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Articles and Databases

Core Resources...

  • PubMed (Medline)  includes biomedicine, health care administration, health care systems, health care delivery, facilities and personnel management.
  • CAB Abstracts covers global health, public health and comparative health systems.
  • CINAHL  search for nursing and allied health information in journals, book chapters, dissertations, conference proceedings, standards of practice and research instruments.

Other Relevant Resources...

  • Journal Citation Reports  look for journal and category data to determine the status/impact of a journal in the global research community.
  • Web of Science  locate new articles which cite an older article by using the "cited ref" search mode.
  • Dissertations & Theses  to locate dissertations from most U.S. institutions.

Don't forget: Try These First if you want general popular interest magazines and newspapers or pro and con debate information.

Article Search Tips:  Finding the best articles on your topic requires a number of steps:

  • Select a database from the list above.
  • Enter and combine terms appropriate to your topic.
  • Look at the best references you retrieve and determine the subject terms used for those articles. Then revise your search using these new terms.
  • Write down or print off all pertinent information (called the 'citation') including the journal title, volume, date, and page numbers.
  • Explore other databases and subject terms (which vary between databases) for more information.

Get the full text:  Once you find the citation in a database, try the Get it! button to see if Penn State has the electronic or print version of the article you need. If the electronic version is available, it will appear as the first link on the Get it! menu. If the article is not available electronically, click on The CAT link to automatically search our catalog and see if Penn State has a print copy. If no other copy is available, you can use the ILLiad link to request it from another library.

Already have a citation?  Use Citation Linker to see if Penn State has it online or in print!

Books

Use The CAT for finding books owned by Penn State.

CAT Search Tips:  Go to the Browse function if you are looking for a specific title or author (type last name first). Go to the Keyword function and combine terms to search on a topic then use the subject headings from relevant books for additional search terms. Write down the call number and location for any book you want. For more detailed searching information go to the Quick Guide to the CAT.

Suggested CAT Search Terms: health facilities, health maintenance organizations, health planning, health services administration, hospitals, medical policy, right to health care, health care and reform.

Call Numbers: At University Park, most materials in the life sciences are located on the 4th floor of Paterno Library. General call numbers and subject areas are:

Click on the letters above to view more specific call number and subject areas.

Full-text books online: Annual Reviews, MD-Consult, Online Reference Shelf, SpringerLink

Books Elsewhere: NLM Gateway, WorldCat

Libraries Borrowing Policies: Once you have the books, check them out at the nearest lending desk or self check-out station. Loan periods are usually four weeks but books can be recalled for another user, so respond promptly to library notices. For more information see the University Libraries Lending Code.

Reference

Internet Sites

Search Engines

Directories

Medical Schools/Faculty

Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals

Hospitals and Other Health Care Facilities

Organizations

Web Sites

Evaluating Resources

To evaluate print sources and web sites, you should ask a series of questions concerning the source’s currency, authority, validity, intended audience and bias. See this How to Evaluate Information site for details.

Citing Sources

See the Quick Guide to Citation Styles for details on how to reference (cite) the authors and resources you have used to write a paper.

Plagiarism, whether you copy a paragraph from a book or cut and paste someone else's words from an e-mail, is a violation of Penn State's academic integrity policy. See this Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty.

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Contact

Nancy Henry
Health Sciences Library
phone:
  814-865-3713


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