NLM ONLINE DATABASES AND DATABANKS

MEDLARS® (MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) is the computerized system of databases and databanks offered by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). A person may search the computer files either to produce a list of publications (bibliographic citations) or to retrieve factual information on a specific question. MEDLARS databases are used by universities, medical schools, hospitals, government agencies, commercial and nonprofit organizations, and private individuals. MEDLARS comprises two computer subsystems, ELHILL® and TOXNET®, on which reside over 40 online databases containing about 16 million references.

ELHILL databases provide online access to information on a wide range of subjects relating to biomedicine; each is described below.

AIDSDRUGS: Subject: Substances being tested in AIDS-related clinical trials; Type: Factual; Coverage: English language; potential AIDS-related therapeutics; Updates: Monthly; the file contains over 140 records; Special Features: AIDSDRUGS is a dictionary of chemical and biological agents currently being evaluated in the AIDS clinical trials covered in the companion AIDSTRIALS database. Each record represents a single substance and provides information such as standard chemical names, synonyms and trade names, CAS Registry Numbers, protocol ID numbers, pharmacological action, adverse reactions and contraindications, physical/chemical properties, and manufacturers' names. Agents which were tested in closed or completed trials are included. A bibliography of relevant articles is also included.
AIDSLINE® (AIDS information onLINE): Subject: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and related topics; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: All languages; publications from 1980 to the present; Updates: Weekly, with about 900 new citations added each month; the file contains about 70,000 records; Document Types: Journal articles, government reports, letters, technical reports, meeting abstracts/papers, monographs, special publications, theses, books and audiovisuals; Special Features: AIDSLINE includes citations to literature covering research, clinical aspects and health policy issues. The citations are derived from the MEDLINE®, CANCERLIT, HEALTH PLANNING & ADMINISTRATION, CATLINE, and AVLINE files, and the meeting abstracts from the Fifth and Sixth International Conferences on AIDS. In order to provide access to additional reference sources, NLM plans to expand the file with records from the BIOETHICSLINE and POPLINE databases as well as additional meeting abstracts.
AIDSTRIALS (AIDS Clinical TRIALS): Subject: Clinical trials of substances being tested for use against AIDS, AIDS-related complex (ARC), AIDS-related opportunistic diseases, and HIV infection; Type: Factual and referral; Coverage: Active and closed trials; Updates: Biweekly; the file contains over 400 records; Special Features: Each record covers a single trial, and provides information such as title and purpose of the trial, diseases studied, patient eligibility criteria, contact persons, agents being tested, and trial locations. Information about the trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health is supplied by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), while information about privately sponsored trials is provided by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). AIDSTRIALS is a part of the AIDS clinical trials information service, which is a Public Health Service (PHS) project sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control, the FDA, the NIAID, and the NLM.
AVLINE® (AudioVisuals onLINE): Subject: Biomedical audiovisual materials and computer software; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: Primarily English language items from the United States; all audiovisuals and computer software cataloged by NLM since 1975; Updates: Weekly, with about 120 new records added each month; the file contains about 24,000 records; Formats: Motion pictures, videocassettes, slide/cassette programs, filmstrip/cassette programs, and computer software; Special Features: Clinical educational materials. AVLINE also includes bibliographic information for some of the archival motion pictures which form the basis of NLM's National Historical Film Program. Selected citations in the database include abstracts. Procurement information available at the time of abstracting is included.
BIOETHICSLINE® (BIOETHICS onLINE): Subject: Ethics and related public policy issues in health care and biomedical research; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: English language; publications from 1973 to the present; Updates: Bimonthly, with about 2,400 new citations added each year; the file contains about 36,000 records; Document Types: Journal articles, monographs, analytics (chapters in monographs), newspaper articles, court decisions, bills, laws, audiovisual materials, and unpublished documents; Special Features: BIOETHICSLINE covers the ethical, legal and public policy issues surrounding health care and biomedical research. Topics include euthanasia, organ donation and transplantation, allocation of health care resources, patients' rights, professional ethics, in vitro fertilization and other reproductive technologies, genetic intervention, abortion, behavior control and mental health therapies, AIDS, human experimentation, and animal experimentation. Citations are derived from the literature of law, religion, the social sciences, philosophy, and the popular media as well as the health sciences. The file is produced by the Bioethics Information Retrieval Project of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.
CANCERLIT® (CANCER LITerature): Subject: Major cancer topics; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: Primarily English language items; comprehensive and international in scope since 1976; some citations were published as early as 1963; Updates: Monthly, with about 6,600 new citations added each month; the file contains about 910,000 records; Document Types: Journal articles, government reports, technical reports, meeting abstracts and papers, monographs, letters, and theses; Special Features: Since June 1983, most journal literature has been derived from MEDLINE; the file also includes a limited number of foreign language journals not covered in MEDLINE. Records added since January 1980 have been indexed using the NLM controlled vocabulary (MeSH). CANCERLIT is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in cooperation with the NLM.
CATLINE® (CATalog onLINE): Subject: Bibliographic records covering the biomedical sciences; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: All languages; virtually all of the cataloged titles in the NLM collection, from the fifteenth century to the present; Updates: Weekly, with about 1,500 new records added each month; the file contains about 700,000 records; Document Types: Primarily monographs, but also includes records for serials, monographic series, audiovisual series and manuscripts; Special Features: CATLINE is used to produce the National Library of Medicine Current Catalog. It provides immediate access to NLM's authoritative bibliographic data and is a useful source of information for ordering printed material, verifying interlibrary loan requests, and providing reference services.
ChemID® (CHEMical IDentification): Subject: Dictionary of chemicals; Type: Factual; Updates: Approximately quarterly with about 4,000 records added per update; the file contains about 270,000 records; Special Features: CHEMID is a chemical dictionary file for over 184,000 compounds of regulatory and biomedical interest. Records include CAS Registry Numbers and other identifying numbers, molecular formulae, generic and trivial names, MeSH headings, and file locators which lead users to other files on the ELHILL and TOXNET systems. In addition, a capability known as SUPERLIST provides names and other data used to describe chemicals on over 20 key federal and state regulatory lists.
CHEMLINE® (CHEMical dictionary onLINE): Subject: Dictionary of chemicals; Type: Factual; Updates: Bimonthly, with about 11,000 new records added per update; the file contains about 1,142,000 records; Special Features: CHEMLINE is an online dictionary of chemical substances found in NLM databases, the Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (EINECS). Each record covers a single chemical substance, and provides detailed information on the agent's structure and nomenclature, synonyms and CAS Registry Numbers. NLM file locators direct the user to MEDLARS files which contain more information about the designated substances. This database is created by NLM's Specialized Information Services with contract support from Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS).
DENTALPROJ®: Subject: Ongoing dental research projects; Type: Factual and referral; Coverage: United States; the most current year; Updates: Semiannually; the file contains about 780 records; Special Features: DENTALPROJ provides project summaries, including project title, name of principal investigator, performing institution, sponsoring organization, and a brief abstract of the project. This file is produced by the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) in cooperation with the NLM.
DIRLINE® (Directory of Information Resources onLINE): Subject: Directory of organizations providing information services; Type: Referral; Coverage: Primarily the United States, with some coverage of international organizations; Updates: Quarterly; the file contains about 14,000 records; Special Features: DIRLINE focuses primarily on health and biomedical organizations, including government agencies, information centers, professional societies, voluntary associations, support groups, academic and research institutions, and research facilities and resources. Records contain organization names, addresses, phone numbers, and descriptions of services, publications, and holdings.
DOCUSER® (DOCument delivery USER): Subject: Directory of libraries and other information-related organizations which use NLM's interlibrary loan (ILL) services or are a part of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.; Type: Referral; Coverage: Contains records for over 12,000 health-related libraries located in the United States, and about 1,300 foreign libraries; current; Updates: Monthly, with about 700 new records added each year; the file contains about 13,000 records; Special Features: DOCUSER provides descriptive and administrative information, including institutional identification, interlibrary loan policy data, participation in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and SERHOLD reporting data.
HEALTH (HEALTH planning & administration): Subject: Non-clinical aspects of health care delivery; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: Primarily English, and some French and German language items; publications from 1975 to the present; Updates: Monthly, with about 5,000 new citations added each month; the file contains about 635,000 records; Document Types: Primarily journal articles; Special Features: HEALTH covers the administration and planning of health care delivery, including: services and manpower, health insurance, health policy, financial management, regulation, personnel administration, quality assurance, licensure and accreditation. The file is produced by the American Hospital Association (AHA) in cooperation with the NLM. The Hospital Literature Index, published by the AHA, is produced from this file.
HISTLINE® (HISTory of medicine onLINE): Subject: History of medicine and related sciences; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: Primarily English language items; publications from 1964 to the present; Updates: Monthly, with about 5,700 new citations added each year; the file contains about 107,000 records; Document Types: Monographs, journal articles, publications from symposia and congresses; Special Features: HISTLINE covers specialties, professions, individuals, institutions, drugs, and diseases of given chronological periods and geographic areas. References are primarily derived from MEDLINE and CATLINE. These citations are published annually in NLM's Bibliography of the History of Medicine.
MEDLINE (MEDlars onLINE): Subject: Biomedicine; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: All languages; publications from 1966 to the present. Recent references are contained in the current file (MEDLINE); segmented backfiles (MED86, MED83, MED80, MED77, MED72 and MED66) contain older material; Updates: Weekly, January through October and monthly, November and December; about 31,000 new citations are added each month. The file contains about 7.2 million records. The citations for each monthly update are also searchable in a separate file called SDILINE (Selective Dissemination of Information onLINE) for those who need only the most recent literature.; Document Types: Articles from more than 3,600 international biomedical journals (some chapters and articles from selected monographs are found in earlier years).; Special Features: MEDLINE is NLM's premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and the preclinical sciences. Journal articles are indexed for MEDLINE, and their citations are searchable, using NLM's controlled vocabulary, MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). MEDLINE contains all citations published in Index Medicus, and corresponds in part to the International Nursing Index and the Index to Dental Literature. Citations include the English abstract when published with the article (approximately 70% of the current file).
MeSH VOCABULARY FILE®: Subject: Thesaurus of biomedical-related terms; Type: Factual; Coverage: Headings for the current year; Updates: Annually. Supplementary Chemical Records, updated 4 times weekly. The file contains about 16,600 medical subject headings, and 67,600 supplementary chemical substances headings.; Special Features: The MeSH Vocabulary File is an online dictionary of current biomedical subject headings, subheadings, and supplementary chemical terms used in indexing and searching several MEDLARS databases, including MEDLINE, AIDSLINE, AIDSTRIALS, AVLINE, BIOETHICS, CANCERLIT, CATLINE, DIRLINE, and HEALTH. MeSH heading records typically include synonyms, scope notes, MeSH hierarchical positions, entry dates, and previous indexing information. Records for subheadings include descriptions for their use. The file also includes supplementary chemical records that occur in MEDLINE but are not MeSH headings.
NAME AUTHORITY FILE® (NAF): Subject: Authority list for names, series, and uniform titles used as headings in bibliographic records resident in CATLINE and AVLINE; Type: Factual; Updates: Semimonthly, with about 650 records added each update; the file contains about 378,000 records.; Special Features: NAME AUTHORITY FILE is used in the cataloging process to identify personal, conference, or corporate names, uniform titles, and series which serve as access points in CATLINE and AVLINE bibliographic records.
PDQ® (Physician Data Query): Subject: Advances in cancer treatment and clinical trials; Type: Factual and referral; Coverage: United States, Canada, and Western Europe; current; Updates: Monthly; Special Features: This menu-driven database provides detailed descriptions of all major tumor types and their prognosis, the most recent cancer treatments, ongoing investigational and standard protocols, and directories of physicians and organizations involved in state-of-the-art cancer care. The database is designed and maintained by the National Cancer Institute.
POPLINE® (POPulation information onLINE): Subject: Populations, demographics and family planning; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: Primarily English language items but international in scope; publications from 1970 to the present with selected citations dating back to 1886; Updates: Monthly, with about 700 new citations added each month; the file contains about 193,000 records.; Document Types: Journal articles, monographs, technical reports, and unpublished works; Special Features: POPLINE covers human fertility, contraceptive methods, AIDS, community-based services, program evaluation, demography, censuses, vital statistics, and related health, law, and policy issues. The file provides unique coverage of population issues in Third World countries. Journal articles are indexed for POPLINE, and their citations are searchable, using POPLINE keywords reorganized into new hierarchies in 1991. The file is produced in collaboration with the Population Information Program of Johns Hopkins University; Population Index at Princeton University; and the Library/Information Program of Princeton University. The database is funded primarily by the United States Agency for International Development and by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
SDILINE® (Selective Dissemination of Information onLINE): Subject: Biomedicine; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: All languages. Contains citations from the most recent complete month in MEDLINE, including all citations in the forthcoming printed edition of the monthly Index Medicus.; Updates: Monthly, with about 31,000 new citations each month; Document Types: Bibliographic citations to journal articles from approximately 3,600 biomedical journals published in the United States and abroad
SERLINE® (SERials onLINE): Subject: Biomedical serial titles; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: All languages; serials published from 1665 to the present; Updates: Monthly, with about 140 new records added each month; the file contains about 79,000 records.; Special Features: SERLINE contains bibliographic records for all serials cataloged for the NLM collection, titles ordered or being processed for the NLM, and all serial titles indexed for MEDLINE, HEALTH, and POPLINE, including titles which do not meet NLM scope and coverage requirements. Also includes titles held by libraries participating in the NLM National Biomedical Serials Holdings Database (SERHOLD). Many records contain locator information which identify major biomedical libraries within the National Network of Libraries of Medicine holding the publication.
TOXLINE® (TOXicology information onLINE): Subject: Toxicological, pharmacological, biochemical and physiological effects of drugs and other chemicals; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: Primarily English language items; international coverage. The database has been segmented: pre-1965 to 1980 material is found in TOXLINE65, and 1981-forward citations are found in the TOXLINE file.; Updates: Monthly, with about 9,300 new citations added each month; the file contains about 1.8 million records.; Document Types: Journal articles, monographs, technical reports, theses, letters, and meeting abstracts, papers and reports.; Special Features: The records are derived from about 16 secondary sources which do not require royalty charges based on usage. Citations may be retrieved by entering free text terms as they may appear in titles, keywords and abstracts of articles. The portions of the database derived from MEDLINE and that portion of BIOSIS added since August 1985 may be searched using MeSH vocabulary. Chemical substances can be searched by entering their corresponding CAS Registry Numbers and/or synonyms.
TOXLIT® (TOXicology LITerature from special sources): Subject: Toxicological, pharmacological, biochemical, and physiological effects of drugs and other chemicals; Type: Bibliographic citations; Coverage: Primarily English language items; international coverage. The database has been segmented: pre-1965 to 1980 citations are found in TOXLIT65, and 1981-forward citations are found in the TOXLIT file.; Updates: Monthly, with about 8,600 new citations added each month; the file contains about 1.6 million records.; Document Types: Journal articles, meeting papers, monographs, patents; Special Features: At present, the citations are derived exclusively from Chemical Abstracts. Royalty charges apply. Citations may be retrieved by entering free text terms as they may appear in titles, keywords, and abstracts of articles. Chemical substances can be searched by entering their corresponding CAS Registry Numbers and/or synonyms.
BIOTECHSEEK (BIOSEEK): Subject: Biotechnology; Type: Bibliographic citations.; Coverage: English language citations; international coverage. File became available in October 1991.; Updates: Monthly, with about 85 new citations added each month; the file contains about 2,700 records.; Document Type: Journal articles; Special Features: BIOTECHSEEK contains bibliographic citations from 28 selectively indexed biotechnology journals not covered in MEDLINE. Both MEDLINE and BIOTECHSEEK should be searched for complete coverage of biotechnology-related material, including molecular sequence databank information.
TOXNET (TOXicology data NETwork) As part of the MEDLARS system, TOXNET is a computerized collection of files on toxicology, hazardous chemicals and related areas. TOXNET contains the following files:

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CALL OR WRITE:

MEDLARS Management Section
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20894
Phone: 800-638-8480
Fax: 301-496-0822

NLM HyperDOC / MEDLARS FactSheet / January 1993

NLM ONLINE DATABASES AND DATABANKS

AIDSDRUGS

AIDSLINE® (AIDS information onLINE)

AIDSTRIALS (AIDS Clinical TRIALS)

AVLINE® (AudioVisuals onLINE)

BIOETHICSLINE® (BIOETHICS onLINE)

CANCERLIT® (CANCER LITerature)

CATLINE® (CATalog onLINE)

ChemID® (CHEMical IDentification)

CHEMLINE® (CHEMical dictionary onLINE)

DENTALPROJ®

DIRLINE® (Directory of Information Resources onLINE)

DOCUSER® (DOCument delivery USER)

HEALTH (HEALTH planning & administration)

HISTLINE® (HISTory of medicine onLINE)

MEDLINE (MEDlars onLINE)

MeSH VOCABULARY FILE®

NAME AUTHORITY FILE® (NAF)

PDQ® (Physician Data Query)

POPLINE® (POPulation information onLINE)

SDILINE® (Selective Dissemination of Information onLINE)

SERLINE® (SERials onLINE)

TOXLINE® (TOXicology information onLINE)

TOXLIT® (TOXicology LITerature from special sources)

BIOTECHSEEK (BIOSEEK)

TOXNET (TOXicology data NETwork)

CCRIS (Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System)

DART (Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology)

DBIR® (Directory of Biotechnology Information Resources)

EMICBACK (Environmental Mutagen Information Center BACKfile)

ETICBACK (Environmental Teratology Information Center BACKfile)

GENE-TOX (GENetic TOXicology)

HSDB® (Hazardous Substances Data Bank)

IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System)

RTECS® (Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances)

TRI (Toxic chemical Release Inventory) series

TRIFACTS (Toxic chemical Release Inventory FACT sheets)