Running head: Database And Website Search

Library Database and Website Search on Medical Marijuana

NURS509- Health Informatics

Monmouth University

Kaitlyn Zupanc

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Database And Website Search

Library Database and Website Search on Medical Marijuana

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Database And Website Search

Database Search

Searching through a database such as CINAHL for information on medical marijuana

yielded many results, a little over 3,000 to be exact. Some of which would be beneficial to the

research needed for upcoming projects. Sifting through the literature takes time to see what

articles can be of help to support your work. Unfortunately, when there are over 3000 results it

makes it difficult to read them all.

The first search done with the one word “marijuana” came back with the broadest results.

By adding the word “benefits” it limited the results to 40, but was more specific as to finding out

positive effects of marijuana use in treating certain diseases or disorders. When using modifiers

with the main search term it helps “weed” through the literature and can narrow your search to a

more specific area of the topic.

Many of the articles, like Kellog (2014) had the full text available to click on and open.

In Murphy (2014) there was a lot of pertinent information and unfortunately the database didn’t

have the full text listed. Clicking on the title linked to the abstract with other information about

the article’s source and citation. At the bottom of the page there was a DOI link to click on,

which opens another page with the option of the full text for the article. If that didn’t work there

were also links to check other databases within the library system and an email address to reach

the librarian for further questions.

The articles that resulted from the search will be valuable for the upcoming brochure. I

will be able to use numerous articles from this database search to support my brochure. This

way the information on the brochure will be accurate, informative and current with the articles

being written recently.

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Database And Website Search

Website Search

The two different websites used for researching the topic medical marijuana were

“WebMD” and “The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH).” They were found by using

“Google” and “MSN” search engines. There was some helpful information on medical marijuana

use, like learning how people in NJ can go about becoming a registered patient for the Medical

Marijuana Program (MMP). Also on the state website it had specific information about the

guidelines and criteria to follow for seeking registration in the MMP. WebMD also had some

facts of medicinal marijuana use and on the website it was broken down into categories of why

and how its used, side effects, and risks and limitations.

The information on the two websites searched was definitely relevant to my topic, but

when assessing the sites based on the five criteria, they fell short in comparison to using the

database to search. While I couldn’t find any information that seemed inaccurate on WebMD’s

site there weren’t any obvious references listed on the page. It wasn’t until I searched at the

bottom of the webpage and found a small link to the references. Some of the references were

from scholarly journals like Journal of Supportive Oncology. There was a listed author on

WebMD but there was no credentials listed after her name. It did state that a physician reviewed

the webpage, but it looked like the last review was in 2013. The purpose or goal of WebMD is to

give simple information to inform the reader about the topic of choice, which I believe it does.

This webpage was last reviewed in 2013 making it fairly current. There was no cost to read the

information on WebMD, but there were at least three advertisements surrounding the webpage.

The New Jersey State Department of Health website had more authority than WebMD

due to the fact it is a state website. There was contact information for the department of health.

The information seemed accurate to me, but there was no references listed and interestingly

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Database And Website Search

enough on both websites there was a link for a legal statement explaining that they try to make

everything accurate and current, but that they can’t guarantee that everything is. The goal or

purpose of the NJDOH website was to inform the community of the MMP and to give

instructions on who qualifies for the program. The state website is current and updated in 2015.

There is no payment needed to have access to the NJDOH website.

I feel I will be more inclined to use the database search for the upcoming brochure given

the information has been peer reviewed unlike the websites. While using websites as references

the five criteria assessment is imperative to ensure the validity and strength of the information

gained and possibly used in papers, projects, etc.

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Database And Website Search

References

Kellogg, S. (2014). Why society should consider medical marijuana. Addiction Professional,

12(5), 26-30. Retrieved from

http://bluehawk.monmouth.edu:2867/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=36d30bcd-29f6-

44ed-83f4-a00d4351346c%40sessionmgr115&vid=15&hid=106

Murphy, K. (2014). The growing trend of medical marijuana. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy,

12(5), 30-39. doi:10.1097/01.NME.0000452683.33224.92

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