Tips for Using:
BUSDM Portal
Searching Stat!Ref
STAT!Ref is a collection of searcheable e-textbooks that cover a wide variety of topics including dentistry, pharmacology, evidence-based medicine, pediatrics, and more. Popular titles include: DeGowin's Diagnostic Examination, ACP's PIER: Physicians' Information and Education Resource, and Critical Decisions in Periodontology.
- When using Stat!Ref it is possible to search across the entire collection of e-textbooks or to search each text individually. The default option in STAT!-Ref is to search all texts. To select a single text click "select none" and then click on the desired title(s).
- Searches in Stat!Ref can be conducted using six proximity operators, including:
- Automatically selects best precision
- Search words must be in exact order
- Search words must be adjacent
- User defined proximity: Near/X
- All search words must appear
- At least one search word must appear
- The Library recommends searching by "user defined proximity: Near/X." This allows users to set how many words can separate their search terms. For example, if searching "heart attack" with a proximity of ten guarantees that these two search terms will be within ten words of each other. A proximity between ten to fifteen words is recommended. This range generally ensures that terms are in the same paragrapah and appropriate to your search.
- For your convenience Stat!Ref also provides acces to Stedman's Medical Dictionary, which is available from the top green tool bar on search pages.
- To return to the "Results" screen, click on the "Results" menu option. If you click on the back key, you will go back to the main search page, NOT back to the "Results" screen.
PLEASE NOTE: It is important to log out of e-textbooks when you are finished to ensure that others will also be able to use them. Also e-textbook access is generally limited to faculty, staff, and students of the Boston University Medical Center and Boston Medical Center.