This excellent series produced by the Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine delivers comprehensive information about performing high-quality database searches. Although the series highlights the PubMed database, the information provided is applicable to most professional databases. Total series time: approximately 55 minutes.
Check the databases below. Email your librarian at demaryj@nsuok.edu for help and tips.
[Restricted] ClinicalKey provides access to authoritative medical information at all levels from topic overview to evidence-based data in one search. It also provides evidence-based summaries on thousands of medical conditions with sections on differential diagnosis. Contains full text of over 1,000 books and 500 journals published by Elsevier in all medical specialties as well as images and videos in Procedures Consult. Register to use Clinical Key and login with your personal login id and password in order to view, save, email, or print full text documents and images. Download the Clinical Key app from the app store and use your personal id and password to login.
One of the first steps in creating a research plan is to select "key words" which best describe the topic you plan to research. When choosing key words for a search, it's a great idea to include related terms and terms that are more general (broader) and more specific (narrower) to improve chances for success. As a simple example:
Key word: cat
Sources for relevant key words include:
If you are unfamiliar with the terminology you encounter while searching article databases (or while reading articles in journals) you may wish to refer to sources such as textbooks, dictionaries, and other reference resources in the field of study.
Contact your instructor if you are unsure if a particular topic is appropriate. It is usually wise to make sure you are on target with your topic before you begin to spend much time researching a project.
