HSLS Update

HSLS Public Health Information Resources

public health researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have access to a large array of information resources and services. This guide provides an overview of the libraries, online library resources, general Web resources, and print resources available to faculty, staff and students in the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), and public health researchers in other schools and departments.

LIBRARIES

The Falk and WPIC Libraries within HSLS provide an extensive public health collection, as well as reference and instructional services for public health researchers. The HSLS liaison librarian to GSPH is Ammon Ripple. Contact him at ammon2@pitt.edu or 412-648-1251 to arrange a research consultation, request a class or tour, or to learn more about using public health resources.

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of public health, some researchers will also find the need to consult the psychology, biology, social work, statistics, computer science, and other library collections available through the University Library System (ULS) libraries. The ULS is administratively separate from HSLS, and may have different policies and services. The ULS Web site is at <www.library.pitt.edu>.

DATABASES

HSLS provides more than 30 research databases to support health sciences research, available by clicking on “Databases” on the HSLS homepage <www.hsls.pitt.edu>. Among these, MEDLINE and PsycINFO are the two major databases to search for public health literature .

A number of databases available from the ULS support areas of research related to public health, including: Social Work Abstracts, Sociofile, Current Index to Statistics, Biological Abstracts, Scifinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts), World News Connection, Academic Universe and others. From the ULS Web site, click on “Databases A-Z” to see their full list of databases.

JOURNALS

HSLS subscribes to over 2600 print and electronic journals, including 100% of core public health journals as identified by the Medical Library Association, and about 75% of all public health related journals.To locate journal articles on specific topics, it is necessary to search the databases listed above. To find out if you have access to a particular journal, check the PITTCat library catalog or the HSLS e-journal list on our Web site. If the journal you need is not available from HSLS, we can obtain articles or any published document through our Document Express interlibrary loan service. Click on “Document Delivery” from the HSLS Web site.

BOOKS

To find books in HSLS and ULS libraries, search PITTCat, the University of Pittsburgh library catalog. More than 20,000 public health books are held in University library collections, in addition to hundreds of thousands of books available in related fields. If you prefer to browse the shelves to find circulating public health books, check the “RA” call number section in Falk Library, or the “WA” call number section in the WPIC Library. Don’t forget that the Falk Library History of Medicine collection will have related materials within its “RA” call number area as well.

Check the reference collection on the first floor of Falk Library for important public health resources, such as the Oxford Textbook of Public Health (2002), the Encyclopedia of Public Health (2002) and other major encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories and textbooks in areas such as toxicology, health administration, statistics, epidemiology, and environmental and occupational health.

WEBSITES

HSLS librarians maintain guides to Internet resources. From the HSLS homepage, click on “Internet Guides”. These guides lead you to quality information resources on the Web. Of particular interest to the public health community are the Public Health, HIV/AIDS, Epidemiology, Health Administration, Health Statistics, Infectious Diseases, Medical Responses to Terrorism, Minority Health & Cultural Diversity, Sexual Orientation & Health, Toxicology, Women’s Health, Addiction, Aging and Mental Health, Eating Disorders, and Federal and State Resources Internet guides.

To search the Web, we recommend Google at <www.google.com> or AlltheWeb at <www.alltheweb.com> because of their size and search features. In addition, these are the only two search engines that include PDF files, and thus allow access to government information published in this format. To learn more about strategies for finding public health information on the Web, visit our online tutorial available at <www.hsls.pitt.edu/services/ instruction/presentations/pophtc>.

--Ammon Ripple