This guide is designed for:
Diagnostic Imaging students

It will cover four types of research tools:

• Catalog
• eBooks
• Databases
• Web Sites

How to get there:

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:
  
  
  
  
• You can do several kinds of searches in the catalog, including Subject (LC) and Keywords Anywhere:
  
  
  

Subject (LC) 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 "heart attack" is Myocardial Infarction.

Keywords 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: if you want information on careers in radiography, try radiography AND career or diagnostic imaging AND careers:

 

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, move your mouse over the box in the middle of the page that says Books & More to reveal more choices.
   
   
2. In the expanded Books & More window, click on E-books.

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 myNOVA 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.

• 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:

1) Health Reference Center

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.

 

Do a search!

1. Be sure to select Subject Guide Search (see picture).

2. Let's say you were interested in finding articles on pediatric radiology. In the search box, type pediatric radiology.

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

3. Click Search.

4. You should get a screen that looks like this:

Clicking on Pediatric Radiology will bring up a list of 98 articles on that topic. Clicking on Subdivisions will take those 98 articles and break them down into smaller categories.

5. Click on the link for Subdivisions. You should get something that looks like this:

The sub-categories for Pediatric Radiology are listed on the left. Look to the right to see how many articles are in each category.

6. Click on Methods to view the articles in that category. You should get a list of articles that looks like this:

• 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.
  
  
• Sometimes the full-text of an article is not available in the database, and all you find is an abstract or citation. If this happens, follow these directions:

  

 

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 (visible after you open an article).

 

• 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 Web Sites (middle of the page)
   
   
2. Select Best of the Web (at top)
   
   
3. Select Nursing and Allied Health.
   
   
4. Explore these categories:
   
   • Diagnostic Imaging
   • Core Resources
5. Look at the Core Resources page.
   
   
• From the menu at the top of the page, select Media: Medical images, videos, & tutorials online. This Media page has links to many online sources for medical images, videos, and tutorials. Note Hardin Meta Directory.
  
  
• CDC is always current and covers many topics of interest to Radiographers.
  • Try a search on MRI and Epilepsy.

 

last updated June 2009. Comments to Beth DeAngelo.