This exercise is designed for:
EMS 151

It will cover three types of research tools:

• Catalog
• eBooks
• Databases
• Web Sites

How to get there:

1. From the NOVA Libraries site, click on Books & More (middle of the page).

Things to know about the catalog:

• It's used for finding books, DVDs, and videos in the seven NOVA libraries.
  
  
• You can search all seven NOVA libraries at once, or limit to one campus. Remember: You have access to books at all 7 libraries! If you see something at another campus that you want, click on the link for that campus (in the Campus column) and log in using your myNOVA username & password. Be sure to select the campus at which you want to pick up the book.
  
  
• You can do several kinds of searches in the catalog, including Subject (LC Subject) and Keyword (Anywhere).

Subject (LC Subject) Searching: This is the most precise kind of search. It is based on specific words that have been assigned to topics by librarians. Do this search when you have a general topic and you know (or can easily guess) the subject heading.

Example: the official subject heading for "cooking" is Cookery.

 

Keyword (Anywhere) Searching: Do this kind of search when you don't know the specific words that have been assigned to your topic, or when you want to search a combination of topics.

Take your research question and break it down into the most important words and phrases, and use AND in between.

 

Example #1:

Research Question: I need information on airway management.

Your search can be: airway management

 

Example #2:

Research Question: I need books that will help me prepare for EMT exams

Your search can be: emt AND exam

The NOVA libraries subscribe to a number of e-book (electronic books) collections, several of which support nursing and allied health.

How to get there:

1. From the NOVA Libraries site, click on the box in the middle of the screen that says eBooks & eVideos.
   
   

Scroll down to the section titled Health, Nursing, & Medicine:

Things to know about eBooks:

• eBooks are electronic versions of printed books.

• You do not need to "check out" our eBooks. You can access them as long as you have an Internet connection and are a student at NOVA. If off-campus, log in using your NovaConnect username and password.

• Each eBook collection has different books. You can read the eBooks from cover to cover, view just selected chapters, or do a keyword search to find the pages that contain the information you need.

• Most collections will allow you to bookmark and print or email certain sections, but in limited quantities. Copyright restrictions do apply.
  

R2 Library and Stat!Ref have over 80 core titles in nursing and allied health. See also Gale Virtual Reference Library for medical encyclopedias and dictionaries.

• Databases are the best tools for finding articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers.

• Some of our databases also have e-books.

• Databases are very expensive, but NOVA students, faculty, and staff can use them for FREE.
  
  
• Using databases from off-campus:
  Because they are expensive, the databases are only for NOVA students and staff. You must enter a user ID and password to use databases from off-campus (it should be the same ID and password that you use to access myNova.

Database to try:

Health Reference Center Academic

How to get there:

1. From the NOVA Libraries site, click on Articles (middle of the page).
   
   
2. Scroll down to Health & Medicine and click on Allied Health & Nursing . You will see a list of databases that are useful for finding articles on Nursing and Allied Health.
   
   
3. Select the database called Health Reference Center Academic.

1. Be sure to select Browse Subjects at the top of the screen (see picture below).

2. Let's say you are interested in finding articles on how asthma impacts children. In the search box, type asthma, then click GO. You should get a screen that looks like this:

Note the entry Asthma in children (See childhood asthma)

3. Click on the link for Childhood Asthma. You should get a screen that looks like this:

4. Note that there are over 4,000 academic journa articles in this database on childhood asthma. Whenever you see the words "Full-text" or "Full-text with graphics" (see above), this means that the entire article is available in the database. Just click on the article title or the words "Full-text" to read it.

If full-text is not available, try the options in the box below:

After you click on an article, you can use the Tools box to print, email, or download the article. Use Citation Tools to create a citation.

• There are lots of good web sites out there, but also lots of junk.
  
• Make sure you're using a quality site (who created it? Why? How old is it? Can the source be trusted?)
  
• Use Best of the Web to help find quality sites:
  

1. From the NOVA Libraries home page, click on Research Tools (on left menu)
   
   
2. Select Best of the Web
   
   
3. EMS students will be interested in the Core Resources page and the Emergency Medical Services page.
   

This exercise was last updated on September 16, 2011. Comments to Beth DeAngelo.