HealthLinks | Health Sciences Libraries | How-To

Life After the U

Now that you are leaving the University of Washington, you may have questions on how to access some of the health sciences resources that you have used while here at the University of Washington.

The resources on HealthLinks that are annotated with a lock icon Information About Access Restrictions are restricted by license agreements to current UW faculty, staff and students. This web page will suggest a variety of unrestricted websites to visit to find similar information. You may also want to consult the public libraries or the library at your place of employment for additional resources.

HEAL-WA logo

Services for Health Care Practitioners Licensed in Washington State: HEAL-WA

heal-wa.org
If you are a member of one of 13 groups of health care practitioners licensed to practice in Washington State, you are fortunate. You now have access to a collection of online databases (for example, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane, DynaMed, Natural Standard, Nursing Reference Center, etc.), over 65 electronic books and full-text articles from nearly 5000 journals through the HEAL-WA website. Eligible are Washington State licensed professionals in the following groups: Physician (MD or DO), Registered Nurse, PA, ARNP, Naturopathic Physician, East Asian Medicine Practitioner, Chiropractor, Licensed Massage Practitioner, Optometrist, Podiatrist, Psychologist, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker. HEAL-WA focuses on providing evidence-based information to a variety of clinical providers to support patient care. Please visit the HEAL-WA site for more information.

Services for UW Alumni

healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/alumni.html
UW alumni may continue to use many of the library resources after graduation. See this website for information on Onsite Borrowing Privileges, Self-Service Photocopying, Quick Reference Assistance, Online Resources, and In-Depth Service and Article Retrieval.

National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region (NN/LM PNR)

nnlm.gov/pnr
Phone: 206-543-8262, 800-338-7657 (within region)
Fax: 206-543-2469
Email: nnlm@u.washington.edu
NN/LM PNR is the service that coordinates and funds programs committed to meeting needs for quality health information via a network of libraries and organizations in the northwest. Located in the Regional Network Office at the Health Sciences Library, University of Washington, NN/LM PNR is run under contract with the National Library of Medicine. Its aim is to promote access to health information resources for health professionals and the public in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. NN/LM PNR staff will refer people to library and information services based on needs and situations, will fund educational activities about health information, and can provide training and consultation concerning online access to information resources, e.g. searching PubMed or MedlinePlus, and using health information resources on the Internet.

Database Searching

ClinicalTrials.gov

clinicaltrials.gov
A registry and results database of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the U.S. and around the world. Provides information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers.

GeneTests

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/GeneTests/
Provides current authoritative information on genetic testing and its use in the diagnosis, management, and counseling of individuals and families with inherited disorders. Includes GeneReviews, expert-authored disease descriptions, international directories of genetic testing laboratories and genetics/prenatal diagnosis clinics, and educational materials.

NLM Gateway

gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd
Allows searches in multiple National Library of Medicine databases, i.e., PubMed, MedlinePlus, OMIN, DIRLINE, TOXLINE, etc.

OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=OMIM
A database of human genes, genetic disorders, and genetic phenotypes; contains text, pictures and reference information.

ProQuest

Mostly full-text access to journal and newspaper articles. Available through the King County Library System and the Seattle Public Library with your library card number, or consult your local public library.

PubMed

pubmed.gov
Provides access to MEDLINE and other health-related databases, with links to participating online journals and other related databases and web resources.

TOXNET

toxnet.nlm.nih.gov
Databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic releases, including:

UWAA Access

www.washington.edu/alumni/membership/journals.html
Members of the UW Alumni Association (UWAA) have access to 3 Ebsco databases (Academic Search Alumni Edition, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts, and GreenFILE) providing them with indexing and abstracting of over 8000 journals and full-text journal access to over 3500 journal titles.

Drug and Herbal Information

Dietary Supplements Labels Database

dietarysupplements.nlm.nih.gov/dietary/
Provides information and ingredients for over 6,000 dietary supplements sold in the U.S.

Drugs.com

drugs.com
Information on over 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications and natural products, including side effects, a drug interactions checker, and a Pill Identifier.

Drug Information Portal

druginfo.nlm.nih.gov/drugportal/drugportal.jsp
Gateway to selected drug information from the U.S. National Library of Medicine and other government agencies, from the time they are entered into clinical trials (ClinicalTrials.gov) through their entry in the U.S. market place (Drugs@FDA).

Epocrates Rx

www.epocrates.com/products/rx
Drug monographs for the most prescribed medicines for PDAs and smartphones. Free download after registration.

FDA (Federal Drug Administration)

www.fda.gov/Drugs
Includes Drugs @ FDA, a catalog of FDA Approved Drug Products, Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (Orange Book), National Drug Code Directory and more.

MedlinePlus: Drugs, Supplements, and Herbal Information

nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html
Information on thousands of prescription and over-the-counter medications, herbals, and supplements provided by AHFS Consumer Medication Information and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.

MerckMedicus

merckmedicus.com
Free registration for licensed healthcare providers. Includes the PDR Electronic Library, DX Plain, textbooks such as Harrison's Online, patient handouts, Mobile MerckMedicus, and more.

Natural Standard

Evidence-based articles on complementary and alternative therapies, including herbs, supplements, and modalities. Available through the King County Library System, or consult your local public library.

PDR.net

pdr.net
Free access to the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) database, drug interactions, mobilePDR, and to patient education for U.S.-based MDs, NPs, PAs, and DOs in fulltime patient care practice.

RxList: The Internet Drug Index

rxlist.com
Contains current pharmaceutical information on U.S. brand and generic drug products, including the Top 200 list and a Pill Identifier tool.

Evidence-Based Practice and Guidelines

TRIP Database

tripdatabase.com
Meta search engine of clinical evidence sources and guidelines.

AHRQ Evidence Reports

ahrq.gov/clinic/epcix.htm

CMA Infobase

mdm.ca/cpgsnew/cpgs/index.asp
Canadian Medical Association clinical practice guidelines.

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), and Health Technology Assessments (HTA)

www.crd.york.ac.uk/CMS2Web/SearchPage.asp

Evidence-Based On-Call

eboncall.org
Evidence summaries and recommendations.

HealthLinks: Evidence-Based Practice

healthlinks.washington.edu/ebp

HealthLinks: Immunizations

healthlinks.washington.edu/search.cfm?select=Healthlinks&q=immunizations&submit=Go

National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC)

www.ngc.gov
A public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed Clinical Queries using Research Methodology Filters

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/clinical.html

SUMSearch

sumsearch.org/
simultaneously searches for original studies, systematic reviews, and practice guidelines from multiple sources.

US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Recommendations

www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstopics.htm
Evidence-based recommendations for clinical preventive services.

Health News/Current Awareness

CNN Health

cnn.com/HEALTH

Medscape

medscape.com
Comprehensive site organized by specialty featuring journal articles, practice guidelines, CE, treatment updates, news, conference summaries and patient resources. Free registration. Medpulse is a weekly email newsletter highlighting what's new in your specialty.

My NCBI for PubMed

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi
Free email alerting service that performs periodic searches for current information on PubMed.

New York Times Health

nytimes.com/pages/health

ProQuest

Mostly full-text access to journal and newspaper articles including the New York Times. Available through the King County Library System and the Seattle Public Library with your library card number, or consult your local public library.

Washington State Newsstand

Newspaper coverage from Washington State newspapers, including The Seattle Times, and Tacoma News Tribune. Available through the King County Library System and the Seattle Public Library with your library card number, or consult your local public library.

Yahoo! News Health

news.yahoo.com/health

Journals (Free, Open Access, Full-text)

BioMed Central

biomedcentral.com
Independent publishing house providing immediate free access to peer-reviewed biomedical research. Publishes over 200 peer-reviewed open access journals, including BMC Public Health, BMC Nursing, and BMC Family Practice.

Free Medical Journals

freemedicaljournals.com

HighWire

highwire.stanford.edu
Stanford University website providing full-text access to over 1,500 highly cited, peer-reviewed journals, including scientific, medical, and social sciences information.

PLoS: Public Library of Science

plos.org
Nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians publishing open access peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals, such as PLoS Medicine, PLoS Biology, PLoS Genetics, etc.

PubMed Central

pubmedcentral.gov
The National Institue of Health's free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. Can also search PubMed and limit to free full-text articles only.

Patient Education

MedlinePlus: Health Information

medlineplus.gov
Best starting point for consumer health materials with links chosen and reviewed for quality by the National Library of Medicine.

MedlinePlus: Health Information in Multiple Languages

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/languages.html

Culture Clues

depts.washington.edu/pfes/CultureClues.htm
Tip sheet designed to increase awareness about concepts and preferences of patients from diverse cultures.

EthnoMed

ethnomed.org
A cross-cultural medicine database containing information about cultural beliefs and medical issues pertinent to healthcare of recent immigrants in the Northwest.

FamilyDoctor.org

familydoctor.org
Health information from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Health and Wellness Resource Center

Bibliographic coverage of consumer health literature including full-text articles, pamphlets, and reference books.
Available through the King County Library System or the Seattle Public Library with your library card number, or consult your local public library.

HealthCentral.com

healthcentral.com

HealthFinder

healthfinder.gov
U.S. government gateway to consumer health information web sites, online publications, associations, government agencies, etc.

Household Products Database

hpd.nlm.nih.gov
Health and safety information on consumer household products.

InteliHealth

intelihealth.com
Harvard Medical School's consumer health information site.

KidsHealth

kidshealth.org
Wide range of health and parenting material, including reviews of toys and games.

Lab Tests Online

labtestsonline.org
News, descriptions of clinical lab tests, and information for consumers on understanding test results.

NetWellness

netwellness.org

Consumer health information from University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University, and Case Western Reserve University.

NIH Health Information

health.nih.gov
Consumer health information from the National Institutes of Health.

NOAH: New York Online Access to Health

noah-health.org
Includes English and Spanish high quality, full-text information for consumers.

NORD: National Organization for Rare Disorders

Abstracts of disease reports and information about patient organizations from NORD's Rare Disease Database. Available through the King County Library System with your library card number, or consult your local public library.

SPIRAL: Selected Patient Information Resources in Asian Languages

spiral.tufts.edu/about.shtml
Patient information by language (Cambodian Khmer, Chinese, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotion Lao, Thai, Vietnamese) and topic.

Textbooks

In addition to these, look for textbooks without the lock icon (Lock icon) on the HealthLinks Textbooks page.

Oxford Reference Online

Dictionaries and subject reference works in a single cross-searchable resource. "Medicine" section includes dictionaries of Food & Nutrition, Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Public Health, and Sports Science & Medicine. Also includes A-Z of Medicinal Drugs, and the Oxford Companion texts for Medicine and The Body. Available through the Seattle Public Library with your library card number, or consult your local public library.

Dermatology Online Atlas

dermis.multimedica.de/dermisroot/en/home/index.htm

Harrison's Online (and other medical textbooks)

www.merckmedicus.com/pp/us/hcp/templates/tier2/clinicalRes.jsp
Online textbooks covering 24 specialties. Free registration for licensed healthcare providers.

Medscape Reference

emedicine.medscape.com/

Clinical textbook containing chapters on diseases, drugs and procedures.

Merck Manual of Geriatrics

merck.com/pubs/mm_geriatrics

Merck Manual of Medical Information

merckhomeedition.com

UW Medicine Online Laboratory Test Guide

byblos.labmed.washington.edu/

Other Useful Resources

Clinical Calculators

healthlinks.washington.edu/search.cfm?select=Healthlinks&q=calculators&submit=Go

Communicable Disease & Immunizations: Public Health-Seattle & King County

www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/communicable.aspx

HealthLinks: PDA and Mobile Resources

healthlinks.washington.edu/howto/pda/

Selected resources are publicly available.

myPublicHealth

myph.org

Decision-support tool for agencies to customize the collection, description, management and retrieval of critical public health information.

Public Health Digital Library

www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/library.aspx
Links to public health websites, EBP public health information, guidelines, best practice resources, health articles databases, free ejournals. Public Health, Seattle and King County.

Created August 9, 2000
Updated June, 2011

Janet G. Schnall, MS, AHIP
Information Management Librarian

Library Liaison to the University of Washington School of Nursing, Department of Pediatrics, Department of Ophthalmology and Multicultural Affairs
schnall@u.washington.edu
healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/liaisons/schnall

Sarah Safranek, MLIS
Information Management Librarian

Library Liaison to the University of Washington School of Public Health, Department of Family Medicine, MEDEX Program, Hall Health and WWAMI
safranek@u.washington.edu
healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/liaisons/safranek