RESP 100
Orientation to Library Resources
Recommended Starting Points to Familiarize Yourself with FLITE (the library) & Research Basics
Getting Started with Research Tutorial
Logging-on to Library Resources Tutorial
Citations/Avoiding Plagiarism Webpage
Finding Library Materials
To find books, journals, videos, and other library materials, there are several resources to use. Beginning at the library's homepage, you will find links for locating all types of library materials.
- Find Books, videos, and more using the online catalog. The online catalog is set-up so you can perform keyword searches, subject searches, title searches, etc.
- Find Articles using Databases. You can select Health and Medical Resources if you are specifically searching a health-related topic, or select other subject areas as necessary.
- Find Journals using the online catalog journals tab. Journals may be available online, in print, or in microform. You can search by the full journal title, title words, or by subject.
- Find Online Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and other Reference Books using the Online Reference Resources.
Finding Articles using FLITE Databases
To find articles pertinent to your topic, it is essential to use the appropriate databases that provide access to many citations and full-text articles. If you are doing research from off-campus, you will need to log-on to use databases licensed by FSU. You can log-on to the databases using your MyFSU username and password. Click here for more information on off-campus database access.
General OneFile
This is a general database that will be useful for searching about any topic you can come up with! Start off using the Find Subject search box, and if you don't find your subject, use the search box at the top of the screen to search by keyword. Also consider switching to the Advanced Search that will let you limit your articles to particular journals, as well as to full-text, peer-reviewed, etc.
Stat!Ref
Stat!Ref is an excellent starting point for researching medical topics. Enter your search term into the search box and you will obtain a rank-ordered list of results taken from various books, including medical encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and other medical reference books. A very helpful feature of this database is the Related Concepts box to the left of the results that will provide you with synonyms for your topic. These related concepts or synonyms can be used to enhance your searches in this database, as well as the other databases. You can also use medical acronyms and abbreviations when searching in this database.
Health & Wellness Resource Center
Find information from medical encyclopedias, journal articles, pamphlets, videos, and more using this database that is filled with information oriented towards health care consumers. This is a nice place to get a general overview of different diseases and conditions, as well as medications.
CINAHL
The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) currently gathers information from more than 1800 journals. For articles that look interesting in this database, click on the Find It link to look for the full text. If you're not familiar with using the Find It link, see the section below for Obtaining the Full-Text of Articles
PubMed
This is the largest biomedical database, with over 19 million citations, brought to you by the National Library of Medicine. Search using keywords, and consider using the Advanced Search to limit your results. The Related Articles link works very well for this database, so consider using the Related Articles link when you find an on-topic article.
Note: You must click into the article record to see the Find It link that will attempt to link you out to the article.
Click here for PubMed Tutorials.
MedlinePlus Consumer Health
The is the patient information database, also brought to you by the National Library of Medicine. Here you will find Reliable information because the websites and resources have been selected by the National Library of Medicine.
Obtaining the Full-Text of Articles
In some databases you will see an option for a Text version of the document or a PDF version. In general, the PDF version is preferable as it is most often a scanned version of the original and will therefore contain the graphics. When e-mailing, printing, or saving a group of articles, be sure to select the full-text or PDF option if available.
Some databases contain little full-text, but allow you to link out to Ferris' holdings or the interlibrary loan request form. You will notice the Find it! links following individual citations that will indicate the availability of the article online, in the library, or the need to interlibrary loan the article. Click on the Go button and you will be taken to the online version, library holdings record, or interlibrary loan form to obtain the article you desire. See image below.
Sample Article Link-Out:
Evaluating your Information
When writing research papers, scholarly articles from Academic Journals and other reliable sources, such as reference books should be utilized. There is a great article about Peer Review that you may want to read. For more help determining if an article is scholarly, please click here. The databases discussed above can help you locate reliable information. If you are using websites as sources of information, be sure to evaluate the website. For more information on how to evaluate a website, please click here. Also, don't forget the Consumer Health, database if looking for websites which links you out to reliable information sources that have been selected by the National Library of Medicine.
Citation Help
APA Citation Style Guide: Learn basics about APA style, a prevalent citation format in the medical field.
Any more questions? Contact: Alison (Ali) Konieczny / Email / Phone: 231-591-3696 / Office: FLITE 315
Don't forget, you are welcome to come to the Oval Information Desk and ask for help any time. You can also call us 231-591-3602 or Click Here for Live Help
Last update: December 4, 2009