Objective 3
How Sources are Organized
Using selected search words and terms based on the topic, the researcher searches databases, organizes search results, locates full content of the materials, and evaluates the evidence for its usefulness. Working with a librarian is guaranteed to save you time. Few others on a campus or in a healthcare institution know as much about information structure, storage, retrieval, and evaluation as librarians do. -Searchers can rely on finding similar information each time they perform the same search. -In the library system, every item has its own unique call number according to its subject area and author's last name. Knowing general call numbers of a subject can also expedite searches for items in a library collection. -Electronic indexes are most commonly referred to as databases. They may vary in appearance, even though content is the same or very similar. -Searching does not need to be limited to keywords because entire studies of text can be searched. -Foundational or key studies could be missed if they were conducted prior to the date the electronic database began. -Content may change in a database. Sources available in full text one day may be found in a citation-only option the next. -Grey Literature: Information about works yet to be published. Format: 1. Record: The basic building block of sources. Minimally consists of a citation of information and a record number. 2. Search Field: Each piece of information contained in the record has been entered here. 3. Subject terms and headings are often listed in the citation. Citation has 3 formats: Citation only, citation with full content, or a mix of both. -When items are not available in full content within any database or within library print holdings, a copy of the item can be retrieved through the interlibrary loan system.
Types of Evidence
When looking for the most current, authoritative information on a topic, you should be checking the published, scholarly literature. If the goal is to compare evidence, systematic reviews are a useful way to locate similar topics quickly. Categories of Evidence: 1. Primary and Secondary sources: -Primary: Present original information by the person or people responsible for creating it. Secondary: The resulting commentaries, summaries, reviews, or interpretations of primary sources. 2. Peer-Reviewed and Refereed Sources: Rigorous evaluation by experts and editors. 3. Scholarly, Trade, and Popular -Scholarly: Written and edited by professionals in the discipline for other colleagues. Vehicles of original research, focus on narrow topics within the discipline, and are often filled with specific vocabulary. -Trade: Written for professionals within a discipline but are written with a more casual tone. Contains information related to professional development, products, practices, or trends in the discipline. -Popular: Written to inform or entertain the general public.
Periodicals, Journals, Magazines (the difference)
-Periodicals: A resource that is published periodically, usually on a set schedule. -Journals: Resources of a scholarly or professional nature. -Magazine: Resource targeted for the general reading audience.
Searching tips...
-Recall: Broad catch of retrieved records. Best used when the information being sought is uniquely detailed, a new topic or procedure, or has not been widely written about. -Precision: Narrows the parameters of the search. Best when the information being sought has been written about in a number of authoritative sources by a number of knowledgeable people. -Key term Identification (using PICOT): Patient population, intervention of interest, comparison of interest, outcome of interest, and time frame. -Two types of queries: Keyword and Controlled vocabulary -Searches also need to include synonyms and variations of the search term to ensure that all relevant records are retrieved. -Boolean operators: Words that specify the relationship between two or more search terms. (and, or, not) -Some search engines require that the search operators be typed in all capital letters, some accept two of the three operators and not the other, and some require the combination "and not" for the "not" operator. -Truncation: Ability to retrieve records of search terms that share a common root. (Instead of searching "nurse" or "nurses" type "nurs*") -Wild cards: Many databases use the question mark as a wild card. -Nesting: Parentheses, and sometimes quotation marks, are used to indicate which search terms are grouped together. Within the parentheses is processed first and then applied o the information outside the parentheses. -Stopwords: Words that are so commonly used in records that they are a hindrance to accurate record retrieval. (a, an, and, for, in, of, the, this, to) -Whereas hashtags are chosen by those posting the photo or information, controlled vocabularies are created by those who manage the intellectual content of the index or database. Called subject searching. -Exploding: When a subject term is exploded, the database is instructed to search all of the records indexed to that term as well as any terms that are in a related, narrower category. -Qualification: Designated which fields are to be searched in the record. -Positional operators: "adj" (adjacent), "near". amd "same. Proximity of search terms to one another.
What makes up a research article?
1. Abstract: To provide an overview of the study. The presence of an abstract does not necessarily mean that an article is a research study. 2. Introduction: Follows the abstract. Contains a statement of the problem and a purpose statement. -Problem statement: Identifies the problem in a broad and general way. -Purpose statement: Describes what was examined in the study. 3. Review of literature: An unbiased, comprehensive, synthesized description of relevant, previously published studies should be presented. A complete citation is provided for each article. A well-written literature review concludes with a summary of what is known about the problem and identifies gaps in the knowledge base to show readers how the study adds to existing knowledge. 4. Theoretical Framework: Describes the relationships among general concepts and provides linkages to what is being measured in the study. Separate or combined with the review of literature. 5. Methods Section: Discussion about study design, sample, and data collection. 6. Results section: Describe the methods they used to analyze their data, and the characteristics of the sample are reported, 7. Discussion section: Interpretation of the results and discuss how the findings extend the body of knowledge. 8. List of references
Purpose of Finding Evidence
Nurses need to know what sources of information are reliable and credible and how to gain access to them. They need some specific skills that enable them to comprehend designs an specific design issues. They need to know how to differentiate poor quality from good quality reports of studies, systematic reviews, and clinical guidelines. They need an approach for assessing the value of an intervention for clinical practice. Above all, they need access to computers and technical resources.
Literature Reviews
Poorly conducted literature reviews may negatively affect patient care. To make good decisions about best practice, nurses should familiarize themselves with the major types of reviews. 1. Narrative Reviews: Often based on only the common or uncommon elements of the various works, and writers are not particularly concerned with widely varying research methods, designs, or settings. 2. Integrative Reviews: Scholarly papers that synthesize published studies and articles to answer questions abut phenomena of interest. Combines data from different types of research designs and includes theoretical, as well as, empirical literature. 3. Meta-Analyses: Combine results of studies into a measurable format and statistically estimate the effects of proposed interventions. 4. Systematic Reviews: Combines elements of the three previously discussed methods. They are a scientific tool which is used to summarize and communicate the results and implications of otherwise unmanageable quantities of research. They are helpful in situations when evidence is needed quickly.
How to Search for Evidence
Three types of access to information: Free access, access paid by an institution, and access paid by an individual. -General Search Strategies: Sometimes a continuing education article that mentions a particular study or a literature review in an article on a related topic may provide sources not found through other methods of searching. -Backward and Forward searches: Backward: The nurse examines the references listed to determine whether other sources on this topic seem to stand out as foundational or noteworthy. Forward: Nurse uses a hyperlink option "times cited in this database." This link connects to other documents that have cited that article since its publication. -Print indexes are used to search for older literature that has not been indexed in electronic databases. Best to ask a librarian for help.
