Men’s Health Matters: Get Reliable Information with Health Source

November (Movember) is not only a time to grow out a moustache or beard for fun, but it is also Men’s Health Awareness Month, which is the perfect opportunity to check in with yourself and make informed health decisions.

Men, I'm sure you've had that talk with your doctor: maybe your cholesterol is creeping up, your blood pressure is not where it should be, or you have been encouraged to move more, stretch more, or add more dietary fiber to your meals. For many guys, especially older men, these are more than casual suggestions. They are important signals to reconnect with your health and take an active role in your well-being. You are ready to make a change, but when you search online, it can be difficult to tell what information is reliable and what is simply the latest trend.

That is where Health Source: Consumer Edition comes in. This full-text database offers clear, evidence-based articles from trusted consumer health magazines and reference books, all written with everyday readers in mind. Whether you want to understand which fiber-rich foods truly help your heart, explore flexibility routines that fit your schedule, or learn how diet and exercise support long-term wellness, this resource gives you dependable information you can feel confident using.

Using Health Source: Consumer Edition

A. EBSCOhost Interface

EBSCOhost lets you search across many databases, e-journals, and e-books from one easy-to-use platform. Each database focuses on specific subjects, making it a great place to find magazine or journal articles, research papers, and other reliable sources on your topic. Health Source - Consumer Edition is one of these specialized databases.

You can search multiple databases at once (you can see them if you click the blue link above the main search bar), but if you want to do an in-depth or highly detailed search, it’s best to search one database at a time. This way, you’ll be able to use special tools like the built-in thesaurus (E), which helps you find the best keywords and related terms for your topic.

B. MyEBSCO Account

You don't need a MyEBSCO account to search and use EBSCO databases, but creating a free MyEBSCO account will let you use the features of the Dashboard (seen on the left side of the screen) to permanently save and manage your research, download ebooks, create alerts, etc. You can use this account across EBSCO interfaces such as EBSCOhost, Explora, and the Reference Centers. All you will need is an email address.

C. Basic Search

If you have never searched a library database before, the Basic Search feature is an easy way to begin. It works much like Google, but instead of scanning random websites, it searches only reliable health magazines, medical journals, and reference books.

Here is an example of how you can use it, with our example of finding information about dietary fiber for men’s health.

1. Type in a few keywords.
   In the search box, enter something like “dietary fiber, men’s health” or “fiber foods for men.” You do not need full sentences. Short, clear phrases work best.

2. How the database searches your keywords.
   When you click Search, Health Source looks for your words in several places. It checks the titles of articles, the subject headings assigned by librarians, and sometimes the short summaries that describe each article. If your keywords appear in any of these places, the article will show up in your results list.

3. Evaluate your results.
   Health Source will scan its collection and retrieve articles related to fiber intake for men and other relevant topics. You will see a list of article titles along with a short description, the publication source, and the date. For this topic, you might see items such as “Best High-Fiber Foods for Men” or “Why Fiber Matters for Heart Health.”

4. Open a full article.
   Under the article description and subject terms, you will see a button for access options, such as HTML Full Text or PDF Full Text. These allow you to read the entire article immediately.

D. Advance Search

If the Basic Search gives you too many results or they don’t match your topic well, the Advanced Search can help you narrow things down. We’ll take a closer look at it in the next screenshot.

E. Subjects Authority

A Subjects Authority is a controlled list of standardized terms that a database uses to organize topics. Instead of relying only on keywords, which can vary from author to author, subject authorities group articles under consistent, librarian-curated headings. This helps users find all the material on a topic, even if the wording differs.

When you type in a general keyword like fiber, the database might pull up unrelated results such as “optical fiber” or “fiber textiles” because it’s matching any use of the word. The Subjects Authority helps clear up this confusion by directing you to the correct, curated subject terms like Dietary Fiber or High-fiber Diet. By following these subject links, you can narrow your search to the health-related information you actually want, making your results more accurate and easier to browse. This is a great place to start if you don't know which subject terms are commonly used for your query. 

Advanced Search

If you want more control over your search results, the Advanced Search page gives you several tools to help you narrow your topic. It lets you combine search terms, choose where the database should look for your keywords, and create more focused searches.

Here is an example of how you can use it, with our example of finding information about dietary fiber for men’s health.

1. Use multiple search boxes (F) to break your topic into parts.
   Instead of typing one long phrase, you can separate your idea into pieces. Example: Box 1: men's health, Box 2: dietary fiber

2. Combine your keywords with Boolean operators (G).
   Boolean operators are small connecting words that tell the database how the keywords should relate to each other.

   AND means both keywords must appear. This narrows your results. Example: dietary fiber AND men’s health

   OR means either keyword can appear. This broadens your results. Example: dietary fiber OR high fiber diet

   NOT tells the database to leave something out. Example: fiber NOT optical fiber

Choose where the database (H) should search for your keywords.
To the right of each search box, you can pick a field. These fields tell the database where it should look for the words you typed.

Subject searches for official subject headings assigned by librarians. This is useful when you want articles that are truly about your topic.

Title searches for your keywords in the article title. This often gives you very focused results.

Author searches for articles written by a specific person.

Abstract searches the short summary written for each article.

Geographic Terms searches for place names or regional topics.

Publication Name searches journals or magazines by title.

ISSN or ISBN searches by unique publication number, which is helpful if you know the exact journal or book.

Using Filters to Narrow Your Results

After you run a search, you may see many articles to choose from. The filters (I) on the right side of the page can help you narrow the list so you can focus on the most useful and reliable information. These filters are especially helpful if you want up-to-date articles or if you are researching a specific type of source.

Here are some of the filters you can use:

Full Text shows only the articles you can read immediately. This is helpful if you do not want citations or summaries, but want the complete article right away.

Peer Reviewed limits results to academic journals where articles have been reviewed by experts in the field. These are often more scientific and research-focused, which can be helpful if you want highly reliable studies or medical findings.

Cover Story shows articles that were featured as the main story in a magazine issue. Cover stories often give detailed, easy-to-read overviews of popular health topics.

Image Quick View filters by items such as black and white photographs, charts, color photographs, diagrams, graphs, illustrations, or maps. This can help if you learn better visually or want to see data presented in a chart or graph.

Publication Type lets you select the type of source. Periodical gives you articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals, while Book gives you chapters or sections from books and reference work.

Publication Date (J) helps you find the most recent information. Health topics can change as new research comes out, so limiting by date is often a good idea.

Putting it all together

Here's a quick demonstration on how to use Health Source - Consumer Edition to find high-quality articles for your health queries.