PubMed Outside Tool

About PubMed

PubMed is a publicly accessible database managed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). It features over 38 million citations and abstracts from biomedicine, health, and related fields. The database includes MEDLINE, with over 31 million references from more than 5,200 journals, and PubMed Central (PMC), a full-text archive with over 10 million records, serving as a digital counterpart to NLM’s extensive print journal collection.

Accessing Full-Text Articles

While some PubMed citations provide free full-text links, many have either no links or subscription-only publisher links. To maximise full-text access, you can enable PubMed's Outside Tool. This tool adds a link to the CHS Library's catalogue in every citation record, connecting you to additional full-text sources.

PubMed library links button

Option 1: Start your PubMed search from the Library's homepage

Visit the CHS Library homepage, click Search PubMed and then enter your search.

Screenshot with arrow pointing to PubMed link

Option 2: Bookmark PubMed using unique CHS Library link

Bookmark this CHS Library-specific link. Use it each time you start a new browser session to ensure the CHS Library icon appears in PubMed search results.

Option 3: Set up Outside Tool in My NCBI account

If you have a personal PubMed/NCBI account, you can enable the Outside Tool for up to five libraries through your My NCBI Account. This allows PubMed to recognise you as a CHS Library user whenever you're logged in.

  1. Visit NCBI Login
  2. Login (or sign up for new account)
  3. Click My NCBI (top right)
  4. Click NCBI Site Preferences (top right)
  5. Under PubMed Preferences, select Outside Tool
  6. Locate and select Canberra Health Services Library.

The CHS Library icon will appear next to each PubMed record, along with icons for any other libraries you've enabled.

PubMed User Guide

The PubMed User Guide provides an introductory guide to using PubMed, covering the following:

Help & Training Resources

Support

For further assistance: