ID1 Statistics in the Real World

Professor Hardin

Fall 2010

Researching for Background and History of Diseases

Search Blais and Link+

Blais and Link+ will have many books detailing the history of specific diseases and their historical treatment. Since the Claremont Colleges does not have a medical program or degree, Link+ will be a valuable tool for you.

Tips

  1. Search for the disease as a subject and as a keyword and see which works best
  2. Typically, the subject to search structure would be “diabetes -- history" (of course using your own topic). There are books that detail every subject heading in the Library of Congress classification, called The Big Red Books, held in each library. Sending a chat to a librarian might be a quicker way to find your subject heading if you are having trouble.
  3. Search directly in Link+ by clicking the “Search Link+” link in the See Also box to the right on the Blais homepage
  4. In Link+, check the holdings and status for the book by clicking the “X Link+ libraries have this item” link
  5. Click “Request this item” to request a copy to be delivered to Honnold for you.

Databases

* AccessScience is the online version of the Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, and has articles outlining the background and history of many diseases. It is available from the databases page under A.

* History of Science, Technology, and Medicine is a database that indexes articles primarily focused on the history and development of topics. This is also available from the databases page under H.

* Web of Science now goes back to 1908, and by using the advanced search feature or the limits to specific titles, you can access articles that are more likely to be historical and general overview in nature. Suggested titles to limit to are, Nature, Science, Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, and Lancet.

* LexisNexis carries articles from all mainstream media.

To limit by source title, perform your search, and click “source titles” selecting your chosen journal titles. Although trickier, the advanced search will yield better results. You must construct your search statements correctly, however, like TS=diabetes AND (SO=Nature OR SO=Lancet OR SO=Science). Also, do resort your results using the dropdown located to the right of your screen. Web of Science is also located in the database list under W.