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MEDLINE is the medical, nursing, dental, and science database produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The database includes coverage of the world's medical literature from 1966 to present, indexing approximately more than 4,000 journals. NLM also creates or distributes other databases in specialized subject areas such as AIDS, cancer, ethics, and hospital administration. A total of over 11,000 journal articles can be located using the databases maintained by the NLM online system.
Often MEDLINE is confused with PubMed or Ovid. MEDLINE is a database; PubMed and Ovid are database providers. PubMed and Ovid provide access to MEDLINE and create search interfaces to utilize MEDLINE and other databases. Because the database providers determine how MEDLINE will be searched, it is important for you to know which provider you are using, and what exactly you are searching.
As an affiliate of UMKC, you have access to MEDLINE using any one of several different methods.
The UMKC Health Sciences Library recommends using Ovid to search MEDLINE. Ovid is easy to learn, and the interface helps patrons find the right Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) for their searches. Using the right MeSH term is a vital (but sometimes mysterious) element in searching MEDLINE. Once you learn how to use Ovid, you can search a number of different databases through the same interface at the same time. Pre-MEDLINE records (records that are so new they are not yet indexed into MEDLINE) are now available in Ovid, but you will need to specifically choose MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations as a database within Ovid and search it along with MEDLINE.
Best of all, UMKC purchases access to full-text versions of a few core medical journals (like New England Journal of Medicine) and these full-text versions are linked into Ovid's MEDLINE interface. Therefore, when you search MEDLINE through Ovid you can limit your search to finding full-text journals only, or you can click on the links to full-text from your citations. Either way, you can read or print off the article from your computer on campus or at home.
If you are at a UMKC campus computer or if you use UMKC to connect to the Internet:
Go to the Health Sciences Library's WWW page at
If you are not on campus, you still have access to most UMKC Library databases:
PubMed is a free MEDLINE interface provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). PubMed automatically includes MEDLINE and Pre-MEDLINE records. Through PubMed, you can search for articles that are so new they have not even been indexed into MEDLINE yet. Also, PubMed provides other services like a journal browser that matches a journal title abbreviation to the full journal title, and a citation matcher that can find a full citation from only a few bits of information (for example, a page number or an author's name).
You can access PubMed from any computer with an Internet connection.
We also link to PubMed from the Health Sciences Library WWW site
| Full-text articles for core medical journals | PubMed: No Ovid : Yes |
| Full journal title display in citations | PubMed: No Ovid : Yes |
| MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations records | PubMed: Yes Ovid : Yes (must select Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations as database instead of Medline) |
| Patron controlled mapping to MeSH | PubMed: No Ovid : Yes |
| Interface controlled mapping to MeSH | PubMed: Yes Ovid : No |
| Search multiple databases at a time | PubMed: No Ovid : Yes |
| Other medical databases available through interface | PubMed: No Ovid : Yes |
| Ordering documents | PubMed: Yes (through Loansome Doc) Ovid : Yes (through the "order" button) |
| Free to anyone | PubMed: Yes Ovid : No |
You may want to see the Health Sciences Library's other handouts about searching Medline through Ovid and PubMed. These handouts can help get you started. The staff at the Health Sciences Library believes that all medical professionals should be able to search MEDLINE effectively, and we are pleased to provide classes or individual tutoring. Please feel welcome to call a health sciences librarian for advice on a search strategy or for updates on MEDLINE interface changes. Learn more about PubMed through an online tutorial at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/pubmed_tutorial/m1001.html.
For more information or to schedule a class in searching Medline or PubMed,
please call the Health Sciences Library at (816) 235-1880.
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