1. Principles and practice of
searching the literature
James Little.

2. Session Overview
• Your knowledge
• The purposes of literature searching
• Sources of information
• Evaluating sources
• Performing searches
• Referencing
• Your own search
• Feedback and advice
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3. Your knowledge
• Has anyone performed a literature search
before?
• What do you think is involved?
• Do you have any concerns/worries about
literature searching?
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4. The purpose of literature
searching
• To find relevant published material to your area
of interest
• To find a basis for a research question or area of
study
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5. Overview
• Question / subject area
• Identify keywords
• Identify appropriate sources
• Perform searches
• Narrow search results / follow links
• Evaluate sources
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6. In context
• Much easier now than ever before
• Access to search facilities online
• Access to publications online
• Guides provided by the University Library:
• http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/libdocs/lit.html
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7. General sources of information
• Where do you think you would look?
• Wikipedia? Google? Library?
• Google Scholar
• Journals and other publications
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8. Specific sources
• Subject-specific for nursing:
• CINAHL
• MedLine
• Cochrane Database
• www.nice.org.uk
• Colleagues!
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9. Evaluating sources
• What is trustworthy?
• Wikipedia
• Bias, fact / opinion
• Journal of radical midwives
• Sources displaying bias or opinion are useful but
should be used in context as a discussion /
starting point.
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10. Sample search
• Question / subject area
• “ Fingernail health in patients with disease”
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11. Sample search
• Keywords/related areas:
• Fingernail, health, hand washing, disease, calcium
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12. Sample search
• Sources
• CINAHL Database
• Google Scholar
• VS
• Wikipedia
• Google
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13. Sample search
• Results
• Narrowing down / more specific keywords
• Evaluate sources
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14. Referencing
• Acknowledges source
• Shows you have not plagiarized work
• Provides an accurate list of resources
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15. Referencing: your experience?
• Has everyone referenced work?
• How recently?
• What system(s) did you use
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16. Referencing: Overview
• Harvard referencing system
• Harvard method of quoting in the text
• Reference list
• Compile a reference list as you work
• Library Guide:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/libdocs/hsl-dvc1.pdf
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17. Your own search
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18. Activity Section B
• Develop and carry out a literature search. For
this you should: specify a clear research
question; identify key terms; define inclusion and
exclusion criteria; undertake a search using
ONE database; record your search strategy;
discuss how you would identify relevant
literature from your results
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19. Feedback and advice
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20. Useful links
• Database searching: a basic guide
• Literature searching for your essay, dissertation
or project
• http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/libdocs/lit.html
• Harvard referencing guide
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21. Specific Approaches
• Grid of results/key papers
• Use a critiquing framework
• (CASP)
• http://www.casp-uk.net/find-appraise-
act/appraising-the-evidence/
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