This document compares the medical search tools Google, Google Scholar, and PubMed. It outlines the key features, strengths, and limitations of each tool. The document recommends using Google for quick reference but PubMed for comprehensive research and clinical questions due to its current information and literature review capabilities. While Google Scholar can be useful for background information and citation verification, PubMed remains the best option for complex searches and saving/scheduling searches.

1. GoogleTM or
PubMed
Which is
Better for
Medical
Searching?

2. Denise O'Shea
2
Agenda
 Introduction
 Overview of Search Tools: Coverage,
Functionality, and Special Features
 Search Tool Strengths and Limitations
 Search Examples
 Recommendations
 Q&A

3. Denise O'Shea
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The Author
 Former Technology Programs Manager for
the National Network of Libraries of
Medicine (NN/LM), Middle Atlantic Region
 Certified Instructor for web searching
courses such as Super Searcher
 Librarian, experienced in web searching
using a myriad of tools including PubMed,
Google, Google Scholar, ClinicalTrials.Gov
and much more…
 I use Google often, when appropriate

4. Denise O'Shea
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Objectives
 Participants will be able to:
 Communicate the differences between
the various search engines and justify
the choice of search engine for a
given information need;
 Evaluate medical research tools;
 Demonstrate familiarity with resources
covered in the course;

5. Denise O'Shea
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Opening Exercise
 Compare these search tools and list
what you think are the TWO most
important search features in each:
 GoogleTM
 Google ScholarTM
 PubMed

6. Denise O'Shea
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Search Tools: Overview
 It’s important to know:
 How the different search tools work
and how they are best utilized
 The strengths and limitations of
different search tools
 Coverage and Currency:
• How big is the database being used?
• What does it contain?
• How often is it updated or refreshed?

7. Denise O'Shea
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PubMed vs. Google vs.
Google Scholar
 PubMed: a searchable collection of
over 15 million bio-medical journal
citations
 Google: searches over 8 billion web
pages for general information
 Google Scholar: searches the web
for scholarly materials from broad
areas of research

8. Denise O'Shea
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GoogleTM
 It uses a Boolean (and/or) search
engine to find words in web-pages
 It ranks pages according to the links
on the page and the popularity of the
pages that link to other pages
 Automatic spellchecker

9. Denise O'Shea
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Google ScholarTM Beta
 Links to local holdings and to OCLC
WorldCat with “one click” service
 Locates chapters within multi-
authored books and conference
proceedings
 Cited-by feature

10. Denise O'Shea
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PubMed
 Uses MeSH headings to match synonyms
 Manual indexing by subject experts can
include words not contained in the abstract
 Clipboard, RSS Feeds, e-mailed search
results
 You can customize your results page
 Growing free content (PubMed Central)
 Search history
 Easily link to a vast array of other
biomedical databases through global search

11. Denise O'Shea
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Google: Strengths
 Simplicity, speed and coverage
 Searches web pages, images, PDFs,
Word documents and much more
 Easy-to-use search interface

12. Denise O'Shea
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Google Scholar: Strengths
 Easy means to access health literature and
interdisciplinary topics
 Useful for citation verification
 Allows users to search inside the text of an
article
 Provides linking to free materials on the Web
 Include reports and conferences proceedings
from professional societies and associations
 Access to Grey Literature
 Backup for when local subscription links are
not working

13. Denise O'Shea
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PubMed: Strengths
 Updated daily*
 Sophisticated search tools
 Related Articles / Abstract Plus
 Good documentation
 Links to local holdings
 Ad free

14. Denise O'Shea
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Google: Limitations
 Page ranking based on popular opinion
 Timeliness
 Does not suggest alternative search
terms or synonyms
 Limited field searching (can’t search
based on age or gender, or search for a
research method or publication type)
 Limited Boolean logic, no truncation
 No resorting by most current

15. Denise O'Shea
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Google Scholar: Limitations
 Software is in Beta
 Coverage – no definition of ‘scholarly’
 Search results may not be as comprehensive or
as current as you need
 Bias towards older literature (due to ranking
based on number of citations)
 Fee-for-service document delivery
 Sorting features (or lack there-of)
 Does not always suggest alternative spellings

16. Denise O'Shea
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PubMed: Limitations
 Complex interface requires training to
use effectively
 Need to understand the structure &
functionality of the database
 Some features require the use of
cookies
 Some features require a login and
password (MyNCBI)

17. Denise O'Shea
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To Google…or Not to
Google?
 Google:
 Simple searches, quick reference tool
 Not designed for comprehensive research or clinical
questions.
 Google Scholar
 Known item searching, to learn background info on a topic
 Not designed for comprehensive research or clinical
questions.
 PubMed:
 Complex searches
 Current information
 Literature reviews (i.e., for grants, clinical trials or evidence
based medicine), PICO
 Ability to save searches, view search history, schedule e-
alerts
 Don’t use to search for general information on the Web

18. Denise O'Shea
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A Selected List of Other
Medical Search Tools
 Scirus – a search engine for scientific, technical and medical
data (http://www.scirus.com). Competitor to Google Scholar.
 Relamed – searches PubMed and assigns relevance to results
(http://www.relemed.com)
 Hubmed – an alternative interface to PubMed
(http://www.hubmed.org/)
 Science Research Portal – a free, publicly available Internet
web portal allowing access to numerous scientific journals and
public science databases
(http://www.scienceresearch.com/search/)
 XplorMed – a word relationship search engine for PubMed
(http://www.ogic.ca/projects/xplormed//). It searches for
articles based on word semantics and relationships.
 Plus bibliographic databases and full-text ejournals subscribed
to by your library

19. Denise O'Shea
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The Future
 Google Co-op
 Customized Search Engines
• http://www.healthfind.com/
 Subscribed Links
• http://google.com/coop/subscribedlinks/directory/H
ealth
 Topics
• http://www.google.com/coop/topics/Health
 PubMed
 New/Noteworthy RSS feeds
 NLM Tech Bulletin

20. Denise O'Shea
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Reading & Further
Resources
 Giustini, D., & Barsky, E. (2005). A look at Google Scholar,
PubMed...a comparison. JCHLA/JABSC, 26.
 Giustini, D., & Barsky, E. (2005). Using Google Scholar in Health
Research: A Comparison with PubMed. Paper presented at the
CHLA/ABSC. from http://chla-
absc.ca/2005/Presentations/0601/GiustiniBarsky_CHLA2005.pdf.
 Henderson, J. (2005). Google Scholar: a source for clinicians?
CMAJ, 172(12).
 New Search Engine for Finding Articles in PubMed. (2007). from
http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/2007/03/05/new-search-engine-
for-finding-articles-in-pubmed
 UCLA. (2007). Google Scholar™, Search Engines, Databases, and
the Research Process. from
http://www2.library.ucla.edu/googlescholar/index.cfm
 Vine, R. (2006). Google Scholar: A Source for Technicians. J Med
Library Assoc., 94(1), 97-99.