A patron wants to read more about the iron supplement her physician recommended, but she’s overwhelmed by what she reads online. A resident needs a list of the adverse effects of antihistamines on nursing mothers. A faculty member is searching for the latest research about a new Alzheimer’s drug therapy.
If you’re a librarian working in a public or healthcare setting, these scenarios might sound familiar. This course will introduce you to the NLM resources that provide drug and chemical information for consumers and healthcare professionals, from interactions to adverse effects to clinical trial results. While you work through interactive hands-on scenarios, you’ll learn about the drug and chemical information-seeking habits of your patrons, helpful reference interview questions to ask, and how to efficiently navigate this unique information landscape.
Your progression through this course can be tailored to the information you and your patrons need. Complete all three sections for an in-depth introduction or complete one or two of the sections about your specific population or commonly received questions.
This class is worth up to 6 MLA CE Credits (CHIS Level 1). Each section is worth 2 hours with a total of 6 credit- hours if participants complete all 3 sections.
Course Learning Outcomes:
Each section of the course has distinct learning outcomes.
Using and Prescribing Medications:
- Evaluate a patron’s drug or chemical information need in order to refine reference interview questions
- Distinguish between drug and chemical information resources according to how they match consumer or prescriber needs
- Locate drug and chemical safety, side effects, and interaction information in Medline Plus, the Consumer Product Information Database, and ClinicalInfo.HIV.gov
- Locate FDA drug labels in DailyMed
Finding Properties, Effects, and Interactions:
- Select whether PubChem, LactMed, LiverTox, or PubMed is the appropriate resource to use based on an information need
- Locate a drug’s adverse effects or toxicity information in PubChem, LactMed, LiverTox, or PubMed
- Locate drug and chemical interactions in PubChem
- Locate drug and chemical properties in PubChem
Exploring New Drug Research:
- Evaluate how drugs, chemicals, and related topics are indexed in MeSH in order to hone a PubMed search strategy
- Use advanced PubMed search strategies in order to locate the most relevant literature
- Locate clinical trials in PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov about a specific drug therapy
Class Details
Class Contacts
Contact the NNLM Training Office for more information.