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Albert S. Cook Library

Health Sciences

Resources for students researching topics in Health Sciences and Health Education.

PubMed, MEDLINE, PMC: What's the Difference?

diagram of pubmed showing medline, pubmed central, and ncbi bookshelf

PubMed® is a search platform from the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Center for Biotechnology Information. It contains content from MEDLINE, PMC, and the NCBI Bookshelf.


MEDLINE is the largest component of PubMed. MEDLINE is a database that consists of citations from journals selected for MEDLINE and indexed with MeSH terms.

PMC is a full-text archive of articles from journals selected by the National Library of Medicine, as well as individual articles collected for funding policies. Open access.

NCBI Bookshelf is a full-text archive of books, reports, databases, and other documents related to biomedical, health, and life sciences.

Resources for Interdisciplinary Research

Interdisciplinary Bibliographic Literature Databases

These databases are multidisciplinary with broad coverage. Use them to get started and for your main search.

Guideline Resources

Look for additional guidance in clinical practice guidelines and other guidelines, protocols, and recommendations.

Background and Reference

Trade, Popular, or Other

Databases for Specialized Research

The databases listed below may be good options as a complementary search source for specialized topics. While they may have some overlap of coverage with PubMed or a larger multidisciplinary database, you will likely find unique and specialized results.

Rehabilitation, Communication, and Nursing

Education

Psychology and Sociology

Business

Pharmacy

Clinical Summaries

These resources may give an overview of a disease or condition and link to other resources, such as more evidence, or consumer health information.

Anatomy Resources

The following resources have a variety of human anatomy, musculoskeletal systems, and radiological images. Some images have a Creative Commons license and may be used in presentations or posters. Others are to be used for teaching purposes only.

Tests and Measurements

Apps

These apps can be used for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Unfortunately, not all of these apps are free but may have free versions. Please check before downloading.

Clinical Trial Registries