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The National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine has joined with National Library of Medicine -- both part of the
NIH -- to create a
massive database of literature on complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM).
The free, web-based
database offers access to more than 220,000
abstracts, references and some full text articles on alternative
medicine. The database is called CAM on Grateful Med, the National Library
of Medicine's free system that provides access to the MEDLINE database.
MEDLINE covers 4,500 journals published in the US and overseas.
"This joint venture will offer health professionals, CAM practitioners,
researchers, educators, and consumers ready access to a comprehensive
database of journal citations directly related to complementary
and alternative medicine," said Dr. Donald Lindberg, director of
the National Library of Medicine.
PubMed has 120,000 users
each day, conducting about 700
searches per minute, said a library spokesperson.
In the past, PubMed users could search complementary and alternative journals,
but the search was not very specific, even though the database included
titles such as Holistic Nursing Practices, and the Journal of Complementary
and Alternative Medical Practices. The library's advisory committee will
start evaluating more CAM-specific titles to add to the vast database.
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