How to Search Computer Databases

General Information

Medline

• Medline on ARIES Knowledge Server available on selected School of Medicine Macintosh computers.
• Medline (and other databases) on OVID (formerly CD+) are available in Truman Medical Center and,for University of Missouri students, faculty, and staff, on the Internet using acharacter-based interface (login as "library") or a web-based interface. UMKC students, faculty, and staff with cctr accounts may also type "kcmerlin" at the $ prompt to access MERLIN for a link to the OVID medical databases. See the OVID Search Guide on the OVID Technologies home page, or ask your medical librarian for assistance or instruction in searching these databases.
• Medline (and other databases) on Grateful Med. See Internet Grateful Med or see the Grateful Med Fact Sheet and Ordering Information. Or call 1-800-638-8480 to find out more about Grateful Med. Try also the new PubMed search interface for Medline, Premedline, and gene databases.
• Medline Providers include (but are not limited to):
  • SilverPlatter (Available by paid subscription)
  • America's HouseCall Network (Free for registered physicians)
  • Avicenna (Free, must register
  • Community of Science (Free)
  • Dialog (Pay per use)
  • HealthGate (Free)
  • HealthWorks (Available by paid subscription)
  • HealthWorld (Free)
  • HELIX (Free, must register)
  • Infotrieve (Available by paid subscription)
  • Internet Grateful Med (Free, with password)
  • Knowledge Finder (Available by paid subscription)
  • Medscape (Free)
  • Multimedia Medical Reference Library (Free)
  • Ovid (Pay per use, available by paid subscription)
  • PaperChase (Pay per use)
  • Physicians Online (Free for member physicians)
  • Plymouth Area Communities Medical Access Network (Free)
  • PDRnet (Free for member physicians)
  • PubMed (Free)
  • SilverPlatter (Available by paid subscription)
  • WebMedline (Available to Stanford University, University of California-San Francisco, and University of California-Davis faculty and students)

National Library of Medicine Online Information Services

The search engines provided to search Medline by the above-listed services can vary greatly in quality. Free services often provide the most limited and simplistic search interfaces, with no explanation of how they work or what they can or cannot do. To compare Medline systems see:
Haynes, R.B.; Walker, C.J.; McKibbon, K.A.; Johnston, M.E.; and Willan, A.R. "Performances of 27 MEDLINE Systems Tested by Searches with Clinical Questions." JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION 1994 May/Jun; 1(3):285-95.
Engstrom, Paul. "MEDLINE free-for-all spurs questions about search value, who pays." MEDICINE ON THE NET 1996 Aug; 2(8):1-5.
See also Dr. Felix's Free Medline Page or the rankings supplied by by Medical Matrix in table or annotation form. Evaluation projects are underway by OMNI in the United Kingdom and by MLA-NAHRS. To learn more about Medline and other databases, and how to search them, consult your librarian. The University of Missouri has many networked medical databases available to faculty and students in university libraries and computing centers and from off-campus on OVID using a character-based interface or a web-based interface. Many more databases are and will continue to be accessible to the librarians, who will search them on your behalf. (There are fees charged for some databases.) Clinical medical librarians offer search consultation and individualized instruction for UMKC School of Medicine faculty and students on request.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) used to index Medline and other NLM databases are available in the Health Sciences Library and on the Internet. Manuals for searching NLM databases on MEDLARS can also be found on the Internet.

Return to the CML's Information Resource page.