Week 11 Flashcards
when searching a database, you’re not searching in articles, you’re searching _________?
you’re not searching for concepts, you’re searching for _____?
- in records that describe article
- searching for words that describe these concepts
- we are searching keywords compiled by others (someone else summarized the article using keywords which are searchable in the database
describe the relationship between question formation and search term develop
- question frameworks help you articulate your question & helps you identify concepts to search for
- you may or may not search for every concept
when searching a systematic review, you should not include???
- terms that indicate a positive or negative outcome (introduces bias)
ex. NO –> positive effects of cannabis on sleep, YES –> cannabis and sleep
after developing your PICOT question, what do you do?
- create search terms based off of the concepts.
ex. outcome = depression = concept –> search terms = depression, depressed, depressive disorder
what does truncation * mean?
- look for different endings
ex. mindful* = will search mindfulness, mindfully etc.
what do quotation marks (phrases) “ “ mean ?
- look for exact phases
- term will be searched exactly how you typed it
ex. “depressive disorder”
what do no quotation marks mean
- all of the words are searched separately
what are boolean operators
- used to link words together
what are examples of boolean operators (4)
- AND
- OR
- ()
- NOT (not encouraged to use this)`
what does the boolean operator “AND” mean (3)
- everything has to be present for the result to come back
- returns record for articles with ALL of the specific items present
- used for when you need very specific research which involves all factors
what does the boolean operator “OR” mean
- returns records for articles with any combination of the specified items present
- use for different terms for the same concept
describe how OR, AND, and () are used
- OR ties together related search terms for the same concept
- AND ties together concepts
ex. (“breast cancer” OR “breast neoplasm”) AND (depression OR depressed) AND (mindul* OR meditation)
describe the use of brackets when searching databases
- very important to cluster searchers and separate OR from AND
- culsters or OR terms should be organized into brackets, with AND between each bracket
what is an additional method to using brackets when searching a database
- can search of your OR concepts, then connect those using “search 1 AND search 2 AND search 3)
what are examples of primary evidence? where are they found (4)?
- individual studies
- found in databases like:
- -> CINAHL
- -> PubMed/Medline
- -> EMBASE
- -> Scopus
what is required w primary evidence?
- critically appraise quality
- more stuff = more effort
what are examples of secondary evidence (pre-appraised, synthesized)? (2)
- systematic reviews
- practice guidelines
where are systematic reviews found (3)
- JBI
- Trip Pro
- other databases
where are practice guidelines found? (3)
- organization websites
- Trip Pro
- other databases
what is required w secondary evidence
- also require critical thinking
ex. when was this published? is it still current?
where are decision support tools found? (2)
- UptoDate
- medical record tools
what is required w decision support tools? what do they offer (3)?
- less stuff = less effort
- for very straightforward questions
- offer stable info on issues which don’t change quickly
- good for well established concepts
how can we decide where to look (choosing a database)? (4)
consider:
- what can you access?
- what’s your question?
- what are you going to use that info for? (some have printable phamplets)
- what type of evidence do you need (ex. RCTs are usually reliable for intervention-based questions)
what type of articles are found on CINAHL?
- nursing & allied health focus
what type of articles are found on PubMed/Medline (2)
- clinical
- biomedical focus
(North American focus)
what type of articles are found on Scopus
- multidisciplinary
what type of articles are found on Embase (2)? what kind of focus does it have?
- clinical
- biomedical
(global focus)
what type of articles are found on psychInfo?
- psychology
what type of articles are found on ERIC
- education
what type of articles are found on sociological abstracts?
- sociology
what type of articles are found on Social Care Online (2)? what kind of focus does it have?
- social care
- social work
(UK focus)
what type of articles are found on Trip (2)?
- clinical focus
- especially systematic reviews & guidelines
what type of articles are found on Cochrane library?
- systematic reviews
what type of articles are found on Joanna Briggs Inst.
- systematic reviews in nursing
one topic, three demo searches
- librarian searches the same topic in 3 separate databases
- idk if this important lol, so just threw it in
what are MESH terms
- medical subjects headings
- some databases will give every paper related to a key concept that heading, even if they don’t use the word in their article, so all publications related to that concept can be linked
ex. if article is about cancer, the heading might be neoplasm, even if they never use that term
(just used in pubmed)
how are mesh terms written as?
“term” [Mesh]
what are 4 things to remember about database searching? (4)
- not articles –> records that describe articles
- not concepts –> words that describe those concepts
- use your judgement
- try stuff out
