Let the NIH Library help you improve your searching and reference management skills.

Classes are free, hands-on, open to NIH and HHS staff, and are held in the NIH Library Training Room, Building 10 Clinical Center, near the South Entrance.

Registration is required for all classes. To register, click the desired course title below. Please note the course descriptions at the bottom of the page.

***Please note the new registration process. Registration for NIH Library classes is managed by CIT using the HHS Learning Management System. Please log into this system before proceeding to register for classes. For assistance with registration, please contact CIT at 301-594-6248 or CITTraining@mail.nih.gov.

If you are unable to attend a class, consider requesting an individual tutorial. Please note that not all classes are available as a tutorial. Contact the NIH Library Instruction Team if your desired class is not listed.

We look forward to seeing you!

Course Descriptions:

Drug Information Resources at the NIH Library
Drug information is a necessity for work performed by researchers and clinicians at NIH. Learn how you can find drug properties, action, adverse effects and their development or regulatory status by searching bibliographic and factual databases, online books and journals, available to NIH staff.

ENCODE Virtual Machine
The journal, Nature, has published articles from the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) Project Consortium.  The consortium is providing a virtual machine to enable readers to reproduce many of the calculations on the data.

EndNote: Managing Your Search Results
Use EndNote© to import and organize references, insert references in manuscripts, and create bibliographies.

EndNote Web: Using EndNote from Anywhere
EndNote Web is a web-based research and writing tool and a perfect complement to EndNote and Reference Manager. Add, transfer or import your references to EndNote Web and access your account via any web browser. Use Cite While You Write from EndNote Web to format your in-text citations and bibliography. If you do not have access to EndNote, than try EndNote Web - it is another great tool in your researcher toolbox!

GIS and Public Health
A geographic information system (GIS) is a set of technologies that has the potential to inform the practice of policy makers, planners, and public health practitioners. This class will introduce students to the basics of GIS and spatial data, spatial databases for public health, and the basics of mapping health information.

How to compute your h-index
The h-index is a metric that attempts to measure the productivity and impact of the published work of researcher or scholar. The index can also be applied to the productivity and impact of a group of researchers or scholars, such as an academic department. The index is based on the number of times the work of an individual or group has been cited in other publications.

Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) Professional
HGMD Professional is a unique resource providing comprehensive data on human inherited disease mutations. Its compilation of structured, manually curated data from the peer-reviewed literature enables quick access to both single mutation queries and advanced search applications.

Journal Article Publishing: An Overview
Increase your chance of publication through an understanding of the journal publishing process. In this overview course you will: learn how to use Journal Citation Reports to identify target journals in your subject area; determine the requirements for different types of journal articles; use tools and techniques to improve your writing; and create text and references that conform to a specific journal’s style.

Keeping Up with the Public Health Information Deluge
Keeping up with all of the varied information sources available for public health practitioners is daunting and sometimes overwhelming. However, there are a variety of tools available to help you manage this deluge of information. This class will introduce a variety of tools and methods to help you with keeping up to date with the latest researcah, news, and information of interest to you.

Making Sense of DNA and Protein Sequences
Students will find a gene within a eukaryotic DNA sequence, learn how to predict the function of the implied protein product by seeking sequence similarities to proteins of documented function using BLAST and other tools, and will find a 3D modeling template for this protein sequence using a Conserved Domain Database Search. During the first half, the instructor will walk students through an analysis of an uncharacterized genomic sequence from a GenBank record; and in the second half students will perform the same analysis on another genomic sequence.

Modifying Endnote Styles
This course will show students how to modify and customize Endnote Output Styles.

Mouse Genome Informatics
Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) is the international database resource for the laboratory mouse, providing integrated genetic, genomic, and biological data to facilitate the study of human health and disease. MGI is a free, highly curated resource, providing web and programmatic access to a complete catalog of mouse genes and genome features, functional annotations, a comprehensive catalog of mutant and knockout alleles, phenotype and human disease model annotations, gene expression, variation data (including SNPs), and sequence data.

PubMed: Understanding the Basics
Use PubMed to find articles on your research topic in biomedical and scientific journals. PubMed is the National Library of Medicine's premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine and preclinical sciences, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine and the health care system. It includes journal article citations and abstracts from MEDLINE and other sources. Many of the citations lead to full-text articles available online through NIH Library subscription agreements.

Scopus & Web of Science: Rich with Citations
Stresses the capabilities and features of each product. Much of the utility of these products is in the eye of the beholder and will satisfy different information requirements to different degrees. Learn how to use both databases to search for articles and how to use both to track citations and analyze research.

Sequence Similarity Search: BLAST
This course offers a practical introduction to nucleotide and protein sequence similarity searching using NCBI's BLAST family of programs. Exercises range from simple searches to creative uses of the BLAST programs.

Web Search: Thinking Beyond Google
Go beyond the standard Web search tools and learn to search more efficiently; access the invisible web; evaluate websites; use image and non-text search engines; search for scholarly information, news, people, and blogs; and customize your search results.