Levy Library

Embase, a Major Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Database, Now Available from Levy Library

We are very pleased to report the addition of Embase to our growing collection of resources supporting Mount Sinai's initiatives in translational research and evidence-based medicine. Embase, the online version of the print index Excerpta Medica, is an international biomedical and pharmacological database that covers the journal and conference literature. It has significant strengths in the areas of pharmaceutics, pharmacy and toxicology; occupational health; environmental health; alternative medicine; biotechnology; and occupational and environmental health. Embase covers over 7,000 journals, over 25% of which are not in MEDLINE.

Embase is known for its timely, in-depth indexing using Emtree, a hierarchically ordered controlled thesaurus. Emtree, like the MeSH vocabulary used to index MEDLINE, provides a consistent description of biomedical terminology. Emtree is noted for its rich vocabulary for drugs and chemicals, facilitating discovery of reports on drug combinations, adverse drug reactions, medical devices and trade names, drug trade names across the globe, and clinical studies and trials.

Because Embase covers journals not in MEDLINE, and because the Emtree indexing language offers additional avenues to identify reports on biomedical topics, Ebmase is usually needed for comprehensive literature searches, systematic reviews and meta-analyses. In particular, The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions recommends that Cochrane review teams search MEDLINE, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) to ensure that as many relevant studies as possible are identified.

Our version of Embase is delivered on the OvidSP platform. To access EMBASE, connect both on- and off-campus from the link on Levy Library's Databases page, and select it from the list of Frequently Used Databases at the top. Or, link directly to Embase here.

We're planning workshops on using Embase early next year, so stay tuned to our postings of upcoming classes. In the meantime, OvidSP offers detailed information about searching EMBASE on their platform here. And as always, we encourage you to Ask a Librarian.

“Have you or a family member ever been diagnosed with mesothelioma?...”

Every once in a while you see a television commercial paid for by a law firm asking victims of mesothelioma to call a toll free number to participate in a class action law suit. This practice, more prevalent in the 1980s and 90s, is an unintentional consequence of the pioneering work of a Mount Sinai doctor, Irving J. Selikoff. Forty-five years ago he co-authored the paper, “Asbestos Exposure and Neoplasia,” along with his associates E. Cuyler Hammond and Jacob Churg. Eventually, Selikoff and his colleagues linked asbestos exposure to mesothelioma and other diseases. In addition to his research Dr. Selikoff also educated workers and other members of the public to the dangers of asbestos and other environmental hazards. His influence was great. Selikoff’s testimony helped lay the foundation for the establishment of the 1970s Occupational Safety and Health Act, Workers' Compensation reforms, the 1989 Environmental Protection Agency limitations on asbestos use, and inspired investigation into the ill effects of other commonplace environmental and industrial hazards. Due to legislation, litigation, and abatement, asbestos disease is less common in the United States today. Unfortunately, asbestos products are still widespread in developing countries and the treatment of asbestos-related disease will continue to be relevant outside of the United States for years to come. - E. Du Rocher