Medico-Legal Searching Lecture
Kenneth Nero, Chief
Librarian at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
April 11, 2012 1-2pm
April 11, 2012 1-2pm
It’s National Library Week and we’ve been hosting a series of events here at Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library.
I just left a lecture on Medico-Legal Searching, which I
found especially interesting because of the emphasis on health policy and law.
Health care ethics has become a popular topic as well, and it was great to learn
research options outside of PubMed and other medical databases. The lecture also gave me insight into the Westlaw
Next Database, which is new to me.
It was refereshing to have a law librarian as
the guest speaker as he was able to showcase resources we don’t typically use or consider as medical librarians.
Things worth remembering:
·
Lexis and Westlaw/Westlaw Next are the two most
prominent databases for research in health policy and law.
o
They’re great for researching law journals,
legal newspapers and newsletters, and updated news.
§
Thomson Reuters News has options for blogs and listserves.
o
Also great for case tracking: Lexis’ Sheperd’s
or Westlaw’s Keysite
·
I remember using THOMAS to track federal
bills while interning at LOC/CRS: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php
·
Federal: Title 42, Public Health and Welfare—good
for concept mining or checking trending/highly published topics
·
American Law Reports- like Up-to-Date for
lawyers, ‘point-of-care’ analysis on topics
·
Law Reviews and Journals- keyword searching for popular
topics
o
Citing References- tells where else an article
has been cited
·
West Key Number System- Westlaw’s Taxonomy
System, similar to MeSH terms
o
198H- Health
·
Alert Center allows you to track cases and
receive email alerts
·
Docket Alert- track activities on a specific case
using the case’s docket number
·
Track federal agencies: Admin Decis. And Guidance
àFed
Admin Decisions and GuidanceàChoose
Department (i.e. Department of Health and Human Services)
·
Westlaw Customer Service, available 24/7:
1-800-REFATTY, have password available
·
Westlaw Next Directory: Inclusive, very
thorough, listing of physicians, congressional staff, lawyers, etc.
·
Westlaw’s formula for searching is totally
different from Pubmed’s. You can enter words without connectors and it lists results
from the most limited result to the most inclusive. Very interesting…
o
You can also use the ‘Terms and Connectors’
option to build more complex searches.
o
Natural Language and Template searching are also
available.
·
Bloomberg
BNA Health for analyses of health policy issues, great for assisting with
lit. reviews
Comments
Post a Comment