This week we got to do some searching on two health databases, Health Source - Consumer Edition and MedLine Plus.
Health Source - Consumer Edition was pretty easy for me to use. I can see that it would be helpful for anyone wanting to find articles and abstracts on pretty much any health topic. I found it amusing that when I opened the publications link, the first two magazines noted were for AARP since I am feeling rather "old" tonight! Of course it was an alphabetical list so the AARP publications were first! I searched "juvenile diabetes" and found many articles with the most recent from November, 2012 (this month). I read an article called "Diabetes and School" (June, 2012) which was an abstract from a book called Understanding Diabetes. The article was informative and easy to read. I could have "listened" to the article as well. One thing I noted was a mini "table of contents" to the left of the article which highlighted the main points of the abstract. Any parent of a child with diabetes would find the article very helpful.
Medline Plus - I can see this database being helpful in many different ways. The main page seemed really easy to use with the three "big" headings. The news column on the right had articles about teens with HIV, exercise for Parkinson's patients, and smokers who have colorectal surgery. I am guessing the articles change daily. I liked the "top searches" section on the left. It listed many topics in different sized prints. I am guessing the larger the print, the more searches of that subject. For instance diabetes, hypertension, and vitamin D were in very large print. When using the "Drugs and Supplements" link, I searched lisinopril, a high blood pressure medicine. The resulting link gave information I could easily understand - lots of helpful information that would help anyone taking the medicine. I then went to "Health Topics" and once again searched juvenile diabetes. This was a bit tricky to find - under "d" for diabetes not "j" for juvenile diabetes. The resulting information was very different from what I found in Health Source. I got an overview of the disease and then found links under subheadings to all different kinds of publications. I am sure the search could go on forever (at least it seemed so)! The "Videos and Cool Tools" section was fun. I am not into watching surgery videos so I avoided those. However, I began a tutorial on menopause (a bit slow and elementary) and watched a video on allergies (peppy, informative, brief). Something I noticed on both was that not only was there audio but you could read the text if you preferred. I then went to the Games and Quizzes section on the right of the page. Fun! The game I played was for a child so I can see MedLine Plus tries to hit all audiences.
Will I use these? I can see them being helpful and yes, I probably would go to them for medical information.
I didn't notice the option to listen to articles in Health Source Consumer Edition. Are all of the articles audio linked?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if all of the articles are audio linked. I just happened to notice that the one I read gave that option.
DeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice the "listen" option on Health Source. I'll have to go back and look for it. We both know how helpful this could be for students, especially when they are researching something totally new and they have limited prior knowledge and vocabulary.
I also didn't look at the games. I wonder if these would fit into science classes?
Suzanne
I would guess there would be some that might fit science class and definitely health class. I told my daughter-in-law who is a health teacher about the games and she thought she might try them.
Delete