1. Information Sources for Nursing Research
LYDIA THORNE, MLIS CO-Op Student
~ January 11, 2016~

2. Getting to the good stuff
What works for you?

3. Today’s agenda Search Strategies CINAHL In-Class Activity
Writing and Citing
Questions

4. Today’s outcomes You will recall: Steps in building a search strategy:
Research questions
Literature search (Background/foreground info)
Keywords & synonyms
Tips for finding articles in CINAHL
Tips for how to save your search

5. And why you should care …
Research Problem, Question, Hypothesis, & Abstracts
– 20% of your grade (due Jan. 29th):
Need 5 abstracts from primary research study reports
Describe search strategy and # of references generated from each search step

6. Follow the research path
BACKGROUND INFO:
-overview
-key concepts & vocabulary
BOOKS
Think before you start your search:
Craft a research question
Generate good keywords
Work from background to foreground
Good research begins before you start your search (i.e. before going to Google or to SuperSearch)
FOREGROUND:
-very specific, timely aspects of topic
JOURNAL ARTICLES

7. Research question Shapes what you will study and how
Should be of personal interest
Should be clear, concise, focused
May need tweaking once you start exploring the literature
Hint: ask yourself, “What would be the title of the perfect article to answer my question?”

8. Research question
 Does hand washing among healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infections? 
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9. But wait…Is this a good research question?
Does hand washing among healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infections?
Example
P (Patient population)
Hospitalized patients
I (Intervention or indicator)
Hand washing amongst healthcare workers
C (Comparison)
No hand washing
O (Outcome of interest)
Reduced infection

10. What are keywords? The most important, relevant words for your topic
Usually nouns
Usually 1-3 words
Think about broader, narrower, and related terms
How Google/databases work…matches words you use to search to words that are used in the article itself
Less keywords= more results; more keywords= less results
- Researchers sometimes use different words to talk about the same topic – e.g teenagers/adolescent/youth etc – these are called synonyms or related words
To generate good keywords:
- think about what your books or articles should be about to answer your research question
- use nouns – people/places/things- search engines or databases don’t look for articles and prepositions
Pick out 1-3 words – not sentences or phrases
Tip: start with a 1 or 2 and add more keywords to narrow search as needed

11. Keyword activity
1) Spend 1 minute picking out the keywords in the following research question
2) Spend 2 minutes generating a few related words for each keyword
 Does hand washing among healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infections? 
Ask class for answers before next slide*

12.  Does hand washing among healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infections? 
Keywords
Related Terms
Hand washing
Related terms: Hand disinfection; Hand sanitizing
Broader terms: Infection control
Narrower terms: Surgical scrubbing
Healthcare workers
Related terms: Medical staff; Health personnel
Narrower terms: Nurses; physicians; physiotherapists, etc.
Hospital acquired infections
Related terms: Cross infection
Broader terms: Infection
Narrower terms: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
Sometimes synonym terms are broader or narrower subjects than your original concept; sometimes they are at more or less the same level of specificity

13. Getting started: Background info
researchguides.library.brocku.ca/NUSC
1. Look It Up! tab
- Find background info on your topic
- Print & e-resources
2. Find Books tab
- SuperSearch
TIP: Start broad -- add more keywords as needed
Background info – handbooks, manuals and encyclopedias are books that provide broad overviews and explanations of topics
Image: 'untitled'  Found on flickrcc.net

14. Look it up!
Try:
Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice - e-book  -- classic reference manual for patient care.
--broad e-book collection including many useful Nursing titles such as: 2014 Lippincott's Nursing Drug Guide;  All Things Nursing; Assessment: a 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses; and Pharmacology: a 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses.
Using reference books – manuals, handbooks, encyclopedias – is a great way to get a good overview of a topic
e.g. Lippincott Manual – good for health conditions and practices
> Medical-surgical > Unit 1 General Health Considerations > Chapter 8 Cancer Nursing > CTRL + F to find palliative care

15. Succeed with SuperSearch: Books
Refine your results: Select “Books & Brock” Slide the Publication Date to adjust time period
Select “Subject” to find results focused on a specific aspect of your topic
Add another keyword to find results focused on a specific aspect of your topic
To get a book: note location in library (print books) OR click “read this online” (e-books)
E.g., SuperSearch:
  “infection control” AND hospital*
Try limiting by:
Select “Books & Brock”
Publication Date
Subject
Note the availability/location/call#
Language

16. Tips & tricks Use “quotes” to search for an exact phrase
Use * to search for variations of a word ending e.g. child*(child, children)
Use search operators: AND, OR
Distinct topics: use AND
Similar topics (synonyms): use OR
Quotes are particularly helpful if the words in your phrase are common and might generate a ton of results otherwise
e.g. “healthcare worker” = results must use these two words joined together
vs. “healthcare” “worker”= results that use the words “healthcare” and “worker” in the article separately – not necessarily used together
AND – distinct concepts (i.e. hand washing AND healthcare worker)
OR – related concepts; synonyms (i.e. healthcare worker OR medical personnel)

17. Finding foreground info
Search engines
Databases/Indexes
e.g. Google:
- broad scope
- may not know where you are searching
- few options for focused searching
e.g. CINAHL, Ovid Medline
- defined/subject-specific scope
- you can discover what journals are being searched
- many options for focused searching e.g. by subject, age group, methodology, article type
Both tools are great – choose the one that’s best for your search

18. Questions so far?
GIF:

19. CINAHL
>>Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature
Always use Suggest Subject Terms > best strategy for relevant results
Search for 1 concept at a time
Combine concepts in Search History with AND
Use Show more to focus your search results even more e.g. date, publication type, age group
Search concept by concept: helps you search systematically – you can keep track of where you searched, when; makes it easier to combine searches
Search history: allows you to combine searches to retrieve articles that cover all of your concepts
Refine your results: select Show more to find extensive list of filters (ways to focus your search)

20. CINAHL subject headings
Click on the hyperlink to see your term in the subject heading hierarchy: you’ll see it in context of broader and narrower terms
Click on the scope note to ensure the subject heading matches what you’re looking for
McMaster Libraries has a great CINAHL tutorial  CLICK HERE

21. CINAHL In-Class Activity
> Use the Nursing Research Guide:
> Find Articles
> CINAHL

22. So you’ve got a couple of articles …
Now what?
1. Pull out additional keywords and use them to search
2. Check the list of references for other relevant articles
What are your strategies for using one good article to lead you to other relevant sources?

23. Putting it together: Writing & citing
Research Guide for Nursing
Library website > left nav menu “Research Guides by Program”
Writing and Citing tab
APA style
Writing and citing resources:
- Guides to APA style – OWL at Purdue, Dalhousie University handout
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Lydia Thorne, MLIS Co-op Student
Elizabeth Yates, Nursing Librarian
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