Reference Sources (Books and eBooks)
Reference materials are an excellent starting point for acquiring a broad overview of your topic. Items with REF in the call number are reserved for in-library use only. Those with links are available online to registered Portage College Library users. Depending on your topic, you may want to consult the following tools:
Canada Yearbook - produced by Statistics Canada, this has a useful section on Health -- infant death rate, birth weights, etc.
REF 317.1 CAN 2008
Canadian Directory to Foundations & Grants [2 volumes] A listing of the family, corporate, community and special interest foundations whose main activity is grant-making.
REF 001.44 CAN 2006
e-CPS (Compendium of pharmaceuticals and specialties)
REF 615.1171 COM 2008
Encyclopedia of Drugs and Alcohol [4 volumes] - a comprehensive source of information on the general topic of substance use and abuse.
REF 362.29 ENC 1995
The Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood & Adolescence - background information on many topics, including premature birth, fetal alcohol syndrome and breast feeding, etc.
REF 305.231 GAL 1998
The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine [5 volumes] - scholarly but readable overview of many topics, with good listing of resources and organizations.
REF 616 GAL 1999
Newer, abbreviated edition also available online.
Lakeland Link—Community Services Directory brief profiles and contact information for programs, support, and services for communities within the boundaries of the Lakeland Health Region.
Magill's medical guide covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders. [5 volumes]
REF 610.3MAG 2008
Mosby's Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Health Professions
Containing more than just Mr. Bones, you'll find detailed illustrations of the muscular, circulatory, endocrine, lymphatic, nervous, respiratory, digestive, reproductive, urinary systems and other features.
REF 610.3 MOS 2010
Mosby's handbook of herbs & natural supplements provides detailed information for approximately 300 commonly used herbal products and natural supplements. This resource incorporates information on common names, pronunciations, scientific names, origins, uses, forms, dosages, contraindications, side effects and adverse reactions, interactions with herbs, drugs, foods, and lab tests, client considerations, pharmacology and references for every drug.
REF 615.32 SKI 2010
PDR nurse's drug handbook
615.1 PDR 2008
Penguin Encyclopaedia of Nutrition
REF 613.203 YUD
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary
REF 610 STE 2006
If off-campus, contact Public Services Librarian for username/password.
General Collection
Online catalogue & Library of Congress Subject Headings
The online catalogue is the Library's computerized catalogue. It is the listing of books, videos, and journals available in the Library. You can locate material on specific topics by performing a Subject Heading search. Portage College Library uses Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Some sample headings for Health and Wellness you can perform a search on in the online catalogue:
Community health
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Health Nutrition
Pregnancy
Sexually transmitted diseases
The Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification System to group books and videos together by subject on the library shelves. The call number on the online catalogue corresponds to the number on the label on the spine of the book (e.g. 155.4 BEE). Medical Sciences materials are shelved in the 610 section.
Examples
612 - Human physiology
613.2 - Nutrition
615.1 - Drugs
616.025 - Medical emergencies
617.1 - Trauma/injuries
618 - Obstetrics
Periodicals: Newspapers, Journals & Magazines
Periodicals are published at regular intervals, generally more frequently than annually. Each issue is numbered and/or dated consecutively, and normally contains separate articles, stories, or other writings. Scanning current issues of periodicals in your subject area can be useful when you are trying to think of a topic.
ACA News (Alberta Council on Aging)
Health Reports [Statistics Canada]
Nursing (in Cold Lake branch)
Parents
Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health
is a peer reviewed, web-based journal published twice each year by Native Counselling Services of Alberta and the Alberta ACADRE Network. The articles are multidisciplinary, and of interest to a wide range of readers, including both community and academic researchers.
Finding Journal Articles
An electronic database is an index of articles in magazines, journals and newspapers. Portage Library subscribes to a number of Web-based electronic databases. The databases that you will find useful for your studies are:
Academic Search Complete is the world's most comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 4,600 peer-reviewed journals. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in searchable PDF format.
AltHealthWatch focuses on alternative and complimentary medicine. Use this database for finding information on topics such as yoga, chiropractic therapy, herbal supplements, massages, acupuncture, etc. Full-text articles are available.
Health and Wellness Resource Centre focuses on consumer health information and includes links to diet, cancer, and health assessment sites as well as government databases. Also provides the “Drug and Herb Finder,” “Health Assessment Tools,” “Alternative Health Encyclopedia,” etc. Full-text articles are available.
Health Reference Centre Academic
Use this database to find articles on topics such as fitness, pregnancy, medicine, nutrition, diseases, public health, occupational health and safety, alcohol and drug abuse, HMOs, prescription drugs, etc. Full-text articles are available.
PubMed Central (PMC)* is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.
Access to databases is restricted to the Portage College students, faculty and staff, except Open Source* databases.
Web Sites
The Internet is a rich source of information. The sites listed here are just a starting point. If you are looking for a specific topic try typing keywords into one of the basic search tools such as Yahoo, AltaVista, Google, etc.
Aboriginal Canada Portal
The Aboriginal Canada Portal, your single window to Canadian Aboriginal on-line resources, contacts, information, and government programs and services.
Alberta Health
Public Health Information Alberta government website devoted to current public health issues e.g. meningitis
Alberta Public Health Association
Breastfeeding Committee for Canada
Canadian Cancer Society
Information on prevention and early detection
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
Includes links to information on drug abuse, gambling addiction, and fetal alcohol syndrome.
Canadian Diabetes Association
Comprehensive fact sheets and excellent annotated links
Canadian Institute for Health Information
Canadian Institute of Child Health
Fact sheets available online
Canadian Public Health Association
Free publications online plus links.
Doulas of North America
Association of Childbirth Attendants (called Doulas) with good information on pregnancy and childbirth, and information on becoming certified as a Doula.
Health Canada
Provides information on a variety of topics including Cancer, First Nations, Heart Health, Pregnancy, Seniors, Smoking, and STDs.
Health Canada: Population Health Development
Focuses on promotion and prevention, and has some excellent information on the "Determinants of Health"
Health in Action
Alberta-based website on health promotion
Healthnet Canada
Excellent links on injury prevention and health promotion
Immunization Action Coalition
Information for parents and healthcare providers about vaccines and hepatitis B educational materials
It’s Your Health
Informative articles on diseases, medical issues, product safety, environmental issues, food safety and healthy lifestyles.
KidsHealth
Information about growth, food and fitness, childhood infections, etc.
Medscape
Requires registration, but free and well worth it. Full text articles and access to Medline (abstracts).
Merck
Provides free access to the Merck Manual (Home Edition) and the Merck Manual of Geriatrics. Includes Topics for Health Care Professionals. Searchable database.
My Child has Diabetes: Live a Normal Life
An E-book and online resource for parents of children with Juvenile Diabetes
National Academy Press
Provides access to over 3,000 free books. Choose from the topics in the left-hand column, then select a release. See "Full text" under Free Resources below purchase options.
Statistics Canada
A variety of statistical data, including population traits and trends, justice and crime, government, and profiles of Canadian communities.
Virtual Hospital
A digital health sciences library created in 1992 at the University of Iowa. Aims to make the Internet a useful medical reference and health promotion tool for health care providers and patients.
Voices for Children
Advocacy group for child health and development. Excellent fact sheets available online.
