Highlights of the May - June 2004 Issue of the NLM Technical Bulletin
Print is history, and history is online
The printed Index Medicus will cease publication at the end of 2004, finishing a publishing run of 125 years. NLM will continue its indexing practice of starring MeSH terms as the main point of an article in MEDLINE since there is still a need to designate the major focus of an article.
Good news for history aficionados - the Index Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, 1880-1961 is now available online. Known as IndexCat, this new online tool is available at http://indexcat.nlm.nih.gov. Read Lillian Kuzuma's article for more information.
PubMed for Handhelds - new PICO feature
A new PICO search screen has been added to PubMed for Handhelds, (http://pubmedhh.nlm.nih.gov). PICO, which stands for Patient/Problem, Intervention, Compared To, and Outcome, is a method used for structuring clinical questions. This format can also be used for structuring literature searches and will undoubtedly be helpful those interested in evidence-based medicine. NLM is interested in receiving feedback on this new feature; you may submit comments using the Feedback link on the bottom of the screen. Check out the search screen.
HSTAT is now available on the PubMed Bookshelf
Health Services Technology Assessment Texts (HSTAT) is now available on the Bookshelf with searchable, full-text documents. This valuable resource includes:
- Evidence reports and technology assessments from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).
- AHRQ's Put Prevention Into Practice guidelines for clinicians and consumers.
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Conference Reports and Technology Assessment Reports.
- HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS) federally approved treatment guidelines and information.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA/CSAT) Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIP) and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (SAMHSA/CSAP) Prevention Enhancement Protocols System (PEPS).
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services.
- Task Force on Community Preventive Services' Guide to Community Preventive Services.
- Reports of the Surgeon General.
- Health Technology Advisory Committee (HTAC) of the Minnesota Health Care Commission (MHCC) health technology evaluations.
How many titles are indexed in MEDLINE?
The Number of Titles Currently Indexed for Index Medicus® and MEDLINE® on PubMed® web page has been updated. As of April 2004, 4,148 journals were included in the Index Medicus list, and 656 additional, non-Index Medicus journal list. These latter lists include: Dentistry (105 titles), AIDS/HIV (35), Consumer Health (17), Nursing (197), Health Care Administration and Delivery (131), Health Care Technology (91), History of Medicine Core Journals (16), Ethics Core Journals (58), and Space Life Sciences Core Journals (7). You can search PubMed for these subsets following the instructions in PubMed Help.
These lists were developed for managing NLM's indexing work flow and should not be confused with PubMed's Subject Subsets. Subject subsets may include citations from journals that are not part of the journal list for the same topic; for example, the History of Medicine Subject Subset is not limited to the History of Medicine core journals but also includes historical articles published in titles on the Index Medicus list. You will find more information about the subsets on the PubMed Subset Strategies page.
Want to know about NLM History?
Check out the new web page, History of NLM. You will find a timeline of events, beginning with its establishment as the Library of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army in 1836 and ending with the launch of ClinicalTrials.gov in February 2000. The timeline is linked from About the National Library of Medicine on the NLM web site.