PH5100: Master of Public Health Tutorial

An efficient information storage and retrieval system will not only help you through the next few years but also facilitate a smooth transition to clinical practice.

Many highly functional, free and fee-based info management programs are available, but none of them does it all. Your system will work best if it has a mix of tools, including:

1. Individual database accounts: Most major databases have a feature that allows you to set up an account to save your searches and selected studies, for example PubMed's MyNCBI.


2. Note taking and archiving resources: Primarily used for creating and managing your notes, e.g. for classes, and saving clips (parts) of websites; examples: Evernote, Voodoo, and One Note.


3. Research managers/PDF organizers: Save, organize and annotate research articles with your own notes and highlights. Some tools, such as Mendeley, also provide a social component that lets you share studies and explore those that others have found.

Mendeley is a free reference manager and PDF organizer; it's also a research networking site that puts you in touch with an international community.

Use Mendeley to:

• save and organize research articles and docs (about 3,000 PDFs in the free version);

• annotate (add your own notes and highlights to) sections of interest in saved articles;

• generate reference lists and citations for reports and papers.

Make sure to install the Word plug-in and Web Importer which are the real powers behind Mendeley.

Save your PubMed searches and receive email notification when new studies are published on your topic. You can also save collections of articles and add to them as you perform searches. Here are instructions for how to set up an account and use it.

Need help citing your sources? Check out this LibGuide!