History of Medicine

Hello to all our first year UGs in The Medical School.  You will now be well underway with your 'History of Medicine' assignment, so here's a little reminder of what we went through in your Library induction session:

The Video

StarPlus - The Library Catalogue

StarPlus is the library catalogue, it gives you a single starting point to find information.  To access StarPlus, sign into MUSE using your university username and password and then look for StarPlus - Library Catalogue under 'My Services'.  Remember to sign into StarPlus by clicking 'University Members' on the landing page.

Use the 'University Collections' tab to search for books, ebooks and journals.  A good medical textbook will be a great place to start your research.

Use the 'Articles and more' tab to complete a basic search of journal articles in your subject area. They provide a more detailed view of your subject area and are the best source of academic research.

If you need further assistance using StarPlus, take a look at our Information Skills Resource - Using StarPlus

The Databases

You can also use specialist databases to find information on your subject area.  MEDLINE via OvidSP  is the major international medical database. Take a look at the video above to see a screencast of how to search it for material relating to the history of medicine. Or take a look at our online tutorial .

The Websites

You can always find lots of information online.  In our video we looked at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the Thackray Medical Museum, and The Wellcome Trust, but you will need to check the quality of the websites that you are using.  If you are unsure how to evaluate information, take a look at our tutorial.

Remember...Think Critically!

If you need more information, contact your Liaison Team for Medicine, Dentistry & Health.

Need help with referencing?

Citing your sources correctly is an essential academic skill, but it can often be quite daunting.  The library has lots of help and advice on how to avoid plagiarism, and how to reference correctly.  Check out the Information Skills Resource for tutorials of the referencing style for your department.

There are a number of referencing management programmes that can help you to organise and format your references.

The Library supports the use of Endnote Web.  Endnote Web allows you to import references from online databases such as Web of Knowledge and Scopus, access them from any computer, and add them to your word documents as you write.   Endnote Web is free for all University of Sheffield students - find out more on the Information Skills Resource.

An alternative Reference managent software is Mendeley.  This is a free web-based programme that offers similar features to Endnote Web.  Have a look at the video tutorials available on their website.

10 of the Best: 7# Information Skills Resource

This month on '10 of the Best' we’re looking at one of the Library’s top in-house resources – the Information Skills Resource. From here you can find all the latest online tutorials that the Library has designed to help you gain the information skills you need to complete your course successfully. 

So whether you need some help on searching databases like Medline, or you need to find materials for your assignments, or you’re confused about referencing, the Information Skills Resource will have something for you. 

Available from the Library tab in MUSE you can search for tutorials by department or check out the non-subject specific tutorials from the homepage. There’s also a set of tutorials designed specifically for researchers, with guidance on referencing, copyright and on how to produce a literature review. 

Here are just some of the tutorials we think you’ll need the most; 

StarPlus find resources for your course

Evaluating information

Medline tutorial

Vancouver referencing for Medicine

Using Endnoteweb and Endnote

We’re developing new tutorials all the time so if there’s anything you’re struggling with and you think it should be covered by the Information Skills Resource just let us know!

Effective Internet Searching

The Information Skills tutorial Effective Internet Searching has been completely overhauled and updated, please take a look.

In this tutorial you will:

• Understand in broad terms how search engines work
• Discover what the invisible web is and why it matters
• Try out a selection of handy techniques and tips for quicker, more effective searches
• Learn about other sources of information and when to use them

Effective Internet Searching is just one of a number of tutorials the Library provides through the Information Skills Resource

Access it from the Library tab in MUSE and/or from the Library web home page