Health Information Resources on the Internet Exercises
(Advanced Course: Module 4)
Table of Contents:
- E-Journal Sources
- Google Custom Searches & Search Engines
- Other Grey Literature Resources on the Internet
Health Information on the Internet
There are numerous invaluable health information resources available on the WWW that fall into the general categories previously mentioned (gateways, databases, search engines). This is a vast topic that, in this section, only will be addressed in a limited way. Examples of the types of information on the WWW are listed below:
- Agency Sources
- Databases, Search Engines & Gateways
- E-journal Sources
- Subject Sources
- Free e-journal Options
Besides the HINARI program, there are a number of useful e-journal gateways that contain access to freely available full text articles on the WWW. In the following example, you will access Directory of Open Access Journals, BioMed Central, PubMed Central and Highwire Press. You will view these in the following exercise.
Exercise 1
Connect to the Internet and open your internet browser.
Type or copy/paste into the address box, click on “GO” or hit the Return key.
In the Directory of Open Access Journals, the full text of ALL content must be available for free and be Open Access without delay (i.e. no embargo period). This is a basic requirement for entry into DOAJ How many journals are listed in this gateway and how many are searchable at the article level?
How many journals are listed in this gateway and how many are searchable at the article level?
In the DOAJ Search box, enter diabetes AND weight loss or a search of interest to you and click on the question mark.
How many citations are listed for this search?
How is the access to the journals organized?
Type or copy/paste into the address box, click on “GO” or hit the Return key.
This links to BioMed Central, an open access publisher; published articles are freely available on the Internet as the authors pay BioMed Central to publish them.
How is the access to the journals organized?
What broad subject area would be most useful to you?
Can you complete a keyword search in BioMedCentral?
Can an author submit a manuscript through this website?
Type or copy/paste https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ into the address box, click on “GO” or hit the Return key.
This links to PubMed Central, a free archive of biomedical and life sciences articles deposited in this repository
Who is the sponsor of this digital archive?
How many articles are in this database and how many journals are in the Full Participation journals list?
In the PMC Search box, enter foodborne zoonoses AND prevention or a search of interest to you and click on Search.
How many citations are listed for this search?
Click on article for one of the titles - to go to the PMC abstract and link to the full-text article.
Exercise 2: Optional – desktop or laptop required
If you have your own laptop or one assigned to you for work, download the unpaywall app. See Hinari Advanced Course Module 4: Health on the Internet slides 44-51 for instructions and description of the app.
- Access to numerous Grey Literature Sites – via Google Custom Searches
Exercise 3
In Google, search for:
Non-governmental Organizations Search
(note – the link may be the 4th or 5th in the results column as there may be advertisements at the top)
Enter Stroke AND second hand smoke in the Google Custom Non-governmental Organizations Search box and click on Search.
How many citation search results are listed?
What types of publications are list on the 1st page of search results?
From a public health prevention program, would some of these resources be of use?
Complete a search of interest to you. What types of material was listed on the 1st page of the search results? Would some of these resources be of use?
In Google, search for:
Intergovernmental Organizations Search Engine
(note – the link may be the 4th or 5th in the results column as there may be advertisements at the top)
Enter Ebola AND transmission prevention in the Google Custom Search Intergovernmental Organizations box and click on Search.
How many citation search results are listed?
What types of publications are list on the 1st page of search results?
Would some of these resources be of use for an Ebola prevention program?
Enter Ebola AND transmission control in the Google Custom Search box and click on Search.
How many citation search results are listed? Are these documents similar to the Ebola AND transmission prevention results? Is this a broader or narrower keyword search?
Is this a broader or narrower keyword search?
Which search terms would you use (especially since the numbers are large)? How could you narrow this search?
Complete a search of interest to you. What types of material was listed on the 1st page of the search results? Would some of these resources be of use?
- Other useful search engines
Exercise 4
Open Supercourse, a repository of lectures and research methods materials on global health - http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/. Read the details on this resource. How could it be useful to your institution?
In the Search box, enter Foodborne transmission AND prevention. What is the number of the search results?
Note that the results are a google search (similar to the last exercise) but it is for resources that are in the Supercourse portal. The results includes advertisements. Scroll down past these advertisements. What is the file format for most of the links? Would this material be useful for presentations and lectures?
Return to the Supercourse repository page (back button). In the Search box, enter a search of interest to you.
What was the topic of your search?
Open 2 or 3 of the links to the specific presentations in the Supercourse repository. Would these resources be of use to you or your institution?
Exercise 5
Open the Open i search engine at openi.nlm.nih.gov - an open access biomedical image search engine.
Enter lung cancer in the search box and click on the Search icon. Note the drop down menu that lists more precise terms (e.g. lung cancer metastatic)
Click on one of the images that is listed. Note how a description of the image is listed.
Double click on the image – to display the image and citation, description of the figure, the abstract of the image’s article plus, if possible, a link to the related full-text article. Click on share icon (above the image itself). What are the share options?
Return to the initial page of the search engine (openi.nlm.nih.gov). Complete a search of interest to you. What search did you complete? Have you located useful images?
In the Limits horizontal bar above the numerous images, click on Rank By. For this search, what Limits would be of use to you?
From the Limits bar, now click on Image Type. Note that the default contains Exclude Graphics. What Image Type(s) would be useful?
View any other Limits that are of interest to you?
Exercise 6
Open the MedlinePlus search engine at www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ - (U.S.) National Institutes of Health's Web site for patients and their families that contains free, reliable and up-to-date information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in clear language.
Enter asthma AND children in the Search MedlinePlus box and click on Go. What is the number of results? Note the urls (web addresses) from the list of initial citations. Several are from the National Institute of Health while others are from different reputable websites (e.g. American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology or the Mayo Clinic).
In the Refine by Type column, how many External Health Links and Videos and Tutorials are listed? Noted the numerous types of material that are available.
Open one of the Refine by Type options. Which did you choose and did you find useful material? Remember that this material is for patients and their families.
Return to the initial page of the search engine (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/). Complete a search of interest to you. What search did you complete? Have you located useful material? Which Refine by Type options would you use?
- Access to numerous Grey Literature Sites – via other Internet sources
Exercise 7
Open the Open Grey website at - a database of 700,000 grey literature references in Europe with links to many full-text documents
Enter prenatal care in the search box and click on the Search icon.
How many documents are displayed by the search results?
What types of organizations are listed in the left-column Refine your search list?
Scroll down the Refine your search column to the language limit. How many of these sources are in English? In the doctype limit, how many are thesis?
Enter a similar search for infant care in the Search box and click on the Search icon.
How many documents are displayed by the search results?
What types of organizations are listed in the left-column Refine your search list?
Are these documents similar to the prenatal care results? Is this a broader or narrower keyword search?
Return to the search page and complete a search for a topic of interest to you.
What are your search terms? How many documents are listed in your search results? Would this be a useful source to full-text resources?
Exercise 8
Open the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) Global Search Tool at - a database of 4,000,000 thesis and dissertations with links to many full-text documents.
Enter climate change AND health in the search box and click on the Search icon.
How many documents are displayed by the search results?
How many thesis and dissertations are in English, French or Portuguese?
Click on one citation that says has links. Is there access to the full-text document?
In the Publication year search box, enter 2012 and click on Publication year
How many documents are listed in the search results?
Return to the search page and complete a search for a topic of interest to you.
What are your search terms? How many thesis and dissertations are listed in your search results? Would this be a useful source to full-text resources?
Exercise 9
Open the WorldWideScience.org website at worldwidescience.org - a global science gateway comprised of 99 national and international scientific databases and portals
Enter tobacco use AND oral cancer in the search box and click on the Search icon. Note that 99 sources are searched (and can take several minutes).
How many documents are displayed by this search? Note that some link to the full text for free while others will require a payment.
Scroll down the Topics left column until you reach Dates. How many resources have been published in 2016 and 2017?
Return to the search page and complete a search for a topic of interest to you.
What are your search terms? How many documents are listed in your search results? How many full text articles are available? Would this be a useful source to full-text resources?
Assignment
You now have completed Advanced Course Module 4 and finished 9 exercises. This has given you an overview of access to free e-journal sites on the Internet and numerous (grey literature) health-related Internet resources.
Updated 2018 03