search the literature: the beginning
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Searching the Literature:the Beginning
Mary Shah, MLSHorblit Health Sciences Library
Danbury [email protected]
Search StrategyPlan your search at first and the process
will be much more effective.
1. Focus on what you are seeking and think about which resources would best have the answer.
2. Break down the query in basic terms.
3. Choose the research method.4. Search each point separately.5. Combine these subjects with AND,
OR, NOT (these are Boolean Operators).
6. Focus your search with limits.
PICOPICO can be used to help break down your
question• Patient or Population: How would I
describe a group of patients similar to mine?
• Intervention: Which main intervention, prognosis, or exposure am I considering?
• Comparison: What is the main alternative to compare with the intervention?
• Outcome: What can I hope to accomplish, measure, improve or affect?
Where to search?• Basic Reference = Search engine
like Google• Background or Introduction =
textbook• Research Article = database like
CINAHL or Pub Med• Practice = Cochrane, DynaMed,
Nursing Reference Center
Choosing the EvidenceMeta analyses‐
Systematic reviews
Randomized controlled trials
Cohort studies
Case control studies‐
Case series and case reports
Animal and laboratory research
Higher Quality Percentage of the
literature
What does this mean?Evidence-based practice is
the systemic application of scientific findings to clinical practice and
decision making.
Tools already exist to rate the quality of study and its ability to inform the scientific community.
Boolean? Halloween meat?
George Boole brought together philosophy and math by inventing a logic that worked well with computers: the answer is either true or false.
For your search, this means you can combine two search terms using the connectors: AND, OR, NOT.
Combining search termsAND
Another possibilityOR
Fall*
Patientcancer
Another possibilityNOT
Fall*
Patientcancer
Truncation?! Are we going someplace w/ an elephant?
• Truncation is a short-cut to include all the possibilities:
fall*= fall, falls, falling, fallen, and so forth…
• Wildcards fill in for variations:Reali?e = realize, realise
Not just for dialogue any moreQuotation marks force the database to look for
that specific combination of words.
In CINAHL: • Practice Guideline without quotes: 90,812
results• Practice Guideline with quotes: 3,656 results
10 MinutesIf you’re taking more than ten minutes to find what you need, stop and contact us. You are the health professional and we are the information specialists. Fax, phone or email—it’s not interrupting, it’s our job.
