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Respiratory Care: Introduction to Research: Select resources (databases)

An Introduction to research practice for respiratory care students.

Steps for Acquiring Evidence

  1. Identify a clinical problem
  2. Create a well-defined research question [using PICO]
  3. Translate PICO into a search strategy
  • Brainstorm and gather synonyms
  • Construct the search strategy
  1. Select most likely resources (databases)
  2. Tailor search strategy to database(s)
  3. Save search & export results to reference manager

Google Scholar?

What about Google or Google Scholar?

  • Imprecise searching
  • Results are numerous and not necessarily displayed in a helpful order
  • The sources searched by Google Scholar are not disclosed
  • Currently, it is unknown how often Google Scholar is updated
  • Useful for finding a specific article (search by title)

PubMed

PubMed logo

PubMed

Contains references to scholarly journals in the areas of biomedicine and health. At the heart of this search system is the MEDLINE database, a premier collection of citations maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Offers access to over 5,400 biomedical journal citations from the U.S. and 80 foreign countries. Contains over 26 million references from 1946.

Specialized Tools:

  • MESH (Medical Subject Headings) - a controlled, hierarchy structured searchable vocabulary.
  • Filters - Search limits based on language, publication types, and age means that literature can be quickly sifted for relevant articles

For tips on searching PubMed see the PubMed: Ten Tips LibGuide.

CINAHL

CINAHL Plus with Full Text

Provides indexing for more than 4,500 journals from the fields of nursing and allied health, with indexing back to 1937. Offers complete coverage of English-language nursing journals and publications from the National League for Nursing and the American Nurses’ Association, covering nursing, biomedicine, librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines.

CINAHL tutorial