newspapers
- Includes the last few decades of The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journals, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Baltimore Sun. For opinion pieces, include the word "editorial" in your search expressions.
- Biology Journals
- A collection of journals that focus on topics in biology.
- Nature
- This is the online edition of the weekly international science journal and has archives going back to 1950.
- Science Direct
- ScienceDirect indexes more than 7 million journal articles in the sciences and applied sciences. Through the MDL consortium, we have access to the full text of many of these articles through a shared title list.
- Science Resource Center
- This database includes "thousands of topic overviews, experiments, biographies, pictures and illustrations...and the latest scientific developments...covered in articles from over 200 magazines and academic journals and links to quality web sites."
REMEMBER: Your results can be sorted by date (most recent first) or relevance (highest occurrence of keywords).
Printing: For trouble-free printing, use the Print button in the database.
Here are some sample searches using keywords (they tend to be nouns) and Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT):
- "heart disease" AND women AND treatment
- "bird flu" OR "avian flu" OR "avian influenza"
- emerg* AND (virus OR "infectious disease")
- "human genome" OR (human AND gene AND mapping) OR "human chromosome"
- "junk dna" OR retrotransposons
- diabetes AND ("type 1" OR "type I")
- "gene therapy" AND "cystic fibrosis"
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- The Merck Manual of Medical Information: 2nd Home Edition, Online Version (virus, "gene therapy")
- Formerly only available as print publication. (Merck & Co.)
- Access Science ("junk dna")
- Allow you to enter Boolean search expression or use directory to drill down.
- Credo Reference
- Search their entire collection of online medical encyclopedias at once.
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- In addition to the Encyclopedia Britannica, includes links to Web pages and selected articles.
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Information on topics in public health; publications are intended for laymen interested in health and medicinal issues.
Limit Domains in Google: To limit your Google search to reputable Web sites, enter the domain you are interested in searching in front of your search terms:
- site:edu or site:gov
or site:org
- site:edu "islet cell transplantation"
- site:gov "christopher reeves" "spinal cord"
- site:org "stem cell research"
- National Library of Medicine: MedlinePlus
EXCELLENT!- (National Institutes of Health)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
EXCELLENT!- (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
- The World Health Organization
EXCELLENT!- (The World Health Organization)
- The National Academies
- "Advisors to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine"; browse the Topics tab for subject areas. (National Academy of Sciences)
- Kaiser Family Foundation
- HIV/AIDS, Medicaid, Medicare, minority health, Rx drugs, health coverage, women's health. (Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Health Communication: Annenberg Center
- "[A]ddresses public awareness of health policy and health-related behaviors." (Annenberg Public Policy Center; University of Pennsylvania)
- American Cancer Society
- (American Cancer Society)
- American Diabetes Association
- (American Diabetes Association)
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
- (National Institutes of Health)
- American Heart Association
- (American Heart Association)
- AIDS Epidemic Update 2003
- (United Nations)
- HIV/AIDS
- (Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Youth & HIV/STDs
- (Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Avian Influenza
- (The World Health Organization)
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Send your feedback and suggestions to beth.thoms@montgomerycollege.edu. ©2006 Montgomery College Libraries
Last Revised: 2008 July 2, egt