Medicine resources and support

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• Most medical resources are held in the Medical Library. The Medical Library classmark scheme shows how the books and journals are arranged. Use the Library catalogue to find the classmark for an item.
• New books are displayed on the New Book Display in the Medical Library for two weeks, during which time they may be reserved using the Library Catalogue but not borrowed.
• Thesis collection - PhD, MD, MSc, ChM and DSc theses of staff and postgraduate students of the Medical Faculties from 1910 to date, are available in the thesis collection in the Medical Library.
• Special collections - The Medical Library contains a special collection of rare books.

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• Quick search on the Library homepage
  search for books, journals, or articles and databases using our various search tools, plus Internet search using Google Scholar.
• The Subject resources section of these pages includes key medicine databases (via MetaLib) for searching for journal articles references, etc, quick reference tools, Internet links, and reviews and bibliographies.
• Our Library collections and eResources pages give full advice on finding all types of materials.
• The Inter-Library Loans (ILL) service can be used to obtain Items not held in print in the University's branch libraries or available online. See below for more details. Access to other university libraries and the British Library may be a useful alternative.

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The Inter-Library Loans (ILL) service can be used to obtain Items not held in print in the University's branch libraries or available online. There is a charge for this service, though it may be possible to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher to pay for this:

• Medicine academic staff will usually be able to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher from Anne Williams
• Medicine research postgraduates may be able to obtain an Inter-library loan voucher from Anne Williams or Sue Kriefman.
• Medicine undergraduates and taught postgraduates will need to speak to your tutor first and then obtain the voucher from Sue Kriefman.

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Support

• Our Research support pages cover finding information, managing information, and exploiting your research, together with sources of further help and advice.
• Each academic department in the university has its own library representative, whose duties are detailed in these guidelines. The Library Representative for the Centre for Medical Education is Professor David Cahill.
• New academic staff are welcome to contact the Subject Librarian to arrange a session on how the Library can help you.

Subject resources

• Medical Library Collection Management Policy (Word, 158 KB)
• Medical Library Collection Management Policy (PDF, 258 KB)
• Library Collection Management Policy
• Book purchase recommendations can be made using the 'Make a book suggestion' link at the top of this page.
• To recommend that the Library subscribe to a new journal title, please fill in and submit the Journal Suggestion Form (UOB access only). The form explains the procedure that needs to be followed before the Library can go ahead and purchase any new titles.

Medical librarian contacts for the MB ChB programme

• Academic liaison for Programme through Central Teaching Committee and Medical Libraries Liaison Committee - Hilary Ollerenshaw, Medical Faculty Librarian, hilary.ollerenshaw@bristol.ac.uk, (0117) 33 11503
• Year 1 - Richard Kielb, Subject Librarian for Anatomy, Biochemistry and Year 1 & 2 MB ChB, richard.kielb@bristol.ac.uk, (0117) 33 11504
• Year 2 - Richard Kielb
• Year 3 (except Psychiatry and Ethics) - Hilary Ollerenshaw
• Year 3: Psychiatry and Ethics only - Cath Borwick, Subject Librarian for Social and Community Medicine, cath.borwick@bristol.ac.uk, (0117) 33 11504 (Mondays)
• Year 4: Reading lists: - Naomi Nile, Assistant Subject Librarian, naomi.nile@bristol.ac.uk, (0117) 33 11504
• Year 4: Information literacy teaching content: - Hilary Ollerenshaw, Medical Faculty Librarian, hilary.ollerenshaw@bristol.ac.uk, (0117) 33 11503
• Year 5 - Hilary Ollerenshaw
• Self-assessment and referencing - Naomi Nile
• Vertical Studies: Consultation and Procedural Skills - Hilary Ollerenshaw
• Vertical Studies: Disability, Disadvantage and Diversity - Hilary Ollerenshaw
• Vertical Studies: Ethics and Law in Medicine - Cath Borwick
• Vertical Studies: Evidence Based Medicine and Public Health - Hilary Ollerenshaw
• Vertical Studies: Medical Humanities and Whole Person Care - Richard Kielb
• Vertical Studies: Personal and Inter-professional Development - Hilary Ollerenshaw

Note: some of the documents on this page are in PDF format. In order to view a PDF you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader

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MetaLib: your resource gateway provides access to a vast range of online resources, including databases, search engines, subject gateways, and selected Internet resources.

Databases useful for Medicine via MetaLib (list with brief details)
This link takes you to the list of databases and other information resources useful for Medicine, with brief details displayed against each. Click on the Info icon to display the full details. Alternatively, Medical databases via MetaLib (cross-search list) lists the same databases, but with a cross-search option. Note that better results are always obtained when using the native interface, rather than cross-searching. For details of a particular resource click on the Info icon next to the resource name.

Guides to searching databases
A number of guides to searching individual databases and to literature searching in general, produced by the Medical Librarians, together with some externally produced, are available here. The Medical Librarian team are also able to give help and advice about searching databases.

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General Medical Council Resources

• Tomorrow's Doctors - Standards set out by the GMC for the knowledge, skills and behaviours that medical students learn at UK medical schools: these are the outcomes that new UK graduates must be able to demonstrate.
• Good Medical Practice - sets out the principles and values on which good medical practice is founded.

Gateways to resources for Medicine

• Medicine (formerly OMNI), Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health, BioethicsWeb - biomedical ethics, MedHist - history of medicine and allied sciences and Psci-com - public engagement with science and technology
• SearchMedica - A medical search engine which searches websites selected by healthcare professionals
• Ecto- and Endo-Parasites - a directory of academic links to ecto- and endo-parasite resources in medical and veterinary parasitology
• SciCentral - a gateway to science resources on the Internet, including the life sciences
• Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources - offers access to comprehensive resource lists in health related subjects. Sites chosen for inclusion are the most frequently cited by those in the field.

Organisations and institutions

• Health Information Resources (formerly National Library of Health)
• Department of Health - the home page of the UK's Department of Health, for official health related information
• World Health Organisation - information on a wide variety of WHO publications and health related topics, including epidemiologic and demographic data, diseases and conditions
• BMA Library Online - offers a wealth of information on its catalogues, collections and other library services. In addition there are reference fact sheets on a wide range of topics with useful contact information included
• United States National Library of Medicine - the World's largest medical library, giving access to health information, library services, research programmes, etc
• Institute of Food Science and Technology

Using the Internet

The following tutorials are provided by the Virtual Training Suite. Written by a team of UK university lecturers and librarians they will help you to use the Internet effectively:

• Internet for Medicine
• Internet for Veterinary Medicine
• Internet for Nursing
• Internet for Health & Social Care
• Internet Detective

Data sources and statistics

• World Health Organisation Statistical Information System (WHOSIS) - health and health-related statistical information from the WHO Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy
• UNICEF statistical data - country by country health data including population, mortality rate and immunisation statistics
• Department of Health Statistics and Surveys - a DoH/ National Statistics-produced resource of UK health data
• HSE Statistics - provides access to official Health & Safety Executive data
• National Center for Health Statistics - US-specific site featuring a range of medical data

Medical History resources

• MedHist - gateway to evaluated, quality resources relating to the history of medicine and allied sciences
• Images from the History of Medicine - US site providing access to the nearly 60,000 images in the prints and photograph collection of the History of Medicine Division (HMD) of the US National Library of Medicine (NLM)
• Historical Anatomies on the Web - Selected images from anatomical atlases in the US National Library of Medicine's collection
• Wellcome Trust Medical Timeline - illustrated tour through the history of medicine
• Today In Health History - medical history throughout the calendar year, updated daily
• The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online - a site containing "every Darwin publication as well as many of his handwritten manuscripts"

Other useful resources

• Medicdirect - an interactive website hosted by UK medical consultants providing consumer health information online
• MedicalStudent - a digital library of authoritative medical information for all students of medicine
• PRODIGY -  "Evidence-based information and practical 'know how' about the common conditions managed in primary care". Built on NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) content.
• MedlinePlus encyclopedia
• HighWire Press - an American site offering access to biomedical Electronic journals, including archives of past issues, instructions to authors and subscription information
• BioTech's Life Science Dictionary - a searchable dictionary of terms dealing with biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, cell biology and genetics
• Ecto- and Endo-Parasites - a directory of academic links to ecto- and endo-parasite resources in medical and veterinary parasitology
• Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Society - a local society, open to Medical Practitioners, Medical Students and others with allied interests
• HEALTHmap - an interactive map showing where infectious diseases have been reported around the world, produced by the Children's Hospital Informatics Program (Boston) and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
• Database of Uncertainties about the Effects of Treatments (DUETs) - a database established by the NHS and other UK contributors to "publish uncertainties that cannot currently be answered reliably by referring to up-to-date systematic reviews of existing research evidence"
• Wellcome Images - a wide-ranging collection of biomedical images from the Wellcome Library

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Online quick reference tools

• Online Medical dictionary - from MediLexicon - Stedman's Medical Dictionary - a searchable dictionary of biomedical terms, acronyms, eponyms and much more
• Abbreviations - from MediLexicon - a searchable database of medical and pharmaceutical abbreviations
• PubMed Journal Database - search by topic, journal title or abbreviation or browse by subject terms
• MEDLINEplus Medical Encyclopedia - includes over 4,000 articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries plus an extensive library of medical photographs and illustrations
• CRC Handbook

Quick reference tools available in the Medical Library

• Medical dictionaries - at AA1a
• Medical abbreviations - at AA1a1
• Dictionaries of Medical eponyms - at AA1a
• Pharmacopoeias - at V14c
• The Merck index - an encyclopedia of chemicals, drugs and biologicals - at V14c MER
• Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine: subject catalogue of the history of medicine and related sciences - at Stack 153
• International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems - at AA1a INT

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The Medical Library contains a wealth of such material in either print or electronic format.

Consider titles starting with:

• Advances in...
• Annual review of...
• Clinics in...
• CRC critical reviews in...
• Current opinion in...
• International review of...
• Nature reviews...
• Progress in...
• Quarterly reviews in...
• Recent progress in...
• Trends in...

Look for others that end with the term 'reviews', for example:

• Brain research reviews
• Endocrine reviews
• Microbiology and molecular biology reviews
• Physiological reviews

Examples of other titles include:

• Biochimica et biophysica acta: reviews on biomembranes
• Biochimica et biophysica acta: bioenergetics (including reviews on bioenergetics)
• Nucleic acids research
• British medical bulletin

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The Medical Subject team run a programme of training in finding and using information by arrangement with your department.

• A number of guides and video tutorials on searching databases are available. The Medical Librarian team are also able to give help and advice about individual databases and searching in general.
• Internet Medic - a free online 'teach yourself' tutorial from Intute on finding and using information on the Internet.
• A number of general 'Self-learning resources' are available below, including video tutorials, downloadable library guides, and web resources.
• Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

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• Library tours and induction, literature searching skills and database training are provided for postgraduates and are arranged for you by your department.
• A number of guides and video tutorials on searching databases are available. The Medical Librarian team are also able to give help and advice about individual databases and searching in general.
• Internet Medic - a free online 'teach yourself' tutorial from Intute on finding and using information on the Internet.
• A number of general 'Self-learning resources' are available below, including video tutorials, downloadable library guides, and web resources.
• Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

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• Video tutorials - topics include the Library Catalogue, understanding references on reading lists, using the MetaLib resource gateway, off-campus access to eResources, etc.
• Finding and using information pages - covering key aspects of information skills, including researching a topic, effective use of Google, evaluating your search results, avoiding plagiarism, etc. Also includes a Jargon-buster page.
• Library guides - downloadable guides to each branch library, our main search tools, special library services, etc.
• External resources for developing your information skills - including online tutorials and downloadable guides.
• Find out about referencing in your written work and EndNote referencing software in 'Referencing help'.

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Citing references in your work

There is no single way of writing references, however you should cite references in a consistent style. Biomedical journals mostly use either the Harvard or Vancouver formats for citing references.

The Vancouver Group - now known as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors - first published its Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals in 1979. The current version of Uniform requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals is available online. For samples of reference citation formats, consult the National Library of Medicine.

There are many guides to the Harvard style of referencing available on the web, for example at Nottingham Trent University or University of Sussex.

Other useful resources include:

• Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors and Publishers. 2nd ed. - an eBook published by the National Library of Medicine.
• The website for the book Online: a reference guide to using Internet sources covers citing online sources and compares the MLA, APA, Chicago and CBE guidelines.
• Instructions to authors in the health sciences, from the Ramon H. Mulford Library, gives instructions to authors for a large number of biomedical journals. These usually include citation formats.
• Neville, C. (2007) The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Shelved in the Medical Library at AA6c NEV.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2006) Cite them right: the essential guide to referencing and plagiarism. Newcastle upon Tyne: Pear Tree Books. Shelved in the Medical Library at AA6c PEA.

Journal title abbreviations

Literature references are often written with abbreviated terms. Abbreviated journal titles can make finding a journal difficult. It is often necessary to know the full title in order to locate the journal. To find journal title abbreviations you could use:

• Europe PubMed Central or All that JAS (Journal Abbreviation Sources).
• For older references try World list of scientific periodicals - in the Medical Library at Ref AA6d WOR

If you are unable to find the abbreviation you are looking for, please ask a member of the Library staff for assistance.

Unofficial abbreviations

Sometimes very short unofficial abbreviations are employed in reference books or journals. Here are some examples that you may encounter:

• AJCP - American journal of clinical pathology
• ABB - Archives of biochemistry and biophysics
• BBRC - Biochemical and biophysical research communications
• BBA - Biochimica et biophysica acta
• BDJ - British dental journal
• BJA - British journal of anasthesia
• BJC - British journal of cancer
• BJCP - British journal of clinical pharmacology
• BJO - British journal of ophthalmology
• BJR - British journal of radiology
• BMB - British medical bulletin
• BMJ - British medical journal
• EJN - European journal of neuroscience
• JAC - Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy
• JAAHA - Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association
• JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association
• JAVMA - Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
• JSAP - Journal of small animal practice
• JBC - Journal of biological chemistry
• JBJS - Journal of bone and joint surgery
• JCI - Journal of clinical investigation
• JCP - Journal of clinical pathology
• JIDR - Journal of intellectual disability research
• JJATS - Journal of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery
• JLR - Journal of lipid research
• JMB - Journal of molecular biology
• MMBR - Microbiology and molecular biology reviews
• MMWR - Morbidity and mortality weekly report
• MVR - Microvascular research
• MCB - Molecular and cellular biology
• MGG - Molecular and general genetics
• NEJM - New England journal of medicine
• PNAS - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• PSEBM - Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine
• SAMJ - South African medical journal

Please note: these should not be used in the references that you write, unless they are stipulated by the body or journal that you are submitting your work to.

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• Various guides to scientific writing and essay writing are available at classmark AA6c in the Medical Library.
• General advice on writing and style guides
• Our Plagiarism: information and advice for students page explains what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, and the consequences of plagiarism.

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EndNote is the University of Bristol's recommended bibliographical management software, which can be used to collect, store, organise and manage references, and to output them as reference lists or bibliographies. A particularly useful function is 'Cite While You Write', enabling you to format Word documents, producing bibliographies and adding references within the text.

• EndNote Web help, advice and training sessions
  This is the recommended version for all undergraduate and taught postgraduate students - it is available free to UoB students and staff.
• EndNote Desktop support
  Academics, researchers and research postgraduates can use the desktop version, which may be installed on their UoB PC. See the 'Help and support' page of EndNote Desktop support for details of self help training materials.

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