CDC Tutorial


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The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is an excellent resource for information about diseases, causes, prevention, and cures or management. It also coversrelated health and medical issues. An agency, of the “US Department of Health and Human Resources,” the CDC provides quality and reliable information. As in previous tutorials, you click on the NCLive icon at the library homepage and on the NCLive icon on the next page to find the CDC database. The homepage of the NCLive appears below.

Clicking the Browse Resources Tab defaults to the following Subject & Type lists.

At this point you may access the CDC site by clicking on the Medical and Health category or by selecting the Alphabetic option and scroll down the “C’s.”

The beginning of the list of Medical and Health databases appears here with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the top.

Clicking on the CDC link retrieves the homepage of the CDC.

Note that there is a directory of various topics in the left hand panel, an A-Z index of terms found in the database (top row link), a keyword search box, and time relevant links and news links. This database is also used by professionals and healthcare providers, so there are links to programs/campaigns, conferences, training and employment resources, etc. Note also there are categories of publications and products in addition to data and statistics. Below is a Simple Search using the search field in the upper right corner on the homepage. The keywords flu and season have been entered in the search box.

Clicking on “Go” returns 702 entries having the keywords flu and season somewhere in the record.

Let’s take a look at record #1 and examine the many links available from this one record.

In the left panel there are links for general information about the flu, its prevention, and specialized information for health professionals. There is also a Contact Us link at the top of the page. A click on the link, Key Facts about the Flu, returns the following page.

This article may be translated into Spanish, French, or Chinese. An outline of the major sections of the article is found in the small contents box on the right with links to different parts of the document. Clicking on the What’s New link returns the latest information about the flu season and the preparations being made regarding it.

Clicking on the Flu Home link directs us to a page in the CDC site specifically dedicated to the disease. Note the language options and hotlines on the right side of the page.

From our simple search and the rich array of links we are able to find a wide variety of quality information about Influenza relevant to both layperson and professional.Now we will examine the possible options and categories for searching located on the black button links at the very top of the CDC homepage. Select the A-Z Index of topics.

Below is a portion of the first page of the index of topics covered in the CDC database.

Selecting the various CDC Centers, Institutes, and Offices category retrieves the following page, of which a partial view is shown.

There are also four broad categories of types of information available for more focused searching. See the categories below with the red arrow boxes. These categories are also found in the left hand panel of the CDC homepage.

Selecting the Publications & Products category returns the following page.

A portion of the first page of the Data & Statistics category is seen below.

Note the types of data and statistics that are available in View by Topic panel and the useful Quick Links and Key Resources links to the right. The CDC database is a powerful tool for information about disease and related health issues and is readily available to you through NCLive. It may be accessed at home or at the Hickory Public Library. Contact a Reference Librarian for the password required for home access.