1. PTA 221 Finding & Using PT Information
Martin J. Crabtree
MCCC Library

2. Agenda Resources at the MCCC library Electronic Searching Basics
Keywords & Boolean Searching
Electronic Databases at Mercer
What’s a database?
Databases suited for physical therapy research
Accessing the databases
Web Information
The Invisible Web
Evaluating what you find

3. Resources at the MCCC Library
The library has a number of resources in many formats (books, periodicals, videos, music, and more).
The catalog is available online (Periodicals are not listed in the catalog).
You will find items in both the college’s and Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries.

4. The link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

5. PT materials at the MCCC library
MCCC like most colleges and universities uses the Library of Congress (LC) system for shelving books.
PT books can generally be found in the RM676 – RM950 section.
Periodicals at MCCC include:
Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy
Journal of Physical Therapy Education
Physical Therapy

6. Searching Electronic Databases
…and the World Wide Web too

7. Starting An Electronic Search Keywords
Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines
First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or is commonly used when discussing your topic. For example:
Shoulder
Rotator
Cuff
Treatment
Children

8. Starting An Electronic Search Boolean Searching/Logic
Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms
and
not or
For example
eagles NOT football
(car or automobile) and exhaust
More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

9. Searching More Than Just Keywords Phrases & Truncations
To search for a phrase, use quotation marks
“rotator cuff” or “physical therapy”
Truncations allow for searching related words all at once
The * is usually used. For example:
“child*” would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

10. Let’s take a quick look at how some of these techniques can help

11. Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

12. What are electronic databases?
A collection of electronically searchable information (frequently, but not limited to, periodical articles) that is accessible via the internet
Access to this information is by subscription only, paid by the library.
It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

13. Electronic Databases In General
Over 40 databases available
Not every article is available full text though many are
Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

14. Electronic Databases - In General
Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network
Most are available off campus, need to request a password.
Can print/ /download articles

15. Where’s the Physical Therapy Stuff?
Health Source – Nursing Academic Edition (EBSCOhost)
Covers not only nursing but also number other medical disciplines including PT.
Contains a number of full-text scholarly periodicals.
CINAHL
One of the largest databases of nursing and related health (like PT) information
Though some full-text journal articles are available, many articles are abstract only.
CINAHL = Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature

16. Searching the World Wide Web and Evaluating What You Find
Brought to you by…
&

17. Searching the World Wide Web
How can I find what I want?

18. Searching the World Wide Web
Everything is NOT on the web and may never be
No search engine covers the entire web
The “invisible web” is huge!
Though there has yet to be consensus, estimates put the size of the invisible web between 2 and 500 times bigger than the “visible” (or surface) web.

19. Searching the World Wide Web Search Strategy
Searching the Web is much like database searching:
Use keywords and Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc.
When searching the web, also consider:
Different search engines yield different results. You may want to try using more that just your “regular” search engine
Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)

20. Searching the World Wide Web Search Engines & Meta Sites
Become familiar with your search engines features:
Meta search sites (like Ask Jeeves, Dogpile):
Allow you to search more than one search engines at once.
Can generate more “stuff” to sift through
Limited to only basic searches, can’t use advanced search features
Some results can be from “paid for listing” search engines

21. The Invisible Web Why is so much being missed?
When using a search engine, you are actually searching a database that represents what is known to be on the web
Spiders or crawlers roam the web from link to link generating this database
Works extremely well for static all text pages in the HTML language
The problem arises when pages are ever changing or not in HTML

22. The Invisible Web So where is all of this stuff hiding?
By far, a great amount is contained in databases (both paid and free)
Other places include:
Non-text information such as photos or audio
PDF formatted documents
Very new web pages
Password only access information

23. The Invisible Web Finding the invisible stuff
The key is knowing when you need “invisible” information and then where to find it.
Not every web search requires looking in the invisible web.
Search engines work best when looking for a narrow, focused topic.

24. Some sources of web information
- MedlinePlus, medical information from the National Institutes of Health
– The American Physical Therapy Association’s website. A great source of education, career, and research info. Membership is required to obtain some of the info.
Online e-journals. Some require membership or subscription but you can often search the indexes for articles. Some have free full text like the Journal of Physical Therapy Science

25. Is this stuff any good?
Evaluating Web Sites

26. Now Back to Our “Sponsors”
&

27. Evaluating Web Sites Quality varies greatly from site to site
YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides

28. Five Evaluation Criteria
Accuracy - is it reliable?
Authority - is author qualified on subject?
Objectivity - is the information biased?
Currency - is the information “new” enough?
Coverage - does the info completely cover the topic?

29. Evaluating Web Sites
Search engines may put you out of context, go the home page to help evaluate the site
A web site page will include contact information such as phone numbers and street addresses (not just an address)
Look for the “about us” page for more about who is responsible for the website and it’s contents

30. Site Extensions The extension can help evaluate information
.gov - Governmental sites
.edu - Educational institution sites
.com - Commercial sites
.org - Not for profit organization sites
.mil - Military sites
Others are being creates that are less clear cut, e.g.: .net or .co.uk

31. Other Considerations
Watch out for information that is positioned to sell you something.
Altered web pages (either by accident or maliciously)
Links to other web sites DOES NOT necessarily mean that the site is credible. Evaluate each site separately.

32. Buyer Beware The Bottom Line…
The web contains a vast amount of information…but not everything
Anyone can put information on the web, hence the quality of web information varies greatly
YOU will often be the only person to decide if the quality of the info you find on the web is good
Now let’s visit a site…