VitalStats is a collection of vital statistics products from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. It includes tables, data files, and reports that allow users to access and examine vital statistics and population data interactively. Previously, users could only map state-level data, but with the release of the new mapping feature, users can map to the county-level! Within a map, users can zoom, drill, pan, select, or view selections as charts and tables. The data can also be printed, saved or exported to Excel.

A pdf quick guide to VitalStats is also available.

ISI's Web of Knowledge is the platform for several licensed databases available to the UC Berkeley community:

• Web of Science


• BIOSIS Previews


• CAB Abstracts


• Zoological Record


• Journal Citation Reports

Did you know ...

... You can search more than one WoK database at the same time?

... You can save searches and have them automatically re-run periodically?

... You can set up email notification whenever someone cites a particular article or author?

Web of Knowledge provides short online tutorials on these and other topics on their Training Opportunities web page. Check it out!

Thanks to Faculty of 1000, I recently learned of a paper by John Ioannidis: Why most discovered true associations are inflated [Epidemiology 19(5) 640-8, Sept. 2008]. Interesting read.  Underpowered studies, selective analysis, inflated interpretation ... all lead to the problem of inflated association, and all are ubiquitous in published literature in many subjects.  For example, 5/6 of the most highly cited epidemiological studies were either fully contradicted or found to have exaggerated results.  His article concludes with suggestions on what to do about all this.

Ioannidis has devoted much of his career to similar work. A 2005 paper of his first piqued my interest: Why most published research findings are false [PLoS Medicine 2(8) e124, Aug. 2005].

Faculty of 1000 Biology and Faculty of 1000 Medicine, which are licensed by the UCB Library for your use, are "authoritative online services in which over 4,500 leading researchers and clinicians (including several from UC Berkeley) share their expert opinions by highlighting and evaluating the most important articles in biology and medicine.

• Continuously updated selections and evaluations of the most important articles
• Attributed opinions and expert knowledge from global leaders in biology and medicine
• Site customization and email alerts based on user interests
• Recommendations and interpretations based on the article's merits, not the journal's"

Researching public health scholarly literature is not easy because it crosses many disciplines. Although PubMed is the primary index to use for most public health topics, going beyond Pubmed will provides you with a lot of relevant research.

I recently learned of the Journal of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (aka URISA Journal): NOT indexed in PubMed. The current issue is a special issue on GIS in Public Health, and is available online. Articles include:

• Using Global Position Systems (GPS) and Physical Activity Monitors to Assess the Built Environment
• Developing Geospatial Data Management, Recruitment, and Analysis Techniques for Physical Activity Research
• Space-Time Patterns of Mortality and Related Factors, Central Appalachia 1969 to 2001
• Leveling the Playing Field: Enabling Community-Based Organizations to Utilize Geographic Information Systems for Effective Advocacy
• Development of Neighborhoods to Measure Spatial Indicators of Health

You can serach for articles in this, and many other journals that are not in PubMed, using the database Geography.

Watch this space for other "Beyond PubMed" tips!

or... How to get reimbursed for all those hours you spent researching and writing your paper!

Did you know that the UC Berkeley Library sponsors the Library Prize for Undergraduate Research?  You can win $1000 (upper division) or $750 (lower division) for your research paper; up to six prizes are awarded annually. UCB undergrads in any discipline are eligible, and the research project must have been completed during either the Summer 2008, Fall 2008, or Spring 2009 semester.

Complete eligibility guidelines and application procedures are on the Library Prize web site. Previous winners include a project by a Public Health student! His Library Prize project later became an article in JAMA, which is already being cited! So ...  maybe YOUR publishing career will start with your term paper!