"This free site consists of over 1,900 images, tutorials, laboratory exercises, examination items, and other instructional and reference materials. Images, both microscopic and gross, are organized by general pathology, demonstrating basic mechanisms of disease (neoplasia, cellular injury), and by organ system (cardiovascular, gastrointestinal). The current (June 2008) edition of Klatt's Pathology of AIDS is included. Because knowledge of normal anatomy and histology is vital to an understanding of pathology, this site offers tutorials covering normal anatomy via photography, MRI, and electron microscopy.

The site's 16 mini-tutorials integrate textual information with links to relevant images. Reference manuals for preparing and staining histological samples are included. In addition to the wide range of available images, the site's strong points include the case-based examination items and image-based quiz items. These offerings support the trend in health sciences education to teach preclinical material within a clinical context to improve learners' understanding of how one is integral to the other. This site covers a broad range of pathologies, and some viewers may find certain images (especially those in forensic pathology and prenatal/perinatal pathology) disturbing." from Choice, June 2009.

"HealthInfoIowa is a single, Iowa-focused Web site, with authoritative content that ranges from national health and medical databases to regional, state and local links. This Web site serves as a simple and trustworthy first stop for Iowans, to which both information consumers and providers can turn for dependable support."

"The History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine announces the launch of a new image platform for its premier database, Images from the History of Medicine (IHM). Using award winning software developed by Luna Imaging, Inc., NLM offers greatly enhanced searching and viewing capabilities to image researchers. Patrons can view search results in a multi-image display, download high resolution copies of their favorite images, zoom in on image details, move images into a patron-defined workspace for further manipulation, and create media groups for presenting images and sharing them via e-mail or posting on blogs.

Comprising almost 70,000 images from the Prints and Photographs and other collections held in the History of Medicine Division, IHM is one of the largest image databases in the world dedicated to images of medicine, dentistry, public health, the health professions, and health institutions. The collection includes portraits, photographs, caricatures, genre scenes, posters, and graphic art illustrating the social and historical aspects of medicine. Most types of printmaking are represented: woodcuts, engravings, etchings, mezzotints, aquatints, and lithographs. Also included in the collection are illustrations from the historical book collection. Newly acquired posters and other materials are continually being added to IHM. The collection is administered by the NLM History of Medicine Division."

"ScienceBlogs provides access to more than 70 blogs by selected leading bloggers from a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The scope is quite broad; topics range from women in science to bisphenol A. ScienceBlogs was launched in January 2006 by Seed Media Group, which also publishes the scientific magazine Seed. Seed Media Group was founded in 2005 by Adam Bly (formerly, National Research Council of Canada). Bloggers are selected 'based on their originality, insight, talent, and dedication.' Selected bloggers include professors in scientific disciplines, a freelance science journalist, and more. ScienceBlogs staff do not edit the bloggers' work.

Excellent site organization enables users to easily browse or search for blogs, which are organized by ten channels of content: Life Science, Physical Science, Environment, Humanities and Social Science, Education and Careers, Politics, Medicine and Health, Brain and Behavior, Technology, and Last 24 Hours (most recent posts). Special features include Top 5 Readers' Picks, direct links to the science news section of The New York Times online, RSS feeds including 'ScienceBlogs posts analyzing peer-reviewed journal articles,' e-mail notification of specific blogs or channels, Page 3.14 Editorial Musings, Ask a Science Blogger, and ScienceBlogs Weekly Recap (a newsletter that can be mailed to users' inboxes). The site loads fairly quickly and features only a few advertisements." from Choice, May 2009.

"The Medical Encyclopedia Index (English version), developed by the University of Maryland, is part of the Medical Reference section of the university's medically reviewed health content for consumers. The index is available in both English and Spanish, with excellent illustrations. It is divided into seven main categories: Symptoms, Injury, Disease, Surgery, Nutrition, Special Topics, and Poison. Users access items within these categories by clicking on a letter of the alphabet and scrolling down to the desired topic, making navigation and retrieval straightforward. When one selects a topic, the text and illustrations appear on a page that provides an overview. The type of information included in the overview varies, depending on how the topic is categorized. For example, an overview article on a disease covers symptoms, treatment, and prevention, whereas an article on a surgical procedure covers recovery and risks. The overview pages are similar to those provided by other consumer health Web sites such as MedlinePlus (CH, Jul'06, 43-6562), but are not as detailed as MedlinePlus's Medical Encyclopedia (CH, Feb'08, 45-2951). Helpful features on the overview pages are an Ask the Expert form for submitting questions, a video that provides more details about a topic, and related content that includes patient success stories. Two impediments are that the Search feature on the main page was not working at the time of this review, and that the reading level is appropriate only for those at a 10th-grade reading level or above." from Choice, April 2009

If Google and Medline had a baby, it would be SearchMedica.

"SearchMedica is easily navigable. The home page has a clean, simple appearance with one main search box underneath a toolbar offering features to search within the entire site (All of Medicine) or within one of ten specific areas (Cancer/Hemic, Cardiovascular, Diabetes/Endocrine, Infectious, Mental/Nervous System, Musculoskeletal, Pediatric, Practice Management, Radiology, and Respiratory). Immediately below the search box are three Advanced Options: Recommended medical sites and Prioritize results by publication date are the defaults; the third search option is titled The entire Web. Users also may refine results by categories including Clinical Trials, Evidence-based Articles, Patient Education, and Practical Articles/News. An improvement to SearchMedica would be the separation of Practical Articles and News; users could then use News to track current medical events. SearchMedica offers many additional features, such as the option of adding the Search Box to blogs and Web pages. Registration is free and offers additional benefits, such as a weekly tips newsletter." from Choice, April 2009

"'Science.gov searches over 36 databases and 1,850 selected websites, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information, including research and development results.' Content is provided by 13 federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The site offers both basic keyword and advanced search options. Searching across one or all 12 topics yields ranked results that are clustered by subtopic or date, have links to Wikipedia, and may be sorted by date, title, or author. A summary of all results ranks the sources used in the search. Refining the search, limiting the results, or creating an alert is available from the results page. In addition to searching the entire site for documents, users can explore selected science Web sites from the home page. Sites are selected by information specialists/librarians, and each component is regularly updated. The subject categories on the home page provide links to a wide variety of sites. The main page also includes featured searches and Web sites and links to special collections, including special terminology and thesauri from sources such as DTIC, MeSH, USGS, ERIC, and DOE." from Choice, April 2009

"A weekly podcast looking at the top medical stories of the week for people who want to become informed participants in their own health care. With Elizabeth Tracey, director of electronic media for Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Rick Lange M.D., professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and vice chairman of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio."

From the CDC: "Welcome to the Smoking & Health Resource Library. The database contains abstracts of articles from medical and professional journals; books and book chapters; dissertations; reports; conference proceedings and conference papers; government documents from federal, state, local, and foreign entities; fact sheets and policy documents from U.S. and international nonprofit organizations; and other documents. New Citations added to the database in the last eight weeks are also available. New Citations include recently published tobacco-related articles from peer-reviewed journals of behavioral, scientific, and medical literature."

"The Smoking & Health Resource Library includes nearly 76,000 abstracts of journal articles, books, dissertations, reports, conferences, government documents, fact sheets, and policy documents from nonprofit organizations. It is a useful site, but the search function has an unfinished quality. Background information on the Library is part of the Overview and FAQ pages, located, somewhat confusingly, under Search Tips. Help is located under both Search Tips and Overview. Quick Search looks for keywords and author, and Advanced Search for keywords, author, article title, journal title, and years. No option, including keywords, will search the document type, language, or audience fields. The thesaurus is not searchable, and the search mechanism for nonjournal publications is not clear.

In Quick Search, users may retrieve all records by clicking on the search button without entering any terms, and sort results by year or alphabetically by title. Sorting via Oldest to Newest produces some inaccurate results; the first record listed with a date is from 1956, but limiting to records between 1800 and 1900 in Advanced Search retrieves two documents. In general, the results page for older, finished citations displays the authors, article title, year, and a fragment of the library-generated abstract. Some records display the journal title on the results page, and some must be opened to reveal the source. New Citations, added at a rate of 1,800 annually, are the only ones that link to PubMed; unfortunately this link disappears when the records are finished, so that users lose PubMed's linkages to abstracts and full text. All in all, this is a good, free resource that will be even better if the search function improves. The site's audience ranges from researchers and librarians to health professionals, educators, and students." from Choice, March 2009

"Genes and Disease is a collection of articles that discuss genes and the diseases that they cause. These genetic disorders are organized by the parts of the body that they affect. As some diseases affect various body systems, they appear in more than one chapter.

With each genetic disorder, the underlying mutation(s) is discussed, along with clinical features and links to key websites. You can browse through the articles online, and you can also download a printable file (PDF) of each chapter.

From Genes and Disease you can delve into many online related resources with free and full access. For example, you can visit the human genome to see the location of the genes implicated in each disorder. You can also find related gene sequences in different organisms. And for the very latest information, you can search for complete research articles, and look in other books in the NCBI Bookshelf."