1. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Diving for pearls…..
How to get the most from your
literature search.
Isla Kuhn
Reader Services Librarian
Medical Library
3. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Google will give me everything I
need (if/when wikipedia fails me)
A. True
B. False
True
False
50%50%
4. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Compiling the bibliography to my
dissertation will be the easy bit
A. True
B. False
True
False
50%50%
5. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
a) introducing the research topic, with an
explanation of why the subject was chosen for
study,
b) reviewing relevant literature and showing
how this has informed the research issue,
c) explaining how the research has been
designed and why the research methods being
used have been chosen (methodology),
d) outlining the findings,
e) analysing the findings and discussing them
in the context of the literature review,
f) concluding, and
g) references
6. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
a) introducing the research topic, with an
explanation of why the subject was chosen for
study,
b) reviewing relevant literature and showing
how this has informed the research issue,
c) explaining how the research has been
designed and why the research methods being
used have been chosen (methodology),
d) outlining the findings,
e) analysing the findings and discussing them
in the context of the literature review,
f) concluding, and
g) references
7. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
introducing the research topic
• clarifying the question
• setting parameters
reviewing relevant literature
• Identifying keywords and synonyms
• Structuring your search strategy with boolean logic
• Identify relevant sources (and then search them!)
References
• DON’T plagiarise!
• Don’t lose marks through sloppy references
8. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
introducing the research topic
• clarifying the question
• setting parameters
reviewing relevant literature
• Identifying keywords and synonyms
• Structuring your search strategy with boolean logic
• Identify relevant sources (and then search them thoroughly!)
References
• DON’T plagiarise!
• Don’t lose marks through sloppy references
9. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
introducing the research topic
• clarifying the question
• setting parameters
reviewing relevant literature
• Identifying keywords and synonyms
• Structuring your search strategy with boolean logic
• Identify relevant sources (and then search them!)
References
• DON’T plagiarise!
• Don’t lose marks through sloppy references
10. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Why reference?
• Showing how widely you’ve read around the subject;
• Demonstrating your understanding of the context and research up to
this point;
• Highlighting points of view that differ to yours;
• Backing up your own points of view.
• http://theuniversityblog.co.uk/2012/07/24/need-references/
11. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
From Topic to Results
• Topic -> question -> keywords/synonyms
Effect of chocolate in prevention of heart disease
...”Is consuming chocolate effective in reducing risk of heart disease?” ….
Themes / PICO
…………………keywords???.... synonyms???........................
12. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Is consuming chocolate effective in reducing the risk of heart disease?
P –problem / patient?
I – Intervention?
C – Comparison?
O – Outcome?
Synonyms?
From Topic to Results
13. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Is consuming chocolate effective in reducing the risk of heart disease?
P – heart disease
I – chocolate
C –
O – prevention
From Topic to Results
14. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Is consuming chocolate effective in reducing the risk of heart disease?
P – heart disease / heart failure / cardiovascular disease / coronary disease
I – chocolate / cocoa / cacao
C –
O – reducing risk / prevention /
From Topic to Results
15. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Which will give you most hits
(a more SENSITIVE search)
A. coronary disease
AND heart failure
B. coronary disease
OR heart failure
C. coronary disease
NOT heart failure
A. B. C.
33% 33%33%
16. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
From Topic to Results:
Boolean Logic
OR – to broaden your search, by combining similar terms
eg
“exercise” or “physical activity”
Either term can be present in the resulting set of articles.
Cerebral-vascular
Accident
Stroke
17. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Which will give you better hits
(a more SPECIFIC search)?
A. coronary disease
AND chocolate
B. chocolate OR heart
failure
C. coronary disease
NOT chocolate
D. risk AND chocolate
coronary
disease
AND
c...
chocolate
OR
heartfailure
coronarydisease
NOT
ch...riskAND
chocolate
30%
10%
50%
10%
18. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
AND – to narrow the search by combining different topics
eg
“physiotherapy” and “stroke”
Both terms must be present in the results.
StrokePhysiotherapy
From Topic to Results:
Boolean Logic
19. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Which will give you best hits (most
SPECIFIC search)?
A. coronary disease AND
chocolate AND risk
B. (coronary disease OR
heart failure) AND
chocolate AND risk
C. chocolate AND risk AND
coronary failure
D. risk AND (chocolate OR
cocoa) AND (coronary
disease OR heart failure)
A. B. C. D.
25% 25%25%25%
20. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
From Topic to Results:
Boolean Logic
NOT – to restrict your search so that it does not contain a particular term
eg
“physical therapy” not “manual therapy”
The first, but not the second, term must be present.
Manual
Therapy
Physical
Therapy
21. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Is consuming chocolate effective in the prevention of heart disease?
P – heart disease OR ???
AND
I – chocolate OR ???
AND
C –
AND
O – prevention OR ???
From Topic to Results
WARNING: do you need a direct comparison between intervention & comparison??
23. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
• EndnoteWeb (to manage your references)
• LibrarySearch (to get hold of the articles)
From Results to References
24. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
http://wok.mimas.ac.uk
http://www.myendnoteweb.com
http://www.pubmed.gov
From Results to References
25. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Searching – Do’s & Don’ts
• Don’t try to do the whole search in one line
• Don’t imagine that your first attempt will get all the articles you need
• Don’t give up!
26. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
MEDICAL LIBRARY
Searching – Do’s & Don’ts
• Do think of alternative ways of talking about your topic
• Do learn from your hits and your misses
• Do remember that you still have to critically appraise each article
• http://www.twitjc.com/ Twitter Journal Club
• http://www.casp-uk.net/ CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme)
• Do ask for help