This group, open to all, meets at 2:00 on the second Sunday of the month (except July & August) in the Oak Room on the Library main floor, unless otherwise noted.

The Salisbury Forum is a regional forum for the exchange of ideas and information regarding topics which affect our lives in the community, region, nation and the world.  We sponsor four or five public meetings a year, drawing upon nationally-recognized speakers.

Thanks to a partnership with Driving-Tests.org, Scoville Memorial Library is proud to offer free online test prep for Connecticut driving tests. Visit our exclusive website, where you can choose from several different permit tests. No library card number or personal information is needed. This resource is also great for anyone looking to brush up on their knowledge of Connecticut’s traffic laws or interested in getting their motorcycle license. A helpful FAQ section addresses questions residents might have about visiting their local DMV.

The Salisbury Oral History Project collects reflections of longtime town citizens whose recordings are transcribed under auspices of town historian Jean McMillen working in conjunction with The Salisbury Association.

More than 1000 lessons in technology, math, reading and more.  Created by the Goodwill Community Foundation with easy, up-to-date instruction to suit all learning styles.  If you want to learn anything, from a computer program to general life skills, this is the place to start.

Don’t substitute Internet searching for seeking professional help.  General guidelines for using the Internet for health research.

• Use Internet as a tool to become an informed consumer
• Don’t use it as a diagnostic tool
• Know what questions to ask
• Know how to select the appropriate professional
• Good practice to look at help section for each website to learn how to search most effectively.
• Check about us section of websites to learn who created the site.

Personal Help:

http://library.uchc.edu/departm/hnet/about.html  Staff medical librarians will provide free confidential, personalized research on health and wellness topics to Connecticut residents:

http://prismhealthadvocates.com/ – Fee based health advocates based in Kent, CT.  Patient advocacy, help navigating health insurance, recommendations for additional opinions, price comparisons for tests and procedures.

Health Care Professionals & Hospitals:

http://docinfo.org – Info on health care professional’s education and any pending or past actions against a provider..

http://www.fsmb.org/contact-a-state-medical-board/ – Listing of state medical boards for information on health care professionals.

https://www.elicense.ct.gov/Lookup/LicenseLookup.aspx – For more detailed info on health care professionals   You can also search by type, i.e., acupuncturist, and by state.

https://www.certificationmatters.org/is-your-doctor-board-certified/search-now.aspx – Find out if a health care professional is board certified and if the certificaton is up to date..  If you don’t see your doctor, try doing a search without filling in the state.  You can also search by speciality and location.

http://whynotthebest.org/ – Hospital comparisons and statistics.

https://www.ahrq.gov/patients-consumers/question-builder.html – Great site to prepare for a visit with a health care professional.  You can print out a list of questions to bring with you.

General Information:

https://medlineplus.gov/ – From the National Library of Medicine extensive information on all health topics.  A good first choice.

https://www.nih.gov/health-information – Excellent site for general health information. No ads, lots of resources.

http://www.choosingwisely.org/ – An initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation provides information on tests and procedures so you can determine what is recommended and/or necessary.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-care-and-health-information – Basic, well-vetted information about conditions, symptoms, causes, treatment and prognoses.

https://www.nccn.org/patients/ – Non-profit alliance of some of the world’s leading cancer centers.  Includes treatment guidelines, video libraries, patient advocacy resources and practical information.

http://library.uchc.edu/departm/hnet/ – Connecticut health information.

https://nccih.nih.gov/health/webresources – Ten things to know about evaluating medical resources online.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/  – Quite technical, some full text, mostly abstracts.  Good idea to review the quick start guide.  Topic specific tab very useful in providing links to narrow down searching.

https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/   Databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic releases, includes alternatives to products which use animal testing

https://expertscape.com   Expertscape examines all medical publications that are indexed in the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE database. They rank the expertise of each author according to the number and type of articles that each expert has authored on the specific condition, disease, or treatment of interest to you.  This is a website created by an individual in 2003 to help identify experts.  Search by topic, then narrow geographically, results show articles and years published with links for more information.

https://scholar.google.com – Research articles on topics.  Again, fairly technical.

https://healthfinder.gov/ – From the Department of Health and Human Services, nonprofit and government resources with links to hundreds of health-related organizations.

Drugs & Supplements:

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/ – Information on FDA approved drugs, including background documents and research data.  Also information on products for animals, food, medical devices, vaccines and much more.

https://druginfo.nlm.nih.gov/drugportal/ – User friendly drug information.  You can also search for dietary supplements.

https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/herb_All.html – Information on supplements from the National Library of Medicine.  Rates effectiveness, how it works, safety concerns, interactions, etc.

https://www.drugs.com/pill_identification.html – Tool to identify unknown pills.

Specialized:  Women’s Health, Cancer, Complementary Medicine, etc.:

https://www.clinicaltrials.gov – Clinical trials for a specific drug or disease.  Indicates whether they are recruiting volunteers, who is conducting the trial, and what is being tested.  If there are results, that is indicated as well.

https://nccih.nih.gov/ – National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.  Facts from the National Institute of Health will help evaluate alternative approaches to medical conditions.

https://www.cancer.gov/ – National Cancer Institute with extensive information on cancer research and clinical trials.

https://www.womenshealth.gov/ – Gateway to federal and other women’s health information from the Department of Health and Human Services

https://www.cdc.gov/ – Government agency which promotes health and quality of life.  Information on travelers’ health, immunizations and worldwide disease outbreaks.

https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic – Gateway site for food safety and nutrition from the USDA.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/ – Health information from Harvard Medical School.

https://www.mskcc.org/ – Cancer information from Memorial Sloan Kettering.

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/symptom-management/integrative-medicine/herbs – This link provides information on using integrative medicine for cancer treatment.

https://www.oncolink.org/ – OncoLink was the first cancer information website on the Internet, started in 1994, and remains one of the largest. This award-winning site is maintained by a group of oncology healthcare professionals.

https://www.medscape.com/ – Medical news updated daily.  Target audience is health care professionals.