Books you can take with you are in the number range: 610-619  

When searching the online catalog: use the name of a specific disease or condition (e.g., stroke, heart disease, brain injury) or terms related to health topics (e.g., aging, yoga, pregnancy, diet, nutrition).

Helpful Reference Books  

Electronic Resources (may require library card)  

Health & Wellness Resource Center
Keyword searchable index to articles on diseases, conditions, and health-related topics; includes an encyclopedia, dictionary, Health Organization Directory, Drug & Herb Finder, Health Assessment Tools, Health News, Alternative Health Encyclopedia, and links to other sites
Health Source Consumer Edition
Keyword searchable index to magazine and journal articles

Both of these resources include full-text retrieval of some articles.

Magazine and Journal Indexes (may require library card)  

EBSCO (incorporates some of the resources in Health Source Consumer Edition)
General Reference Center Gold
Expanded Academic
Electric Library

Free Websites

All of the following will link to information covering both conventional and alternative health topics.

Healthfinder (Department of Health & Human Services)
(www.healthfinder.gov )
This website will direct you to online resources, including databases and websites.  In addition, there are lists of support and self-help groups.  Links to other government and non-profit sources of reliable health information are provided.  

National Library of Medicine
(www.nlm.nih.gov)
This site provides access to the biomedical database MEDLINE, to the consumer health resources MEDLINEPlus (includes information and links to other resources on diseases, conditions, and health-related topics, drug information, clinical trials and more), as well as other resources reviewed by the staff of the National Library of Medicine.  Some materials are available in Spanish.  MEDLINEPlus has excellent online tutorials on a wide variety of subjects.  MEDLINEPlus will link to information on alternative and complementary health resources, too.

NOAH
(www.noah-health.org)
New York Online Access to Health Information.  English & Spanish

CAPHIS
(caphis.mlanet.org/consumer/index.html)
This website, maintained by the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of the Medical Library Association, provides a list of the top 100 consumer health websites.  It is a great place to begin your online search and to be guaranteed that the information is current and credible.  Links are to sites in both the complementary and alternative health arenas.

Organization websites with added value for consumers:

American Medical Association  
(www.ama-assn.org)

American Heart Association  
(www.americanheart.org)  

American Stroke Association  
(www.strokeassociation.org)

National Stroke Association   
(www.stroke.org)

American Stroke Foundation  
(www.americanstroke.org)

American Lung Association  
(www.lungusa.org)  

Brain Injury Association
(www.biausa.org)

American Academy of Pediatrics  
(www.aap.org)

National Kidney Foundation   
(www.kidney.org)

Russian-Language Health Information
(medinforus.homestead.com/pinformation.html)

To locate additional organization or association websites, you can search on the name of the organization using a search engine (e.g., YAHOO! or Google).  Many of these groups have excellent “added value” resources on their websites and links to additional sites they deem reliable.  It is always good to make note of the source of the information. Many health sites subscribe to the HON Code of Honor.  The recognition by HON shows that that site has pledged to adhere to a high set of standards.