FAQ: Finding Medical Information in MEDLINE

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• a huge database of over 16 million references to articles published in more than 5,200 current biomedical journals from the United States and over 80 foreign countries
  
  
• a database you can search free using the NLM PubMed system at http://pubmed.gov
  
  
• for finding references on specific medical topics using either keywords or Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/mesh.html
  
  
• for references to articles published 1949 - to the present

For more information, see:

• MEDLINE Fact Sheet
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/medline.html
  
  
• FAQ MEDLINE/PubMed and Other Databases
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/faqmed.html
  
  
• What's the Difference Between MEDLINE® and PubMed®? Fact Sheet
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/dif_med_pub.html
  
  
• MeSH Fact Sheet
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/mesh.html
  
  
• FAQ for identifying older journal articles not in MEDLINE/PubMed
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/indexmedicus.html

If you do not have Internet access:

• check to see if your local library provides access to MEDLINE
  
  
• contact the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Regional Medical Libraries at 800-338-7657 for suggestions if your local library cannot help you
  

We encourage you to discuss your MEDLINE search results with your health care provider.

Related Questions:

What is PubMed?

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/usemedline.html

Last reviewed: 10 July 2008
Last updated: 10 July 2008
First published: 01 January 1998
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