Clinical Laboratory Science/Molecular Diagnostic Science: Databases

Medical, Drug and Patient Information

Drug Information
In addition to the drug information in ClincalKey and UptoDate, see these resources:

Patient Education
In addition to the patient education materials available in ClinicalKey, UptoDate and Micromedex, see these resources:

Click on the button in database results to:

• Go directly to most online articles
• Export article citations to Endnote or to formats for other reference managers
• Use Google Scholar or the Google Scholar Button browser add-in to find free full text.
• Search the UNC-CH Library Catalog to find the print journal
• Send an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request if the journal is not owned by UNC-CH

Different databases focus on different areas of the literature, which is particularly true in MDS/CLS. A 2003 study of the clinical laboratory science literature (including molecular diagnostic science) indicated that, “Comprehensive coverage of the literature of the field can only be accomplished through the use of multiple bibliographic databases, although each of the various indexing services fills an important niche.”  Reference:  Delwiche, FA.  Mapping the Literature of Clinical Laboratory Science. J Med Libr Assoc 91(3), July 2003, p 309.

All campus databases

• browse by title
• browse by subject
• search by database name

Use this guide to help visualize and plan your search:

• From Purdue Libraries Creating a Search Strategy Guide: Constructing a Search Statement Worksheet (.pdf download).

Use this log to keep your search organized and to document your search strategy for reporting:

Always access PubMed from our library website. 

For New PubMed platform (5/2020)

• Quick Tip sheet: 
  • To find full text, use the Find at UNC buttons when you click on a specific citation.
  • Here is further UNC information for finding the full text:  https://guides.lib.unc.edu/full-text

• Quick Tour Interactive PubMed Tutorials (click on "Quick Tours" to select the ones you want or use the list below).  These are short, interactive tutorials that walk you through the basics of how to use PubMed for the most common tasks).  
  • Clinical Queries Quick Tour: find the latest treatments for a disease or a disorder 
    • Click on PubMed from HSL Quick Links (below search box).  
    • Then, scroll down to "Find" column and select Clinical Queries 
  • Search by topic tutorial
  • Subject search: how it works:  
    • how automatic term mapping and explosion enhance your PubMed search.
  • Save searches and set email alerts:
  • Find articles by author 
  • Find article by citation (or parts of one): 
  • Find articles by journal
• New PubMed FAQ and User Guide:  

For additional assistance, HSL’s Ask Us is ready and able to help  

Don't forget, Ask Us when you have difficulty finding what you're looking for in a database.

Don't forget, many databases have a link to help files as part of their search screens.

Boolean Basics for Searching
Boolean searching helps you find less (narrows) or find more (broadens) results when you search in many databases and Web search engines. Boolean searching depends on the use of three terms: AND, OR, and NOT. Enter these terms in ALL CAPS because many search engines are case sensitive for these terms.

Full Text Articles via Find@UNC
Includes Find@UNC in PubMed and what to do when the article is not online via Find@UNC.

For help using the New PubMed platform (5/2020), see New PubMed Resource Box. 

PubMed resources below are being updated but still have useful information demonstrated using the original PubMed platform.