INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE SEARCH A Brief Guide to Information Searching for Students of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada prepared by Literature Searching Team Library, Faculty of Medicine, UGM  2012

OUTLINE : What is literature search? Background of literature search Types of publications Search tools Stages in searching Tips for Effective Searches

WHAT IS LITERATURE SEARCH? Literature search is an exhaustive search for published information on a subject conducted systematically using all available bibliographic finding tools, aimed at locating as much existing material on the topic as possible, an important initial step of any serious research project. http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/searchODLIS.aspx

BACKGROUND OF LITERATURE SEARCH Availability of various types of academic/scientific publications that support learning, teaching, and research activities. These publications are growing enormously over years, in line with the advancement of information and communication technology. Literature search is one of core academic skills that students and academicians as learned societies need to master to help in learning, doing research project or other academic tasks.

OBJECTIVES OF LITERATURE SEARCHING AT FM UGM To introduce types of scientific publications in health/medicine To introduce search tools used in literature search To introduce scientific publications available locally at the Library, Faculty of Medicine, GMU and show how to access and locate them To introduce health information on the Internet (online resources) and how to access them To practice searching

TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS Scientific/academic/scholarly Text/Reference books Journals (BMJ, JAMA, NEJM, The Lancet, etc)‏ Research reports (papers, theses, dissertations, etc)‏ Non scientific Fiction books (novels, comics)‏ Magazines Newspapers

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS Written by and aimed at academic community (students, lecturers, researchers, experts) Disseminate research findings Articles cite resources and are peer reviewed High quality and reliable information Slow to be published due to review process Access if often fee-based

NON SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS Entertaining, relaxing Readable and light weight Current, popular issues/topics Not always reliable Transient, easily replaced by newer issues

CHALLENGES IN LITERATURE SEARCH Growing quantity of publications may cause problems in searching and browsing (recall vs precision)‏ Quality of information (unreliable for some reasons)‏ Availability of information needed Constraints in access due to various reasons (technical, economical, policy)‏

SKILLS IN LITERATURE SEARCH Able to identify various kinds of publications Able to know and use various search tools Able to conduct efficient and effective searches and implement relevant search strategies Able to evaluate the quality of information

SEARCH TOOLS Catalog Web search engines Search terms Subject headings Boolean operators Wildcard/Truncation Nesting Limits

CATALOG A comprehensive list of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection, arranged in systematic order to facilitate retrieval (usually by author, title, and/or subject). In most modern libraries, the card catalog has been converted to machine-readable bibliographic records and is available online. http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/searchODLIS.aspx

WEB SEARCH ENGINE A web search engine is a tool to search for information on the World Wide Web. The search results are usually presented in a list of results and are commonly called hits. The information may consist of web pages, images, information and other types of files. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine) Search engines: Google and Google Scholar – find out the differences

SEARCH TERMS Search term are sometimes also referred as keywords. They can be a subject, topic, or any distinct word used as a point of access. Using appropriate search terms is essential in the process of searching. Thus, before conducting a search it is necessary to brainstorm for possible search terms that represent our search queries.

SUBJECT HEADINGS Subject headings are a list of controlled language commonly used to classify library material housed in the collection. They represent the key topic of a publication. An example is MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM)‏

BOOLEAN LOGIC Boolean is a system of logic developed by the English mathematician George Boole (1815-64) that allows the user to combine words or phrases representing significant concepts when searching an online catalog or bibliographic database by keywords. (http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/searchODLIS.aspx)‏ Logical commands or “operators” commonly used in searching are AND, OR and NOT. In some databases AND operator is represented by a symbol + and sometimes it is only used implicitly (no need to type it between terms).

AND Operator (to combine two concepts and narrow a search)‏ BOOLEAN OPERATOR AND Operator (to combine two concepts and narrow a search)‏ the AND operator is used to combine two concepts e.g. hip AND fracture – in the shaded area; retrieves items containing all the search terms

BOOLEAN OPERATOR OR Operator (to broaden search by including synonyms and related terms in the query)‏ renal OR kidney – in the shaded area with the overlap in the middle having both search terms; retrieves items containing either search term or both search terms

(to exclude unwanted records from search results)‏ BOOLEAN OPERATOR NOT operator (to exclude unwanted records from search results)‏ pig NOT guinea – in the shaded area; eliminates items in 2nd term (guinea) or both terms

GROUPING/NESTING Nesting, represented by symbol ( ), is a technique of searching that considers similar concepts, indicated by logical command OR and expressed in different terms, as a single term. Examples : (fever OR febrile)‏ (paracetamol OR acetaminophen)‏ (kidney OR renal)

TRUNCATION/WILDCARD Truncation is a searching technique used in database in which a word ending is replaced by simbols. (http://library-resources.cqu.edu.au/learning-objects/truncation.htm) Symbol of truncation can be (*) , (?) or ($) depending on the database Examples : When we type child* the result of our search will be documents that contain the words child, children, childhood, or childcare

LIMITS/FILTERS Most databases offer limit functions to help users limit search results that are too broad or too many Limits are commonly specified according to: - date of publication - type of publications (books, journals, news, etc) - age group - language - sex (male/female) - type of files

STAGE IN SEARCHING Define search topics Choose appropriate search terms/keywords that represent the topic Decide where to search/which sources to use (e.g. library catalog, online databases) Develop search strategy by optimizing search tools Observe search results Revise the search as necessary

SEARCHING IN PUBMED: An example Search Phrase Pubmed ( 30-07-2012) (child* OR infant*) 2,191,167 (child* OR infant) AND malaria OR tuberculosis 210,899 (child* OR infant*) AND malaria AND tuberculosis 466 (child* OR infant*) AND malaria OR tuberculosis AND Southeast Asia 2,299 22

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE SEARCHES Plan your search – identify the words that represent the topic of your search Avoid using too broad or general terms, use specific terms instead to get limited but relevant results. Use limit/filter functions as necessary Create an account. Most online databases allow you to sign up for an account/personal folder in their database that helps you manage searches, search results or references, set up preferences, alerts, and many others.

SEARCHING PRACTICE AT FM UGM Sessions for searching practice are carried out in smaller groups of students at different slot of time; some are undertaken in parallel. The materials include local collections (books, journals, research papers, multimedia) and online databases (ScienceDirect, EBSCO Medline with Full Text, Pubmed, ClinicalKey and other relevant sources in the Internet). Grouping of students in smaller size will be announced prior to practice.

This Power Point Presentation is compiled by Team of Literature Searching Library Faculty of Medicine, UGM.