Bibliographical information
April 10 2008
- Resources for current information in journals (after 1966)
- Resources for older information in journals (before 1966)
- Resources for current information about books
- Resources for information about older books
Resources for current information in journals (after 1966)
Database resources
BMA Library MEDLINE Plus
The easiest method of checking references to articles published after 1966 is to search BMA Library MEDLINE Plus which contains articles from over 4 600 journals. This is available to all BMA members by registering on this site. Please fill in the registration form, then after logging on, select 'Medline Plus' from the options on the home page.
Embase
Medline does not index all biomedical journals. Embase has better coverage of drug information and alternative medicine and indexes more European journals. This is searched in broadly the same way as Medline. BMA members can request a search of this database via the library's online searching service.
PubMed
There are many other free web versions of Medline database, the best of which is probably PubMed, the US National Library of Medicine's own public version.
PubMed is more current than Medline Plus and is very useful for checking the reference of an article published within the last three months, which is roughly the delay there is with the networked version. However these citations do not have any subject headings attached. Search options are not as extensive or as user-friendly, and there isn't a link with the BMA Library's ordering facility.
Science Citation Index
The key feature of the Science Citation Index is that it gives bibliographical information on the articles cited by its source articles, and can be searched as such. For example, one can find the number of times a particular paper has been cited, and where. More information is in the citation research factsheet . Please contact Library staff, who can conduct searches for BMA members.
Specialist databases
There are many others which can be used to locate bibliographical information. BMA Library staff can advise on databases and conduct searches. Some of these, such as databases on ethics, AIDS, and medical history, are available as a subset of PubMed (see above). Others are listed in the US National Library of Medicine's health information page:
NLM health website
Library search request pages
Web resources
The web is a superb resource for checking bibliographic infomation which is not indexed in standard resources. There are hundreds of thousands of full text reports and papers which individuals and organisations have made available on the web. As well as full text information, CVs and publication lists are another good source of bibliographic information. If you want to search for this type of information then you should search for a specific phrase, generally from the title, and use the prescribed punctuation for indicating a phrase search (generally double quotation marks).
Most publishers have web sites which are good sources of journals information (generally including current contents pages). They can be used to check references in journals which we do not take or which are not yet indexed in Medline.
Journals
Publishers' Catalogues Home Page
This site features over 6 000 publishers' catalogues and can be browsed or searched by US state, form or genre.
Publist
This database contains publisher information for over 150 000 magazines, journals, newsletters, & other periodicals.
University of Regensberg
This German site has over 2000 medical ejournals including common journals such as American Family Physician. The free journals are indicated with green dots:
Read the medical journals section
University of London, Union List of Serials
If the journal that you need to check is not indexed in an easily available database, then another library may be able to help. The list allows you to search for a journal name in order to see which libraries in London keep it:
Ulrich's directory
Good resource for checking details of journals, library staff can check this database. The Bowker website has information about the scope and history of the resource:
Resources for older information in journals (before 1966)
Print resources
British Union Catalogue of Periodicals (BUCOP)
Standard list of UK journal holdings. This union catalogue was compiled in the mid 20th c. but it is particularly useful for checking the location of older journals.
Cumulated Index Medicus
Predecessors can be used to check journal references which predate Medline. These volumes have different titles but go back to the end of the last century. BMA members can ask library staff to make searches in these resources. They should also be available in other large medical libraries.
Database resources
The Science Citation Index contains bibliographical information on older books and journal articles that are not indexed elsewhere drawing on obscure and unpublished literature. More information is in the citation research factsheet. Library staff can conduct searches for BMA members.
Resources for current information about books
Print resources
Printed resources have now been superceded by online databases, first available from vendors, but now available on the web. British National Bibliography (BNB) is the British bibliography which includes details for all books and reports published in the UK. A microfiche cumulation BNB 1959-1986 is kept in the microfiche storage drawers in the library.
Web resources
British Library catalogues
The British Library's holdings are outstanding. BLPC is currently arranged by collection although there are long term plans to integrate the collections in one database. Read information about the scope of the database.
BLPC contains BL collections both at the main reading room in London (St. Pancras) and at the document supply centre in Boston Spa, Yorkshire.
BLPC hints:
- Finding out if a particular journal is held at the London St. Pancras reading room: select 'catalogue subset search' and then 'Science' (not as precise as the 'journals' option because it covers science books as well as science journals)
- Tracing conference proceedings: select the catalogue subset page for 'document supply conferences' option and type the name of the conference into the title field.
- BLDSC Shelfmark is the ten digit number with a decimal point between the fourth and fifth digit, e.g., 2116.177200. This does not always tell you the name of the journal but this can be found in Current Serials Received; library staff can consult this for you.
COPAC is the CURL Online Public Access Catalogue. CURL is the Consortium of University and Research Libraries and is based at Manchester University. It combines the catalogues of 22 of the largest university and research libraries in the UK plus the British Library. COPAC is useful for tracing items that the British Library does not hold. Among the Libraries covered by COPAC are the Libraries of Oxford University, Cambridge University and Trinity College Dublin, which as legal deposit libraries receive a copy of everything published in the UK and Ireland.
HERO
Comprehensive list of library catalogues, arranged by region and subject:
Library of Congress Catalogue
Contains useful information and is free to use. The catalog is a database of approximately 12 million records representing books, serials, computer files, manuscripts, cartographic materials, music, sound recordings, and visual materials in the Library's collections:
National Library of Medicine
The NLM catalogue is one of the best sources for medical bibliographical information:
Web bookshop databases
Free and easy to use. They usually contain comprehensive bibliographical information as well as publisher synopses and user reviews. Resources for information about older books
Print resources
The catalogue of the National Library of Medicine (and its predecessors) is the best resource in the library for bibliographical information about books.
Morton's Medical Bibliography
BMA location: Q Ref 19.
Web resources
Index catalog of the NLM
A pilot release of NLM's IndexCat search system including the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th series (1896 - 1955) is now available. This uses an advanced search system and offers a wealth of historical medical information. Select 'Locator Plus':
As with journal articles, you can often find bibliographic references by searching for the title as a phrase in a good search engine.
Resources listed above such as the British Library catalogue are also useful for older books. The COPAC union catalogue is a good source to efficiently look for bibliographic information on older books because it includes the catalogues of more than ten libraries, some of which are copyright libraries.
Books out of print
Consult our antiquarian bookshops factsheet for web resources.
Libraries
Royal College of Surgeons' Library
Tel: 020 7869 6555
Collection of surgical literature: covers post-1850 holdings. It was first opened for the use of Members in 1828. Visiting external researchers should make an appointment in advance of any visit. It is not open to the general public. Some rare books (from C15/16-) were also catalogued in 2001, and a large number of C19 and early C20 tracts and pamphlets will be added in 2002.
Royal Society of Medicine
Tel: 020 7290 2940
Covers all journals held and all books received from 1984 onwards. All books prior to this are only on the card catalogue in the library itself. To check for books acquired before 1984 you will need to visit the library or phone the enquiry librarian on the number above.