This exercise is designed for:
RTH 120

It will cover three types of research tools:

• Catalog
• E-books
• 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.
  
  
• 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 careers in respiratory therapy.

Hint: You are combining two topics: respiratory therapy and careers. Try a Keywords search.

Your search can be: respiratory therapy AND careers

 

Example #2:

Research Question: How many resources do the NOVA libraries have on emphysema?

Your search can be: emphysema

 

 

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, 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 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).

2. Let's say you were interested in finding articles on how asthma impacts children. In the search box, type asthma AND children.

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

3. Click on Search.

4. On the next screen you'll see a blue link that says Childhood asthma . This is the official subject heading for our topic of children and asthma. Click on the link for Childhood asthma .

You should get a screen that looks like this:

Clicking on Childhood asthma will bring up a list of approximately 4,800 articles on childhood asthma.

Clicking on View Subdivisions will take those 4,800 articles and break them down into smaller categories.

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

The sub-categories for Childhood asthma are listed on the left. Look to the right to see how many articles are in each category. We can see that there are over 1,000 articles on the care and treatment of childhood asthma.

6. Click on Care and Treatment to view the articles in that category.

You should get a list of articles that looks similar to 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 Websites (middle of the page)
   
   
2. Select Best of the Web (at top)
   
   
3. Select Nursing and Allied Health .
   
   
4. Explore these resources:
   
   
   • Respiratory Therapy
     
     
5. Look Core Resources, as well as the categories for your program.
   • Hardin Meta Directory has many Medical Pictures.
   • CDC is always current and covers many topics of interest to Respiratory Therapists.
     • Try a search on COPD.

This exercise was last updated on January 22, 2010