Books

Use InvestiGator, the online catalog, to locate books. To find the resources that are most closely related to your topic, the best strategy is to use subject searching. Subject searching requires that you use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), which are available in the reference index area. Some broad headings to try are:

Broad Subject Headings
Body, Human	Diseases
Drugs	Human Anatomy
Medical Emergencies	Medicine
Medicine -- History	Mental Health
Nutrition	Physicians

Other ways of searching InvestiGator include title, author, and words searching. Words searching may be especially useful if you do not know the exact LC subject heading for a concept. In words searching you can look for words or phrases that may appear in a book's title, subject headings, notes and tables of contents. Examples of words searches may be found here.

If the J. Paul Leonard Library does not own a book that you want, or if it is checked out or not available, you have other options for getting the book. First, check the LINK+ system to see if the book can be borrowed from other local academic and public libraries. Books ordered through Link+ may be picked up at the 1^st floor Circulation Desk once they arrive.

If you still cannot find a book, or you do not have time for the book to be delivered via LINK+, you may want to check some of the other regional libraries' catalogs, then visit the libraries in person to retrieve the book. To search other libraries in the CSU system, use PHAROS.

Periodicals

Periodicals (journals, magazines, and newspapers) provide more current information than is available in books. They also are the first, and often the only, source for full publication of scientific, technical, medical, or social research. To find periodical articles on a specific topic, use the print indexes and abstracts and electronic databases.

Print Indexes & Abstracts

Indexes are collections of citations organized by topic. They do not include the full text of the articles themselves. Abstracts are similar to indexes, but they also include brief summaries of the articles. Many of the print indexes and abstracts have an equivalent electronic database, though not all do. Therefore, it is important to use both print and electronic resources to find citations. Print sources are found in the Indexes & Abstracts Area on the 1^st floor and include:

Biological Abstracts [1926 - 1997] and Biological Abstracts/RRM [1980 - 1991] = BIOSIS previews
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) [1977 - 2001]
Psychological Abstracts [1927 - Current] = PsycINFO
Science Citation Index [1965 - Current]

Electronic Databases

Like print indexes and abstracts, electronic databases are used to search for journal, magazine, and newspaper citations on a given topic. The databases may or may not also contain the full-text of the articles themselves.

MEDLINE

This is the primary database used to access the health sciences periodical literature. Anyone may access the database using PubMed [1953 - Current], which is offered by the National Library of Medicine. In addition, SF State users may search MEDLINE through FirstSearch [1966 - Current] or Cambridge Scientific Abstracts [1992-Current].

Some other important databases for the health sciences include:

Alt HealthWatch [1991 - Current]
Biological Sciences [1982 - Current]
BIOSIS previews [1997 - Current]
Conference Papers Index [1982 - Current]
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) [1982 - Current]
Journals@OVID Full Text [1993 - Current] formerly Core Biomedical Collection
PsycINFO [1887 - Current]
Web of Science [1991 - Current] (Science/Social Science Citation Index)

Most of the electronic databases are available remotely to SF State students, staff, and faculty. For access, see Accessing Databases from Off-Campus.

To find out if the library has a particular periodical, enter the periodical title (not the article title) as a title search in InvestiGator. If it is owned by the library, check the catalog record to see if it is available in print or electronic form. Print periodicals are found on the 2^nd floor in the Periodicals Collection. Periodicals that are available electronically will often have a link to the database in their catalog record. See the handout Access to Periodical Articles in Electronic Format for more information.

If SF State does not have the periodical you need, you may request it through Document Delivery Services . DDS articles can be picked up at the DDS counter on the 1^st floor. (You will be notified when they arrive--usually 3 days to 3 weeks.)

Reference Books

All of the following books are located in the Reference Area on the 1^st floor of the library. More reference sources may be found by browsing the R-RZ shelves in the main collection. For example, if you want to find additional medical abbreviations books, browse around R123 in the main collection on the 1^st floor.

Terminology

Abbreviations

The Charles Press handbook of current medical abbreviations (5th ed.). (1997).

Philadelphia: Charles Press. Ref R123 .C442

Jablonski, S. (2001). Dictionary of medical acronyms & abbreviations (4th ed.).

Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus. Main R123 .J24

Medical terms and abbreviations. (1998).

Springhouse, PA: Springhouse. Ref R123 .M396

Stedman's abbreviations: Abbreviations, acronyms & symbols (2nd ed.). (1999).

Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Ref R123 .S69

Dictionaries

Anderson, K. N. (Ed.). (2002). Mosby's medical, nursing, and allied health dictionary (6th ed.).

St. Louis: Mosby. Ref R121 .M89

Collin, P. H. (Ed.). (1998). Dictionary of medicine (2nd ed.).

Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. Ref R121 .D527

Dorland's illustrated medical dictionary (28th ed.). (2000).

Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. Ref R121 .D73

Everitt, B. (1995). The Cambridge dictionary of statistics in the medical sciences.

New York: Cambridge University Press. Ref RA407 .E94

Garcia, B. (Ed.). (1998). Mosby's emergency dictionary: EMS, rescue, and special operations (2nd ed.).

St. Louis: Mosby Year Book. Ref RC86.7 .M663

Gilbert, P. (2000). Dictionary of syndromes and inherited disorders (3rd ed.).

Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. Ref RC69 .G55

Macpherson, G. (Ed.). (1999). Black's medical dictionary (39th ed.).

London: A. & C. Black. Ref R121 .B598

Rigal, W. A. (1976). The inverted medical dictionary: A method of finding medical terms quickly.

Westport, CT: Technomic. Ref R121 .R54

Segen, J. C. (1998). Dictionary of alternative medicine.

Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange. Ref R733 .S44

Stedman's medical dictionary (27th ed.). (2000).

Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. Ref R121 .S8

Stedman's surgery words. (1998).

Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. Ref RD16 .S74

Venes, D. & Thomas, C. L. (Eds.). (2001). Taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary (19th ed.).

Philadelphia: F.A. Davis. Ref R121 .T18

Encyclopedias

Blank, R. H. & Merrick, J. C. (Eds.). (1996). Encyclopedia of U.S. biomedical policy.

Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Main RA395 .A3 E545

Carson, C. C. et al. (Eds.). (1998). Magill's medical guide (Rev. ed., Vols. 1-3).

Pasadena, CA: Salem Press. Ref RC41 .M34

Friedman, H. S. (Ed.). (1998). Encyclopedia of mental health (Vols. 1-3).

San Diego: Academic Press. Ref RA790.5 .E53

McGrew, R. E. & McGrew, M. P. (1985). Encyclopedia of medical history.

New York: McGraw-Hill. Ref R133 .M34

Olendorf, D., Jeryan, C., & Boyden, K. (Eds.). (1999). The Gale encyclopedia of medicine (Vols. 1-5).

Detroit: Gale Research. Ref RC41 .G35 [Also available online]

Ronzio, R. A. (1997). The encyclopedia of nutrition & good health.

New York: Facts on File. Ref RA784 .R646

Selin, H. (Ed.). (1997). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures.

Boston: Kluwer Academic. Q124.8 .E53

Woodham, A. (1997). DK encyclopedia of healing therapies.

New York: DK. Ref R733 .W65

Handbooks and Manuals

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR (4th ed., text revision).

Washington, DC: Author. Ref RC455.2 .C4 D536

Beers, M. H. & Berkow, R. (Eds.). (1999). The Merck manual of diagnosis and therapy (17th ed.).

Rahway, NJ: Merck. Ref RC55 .M4

Current medical diagnosis & treatment (43rd ed.). (2004).

Los Altos, CA: Lange Medical. Ref RC71 .A14

Diseases. (1998).

Springhouse, PA: Springhouse. Ref RT65 .D49

Lindsay, D. T. (1996). Functional human anatomy.

St. Louis: Mosby Year Book. Ref QM23.2 .L56

McMorrow, M. E. & Malarkey, L. M. (1998). Laboratory and diagnostic tests: A pocket guide.

Philadelphia: Saunders. Ref RB38.2 .M355

Novey, D. W. (Ed.). (2000). Clinician's complete reference to complementary/alternative medicine.

St. Louis: Mosby. Ref R733 .C645

Professional guide to signs & symptoms (4th ed.). (2004).

Springhouse, PA: Springhouse. Ref RC69 .P77

Professional's handbook of complementary & alternative medicines. (1999).

Springhouse, PA: Springhouse. Ref RM666 .H33 P765

Wallach, J. B. (2000). Interpretation of diagnostic
tests (7th ed.).

Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Ref RB38.2 .W35

Zipperer, L. A. (Ed.). (1995). The health care almanac: A resource guide to the medical field.

Chicago: American Medical Association. Ref R118.4 .U6 H435

Drug Information Sources

Modell's drugs in current use and new drugs (48th ed.). (2004).

New York: Springer. Ref RS79 .D7

PDR for herbal medicines (2nd ed.). (2000).

Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics. Ref RM666 .H33 P554

PDR generics (2nd ed.). (1996).

Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics. Ref RS55.2 .P37

Physicians' desk reference (56th ed.). (2004).

Oradell, NJ: Medical Economics. Ref RS250. P5x

Physicians' desk reference for nonprescription drugs (22nd ed.). (2004).

Oradell, NJ: Medical Economics. Ref RM671 .A1 P48

Medical and Health Statistics

American Hospital Association. (2004). Hospital statistics.

Chicago: Healthcare InfoSource. Ref RA981 .A2 A6234

Everitt, B. (1995). The Cambridge dictionary of statistics in the medical sciences.

New York: Cambridge University Press. Ref RA407 .E94

Health care book of lists. (1994).

Winter Park, FL: PMD Publishers Group. Ref RA407 .A1 H326 [Note: The data in this book are old, but it is a good resource for locating the sources of current data.]

Littman, M. S. (Ed.). (1998) A statistical portrait of the United States: Social conditions and trends (1st ed.).

Lanham, MD: Bernan Press. Ref HA214 .S835

Wellner, A. S. (2000). Best of health: Demographics of health care consumers (2nd ed.).

Ithaca, NY: New Strategist. Ref RA445 .W45

Directories and Biographical Sources

American Hospital Association. (2003-2004). AHA guide to the health care field.

Chicago: Healthcare InfoSource. Ref RA977 .A1 A46

American Medical Association. (2004-2005). Health professions career and education directory (28th ed.).

Chicago: Author. Ref R847 .D57

Encyclopedia of medical organizations and agencies (13th ed.). (2003).

Detroit: Gale Research. Ref R712 .A1 E53

Kaufman, M., Galishoff, S., & Savitt, T. L. (Eds.). (1984). Dictionary of American medical biography (Vols. 1-2).

Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Ref R153 .D53

Walton, J., Beeson, P. B., & Scott, R. B. (Eds.). (2001). The Oxford companion to medicine (Vols. 1-2).

New York: Oxford University Press. Ref R121 .O88

World Health Organization. (2000). World directory of medical schools (7th ed.).

Geneva: Author. Ref R711 .W6

History Source

Harding, A. S. (2000). Milestones in health and medicine.

Phoenix: Oryx Press. Ref R133 .H36

McGrew, R. E. & McGrew, M. P. (1985). Encyclopedia of medical history.

New York: McGraw-Hill. Ref R133 .M34

Selin, H. (Ed.). (1997). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures.

Boston: Kluwer Academic. Q124.8 .E53

Selected Internet Resources

Hardin MD

"As the name 'meta directory' implies, Hardin MD is a 'list of lists' - Its purpose is to provide easy access to comprehensive resource lists in health-related subjects. It includes subject listings in large 'one-stop-shopping' sites, such as MedWeb and Yahoo, and also independent discipline- specific lists. Hardin MD subject pages indicate the length of lists in each subject, making it easy to see at a glance which lists are most comprehensive - These are often not the lists from the'one-stop-shopping' sites, but those developed by people within the field, which are well-known and frequently cited within the field, but not well-known outside it."

OMNI: Organising Medical Networked Information

"OMNI (Organising Medical Networked Information) is a gateway to evaluated, quality Internet resources in health and medicine, aimed at students, researchers, academics and practitioners in the health and medical sciences. OMNI is created by a core team of information specialists and subject experts based at the University of Nottingham Greenfield Medical Library, in partnership with key organisations throughout the UK and further afield."

On-line Medical Dictionary

"OMD is a searchable dictionary created by Dr Graham Dark dark@cancerweb.org.uk and contains terms relating to biochemistry, cell biology, chemistry, medicine, molecular biology, physics, plant biology, radiobiology, science and technology. It includes: acronyms, jargon, theory, conventions, standards, institutions, projects, eponyms, history, in fact anything to do with medicine or science."

RxList

"RxList.com is owned and operated by RxList LLC a California limited liability company located in San Francisco. RxList was founded and is maintained by Neil Sandow, Pharm.D. a licensed California Pharmacist with twenty + years of experience in retail and institutional pharmacy and twelve years as a Director of Pharmacy for several Bay Area hospitals. Dr. Sandow has been publishing on the Internet since 1994."