General information
- databases may be focused on a particular subject or be multi-disciplinary.
- databases often contain only records of articles. They may not contain the full text of an article.
- they add structure to records to make articles easier to find
- they allow structured searches which are essential for literature reviews, developing guidelines or other publications
BUT....
- they are not intuitive to use
- taking the time to learn how will make finding evidence much easier
- see the 'How to look' tab for guidance on how to search databases.
Multi-disciplinary databases
Medline
Medline is almost the default healthcare database.
- over 30 million articles on all aspects of healthcare
- medical, nursing, allied health, behavioural health, genetics, health economics, professional education and more.
- all content is peer reviewed
- basic or advanced search options
- links to full text of articles if we have a subscription to the journal
- it is a subscription service only accessible through your employer or university.
PubMed
- contains almost more or less the same content as Medline
- it is a free service, access it from any browser or device
- no default full text linking
- (using the PubMed Link on the library databases page will activate linking)
- basic and advanced search options
- advanced search does not have as good functionality as Medline
- advanced functions such as reference management are not as well supported as Medline
Embase
- Embase is run by the publisher Elsevier
- multi-disciplinary - similar coverage to Medline
- more detailed indexing of drug and medical device topics
- it is a subscription service only accessible through your employer or university.
Nursing databases
Emcare
- covers all nursing specialties and nursing healthcare professions
- international coverage of allied health, education and training, development and management, midwifery, health and healthcare economics, clinical medical and healthcare social work, psychiatry and mental health, and traumatology, emergency and critical-care medicine
- subscription service only accessible through your employer or university.
Ovid Nursing
- a nursing subset of Medline
- clinical, theoretical and management nursing and midwifery literature
- access as you would Medline
Midwifery, maternity and infant care research database
This unique database contains over 225,000 bibliographic references with abstracts to articles from over 400 international English language journals, books, guidelines and grey literature relating to the midwifery profession, pregnancy, labor, birth, postnatal care, infant feeding and neonatal care up to the second year of an infant’s life, and the transition to parenthood. RMH and RWH access only. Link here.
Royal Marsden manual
Clinical nurse experts from one of the UK’s leading centres of expertise have brought together all the latest clinical evidence nurses need to meet confidently the requirements of their demanding profession. The Manual includes over 350 evidence-based clinical procedures related to every aspect of care, from handwashing to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Link here.
