My mother has been quite ill since early November. The doctors were puzzled by her array of symptoms. Their earliest diagnoses and treatments did not make her feel any better. My family was puzzled, too. More than once, we've sighed and said "Where is Dr. House when you need him?"
After each diagnosis, I would access our Library website (from home) to locate the latest news and information about that particular medical issue. It's hard to know what to ask when you are struggling to absorb what the doctor, nurse, physical therapist, etc. just said. I ask that the diagnosis be written down - legibly - so I can use it as a search term as I go after additional information. Armed with the diagnosis, I then use specific databases inside both DISCUS and EBSCO to educate myself.
Because it may well be that someone reading this needs additional information about medical and health issues they are facing, here's a step-by-step guide on how to find health and wellness information on the Library's website.
Please note: The material contained in any of the databases I mention below is intended for informational purposes only. The databases do not give medical advice, nor should any information contained therein be considered a replacement for medical advice given by licensed health care professionals.
Step 1: Go to the BCL homepage at www.beaufortcountylibrary.org.
Step 2: Choose the 2nd tab "Online Resources."
Step 3: Open the drop-down box.
Step 4: Choose "Research Resources."
You'll see a series of icons: DISCUS, EBSCO Host, Learning Express, Reference USA, La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, OneClick Digital, BYKI, and Ancestry Library Edition.
Let's start with the closest icon, the one for DISCUS.
Step 5: Choose DISCUS.
Step 6: Put in the diagnosis as the "Search Terms"
Step 7: Choose "Health & Medical" as the subject choice.
Step 8: Explore your hits.
Step 9: Jot down any questions you want answered by your health care professional.
Because I have no health care or medical training in my background, I find that the "Health and Wellness Resource Center" inside DISCUS is sometimes too clinical for me to absorb what is being discussed. It's weighted towards nursing and allied health journals. You might fare better using it because your background may be different than mine.
I prefer to start with the health and medical sources inside EBSCO Host. You go through the first 4 steps as above.
Step 1: Go to the BCL homepage at www.beaufortcountylibrary.org.
Step 2: Choose the 2nd tab "Online Resources."
Step 3: Open the drop-down box.
Step 4: Choose "Research Resources."
As before, you'll see a series of icons: DISCUS, EBSCO Host, Learning Express, Reference USA, La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, OneClick Digital, BYKI, and Ancestry Library Edition. This time, choose the circle icon that says "EBSCO Host."
Step 5: Choose EBSCO Host.
Step 6: Choose your means of access: Library or "Home/Office"
Step 7: In the Library you won't need to put in your BCL library card number. If you are using the database outside the library, put in your BCL library card number when prompted to do so.
Step 8: Select the "Consumer Health Complete" database.
Step 9: Enter the condition or diagnosis in the "Find" box.
Step 10: Explore your hits.
Step 11: Jot down any questions you'd like answered by your health care professional.
While we can't have Dr. House - Hugh Laurie just plays a doctor on TV (Wonder if he sleeps at Holiday Inn Express?)- and libraries will not and cannot provide medical advice -- library cardholders do have access to wonderful library resources on health, wellness, and medical topics that can help us inform ourselves to ask better questions of our health care professionals!
Yet again, and at another stage of my life, the resources of my library are helping my family and me cope with a stressful life situation by providing solidly researched, vetted, and accessible information to help our family make the best choices we can given the circumstances. Beaufort County Library cardholders are so lucky that the State Library can still afford to purchase several databases of vetted health and medical information for its citizens.
Perhaps you have a library story, too. If you'd like to share it, send me an e-mail at gracec@bcgov.net.
Please remember that "You Belong @ Your Library" just as much as I do. We'll be happy to see and share our array of materials, programs and services with you either in person or online!
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