Home: PE 109/282
Finding Journal Articles

Finding Books

Fitness and Wellness Web Sites
Health Related
Other Sports Medicine
Evaluating Web Sites

PE 109/282: Advanced Aerobics and Leadership

Course Instructor: Peggy Domingue
Librarian: Carol Vreeland

Reference Sources

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (NCSU only)

A searchable and browsable encyclopedia on the biological sciences. Contains introductory (I), secondary (S), and special essays on 14 main subject areas: biochemistry, cell biology, clinical medicine, developmental biology, ecology, evolution and diversity of life, functional and comparative morphology, genetics and molecular biology, immunology, microbiology and virology, neuroscience, plant science, structural biology, and science and society. Updated articles and new articles are added monthly."
One can search for articles on topics in clinical medicine--for example, migraine, obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure).

The Merck Manual of Medical Information--Home Edition (http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual_home/contents.htm)

A searchable and browsable medical reference book. Especially of interest are the sections on Men's Health Issues and Women's Health Issues.

Finding Journal Articles on Your Topic

If a topic is too current or too specific to be covered by a handbook, encyclopedia, or book, it may be discussed in journal articles, research reports, or conference papers. Access to this literature has traditionally been through databases, also known as indexing and abstracting services. There is no universal index that covers all the published information in fitness and wellness, so at times you may have to consult several sources.

Electronic Databases

These databases can be searched from off campus via the NCSU Libraries Proxy Server. You will need a Unity account to login. Unity computing accounts (or Eos accounts for Engineering students) are automatically generated for all students, faculty and staff at NC State. If you do not know what your Unity login is, go to NCSU Computing Resources' Unity/Eos Help Page.

Some of the databases that index articles about fitness and wellness are listed below. Use one or more of the databases to search for references to journal articles. If the database does not provide access to the full text of the article you want, use the E-journal Finder to locate electronic versions of the journal that you need. (Note: search for the journal title (not the title of the article). Articles not available via the E-journal Finder may still be obtained through Interlibrary and Document Delivery Services. See Book & Article Delivery (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/distance/delivery.html) for details.

For a printable flowchart showing this process, go to How to Get Your Hands on the Articles You Need (Distance Learner version).

Or, try the Tutorial: How to Find Articles. How do you find an article when only the citation is listed in a database? (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/lobo2/search/articles/find-articles5.html) (requires Flash). Note: this tutorial is aimed toward students actually on the NCSU campus, but much of the information is still relevant for distance learners.

Fitness and Wellness databases.

Health Source--Consumer Edition (NCSU only)

A consumer health database providing information on many health topics, including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health. "Consumer Edition provides access to nearly 300 full text, consumer health periodicals, including American Fitness, Better Nutrition, Fit Pregnancy, Harvard Health Letter, HealthFacts, Men's Health, Muscle & Fitness, Prevention, Vegetarian Times, Women's Health Weekly, and many others. It also includes abstracts and indexing for nearly 300 general health, nutrition, and professional health care publications. Also included are

  • Clinical Pharmacology, which provides "access to up-to-date, concise and clinically relevant drug monographs for all U.S. prescription drugs, hard-to-find herbal and nutritional supplements, over-the-counter products and new and investigational drugs."
  • 20 health reference books
  • Clinical Reference Systems. Has reports (in English and Spanish) covering eight major health related subjects, including adult health, behavioral health, cardiology, drug and medication information, pediatric health, senior health, women's health and sports medicine.
  • Stedman's Medical Dictionary
  • searchable full text for nearly 1,200 health-related pamphlets."

Coverage: indexing and abstracts, 1984- ; full text, varies, but some as far back as 1985-.

SPORT Discus (NCSU only) (WebSPIRS. Works best with Internet Explorer.)

"An international database provided by the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC). The database contains information on the following: sports medicine, exercise physiology, biomechanics, psychology, training techniques, coaching, physical education, physical fitness, active living, recreation, history, facilities and equipment." Provides mostly citations. Some links to full text. Coverage: 1830- present.

To search other databases, go to the NCSU Libraries Database Finder and look at the list of databases listed for Human Medicine.

For Additional Information

For additional information on fitness and wellness or for assistance locating these publications, contact the NCSU Libraries Research and Information Services Department. The Reference desk is located on the 1st floor, East Wing of the D.H. Hill Library. You may phone the Reference desk at 515-2935 or send reference questions via e-mail to Ask a Librarian (libref@ncsu.edu). You may also submit a reference question via chat (Ask a Librarian LIVE).

For further information about the NCSU Libraries services available to distance learners, go to Distance Learning Services (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/distance/).

Librarian Contact Information