overview of welch library resources and literature searching skills
TRANSCRIPT
Overview of Welch Library Resources and Literature Searching Skills
Carrie Price, Clinical Informationist
Welch Medical Library
http://welch.jhmi.edu/
You have access to over 1.8 million online resources—including databases, e-journals, e-books—so how can you possibly navigate them all?
• Over 7,000 journals• More than 400 databases
• 12,000 e-books and growing every day• 2,000 videos
PubMed
• PubMed is comprised of over 24 million citations from approximately 5,500 journals
• Coverage is 1940s to the present, with a small amount of older literature
• The Controlled Vocabulary is called MeSH(Medical Subject Headings)
• Topical coverage in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences
• Bulk of content is from MEDLINE
Embase
• Comprised of over 24 millions citations from approximately 7,500 journals
• Includes 2,000 titles not indexed in MEDLINE • Includes all of the articles indexed in MEDLINE• The controlled vocabulary is called Emtree• Emtree is larger than MeSH, which allows for
finer indexing• Drug terms and device names are far better
indexed in Embase than in PubMed• Covers roughly 800 conferences
The Cochrane Library
• The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews is considered the gold standard for systematic reviews
• The reviews are compiled through rigorous methodological standards
• Because of these standards, the total number of records in the database is fairly small
• The Cochrane Library also searches CENTRAL (clinical trials), Methods Studies, Technology Assessments and Economic Evaluations
CINAHL
• Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health
• Records dating back to 1937
• Indexes over 5,000 journals
• Controlled Vocabulary – CINAHL Headings
• Searchable cited references for some content
PsycINFO
• More than 3 million records
• Covers behavioral and social sciences
• Hosted by EBSCO, so it is similar to CINAHL
• Contains journal articles, book chapters, book reviews, and editorials
• Health and Psychosocial Instruments
• Checklists, coding schemes, interview schedules
• Behavioral measurement instruments, including those from IOBE
• Includes information on questionnaires, tests, projective techniques, and more
HaPI
Scopus• Covers Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and
Life Sciences • Includes resources not covered by PubMed including:
o author homepages and university websiteso historic material from various journals dating back to 1823o patents and trademarks
• Covers more than 15,000 international journals, books/proceedings, patents, web pages
• Has no Controlled Vocabulary• Features advanced tools for:
o locating specific authors by name and institutiono determining h-index with graphso track from primary research to patentso track research impacto Journal comparisons
Primal Pictures
Google Scholar
• Google Scholar provides a simple way to search the scholarly literature broadly
• Allows search across multiple sources and disciplines from one place
• Cannot reproduce search results
Why should I use Google Scholar?o To find incomplete citationso To find a couple of articles on topics difficult to searcho To quickly look for mysterious citationso To import difficult records into RefWorks
Point-of-Care Evidence-Based Databases
UpToDate
• Evidence summaries written by subject experts
DynaMed
• Critically appraised evidence-based summaries
Micromedex
• Comprehensive drug reference tool
AccessMedicine
• Harrison’s, dx tools, images, video, book chapters, drug info
Useful Resources for Allied Health Professions
• HaPI (subscription) – Health and Psychosocial Instruments
• PEDRO (free) – The Physiotherapy Evidence Database
• OTSeeker (free) – resources for OT interventions
• NeuroPT (free) – StrokEdge, outcome measures, patient education, and more – from APTA
• US DHHS Administration for Community Living (free) – focus on supporting persons with disabilities
• Rehab Measures (free) – screening tests and measures
Databases for Special Information Needs
Clinical Key, UpToDate, Primal Pictures have exportable images and/or video
AccessMedicine, ClinicalKey have e-books and book chapters
Patient Education
• Hopkins Health Library, MedlinePlus, UpToDate, PubMed Health
Effective Literature Searching: The Steps
Identify your topic and write it down.Writing down your question helps you identify important concepts. Use a PICO format for guidance.
Identify the databases you want to search.
Why search more than one database? Because different databases have different subject areas and different journal coverage.
Pro Tip: Create an account in databases you use often to save searches and receive updates!
Controlled Vocabulary – MeSH, Emtree, etc.
• Controlled Vocabulary provides a consistent, precise way to retrieve information when different natural language words are used for the same concept, or when the same natural language is used for different concepts
• Controlled Vocabulary terms control for spelling variations (think British vs. American English), plurals, acronyms
• Only articles indexed with that vocabulary term are retrieved
• Select the most specific Controlled Vocabulary term available for your concept
Database-Specific Controlled Vocabularies
Some major databases: Has controlled vocabulary?
PubMed YES – MeSH
Cochrane Library YES – MeSH
Embase YES – Emtree
Web of Science No
SCOPUS No
PsycINFO YES – Thesaurus
CINAHL YES – CINAHL Headings
Sample Question
What are the effects of exercise therapy for patients with knee osteoarthritis?
Keywords:
Exercise Therapy
Exercise Therapies
Knee Osteoarthritis
Possibly: physical therapy, physiotherapy
MeSH Terms:ExerciseExercise TherapyKnee Osteoarthritis
Create a list of controlled vocabulary terms (MeSh, Emtree) and keywords related
to your concepts.
ExerciseTherapy
KneeOA
MeSH Terms:"Exercise Therapy"[MeSH]
Keywords: "exercise therapy""exercise therapies"
MeSH Terms:"Knee Osteoarthritis"[MeSH]
Keywords:"knee osteoarthritis"
"knee osteoarthritides"
Sort your terms into concepts.
• OR makes your search broader – use to assemble single concepts.
• AND makes your search narrower – use to pair concepts together.
Assemble your concepts using Boolean Operators.
("Exercise Therapy"[MeSH] OR "exercise therapy" OR "exercise therapies")AND ("Knee Osteoarthritis"[MeSH] OR "knee osteoarthritis" OR "knee osteoarthritides")
Pro Tip: Enclose multi-word phrases in quotes.
Conduct your searches and evaluate the results.
Use database options to limit your results.
Pro Tip: Save your search in a document.
Your search will be reproducible and saves you time later.
PubMed Search
("Exercise Therapy"[mesh] OR "exercise therapy" OR "exercise therapies") AND ("Knee Osteoarthritis"[mesh] OR "knee osteoarthritis" OR "knee osteoarthritides")
Pro Tip: Be aware of PubMed's automatic term mapping.
"Swallows" searches for bird-related literature, not dysphagia!
Identify relevant articles to see what terms have been applied.
Revise your search by adding more relevant terms or eliminating unimportant terms.
Pro Tip:
Sample PubMed Record
Pro Tip: In most databases, you can also browse similar articles.
Pro Tip: Many databases offer citation mapping.
Remember that searching is an iterative process.Revise and optimize your search.
1. Identify your topic and write it down.2. Identify the databases you want to search.3. Create a list of controlled vocabulary terms (MeSH,
Emtree, CINAHL Headings), synonyms and related terms.
4. Sort your terms into concepts. Assemble your concepts with OR. Combine your concepts with AND.
5. Run and revise your search.6. Record your findings.7. Critically evaluate the information.
Effective Literature Searching: The Steps
Select any articles you’d like to save, and export to RefWorks, save within the database, or locate the PDFs.Use the Find It button to locate PDFs with the JHU Libraries’ catalog.
Use Interlibrary Loan to request PDFs that are not in the catalog.
RefWorks
• RefWorks is an online, web-based bibliographic management tool that allows you to create your own personal database of references
• You can automatically import references from a search performed in an electronic database or enter references manually
• RefWorks is free to all members of the Hopkins community
• Use the Write-N-Cite tool download to format bibliographies and insert citations
PM&RDepartment Guide
http://welch.jhmi.edu/welchone/deptguides?dgid=26
