What are Medical Subject Headings aka MeSH?
The Medical Subject Headings make up the controlled vocabulary of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). It is used for indexing articles, for cataloging books and other holdings, and for searching MeSH-indexed databases, including MEDLINE and CINAHL with Full Text.
The Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terminology provides a consistent way to retrieve information that may use different terminology for the same concepts. MeSH organizes its descriptors in a hierarchical structure so that broad searches will find articles indexed more narrowly.
For more detailed information concerning MeSH see the Medical Subject Headings or the Introduction to MeSH (from the U.S. National Library of Medicine)
Healthcare Databases
- CINAHL with Full Text This link opens in a new window CINAHL is a database of citations and abstracts for journal articles and other materials on nursing, communication sciences and disorders, and allied health sciences. This authoritative resource for nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers provides indexing for 2,960 journals from the fields of nursing and allied health with more than 2,000,000 records dating back to 1981.
- Health and Wellness This link opens in a new window This comprehensive consumer health resource provides authoritative information on the full range of health-related issues, from current disease and disorder information to in-depth coverage of alternative medical practices. Full-text medical journals, magazines, reference works, multimedia; perfect for researchers at all levels with more than 1,000 medical journals, periodicals, and articles from more than 2,200 general-interest publications, medical newspapers, newsletters and news feeds and hundreds of streaming videos.
- Health Source: Consumer Edition This link opens in a new window Health Source covers a wide variety of subjects, including information on specific diseases as well as overall health topics, including fitness, nutrition, diabetes, aging, women’s health, children’s health and more. Access to Clinical Reference Systems reports, in both English and Spanish, and Merriam-Webster’s Medical Desk Dictionary. This rich collection of consumer health information provides access to full-text consumer health magazines, and includes searchable full text for up-to-date health pamphlets.
- Health Source: Nursing and Academic Edition This link opens in a new window This database provides nearly 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. It includes nursing and allied health topics, including pediatric nursing, critical care, mental health, nursing management, and medical law. It also features the AHFS (American Hospital Formulary Service® Drug Information) Consumer Medication Information, which covers 1,300 generic drug patient education sheets with more than 4,700 brand names.
- ICE Video Library (with Stroke Help Collection) This link opens in a new window ICE (International Clinical Educators) has been a leader in healthcare education since its founding in 1983. ICE Learning Center Videos are professionally filmed and feature actual patients and clinicians demonstrating practical and effective treatment ideas, including including acute care, skilled nursing, outpatient, home health and ICU. This video collection includes StrokeHelp: Functional Treatment Ideas & Strategies and StrokeHelp: Treatment Strategies in Acute Care.
- MEDLINE with Full Text This link opens in a new window MEDLINE with Full Text provides the authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and pre-clinical sciences found on MEDLINE. The database includes full text for over 1,470 journals and citations for over 4,800 biomedical journals with subjects like Biomedicine, Pre-Clinical Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Bioengineering, Health Policy Development, Life Sciences, Communication Disorders, Population Biology, and Reproductive Biology.
Respiratory Journals & Professional Publications
- Respiratory Care: The Official Journal of the American Association for Respiratory Therapy (online & print)
- Journal of Pulmonary & Respiratory Medicine (open access = free)
- AARC Times Magazine (membership is required for access)
Boolean Searching
Introduction to Boolean Logic from PubMed
