Medicine.Google.com

Interesting perspective on the use of Google to find medical literature. Quote:

Giustini sees medical students at UBC finding information faster with Google Scholar, Google's new search service for academic and peer-reviewed literature, than with medical journal indexes like PubMed or Medline. "We're moving away from some of the traditional 'gold standard' tools," according to Giustini, who writes a blog on Google Scholar.

The press release is here: Health-IT World

Mr. Giustini's Google Scholar blog is here.

I tend to stick with PubMed because it's what I've used for years. I'm familiar with the interface, and I can click through to order the paper. However, he raises an excellent point:

In a telephone interview with Health-IT World,
Giustini also talks about how physicians and others looking for
scholarly research increasingly are turning to online social networks
such as wikis. At the same time, numerous medical journals are embracing the notion of free, open access to peer-reviewed papers.

"We need something to pull all of these elements together," the medical librarian says, "a single access point for searching."

An overarching search engine for medical research
also can help small, upstart journals "subvert hierarchies" that favor
established titles, Giustini says. "What if you are an open-access
journal with no impact factor?" he asks. "How do doctors find you?"

He's right. In an era where anyone can publish anything, even something peer-reviewed, there is an increasing need for a search methodology that pulls from literally everywhere.