On this guide
Welcome!
This guide is here to help you find the resources available to you through NU Library as well as free and web-based resources relevant to health informatics.
The page you are on now, contains key resources to get started. Please explore the other tabs/pages for more. Edits and updates will occur throughout the year, so be sure to check back. Additional recommendations are welcome too.
General Information on Health Informatics
- U.S. National Library of Medicine Health Services Research Information Central: Health InformaticsNews, data, tools, statistics, guidelines, meetings, conferences, webcasts.
- HealthIT.govPolicymaking, regulations, strategy, research, innovations, privacy & security, rural health IT.
Interdisciplinary
The field of health informatics is defined in interdisciplinary terms (as most health sciences field are) so I have included a broader selection of databases.
"the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management and planning." Procter, R. Dr. (Editor, Health Informatics Journal, Edinburgh, United Kingdom).
Key Library Resources
When looking for literature on topics relevant to health informatics,, there are two key areas: health and technology. Depending on the primary focus of your research you might choose a database that has it's primary content focused on one or the other. Below are great places to start.
- PubMed (NU customized)A comprehensive source of journal literature in the life sciences and biomedicine from the National Library of Medicine. Includes selected full text from PubMed Central, and NCBI Bookshelf. PubMed is a free web resource, however this version contains links to Northeastern-subscribed journals that require a login.
- Inspec (EI Village) This link opens in a new windowCitations and abstracts in computer science, with links to full text. Comprehensive, including articles, proceedings, dissertations and more.
- IEEEXplore (IEEE/IET Electronic Library) This link opens in a new windowAccess to citations and full text from IEEE journals, conference proceedings, and standards. Includes IEEE Spectrum Magazine, the Now Publishers Foundations and Trends Technology eBooks Engineering and Energy Library.
A few starting tips
Literature, review articles: If you are unsure of where to start, try finding a review article, they summarize the state of research on a scientific topic at the time of publication. While lengthy & not generally including the very latest research, review articles can be a great way to start to get a handle on a topic. Many databases (including PubMed & Web of Science) will allow you to limit your search to include only review articles or literature reviews.
Don't overlook the literature cited at the end of the review - the bibliography contains a wealth of information about the key discoveries & main researchers in the field.
Looking for help on evaluating your sources? Check out some of our tutorials here.
Interlibrary loan: If we don't have what you need, try using Northeastern's Interlibrary Loan system to request books, book chapters, or articles not available at NU. Sometimes this option will be prompted when you click on the Find at Northeastern option.
Hot and trending topics
What are the areas you are interested in? Want to see something highlighted here? Let me know.