This exercise is designed for:
MDL 215
Medical Laboratory- Immunology
It will cover three types of research tools:
How to get there:
1. From the NOVA Libraries site, click on Books & More (middle of the page).
Things to know about the catalog:
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 books or DVDs on the immune system.
Hint: You have a single broad topic: immunology. Select Subject Keywords from the drop-down menu.
Your search can be: immunology
1. Select Subject Keywords from the drop-down menu and type immunology into the search box.
2. Click Go.
3. You should get a list of books that looks similar to this one:
4. Scroll down to see all the books/DVDs listed.
5. Looking at the chart, you can see the author, title, year of publication, call number (shelf location), and whether the book is Reference (only used in the Library), Circulating (may be checked out), or in a special collection. The chart also tells you which campus libraries have a copy, and whether it is available or checked out.
Remember: You have access to books at all 7 campuses! If you see something at another campus that you want, click on the name of the campus that owns it (see picture above). When you are prompted to log in, enter the username and password that you use for NovaConnect. Be sure to select your desired campus for pick-up. We also have a collection of books online called Stat! Ref.
Example #2:
Research Question: Which vaccines are available for combating the flu?
Hint: You are combining two topics: vaccines and flu. Try a Keywords Anywhere search.
Your search can be: vaccines AND flu
Database to try:
Health Reference Center Academic
How to get there:
Try a search!
1. Be sure to select Subject Guide Search (see picture below).
2. Research Question: Let's say you were interested in finding articles on laboratory infections. In the search box, type laboratory infections .
Note that you can limit your results to full-text (complete) articles, peer-reviewed journal articles, articles with images, etc.
3. Click on Search. You should get a screen that looks like this:
Note that there are approximately 44 articles on laboratory infections. Click on the Laboratory Infections link to see the articles.
You should get a list of articles that looks similar to this:
Look for articles in full text, such as the fourth article (see picture). Is it long enough? Look at #6. Notice that it includes case reports.
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Once you open an article, you will see the Tools box on the right. Use this to:
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Sometimes the full-text of an article is not available in the database you are using. Follow these steps to see if you can find the full-text in a different database:
For example:
We can see that the second article is titled "Laboratory-acquired meningococcal disease" and that it was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases on February 15, 2006. It is not in full text here, but might be in a different database.
Database to try:
CINAHL
How to get there:
Do a search!
Research Question: Let's say you're interested in finding information on laboratory diagnosis of SARS.
1. Be sure to select Advanced Search (see picture below)
2. Type vaccin? AND adverse AND laboratory in the search boxes, then scroll down and limit to Peer Reviewed and pages greater than 1 (under Number of Pages):
(Note that there are many ways to limit your search, including by language and publication date. For this assignment, limit to Peer Reviewed and Number of Pages)
3. Click Search. How many articles did you get?
Let's do a search on immune compromised patients and laboratory testing.
To search by subject headings, follow these steps:
1. Click on the CINAHL Headings tab on the green toolbar (see picture below)
2. In the search box, type immune and hit Browse.
3. On the list of subject headings, place a checkmark next to Immune System:
This takes care of the subject heading for immune. Now you need to browse for the correct subject heading for laboratory testing.
1. In the Browse for box, type laboratory testing and click on Browse:
2. When the subject heading list appears, place a check next to Diagnosis, laboratory.
3. At the top of the page, change the drop-down menu next to Combine selections with: to AND.
4. Click on Search Database to do the search. You should get a list of articles that looks similar to this:
5. Sometimes the full-text of an article is available in CINAHL (result #2 in picture above). If full-text is not available (see #1 above), use the previous instructions for finding full-text articles in a different database.
Note: Some articles may not be up-to-date enough for your assignment.
Database to try:
Medline (PubMed)
How to get there:
Do a search!
Research Question: Let's say you're interested in the immune response and want to get some information on blood testing for it.
1. Type immune response AND blood testing into the search box.
2. Click Go.
You should get a list of results that looks like this:
How many articles did you get?
3. Click on the Limits tab (see above picture).
4. Try putting some limits on your search. Check the boxes next to Human, English language, and Newborn. This will find English-language articles about testing for the immune response in infants up to one month old.
5. Now how many articles did you get? Notice that when you do a keyword search not all articles may be on the topic because the computer looks for the words regardless of the context.
6. A very few articles are in full text. To find others that may be available in full text in other databases, click on the article title and use links to full text if provided. You can also use Option #2 in the previous instructions: How Do I Find the Full-Text of an Article?
Note: You can also use the MeSH browser under PubMed Services in the navigation bar to identify precise subject headings. Ask a librarian for help.
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