Frequently Asked Questions

No, we don't have UpToDate, but we do have similar products. UpToDate includes a collection of medical and patient information, access to Lexicomp drug monographs and drug-to-drug, drug-to-herb and herb-to-herb interactions information, and a number of medical calculators.

Alternatives to UpToDate:

• AccessMedicine 
  • http://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/ 
  • Contains a suite of over 85 medical textbooks. Includes quick reference guides, practice guidelines, calculators, integrated drug database, multimedia resources, cases, patient information, differential diagnosis tool, and a diagnostic test reference guide.
• AccessPharmacy ​
  • http://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/ 
  • Contains over 30 pharmacy textbooks, multimedia library, drug therapy cases, self-assessment tools, topics in evidence-based pharmacy practice, and an integrated drug database.
• Medscape - requires free registration
  • http://www.medscape.com/ 
  • Contains medical news, drug updates, journal articles, CME activities, clinical trial coverage
• Natural Medicines
  • ​​​https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/
  • An authoritative resource on dietary supplements, natural medicines, and complementary alternative and integrative therapies.
• Stat!Ref ​
  • http://online.statref.com 
  • Cross-searchable collection of electronic resources for healthcare professionals. Includes medical textbooks, evidence alerts, medical news feed, and MedCalc 3000 (a medical reference and tool set including medical formulae, clinical criteria sets and decision tree analysis tools)
  • Includes AHFS Drug Information: American Society of Hospital Pharmacists

• Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference​

• ClinicalKey

If you can't find what you were hoping to find in Up-to-Date in those resources, please Ask a Librarian! 

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1. Search the title in the Library Search Tool

   • Click on the desired title
   • If immediate access is not possible, the "Request this item" button lets you send a request instantly

      

2. Search the title in Google Scholar (it has different content from the Library Search Tool)

   • A "Get it/Afficher" or PDF/HTML link will appear beside the article if you have instant access

3. Click the  button to check for instant access or make a request

   • This button will appear in databases, RefWorks and on some webpages

4. Still looking? Contact us or request it

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Health Canada employees only: 

The HC Library offers training sessions on: 1) HC Library Orientation, and 2) Going Beyond Google.

Please consult Health Canada Library Training for details and registration.

For information on training available to PHAC employees, please contact the PHAC Library.

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There are two ways to connect with the Library from home depending on your computer equipment. You need to be attached to the HC/PHAC network to view our website and access the majority of our resources.

1. If you have a work-provided laptop or computer.
   1. Contact the IT helpdesk to set up a VPN connection; you need to be connected with our generic IP address.
2. If you are connecting with your own computer.
   1. Sign into Web Office using your Novel login credentials.

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What is it?

Scopus download function is a feature that automatically downloads PDF articles if they are already paid for by the Health Library. This feature uses a Google Chrome plug-in. The Document Download Manager is available from the Scopus document results lists and document details pages. The Document Download Manager is accessible through Google Chrome.

How does it work?

After completing a Scopus search, take the following actions:
1. On the Document search results page, select one or more documents by clicking the checkboxes.
       a. Click Select page

2. Click ‘Download’. The Document Download Manager opens.

3. Click ‘Download’ and PDF documents will be saved to your default browser download folder.

4. Cut and paste downloaded titles for a record of titles downloaded

What if Scopus Document Download Manager says Check publisher site?

Scopus was not able to find a pdf copy to download. This doesn't mean we don't have full-text access. You can use the Get it/Afficher button or other methods to access or order full text journal articles at no cost.

Please note: This function is not required to access full-text content. You can use the Get it/Afficher button or other methods to access or order full text journal articles at no cost.

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You have access to your own library’s subscribed e-books, e-journals and databases, as well as the print collections of all the other libraries that are members of the Federal Science Library. You also have access to an index of 2 billion+ citations, covering 90 content types from thousands of publishers, and over 100,000 journal and periodical titles. You can search within your own library or easily expand your search to include FSL member collections or the entire search and discovery index (also known as Summon^TM). 

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The National Library of Medicine (NLM) TOXNET website was retired on December 16, 2019. Most content will remain available through other NLM databases as well as from external websites.

The TOXNET transition page provides a list of its databases and how to access their content. Please check that page and the NLM Technical Bulletin for updates.

A suggested alternative to the CPDB (Carcinogenic Potency Database) is Lhasa Carcinogenicity Database (LCDB).

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Requesting a literature search is a quick and simple process. Contact the Health Library in the way most convenient to you, and provide us with information like:

• Your topic of interest

• Preferred date range (last ten years, etc.)

• Language preferences

• Your RefWorks account information (if you have an account)

The Health Library will follow up to confirm your request, and ask questions specific to your topic.

Literature searches are provided free of charge, and are a great way to thoroughly identify evidence to support your work.

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Can’t find what you’re looking for? You can request articles, books or documents. 

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General information: 
Altmetrics draws on social media sources such as blogs and twitter. Traditional bibliometrics rely on citation counts of journal articles in a particular journal to infer the impact of that journal. Altmetrics are “alternative metrics” to traditional bibliometrics. Powered by web technologies altmetrics are a group of indicators that demonstrate how much attention readers in academia and the general public alike are paying toward a particular article or author. They also show the type of influence the research or the research might be having through who is discussing it, where and in what context. 
While altmetrics have some advantages over traditional bibliometrics, they are incomplete in and of themselves, and provide different information than bibliometrics. 
Thus best practices suggest that altmetrics should be used in conjunction with bibliometrics to paint a more complete picture of research influence whenever possible. 
For more information, here are some reading suggestions:
1. What are altmetrics? – Altmetric. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.altmetric.com/about-altmetrics/what-are-altmetrics/ 
2. Altmetrics (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.library.illinois.edu/learn/research/altmetrics.html

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Summon^TM is the search and discovery tool of the library portal.  It provides a single starting point to find and access the majority of the library collections – including books, e-books, scholarly journals and articles, theses, digitized items and more.  It is a service that combines Summon’s 2 billion-strong citation index with FSL content, to produce one unified index.

When you use Email to send citations, you will receive them from Summon Service.

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The two most commonly used citations styles are The Canadian Style and the National Library of Medicine's Citing Medicine (also known as Vancouver style and Uniform) 

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The Health Library does not purchase standards for its clients for budgetary reasons. In addition, most current standards are only available electronically. Due to licensing restrictions it is not possible to borrow online standards through interlibrary loan. The library has print standards in its collections, but these will generally be superseded or withdrawn versions. Librarians can help you locate a standard. You may purchase standards directly from standards development organizations or vendors.

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It depends on the provider of the book. Some of our vendors allow you to download books and/or chapters. 

Download entire books or chapters as pdfs from the following sources/platforms:

• ASM Science
• Cambridge Books Online
• Elsevier Science Direct Books
• Springer Books
• GaleGroup / Gale Academic OneFile
• Informa healthcare
• The National Academic Press
• ProQuest Public Health New Platform

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Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) is a free e-book reader software that can be downloaded to your desktop or laptop. Once you have a free account with ADE, you can access your downloads from up to six devices.
In order to read an e-book with ADE:

1.  Place an IT National Service Desk request to associate Adobe Digital Editions to your computer and provide your computer asset number.

2. Once installed, create an Adobe Digital editions password (Adobe ID).

3. Activate your computer with your Adobe ID and download the book.

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Open Access (OA) refers to the publishing practice of making content provided by contributors/authors/creators freely available to users and readers. Some publishers levy Article Processing Charges (APCs) on authors to make their article available via OA in a journal.

Open Access means that scientific discoveries and information are made available to the public without paying for a subscription or individual article. Government departments, universities, and other institutions leverage OA in order to share information and research without barriers to access.

Types of Open Access:

There are different models of OA among scientific journal publishers. These are the most common:

• Diamond Open Access: Journals do not levy APCs or charge for subscriptions or article access.

• Gold Open Access: All published articles are publicly available at no cost.

• Hybrid Open Access: A blend of full-access and closed-access articles made available through a publisher’s suite of journals (this is the method available in the new Springer Transformative Agreement).

• Green Open Access: Articles are posted by an author on their institution’s website or third-party not-for-profit website, at no cost to either the public or the author.

For more information, see the flyer on Open Access, from the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL).

How the Health Library (HC/PHAC) is supporting Open Access:

• Our new Springer Transformative Agreement includes more than 2,000 hybrid journals across the Springer Nature portfolio (Springer, Adis, Palgrave and Academic Journals). HC and PHAC authors will be able to publish a predetermined number of OA articles with no APCs during a subscription year.

• BioMED Central (a Springer company) offers a 15% discount on APCs to HC and PHAC authors wishing to publish their OA articles in this publisher’s suite of journals.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Health Library.

Download a printable PDF version of this FAQ.

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An important new read-and-publish agreement will support Open Science and improve the accessibility of published research from scientists in Health Canada (HC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

This transformational agreement with Springer, the first of its kind in Canada, means that HC and PHAC authors can now make their publications immediately open in hybrid “Open Choice” subscription journals in Springer, Adis, Palgrave and Academic Journals imprints, under a Creative Commons licence. As of Saturday, January 1, 2022, articles with HC/PHAC corresponding authors accepted in Springer hybrid journals will automatically be eligible to have the article processing charges (APCs) covered by the Health Library through this new agreement. If your article is accepted in any of the eligible journals, it will be published immediately as Open Access with no embargo period. Learn more about the Springer agreement.

Please consult the instructions for submitting Open Access articles to Springer journals and the complete list of eligible Open Choice hybrid journals (XLSX, 298.52 KB).

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Health Library.

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ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a unique 16-digit number or "persistent identifier" used to link an individual author’s identity with their research outputs. The ORCID author record includes an author profile, and stores links to all research associated with an individual author. Some benefits of using an ORCID persistent identifier include accurate and consistent author identification, and reduction in author ambiguity that may be caused by authors with a similar name. In addition, many journals now request persistent identifiers with manuscript submission; using a persistent identifier can help authors manage affiliation changes and variations, and improve access to publications.

A persistent identifier (or PID) is a long-lasting digital reference to an object, contributor, or organization: this code remains constant as a means of identifying a digital object, even if its location on the internet changes. Web URLs are an example of a common identifier, and digital object identifier (DOI) is an example of a PID for a document or article. The term "persistent" refers to the need for an identifier to provide permanent, continued access to and provenance for the object it references.

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Employees* who intend to access the full-text version of e-resources available through university libraries for work related to HC or PHAC must ensure that they are not violating any acceptable use policies for university e-resources. Please ensure that:

• You have read the university’s acceptable use policies and e-resources license terms. These are generally available on the university website.
• You comply with the policies and license terms, and do not use the resources for commercial use as this is strictly prohibited.

In case of doubt, we encourage you to consult the university library to make an informed decision. 

*Employee refers to anyone employed by HC or PHAC including, but not limited to, term employees, CO-OP or graduate students, contractors and employees affiliated with universities.

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Journal articles published in a language other than English often have an English title and abstract in academic databases such as PubMed or Scopus. However, the full-text is only available in the original language of publication.

Hint: Square brackets around a title indicate that the article is in a language other than English.

The Library does not offer translation services. The Government of Canada's Translation Bureau can translate texts from several different languages into English or French. Please consult with your supervisor or administrative unit for information on requesting translation services.

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