Online Resources
National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)
Study guides, handbooks, application procedures
Practicing your Profession, Liscensing Laws and Regulations, State by State.
In Colorado: Office of Acupuncture Licensure
In New Mexico: Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Board
On writing research papers. This is a good place to start.
Databases
The main source for online full text material are Medline, and AltHealthWatch, the two databases available through the SWAC subscription to EbscoHost. The URL for Esbsco is search.ebscohost.com, available from either computers in the library, or your personal computer. The user ID and passwords for Ebsco are posted in the library. Please do not inform non-SWAC people of the ID and passwords.
Click here to view a tutorial on searching Ebsco which will apply to all the Ebsco database available through the other libraries noted below.
Journals indexed in AltHealthWatch
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The journal is available in both Medline and AltHealthWatch, but can be searched on a stand alone basis. Hit return in the Go box, upper right, and it brings up an advanced search template.
No SWAC library has journal print holdings that represent more than a very small percentage of material available through those two databases. Start there first for all your full text needs.
Colorado Databases
Databases at Boulder Public Library
You will need a Boulder PL card for access to the databases. Fortunately, you can sign up online for immediate access. Among the databases available is Consumer Health Complete that includes some Acupuncture titles.
University of Colorado-Boulder databases are not available from remote locations. You have to go on-campus to use them, but this is an enormous resource. Some of the specialized business or hard science databases may not be available to walk-in users.
New Mexico Databases
Databases available through the State Library of New Mexico interface, El Portal. El Portal is free to any resident of New Mexico. No password or ID required.
Gale Databases:
Academic OneFile
Extended Academic ASAP
General Science Collection
Health Reference Center Academic
Nursing and Allied Health
(and many more)
Databases from Albuquerque Public Library
You will need an Albuquerque PL library card for most of these:
Magazine, Newspaper and Journal Articles
MasterFILE Complete
Academic One File
Expanded Academic ASAP
General Reference Center Gold
InfoTrac Custom Journals
InfoTrac Newsstand
InfoTrac Professional Collection
InfoTrac Student Edition
Databases from Santa Fe Public Library
You will need an SFPL card for these:
Access Science
Encyclopedia Britannica
Health Reference Center Academic
Academic OneFile
Gale Virtual Reference Library
General OneFile
Expanded Academic ASAP
Nursing and Allied Health Collection
General Medical Resources
Nursing Career Guide Website
A platform that offers detailed information about Nurses and various Nursing Careers. It could be a one-stop solution for all the queries related to Nursing Profession. From best schools to licensure procedure, salaries in a different states of U.S. to job outlook and job description, Education Requirements, Duties and their responsibilities, Work Settings and Cost of Course, you get it all here.
PubMed Central Full Text
Full text material drawn from Medline. PubMed does not require the ID/password, but is not as complete as Medline. PubMed is also not as clear as to what is full text, and what is not. Often what is free from Medline requires money when sourced from PubMed.
ABC-Chemistry: Directory of Free Full-Text Journals in Chemistry
Free chemical information. Full text in PDF format.
BioMedicine is the official peer-reviewed publication of China Medical University
Dietary Supplements Labels Database
A free database produced by the National Library of Medicine. Offers information about ingredients in more than two thousand selected brands of dietary supplements. It enables users to determine what ingredients are in specific brands and to compare ingredients in different brands. Information is also provided on the health benefits claimed by manufacturers. There is also a link to search PubMed on specific supplements. The results contain some full text, some citations.
Directory of Open Access Journals
Open access, as in free, full text articles. Not specifically TCM/OM, but definitely worth searching.
IBIDS
Free database produced by the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health, IBIDS contains citations and abstracts to scientific research literature on dietary supplements, including vitamins, minerals, and botanicals. IBIDS covers the years 1999-2010; more current citations can be found via PubMed, using the Dietary Supplements limit.
Images from the History of Medicine
Not really critical, but a lot of interesting imagery. Do check the copyright statement on the left hand side of the page if you intend to publish any of the imagery. Class use for non-publishable papers is fine under the fair use provision of the copyright law.
PDQ Comprehensive Cancer Database
The National Cancer Institute's summaries of the most recent cancer research, treatments, supportive care, clinical trials, etc. PDQ also contains the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms, with definitions for 6,800+ cancer and medical terms, and the NCI Drug Dictionary, which has information on 2,300+ agents used in the treatment of cancer or cancer-related conditions.
PEDro: Physiotherapy Evidence Database
Database developed to give rapid access to bibliographic details, some full text links, and abstracts of randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in physiotherapy. Most trials on the database have been rated for quality to help you quickly discriminate between trials which are likely to be valid and interpretable and those which are not.
Public Library of Science: Medicine
PLOS Medicine is the leading open-access medical journal, providing an influential venue for outstanding research and commentary on the major challenges to human health worldwide. We specifically seek to publish articles relevant to clinicians and policymakers across a range of settings that adhere to the highest standards of methodology, ethics and reporting and address the major biological, environmental, social, and political determinants of health. Full text.
Quick Health Data Online
U.S. state- and county-level statistical data, covering demographics, mortality, natality, reproductive health, violence, prevention, disease and mental health. Data are available by gender, race and ethnicity and come from a variety of national and state sources. From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health. For the big picture folks in the crowd.
VitaSearch: Current Research in Nutrition and Integrative Medicine
Published by Tishcon Corporation, it includes the "Clinical Pearls" database that summarizes research in the field of nutritional science; also includes an IBIDS database, and consumer advice healthnotes. Citations and abstracts only, but still useful.
TCM/OM, General Resources
AcuTrials
Created by Oregon College of Oriental Medicine's Research Department, AcuTrials is a comprehensive collection of citations to randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews that address the use of acupuncture for a variety of health conditions. Content is all citations rather than full text, but much of the material may be available full text through PubMed. You have to sign up to use the thing, but it is relatively quick to do so.
Chinese Medicine
Online open access journal with full text articles. Searchable online, indexing in Medline and PubMed. Coverage back to at least 2006.
Chinese Medicine Specimen Database
Through the joint collaboration by the School of Chinese Medicine and University Library, Chinese Medicine Specimen Database is established to help promoting people's awareness of the variety, authenticity, and effective use of Chinese Medicines. The database currently has a collection of all exhibits of Chinese Materia Medica specimen that are displayed in the Chinese Medicine Center.
eCAM: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Online open access journal with full text articles. Searchable online. Indexing and full text available through AltHealthWatch back to 2007. It is not clear how far back full text goes on the eCAM web page. The journal started in 2004.
Google Chinese and Alternative Medicine Power Search
Here you'll find many of the NIH Clinical Trials.gov database, but numerous other material as well as access to some articles (i.e. Acupuncture Today).
MDBG Chinese-English Dictionary
Free online dictionary features sound files, radicals, stroke order, and links to online flash cards. Accepts English, pinyin, and Chinese characters. Selected for the Best Free Reference Web Sites 2007 list by the American Library Association.
MedlinePlus CAM Page
Mainly a gateway to a huge amount of information. You can sign up for email notifications. Since it is from the National Library of Medicine the authority quotient is fairly high.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Part of the National Institutes of Health. The mission of NCCAM is to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and alternative medicine interventions and their roles in improving health and health care. "Rigorous scientific investigation" are the operative words here
OSTMED.DR
Index to and repository for the literature of osteopathic medicine, but with some useful TCM material and it is full text.
TCM Student: The World of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Many, many, topics of interest for TCM/OM students including notes on the latest research, assorted blogs and message boards, new or interesting books, and a lot of ready reference links.
Acupuncture Resources
Acupuncture specific sources are few. Many of the links in the TCM/OM section above contain acupuncture related material. Check there as well as looking at:
Acubriefs
An acupuncture blog/ database of references on acupuncture in the English language.
Acupuncture in Medicine
A quarterly scientific and clinical journal aimed at Western-trained physicians and other health professionals, and uses the prevailing understanding of neurophysiology and anatomy to interpret the effects of acupuncture. The Journal largely restricts its full text published articles to this western approach. Clinical reports of the effects of traditional acupuncture will be considered, and theoretical aspects that are evidence-based.
Acupuncture Today
An online journal that covers a wide range of acupuncture related topics. Monthly, full text going back to 2000. Searchable on-site, but not indexed in either Medline or AltHealthWatch.
British Acupuncture Council Research Documents
These review papers are produced to provide accurate and unbiased general information for a variety of conditions. They provide summaries of research and how acupuncture may be beneficial. Full text downloads in PDF.
Herbal and Natural Medicine Resources
AGRICOLA
The National Agricultural Library's two databases that index the books and articles of the agricultural research literature, including botanical/herbal research. HerbalGram, for example, is indexed in AGRICOLA's Journal Article Citation Index (it's not indexed in Medline). For a directly link to HerbalGram go here.
American Botanical Council Resources
Includes a number of databases and full text materials regarding herbal medicine information
About Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products
Integrative Medicine Service database of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Provides clinical summaries of herbs for oncologists and other healthcare professionals, and evaluations of alternative cancer therapies. A nice search engine that differentiates, for instance, between American and Asian Ginseng.
Botanical Studies, an International Journal
Botanical Studies is an international, academic journal that welcomes original papers in all fields of botany. The journal has an improved format and an enlarged editorial board of renowned, international scholars. Full text, back to 1960, in PDF format.
Ethnobotany Research & Applications
Ethnobotany Research & Applications is an electronic, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal devoted to the rapid dissemination of current research. The journal seeks manuscripts that are novel, integrative and written in ways that are accessible to a wide audience. This includes an array of disciplines (biological and social sciences) concerned particularly with theoretical questions that lead to practical applications. Articles can also be based on the perspectives of cultural practitioners, poets and others with insights into plants, people and applied research. Full text in PDF format.
Google Herbs and Drugs Power Search
Mostly informational pages from Drugs.com or the NLM dietary supplements database linked above. Some other sources, and of course the ultra rapid Google search engine.
HerbalGram HerbalGram the official publication of the American Botanical Council. It contains, among lots of other things, HerbClip, a data base of information on 6,000 (and growing) two- to three-page summaries and critical reviews of scientific journal articles covering medicinal plant-related human clinical research, analytical methods, regulatory data, market information, ethnobotanical reviews, conservation and sustainability studies, and much more.
Herbmed
A partially free herbal database. An interactive, electronic herbal database - provides hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health. It is an impartial, evidence-based information resource provided by the nonprofit Alternative Medicine Foundation, Inc. This public site provides access to 20 of the most popular herbs. If there is suffcient demand for the pro version of this database we will look into subscribing.
Herbs, According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
A series of "At a Glance" information sheets on herbs. They include whatever scientific evidence exists, for or against, the efficacy of each herb in treating various ills.
Institute for Traditional Medicine
This Is largely aimed at herbal medicine although other areas of traditional medicine are covered, with a good deal of it being full text.
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal that aims to promote the exchange of original knowledge and research in any area of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is the Federal Government's lead agency for scientific research on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Many useful links.
Native American Ethnobotany
Free database of the University of Michigan--Dearborn that indexes books, articles, and other materials pertaining to food, drugs, dyes, and fibers derived from plants by native peoples. Links to various information sources.
Natural Medical Protocols
Natural medicine protocols for treatment of medical conditions. Includes references. Primarily useful for the botanicals database, but check other categories as well.
Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
The login and password are posted in the library. Look for the yellow poster. The best database for information on herbs.
Plants Database
United States Department of Agriculture database that provides detailed profiles of herbs and other plants, including photographs, distribution maps, & other information. Searchable by either common name, scientific name, or symbol.
Traditional Chinese Medicines Integrated Database
The database comes from the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology in Shanghai. Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database (TCMID) is a comprehensive database to provide information and bridge the gap between Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern life sciences. We have collected information on all respects of TCM including formulae, herbs and herbal ingredients. We have also collected information for drugs, diseases which are deeply studied by modern pharmacology and biomedical sciences. We bridge the two separate sets of knowledge with drug targets or disease genes/proteins.
Integrative Medicine Resources
Natural Medicines
Founded by healthcare providers and researchers to provide high-quality, evidence-based information about complementary and alternative medicine including dietary supplements and integrative therapies. Grades reflect the level of available scientific data for or against the use of each therapy for a specific medical condition. If there is sufficient interest we'll look into subscribing to the full version of the database.
Resources: Qi Gong
Master Wu
A broad spectrum site on classical Chinese philsophy and medicinal practice, but well thought of by folks knowledgable of Qi Gong.
The National Qi Gong Association
Dedicated to promoting Qi Gong, but generally regarded as being a reliable source of information on the topic.
The Yiquan Qigong Association
Another well regarded association dedicated to Qi Gong.
A Few Extras
WorldCat
The Great Library Database. Combined catalog of over 10,000 libraries worldwide. Search for books, sound recordings, audiovisual materials, and other library materials.
Free downloads
Assorted medical texts from Medmaster Books.
Suggestions are welcome. Please click here to email us.