Medline Plus
Medline Plus, a service of the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine, offers free, accessible authoritative information on over 800 health topics. In addition, Medline Plus includes information on drugs and supplements, a medical dictionary and encyclopedia, current news, and interactive tutorials. The site is user-friendly with clear headings and colorful images.
Let’s say you are looking for information on bone cancer for a paper. First, you would search “bone cancer” in the search field and click on Search Medline Plus. You’ll find a plethora of information relating to bone cancer, from a basic overview of the disease to the latest news to current research and treatments available. You’ll also find current statistics on bone cancer and the effects of bone cancer on children and teenagers.
On the right side of the page, you’ll see an encyclopedia list of related terms and images. You have the option of searching for local providers that treat bone cancer, and you’ll also see what organization within the National Institutes of Health is responsible for research concerning this disease. In the case of bone cancer, it is the National Cancer Institute. You also have the option of reading the information in languages other than English.
Medline Plus also contains links to other health-related information. On the homepage, you will find a link to ClinicalTrials.gov, a government site for studies of new drugs and treatments. Another link is to the National Institutes of Health Senior Health site, which is health information for older adults.
There’s also a link to videos of surgical procedures pre-recorded from real-life operations.
To access Medline Plus from the Library’s homepage, click on Useful Internet Links, click on Health Web Sites and search for PubMed.
