This Advanced Library Research Strategies exercise is designed by the MEC Librarians for:
NUR 254

Link to Research Guides for Nursing 254 Students: http://www.nvcc.edu/medical/meclibrary/nursing/profession.htm

This exercise will cover several types of research tools:

• Catalog
• eBooks
• Databases
• Web Sites
• MeSH (MEDLINE Medical Subject Headings)
• EBN (Evidence - Based Nursing)
  
  
  

How to get there:

1. From the NOVA Libraries site, click on Books & More (left 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.
• You can do several kinds of searches in the catalog, including Subject (LC Subject) and Keyword (Anywhere).

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.

· Break your research question down into the most important words and phrases, and use "AND" in between.

Example: Research Question: How many books/DVDs do the NOVA libraries have on various aspects of the Nursing career?

Hint: You are combining two topics: nursing and career. Try a Keywords (Anywhere) search.

Your search can be: nursing and career.

How many records did you get?

Remember: You have access to books at all 7 campuses! If you see something at another campus that you want, click on the link for that campus (in the Campus column- see above) and log in using your myNOVA username & password. Be sure to select the campus at which you want to pick up the book.

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

How to get there:

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

You should see a menu that looks like this:

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 180 core titles in Nursing and Allied Health. See also Gale Virtual Reference Library for medical encyclopedias and dictionaries.

For this part of the exercise you'll use 3 databases to search for journal articles.

Things to know about Databases:

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

• Databases are very expensive; but NOVA students, faculty, and staff can use them for FREE.

• Using databases from off-campus:
  The NOVA Libraries 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 until you see Subject Specific Databases. Under Health & Medicine, 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.

Do a search!

Let's say you're interested in finding information on employment as a public health nurse.

1. Select Home and try: employment AND public health nursing.

2. How many articles did you get? Which of them is in full-text?

3. Click on the first one which indicates “Full-text.”

Note that you can limit your results to full-text (complete) articles, peer-reviewed journal articles, articles with images, etc.

Note that the results are organized by tabs. For the search we just did, we retrieved articles from academic journals, magazines, and "books" (which may be information from books or pamphlets). To print, email, or save articles, or to get assistance with creating a citation for an article, go to the Tools box on the right (this box appears once you have selected an article). Whenever you see the words “Full-text” or “Full-text with graphics” (see above), this means that the complete article is available in the database.  Just click on the article title or the words “Full-text” to read it.

Let's do another search!

Let's say you are interested in finding articles on ethics in nursing, but you're not sure which aspect of nursing ethics you want to study.

1. Click on Browse Subjects at the top of the screen (see picture below)

2. Type Nursing Ethics into the search box, then click GO.

You should get a page that looks like this:

You can see that there are around 400 articles on Nursing Ethics. Clicking on the plus (+) sign next to Nursing Ethics will take those 400 articles and break them down into smaller categories.

3. Click on the plus sign (+) next to Nursing Ethics to see the subdivisions (see arrow in picture above). You should see something that looks similar to this:

4. Choose the subdivision of Analysis. You should get a results screen that looks similar to this:

Look at the first article that has full text available (see picture above). If you need articles from peer-reviewed journals, be sure to place a checkmark in the box next to peer-reviewed, under Refine Results (see picture).

Database to try:

CINAHL

How to get there:

1. From the NOVA Libraries site, click on Articles (middle of the page).
2. Scroll down until you see Subject Specific Databases. Under Health & Medicine, 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 CINAHL.
   
   

Do a search!

Let's say you're interested in finding information on the effects of incompetence in the nursing field.

1. Type nursing AND incompetence into the search box:

Note that you may limit your search many ways, including Peer Reviewed, Research Article, Evidence-Based Practice, Publication Type, and Language.

2. Look at your results. How many of the articles are available in full text? If full text of an article you want is not available, use the previous instructions for locating it in a different database.

Do another search.

Let’s try a more specific search for the topic nursing ethics.

1. Type nursing ethics in the search box. Check the box next to Suggest Subject Terms (see below) to get assistance in locating the best subject heading for "nursing ethics."

2. Let’s limit this search to Peer Reviewed journals.

3. The database tells us to use Ethics, Nursing instead of nursing ethics:

4. To use Ethics, Nursing as your search term, put a check in the box next to that phrase.

5. Click Search Database, at the top.

If it says PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text under that citation for the article, the full-text of the article is available in CINAHL. If full-text is not available, use the previous instructions for finding full-text articles in a different database.

Try another search for nursing and profession.

Medline (PubMed):

How to get there:

1. From the NOVA Libraries webpage, click on Articles (middle of the screen)
2. Scroll down the page until you see Allied Health & Nursing (on the right). Click.
3. You will see a list of databases that are useful for topics in Nursing and Allied Health.
4. Select MEDLINE (PubMed) .

Do a search!

Begin by doing a search for nursing and chemical dependency.

First try typing in nursing AND chemical dependency. How many results did you get?

A more precise way to search is to use subject headings (MeSH = Medical Subject Headings). To choose your first search term:

· Select MESH from the top drop-down bar.

Type in chemical dependence and click SEARCH.

· Choose Substance-Related Disorders by checking the box next to it.

· Click on Send to search box with AND

Choose your second search term:

• Click on Clear next to the Mesh search box at the top of the page.
  
  
• Type in Oversight and click Go.
  
  
• Under Government Regulation, select Social Control, Formal.
  
  
• Place a checkmark in front of the term and Send to search box with AND
  
  
• Clear the search box
  
  
• Type in Nursing and click Go.
  
  
• Place a checkmark in front of the term and Send to search box with AND
  
  
• Click on Search PubMed. How many items did you get?

Let's limit to just Review studies in English.

• Go to Advanced Search at the top of the screen.

• Using the drop-down box under Languages, select English. Under Type of Article, limit to Review.  Look at the other ways you can limit what you get.

• Click on SEARCH. Look at the entries. Look at the article by Dunn, D. By selecting Related Articles to the right, you can find more articles on the same topic. Try that now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~START HERE

• With a few exceptions, MEDLINE is not a full text database. To see a list of free (Open Access link) online journals, you may either

  • Select Literature from the Resources tab at the top and then mouse down to PubMed Central
  • OR if you are in a search results page, simply select PubMed Central under Popular at the bottom of the page

  (Please remember that we can InterLibrary Loan an article for you if you cannot find it any other way. Request it at the front desk.)

• By selecting Advanced Search you may view a record of the searches you've done during this session in the Search History.

· See under PubMed Tools (bottom of the homepage) for other ways to search for information. The Single Citation Matcher is particularly helpful when you are trying to find a single article about which you have only a few pieces of information. Clinical Queries are very helpful, too.

· Look at the links under More Resources, especially for Clinical Trials.

Note: For some research topics, PubMed is the best database to use (for example: information on health care for particular religious or ethnic groups). Also, you can use the MeSH browser under PubMed Services (on the left sidebar) to identify precise subject headings for your topic. Ask a librarian for help.)

(Web resources for nursing students)

How to get there:

1. From the NOVA Libraries webpage, click on Web Sites (middle of the screen)
2. Choose Best of the Web.
3. Choose Nursing and Allied Health.

The categories of Nursing, Core Resources, Pharmacy and Drug Resources, and Emergency Medicine all have relevant links:

Be sure to look at the resources under Nursing.

Go to: National League for Nursing, for professional and credentialing information.

Information on the VA Department of Health Professions may be found at: http://www.dhp.state.va.us

Try a Search!

1. Choose Core Resources, then click on Reference.

2. Scroll down to Career and click on Occupational Outlook Handbook. Enter Nurse, and you will be provided with a wealth of information on different career choices within the Nursing profession.

3. Scroll down to Encyclopedias and click on Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Click on D and scroll down to Diabetes Mellitus.

Try another search!

1. Choose Core Resources, then click on Biomedical Links.

2. Choose CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

3. In the middle of the page, note the Data & Statistics link.

4. Use the search box at the top right of the page or the A to Z Index to search your topic.

5. Choose XDR Tuberculosis. What kinds of results do you get?

©Copyright Northern Virginia Community College. Last updated January 9, 2010. Comments to Kathryn Willis.