askMEDLINE- making medline searches easier

askMEDLINE: When doctors are stumped by a complex problem, they search the medical literature to find the answers. The standard database all doctors all over the world use is called Medline, and is maintained by the National Library of Medicine, USA. When the National Library of Medicine first threw open Medline searches to the public, this was a huge step forward in demystifying medicine, and allowing patients access to the same depth of information their doctors had. However, searching Medline was always a little tricky, and often patients would get confused or put off by the intimidating search interface. By sharp contrast, google searches were a breeze, because users no longer had to worry about correct syntax or using operators such as AND and OR ! Taking a leaf from google's success, Medline now allows natural language searching of its database, and this is great news for patients ! Check this out !