Introduction to literature searching

Introduction to literature searchingNursing October 2014Nursing October 2014

Today we are going to cover...

• Finding the evidence

• Searching effectively for journal articles

• Evaluating information for your assignments

Evidence

Exercise 1 - Discuss in pairs

• What is “evidence”?

• Can you think of some situations where evidence would be useful in healthcare practice? Why?

What Is Evidence?

“Information or signs indicating whether something is true or valid” Compact Oxford Dictionary for Students (2006)

You will need to provide appropriate evidence to support any claims or arguments made in your assignments

Evidence-Based Practice

“…involves the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care…”

Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: a guide to best practice (2005)

Where’s the evidence?• Guidelines for practice, e.g.

NICE clinical guidelines are based on research evidence from specialist resources

• High quality, peer-reviewed research in journal articles

• Articles can be found using specialist subject databases

Today we’re going to search for literature on...

Culture and professional practice

What are the important concepts in your learning log topic? Are there other terms for the same ideas?

Finding resourcesmyUniHub > My Study > My Library

Remember this from Essential Library Skills?

Library Subject Guides

Exercise 3

• Use InterNurse and Summon to search for articles on culture and professional practice

• Remember to try other related keywords too

Evaluating what you’ve found

Is it what you need and is it trustworthy?

What criteria would you use to assess the relevance and quality of the information?

The C A R P test

C A R P• Currency - How old is the information? When

was it last updated?• Authority - Who is the author / site creator?

What is their background? Is the article published in a scholarly/peer reviewed journal?

• Relevance - Is this what I need? Will it answer my question? Is it at the right level?

• Purpose - What is the purpose of the information e.g. financial gain, propaganda, academic, etc.

Exercise 4

• Work in groups• 5 resources and evaluation sheet

• For each resource, decide as a group if it meets the criteria.

• No need to read the whole thing!

Referencing

• Is very important• Acknowledges other people’s work (avoids

plagiarism)• Shows you’ve read around the subject• Supports your discussion and arguments• Gets you better marks!• Enables others to find your references

Referencing – style guide

What we’ve covered

• Using evidence based resources

• Searching effectively for journal articles

• Critically evaluating information

• Any questions?

Need help?

• Librarians in the StudyHub (1st floor) during core hours Monday - Friday

• Ask a Librarian http://askalibrarian.mdx.ac.uk/• Nursing Library Subject Guide

http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/nursing