Books on medical conditions, weight loss, and exercise are some of the most popular titles checked out at YDL.
Books, eBooks, audiobooks, and eaudiobooks
While books on specific medical conditions have dwindled in recent years, there are still many titles being published on the most prevalent diseases, including diabetes, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and heart and respiratory diseases. And there is an unending supply of titles on weight loss, diet, and exercise. Are you interested in books on vegetarian, vegan, paleo, Whole30, keto, low carb, or gluten free diets? We’ve got them, and cookbooks to match. Yoga? Pilates? Weight training? Walking? Running? Yep. All that and more.
If you prefer to listen and learn, we have books on CD and Playaways (single-title MP3 devices that only require your earbuds or headphones) to check out. You can also download eBooks and eaudiobooks from Download Destination, our OverDrive collection, and from hoopla, another great digital collection that also lets you stream movies, TV shows, and music on those days when seeking health and medical information just isn’t what you’re up for. 🙂
Currency
Be sure to check publication dates when you look at health and medical books, in whatever format. A rule of thumb used in libraries is to withdraw or replace health and medical books when they are more than five years old. We work at this, but it’s an ongoing process, and there isn’t always something more up-to-date available. If you check out something older, use it to give you a general idea of the subject, with the understanding that medical information changes rapidly. We may have something more current at another branch, in the reference collection, or that is checked out.
Using the catalog
When using YDL’s catalog to find books, you may want to change the first search box from Everything to Library Search to eliminate digital titles, or to Digital Catalog to eliminate print titles. Unless you know for sure your topic’s subject heading, author, or title, leave All Fields unchanged, and type in a keyword, such as diabetes. Once you see your results list, you can limit it with options on the left side of the screen. Here is a Library Search for the word diabetes, limited by Material Type (Adult Books and New Books), Subjects (Diabetes—Popular Works; Diabetes—Diet therapy; and Diabetes—Alternative treatment), and sorted by descending publication date. Note that if you want to see if a book is shelved in New Nonfiction, you must click on the title and check the holdings there. Under Select an Action, options include emailing or texting selected titles to yourself. Your email will include a link to “Return to this search,” which will send you back to the catalog with your search parameters already in place. How cool is that?
Databases
Go back to the Health & Wellness page, then scroll down to Resources, and you’ll find links to health-related databases. If you’re not in the library, you’ll be asked to enter your library card number. You can also find more specific databases at the Michigan eLibrary Databases page. Additional health-related databases there include Nursing Resource Center, Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Collection, Psychology Collection, and Gale Virtual Reference Library. You’ll need to type in your Michigan driver’s license or state ID number to access MeL databases through their website.