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HUBNET: Your UB source for online health-related information
If you are a member of the university community but are not affiliated with an academic program in the health sciences, chances are you've never heard about HUBNET. What is HUBNET? The name, an acronym, stands for Hospitals and University at Buffalo Library Resource Network, and it's a collection of electronic books, journal databases, reference sources and clinical tools that get heavy use by UB health sciences students and researchers, as well as by staff at local hospitals. Even if you are not associated with the UB medical school or one of the academic programs in the health-related professions, HUBNET is well worth exploring.
HUBNET is located as a link towards the top of Health Sciences Library's Web site (http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/hsl/). If you are connecting off campus, you will need your UB IT name and password as your login and password to enter HUBNET. Once on the HUBNET main screen (http://hubnet.buffalo.edu), click on the "Go to HUBNET" button. This will lead you to http://hubnet.buffalo.edu/bin/main.cgi, where you will find a variety of medical resources listed down the middle of the page.
For starters, look at specific resources by title. For example, the ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists can help you verify your physician's credentials. All you need to do is put in the name of any doctor you are using or thinking about consulting and click on "submit." You'll pull up their degrees, where they did their residencies, board certifications—their specialties—and so on.
Lexi-Comp Drug is a great, easy-to-use, authoritative source to find out about a drug that's been prescribed for you or someone close to you. Not only do you get a wealth of information on the adverse reactions, dosage and interactions—in short, all the information a pharmacist or medical professional would have access to—there's also a feature called "Lexi-Pals" that's designed for the layperson. While you should always consult with your doctor or pharmacist, this is a reliable source of verified information.
HUBNET also includes a listing of resources by publication type. Click on "Dictionaries" and you will find a wide range of specialized medical glossaries and dictionaries, such as the "Allergy Glossary, Drug-Related Street Terms" and the well-known "Stedman's Medical Dictionary." Select "Atlases/Images" and go to the Ultrasound Image Gallery or get a Virtual Tour of the Ear. You also might consider perusing the subject category listing, which includes such timely topics as bioterrorism, children and adolescent health, and nutritional and food health.
Remember, however, that HUBNET is just one corner of the virtual health resources complex available to the UB community. The Health Sciences Library Web site (http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/hsl/) is the premier stop on UB's electronic highways and byways for access to HUBNET and much, much more.
—Michelle L. Zafron, University Libraries