Health Library

Biomed Central - publishes a wide range of open access ejournals

BMJ Specialties - news and articles from the BMJ relating to specific topics

CASH - database of grey literature related to healthcare

EMCDDA best practice portal - European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, range of resources covering drug related prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social re-integration.

eMedicine Special Topics http://emedicine.medscape.com/ - US-based evidence-based resources related to medical conditions

Health Systems Evidence - from McMaster University, database of research regarding governance, finance, delivery and implementation strategies in healthcare systems

Medline Plus Topics - US-based website from the National Institutes of Health, presenting health-related information in an easy accessible format

National Electronic Library for Medicines - medicines information portal for healthcare professionals in the NHS, promoting the safe, effective and efficient use of medicines.

Pubmed - Provided by the National Library of Medicine, provides free and simple access to abstracts in healthcare and science-related topics

Rehabdata - National Rehabilitation Information Centre literature database

Social Care Online - abstracts of relevant social work and social care literature from a wide range of resources

UK Pubmed Central - abstracts and some free full-text research articles for biomedical and health researchers

BestBets – Best Evidence Topics, provides answers to very specific clinical problems, using the best available evidence

Centre for reviews and dissemination (CRD) - Collection of 3 high quality databases including DARE (effects of interventions used in health and social care), NHS EED (quality assessed economic evaluations) and HTA (health technology assessments)

Cochrane Library- high quality evidence in healthcare topics

UK DUETS - Database of Uncertainties about the Effects of Treatments, publishes uncertainties about the effects of treatment which cannot currently be answered by existing research evidence.

EBOC - Evidence-Based On-Call, database of evidence-based summaries of the management of on-call medical conditions

Map of Medicine - care pathways for selected conditions

NHS Evidence - search engine allowing users to search across a wide range of accredited resources

NHS Evidence Updates - reviews of the latest evidence into a range of specific conditions and treatments

NICE - national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health

Occupational Therapy CATS - contains CATs (critically appraised topics) and CAPs (critically appraised papers) focussing on occupational therapy interventions

OTseeker - contains abstracts of systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials relevant to occupational therapy. Trials have been critically appraised and rated to help you to evaluate their validity and interpretability

Pedro - bibliographic details and abstracts of randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews in physiotherapy. Most trials on the database have been rated for quality to help you quickly discriminate between trials that are likely to be valid and interpretable and those that are not

TRIP - clinical search tool providing access to high quality clinical evidence

eGuidelines - browse thru lists of available guidelines for specific conditions and diseases

National Guideline Clearinghouse – US-based comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), US Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP)

NICE  - National guidelines

Nursing and Midwifery Council Publications

Prodigy - evidence-based guidelines aimed at primary care staff

Royal College of Nursing Guidelines

Royal College of Physicians guidelines - resources including clinical guidelines

SIGN - Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network

Department of Health - Policies, frameworks, regulations, bulletins, statistics

Joseph Rowntree Foundation: health-related – an endowed charity that funds a large, UK-wide research and development programme, including health-related topics

King’s Fund – a charitable organisation seeking to understand how the health system in England can be improved and working to impact on policy, services and behaviour change

ClinicalTrials.gov – US-based registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world.

Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials

Current controlled trials - features two clinical trial resources. ISRCTN Register is a database of randomised controlled trials with an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN). metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) is an international database combining registers of ongoing randomised controlled trials in all areas of healthcare.

ISRCTN - a simple numeric system for the unique identification of randomised controlled trials worldwide. The ISRCTN Register also accepts registration of other forms of studies designed to assess the efficacy of health-care interventions.

NIHR Portal | NRR Archive - searchable copy of the records that used to be held in the National Research Register (NRR) Projects Database. It was created using the final issue of the NRR published in October 2007, based on records collected up to September 2007.

Trials Journal - open access, peer-reviewed, online journal that will encompass all aspects of the performance and findings of randomized controlled trials.

UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN) Portfolio Database - database of ongoing and recently completed research projects funded by, or of interest to the NHS.

WHO International clinical trial search portal - covers trials registered from a range of countries.

EthOS - The British Library run Electronic Thesis Online Service (EthOS) provides free electronic access to all UK Higher Education Institutional theses.

Index to Theses - a listing of theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations - Details of theses and dissertations from universities in the U.S. and worldwide can be searched and browsed, and in some cases links to the online full text are provided. This resource is not comprehensive.

PhDData - A database of doctoral dissertations in progress around the world.

NHS Evidence - Guidelines, reports and reviews published by accredited sources.

Google Scholar - Google search engine restricted to scholarly items in a wide range of subjects. This is often most useful if you are looking for details of a complete citation or for freely available full-text articles.

Scirus - searchable index of scientific journal items.

SumSearch - not the easiest search engine to use but it often works as a double-check if you are struggling to find any relevant information.

Our book collection can help you to develop your literature searching skills: subjects available at the Health Library

• Medical Literature
• Research
• Internet Search
• Information Resources
• Medical Informatics
• Evidence-based Medicine
• Evidence-based Nursing

Subjects available as eBooks

• Medical Literature
• Research
• Medical Informatics
• Evidence-based Medicine
• Evidence-based Nursing

Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) Systematic Reviews: CRD’s guidance for undertaking reviews in health care - overview of systematic review methods, includes a section on documenting the search process.

Health Library Literature Search Plan - guide to advise students how to start a literature search plan.

Prisma Statement - Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis, consists of a 27 item check list and 4-phase flow diagram indicating how to report a systematic review.

Pubmed Search Strategies Blog - suggests keywords, Mesh terms and combinations to use in searches on Pubmed for a wide range of conditions and patient groups.

BNF - up-to-date information on medicines ^{_{( http://bnf.org/bnf/ )}}

Ebsco Databases - including CINAHL and Medline databases, login details will be required ^{( http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=mobsmart )}

Medscape Mobile - includes drug checker, disease reference, procedures, protocols and speciality news (US-based)

NHS Evidence - simple search of accredited sources for healthcare related evidence ^{( http://m.evidence.nhs.uk/ )}

NHS Reference - provides a quick reference guide to ICD-10 Diagnosis Codes, OPCS4.5 Procedure Codes and HRG4 with the inclusion of PbR 2010/11 mandated tariffs

NICE Guidance - available from the iStore and Android Market

Pubmed - search across a wide range of journal titles in the healthcare and medical sciences field ^{( http://pubmedhh.nlm.nih.gov/nlm/pubmed/index.html )}

Pubmed on Tap - a range of functionality to support your searching on Pubmed

Pubmed for Android - a range of functionality to support your searching on Pubmed

Trip Database - clinical search engine to provide answers to clinical questions ^{( http://www.tripdatabase.com/ )}

Web of Knowledge - search across a range of science-based scholarly journals (Keele only) ^{( http://m.webofknowledge.com/mt/apps.webofknowledge.com/UA_GeneralSearch_input.do?product=UA&search_mode=GeneralSearch&SID=2CDa4KEO7LBbe64ih59&preferencesSaved=&un_jtt_redirect )}

See usage notes for mobiles & apps