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Reference Sources

(located in the Science Library if a print source; for online sources you must be on campus, or an authorized UO user if off campus, to access)

Statistical Sources

Statistical Sources on the Web (from the University of Michigan)

• This is a good place to start: well organized by subject, with links to many freely available statistical databases.
  

Health Canada

• This will give you access to a lot of data about the Canadian health care system.
  

Lexis-Nexis Statistical

• An online statistical database (available only to UO students, faculty and staff) that has two modes: directly search and display online statistical tables, or search the abstracts of statistics-containing publications (we will have access to some of these publications in the UO Libraries.)

Source OECD

• Information produced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Information includes a variety of statistical databases and the full texts of many OECD books and periodicals, in the fields of economics, labor, energy, social issues, and international trade and development.

Sources on Medicine and Healthcare

Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior

• This excellent source includes social and cultural factors, policies and organizations, etc.
  

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine SCI REF RC41 .G35 2002 (5 vols.; see also below)

Gale Virtual Reference Library

• Included here are 3 medical encyclopedias: Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, and Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders; also Chemistry: Foundations and Applications, Encyclopedia of Bioethics, and the Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics (which includes medical ethics.)

MedlinePlus

• An excellent consumer information source on conditions, diseases, and wellness.
  

Oxford Reference Premium

• Contains many dictionaries, including scientific, medical, economic, and statistical.

Oxford Textbook of Medicine SCI REF RC46 .O995 2003 (3 vols.)

• A more advanced, clinical medical reference.
  

Compare the above reference sources with:
Wikipedia

• Do the articles have identified authors? Are the authors credentials and affiliations available? Do the articles have references or bibliographies? If so, are there differences in the kinds of references given?
• Wikipedia is a very handy, free Internet source, but it is not always reliable or the best source. For a humorous demonstration of this phenomenon, watch this excerpt of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central. (Some improvements have been made to Wikipedia since this segment aired.)

Evaluating Sources

This web page contains a wealth of information on evaluating information sources both in print and on the Web: Critical Evaluation of Information Sources

To determine whether a particular periodical (magazine, journal) is scholarly (peer-reviewed, refereed) or popular, see these pages:

• Scholarly or Popular?
• Types of Periodicals (pdf)

What is "peer-review"?

Here are a couple of pdfs that provide good explanations of what it is (and is not), and why it's particularly important in the sciences:

• Peer Review in a Nutshell
• Sense About Science Short Peer Review Guide
  

(NB: both of the above are produced in the UK, so there are a few Britishisms that may not make sense)