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Introduction
Welcome to the APSU Library! My name is
Lori Buchanan and I am a librarian here at APSU. I usually present the material that
follows standing in front of Dr. Black's class in the APSU Library computer lab
sometime during the first few weeks of the semester--kind of a "one
shot" deal. However, in the online version of HHP 5000 you have access to this material and library services 24/7. Through
the Ask A Librarian service, you
can request assistance via email, chat, or telephone. You also have access to me
via telephone (221-7017 or 1-800-250-1890), via email
buchananl,
or in person by coming to the Library (Office no. LB 221). My intent in providing
you with this information is to assist you in determining
what your information needs are, finding the information you need, and
evaluating the information you find. I have provided links to various library
services throughout this document. You will need to follow each link to
find out about that particular resource or service.
Information Needs
The first question you need to ask yourself is
"What types of information do I need for my research
project/paper?" You have access to many types and formats of information
through the APSU Library. You may have done library "research" for other classes you have taken at APSU
or other schools. You probably had to find a certain number of articles, books,
and/or web resources for your paper or project. Much of your previous research
was probably done in conjunction with writing a paper that was intended to
inform or analyze a particular topic. For the purposes of this class you will have to find
resources (journal articles for the most part) that are reports and findings of
original research. Dr. Black will inform you as to the specific types of resources
she expects you to use for your project. So, how and where do you find
the information you need? The APSU Library is the place to start.
What does APSU Library have available?
A good way to think of the APSU
Library is as an information portal. The Library's website is a bridge to
vast amounts of information both inside and outside APSU. Use the Library's website to find
out what is available (http://library.apsu.edu). The Library owns or provides
access to a wide variety of materials. Felix is the Library's online catalog. It lists items that are available
both physically in the Library and
items that you have access to through the Library. You can check Felix to
see if the Library owns a particular book (either in print or in electronic
format), a journal title (not a specific article), videos, selected
government publications, websites and other materials. The Library subscribes to a number
of general and specialized databases
that provide you with bibliographic citations to resources, and in some cases
the full-text of the resource. Subject
pages (arranged by discipline) have been developed so that many of the
information resources for a particular discipline are grouped together in one
place. Now that we have determined that the place to look for information
is the Library, we need to find out how we find the needed information.
Searching for information
You will find the following search protocols
useful when searching for any kind of information.
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Start with a specific topic. Broaden or narrow it as
necessary. For example you might begin your search by searching for Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Depending on your results you may
need to broaden your search to Lung Diseases or narrow it to Pulmonary
Emphysema.
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Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to help construct your
search strategy. Boolean operators assist you in combining search
concepts and defining your searches. The AND operator narrows
your search. The OR operator broadens your search. The NOT
operator excludes information from your search. Examples: Mediterranean Diet AND Longevity
would retrieve information about the Mediterranean diet and length of life. Physical
Endurance OR Exercise Tolerance would retrieve information about
either topic. Anemia NOT aplastic would exclude information about
aplastic anemia, but include information about other forms of anemia
(such as sickle-cell and others).
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Limit by format and material type when searching databases.
Many databases allow you limit your searches by material type and format such as journal articles, refereed publications, research, literature
reviews, and many others. Check in each database you use to see how to
limit by publication type and format.
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Use the references at the end of an article or book chapter
to find other resources. The references used by someone else in their
research are extremely valuable to you. By consulting those resources,
you may find information that you may not have known about and that
will improve your research.
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Check subject terms assigned to an article to see if there
are more accurate or specific terms for your topic. Whenever you search
a catalog or database, always look at the subject terms that have been
assigned to the resource. You may find a better or more accurate
subject term for your topic and improve your research.
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If you are having trouble finding information about your topic,
think of other terms to describe your topic. Example: another way
to describe stomach stapling is gastric bypass.
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If the database or index you are searching uses a controlled
vocabulary or thesaurus, use it! Your search will be much more
accurate than if you use keywords. By using the thesaurus in a
database, you are using the language used by the indexers and abstractors.
Note: For new concepts or buzz words, you may have to use keyword searching
because the new terms may not have made it into the controlled vocabulary of
the discipline. Also, if you are having no luck using the thesaurus in
particular database, you may want to perform a keyword search and check the
subject headings or descriptors used for a relevant article.
Databases
You are going to find much of the information you
need for Dr. Black's class in research journals. These journals are going
to be indexed in various subject databases. Databases index a variety of
information including articles, book chapters, book reviews, letters,
retractions, editorials, and others. Some databases you will use contain
only bibliographic citations, some include an abstract, and others include the
full text of a resource. I will describe some of the subject databases you
will use in your research for this class in the next section.
Databases are produced by many different vendors
and each vendor has their own search software. Wouldn't it be
wonderful if there were a uniform search platform? The search protocols
that I mention in the previous section will help you to search each database
effectively regardless of the vendor.
Many database vendors provide abstracts for many
of the publications they index. Be sure to read them carefully. They
can save you a lot time. An article may seem to be perfect from the title,
but may discuss something irrelevant to your topic. The abstract helps you
determine if the publication is meaningful to your research topic. The
abstract is NO substitution for consulting the complete article or study.
Consult the specific databases listed below to
determine which one or ones you need to use for your research topic. You
may need to consult the list of all
databases to decide if there are other databases that will assist in your
research.
As an APSU student you have access to databases
available through the APSU Library both on campus and off-campus via remote
access. Consult the Remote
Access to APSU Databases guide for assistance.
Specific Databases
PubMed
covers medicine, nursing,
dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the pre-clinical
sciences. The coverage is international in scope, but most publications
indexed are in English and/or have English abstracts. The PubMed link above
takes you to a brief user guide and a search link to the database.
Additionally, there is online help available once you are in PubMed.
Search Tips:
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PubMed has a very highly developed thesaurus
called MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). It is best to consult MeSH
when constructing a search in PubMed.
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There is a Limits feature on the
toolbar that allows you to limit by publication type, age group, gender,
language, date and others. Consult Felix (APSU online catalog) to
determine if the Library owns or has access to the particular journal you
need.
Below is a link to
an in-depth tutorial on PubMed. It's really best if you go through the entire
tutorial. However, the essential parts of the tutorial are Using
PubMed, Working with Search Results, Features Bar, and Links.
The Links section will explain how to use the Link Out feature to find
the full-text of article if available. Pay attention to the Related
Articles feature because it will provide you with more articles on your topic.
PubMed
Tutorial
CINAHL
is the electronic equivalent to the Cumulative Index to Nursing
& Allied Health Literature print index. It covers nursing, allied
health, consumer health, health services, and other related areas.
Materials indexed in CINAHL include journal articles, books, book chapters,
dissertations, and selected conference proceedings. The CINAHL link above takes
you to a brief user guide and a search link to the
database. Additionally, there is online help available once you are in
CINAHL. Use the Database Guide or Help link in the top right portion of
the screen.
Search tips:
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CINAHL has an online thesaurus
available. The link to the Thesaurus is located just above the
search box on the initial search screen (as one of the tabs). Consult
it to construct your search. The CINAHL thesaurus provides a scope note for terms that
may include a definition, date the term was introduced, broader, narrower and
related terms.
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If you are searching for a particular author
important to your topic, use the Index tab and type in the author's
last name and first initial if it is a common last name.
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The Limits feature is located to the
right of the search box in the top portion of the screen. Click on the
<Change> button to set limits initially or to change them. You
may limit by document type, language, date and others. Note:
Using the document type limit, you may restrict your search to research
only.
ERIC
(Educational Resources Information Center) is the premier national
bibliographic database of education literature. The areas of education
covered by ERIC include communication, assessment & evaluation, educational
management, elementary education, higher education, and many others.
Materials indexed in ERIC are books, journal articles, proceedings, theses,
dissertations, book/product reviews, classroom guides, computer programs, and
others. The ERIC link above takes you to a brief user guide
and a search link to the database. Additionally, there is online help
available once you are in ERIC. Use the Database Guide or Help link in the top
right portion of the screen.
Search tips:
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ERIC has an online thesaurus available.
The link to the Thesaurus is located just above the search box on the
initial search screen (as one of the tabs). Consult it to construct
your search. The ERIC thesaurus provides a scope note for terms that
may include a definition, the date term was introduced, broader, narrower and
related terms.
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If you are searching for a particular author
important to your topic, click on the Index tab. Select the Personal
Author Index from the pull-down menu and type in the author's last name
and first initial if it is a common last name.
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The Limits feature is located to the
right of the search box in the top portion of the screen. Click on the
<Change> button to set limits initially or to change them. You
may limit by document type, language, date and others. Note:
Using the document type limit, you may restrict your search to research
only.
PsycINFO
contains over 1 million records covering the academic, research, and
practice literature in psychology from over 45 countries in more than 25
languages. It also includes relevant materials from related disciplines such as
medicine, education, and social work. The database includes citations and
abstracts of journal articles, book chapters, and books. The PsycINFO link
above takes you to a brief user guide and a search link to
the database. Additionally, there is online help available once you are in
PsycINFO. Use the Database Guide or Help link in the top right portion of the
screen.
Search tips:
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PsycINFO has an online thesaurus
available. The link to the Thesaurus is located just above the
search box on the initial search screen (as one of the tabs). Consult
it to construct your search. The PsycINFO thesaurus provides a
scope note for terms that may include a definition, the date was term introduced,
broader, narrower and related terms.
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If you are searching for a particular author
important to your topic, click on the Index tab. Select the Browsable
Author Index from the pull-down menu and type in the author's last name
and first initial if it is a common last name.
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The Limits feature is located to the
right of the search box in the top portion of the screen. Click on the
<Change> button to set limits initially or to change them. You
may limit by publication type, language, date, document type and
others. Note: in PsycINFO there is no publication or document
type for "research." Using the publication type
limit you can select specific types of studies.
SPORTDiscus with Full Text is the world's most
comprehensive source of full text for sports and sports medicine
journals, providing full text for more than 440 journals indexed in the
SPORTDiscus index. With full-text coverage dating back to 1985,
SPORTDiscus with Full Text is the definitive research tool for
all areas of sports and sports medicine literature published in journals
and books since 1940. Records cite journal articles, books,
contributions to anthologies, and book reviews. Nearly 570 journals from
43 countries are cited.
The number
of people who can use SPORTDiscus with Full Text
at the same time is limited. Try
again later if you get a message saying the maximum number of users has
been reached.
For help searching SPORTDiscus with Full Text,
use the "Help" link at the top right side of the database or the
 question
mark icon located in various sections of the database.
You may
access SPORTDiscus with Full Text
from anywhere with a valid APSU ID.
Does the APSU Library have the
periodical I need?
The easiest way to determine if
the APSU Library has the journal you need is to search Felix (online catalog) by
title. If you have identified an article in a periodical
database or index, and the complete article is not available from that
database, check to see if the needed periodical is available in print or
electronically by using Find
Periodicals.
Evaluation of Information
Material that you find in Felix
has been selected for the APSU Library by librarians and subject faculty using
formal selection criteria and professional reviews. Resources indexed in
subject databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC and others) have met certain
criteria set forth by the database publishers such as subjects covered,
publication type, and others. You will have to evaluate this
information further to determine if it is appropriate for your research purposes.
There are various criteria to assist you in evaluating materials for your
research project. Here
are some links that will help you to evaluate journal articles and books.
How
to Evaluate Journal Articles
How
to Evaluate Books
Internet
I'm sure that most of you
are aware that there is some very good information, some very bad information
and much in between available on the Internet. How do you tell which is
which? As with all information that you examine for your research, you
must evaluate its usefulness and relevance to your particular project. You
must ask yourself questions such as who is responsible for this website?
Are they an expert in the field? Is this information relevant to my
research? Is sponsor of this website a commercial
entity or an educational institution or an organization or what? Is the
information current? Can the information be verified in other
sources? Here are a several links that will help you to evaluate
websites.
How
to Evaluate a Web Page
Five
Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages
Evaluating
Web Sites
Interlibrary Loan
You may need some resources for your project that
the Library does not own. If that is the case, you need to use the
Library's interlibrary loan service (ILL). We can borrow materials that you
need from
other libraries worldwide. Just fill out the online ILL
form and submit it electronically. Some of you may request dissertations or
theses that you find in the databases mentioned above. Many times these
documents are only available from the institution which granted the degree and
can be hard to borrow through ILL. That said, please don't hesitate to
submit the request. We may be able to borrow it. The most important
thing to remember about ILL is to plan ahead! While we have the
technology to receive articles via the internet, we still use regular (snail)
mail for books and other resources. Not all libraries that we borrow from
have the technology to send articles via the internet and still use regular
mail. Plan ahead.
Citing Sources
Once you select the sources to
use in your research project/paper, you will need to put them in some type of
order and format. Dr. Black has told you that you will use the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition as the
basis for preparing your bibliography/paper. She will advise you of the
specific format she wants you to use for citing sources in this class. The Library has copies of the
APA manual at the Information Desk. The Library's web page on style
guides will help you put your resources in APA format.
Help
I have given you a lot of
information. I don't expect you to remember all of it. There is help
available to you in a variety of ways. The Ask
A Librarian service provides help via email, chat or via telephone. You may also
contact me personally (see contact information below). I am generally
available Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. via telephone, voicemail, email or in person.
It is probably best to give me a call to see if I am in my office before
stopping by. Please don't spend hours looking for
something and get frustrated. Ask for help. That's why the Library
is here.
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