MRIS 103 - Konrad
Starting your Research
To effectively research health sciences topics, it is essential to use the appropriate resources. Subject-specific encyclopedias are a good starting point for finding background information on your topic and they may be found in the Online Catalog by doing a keyword search for medical and encyclopedia. If you specifically want online encyclopedias, you may wish to search your topic in the Electronic Medical Library Stat!Ref that searches the contents of many medical reference books. There are also many online encyclopedias available through our Online Reference Resources collection. Ebrary is a collection of many online books that may prove to be helpful as well.
After gathering background information on your topic, you will want to focus your search in general and research databases to find articles on your topic. If you are doing research from off-campus, you will need to log-on to use databases and other online resources licensed by FSU. All you will need to log-on from off-campus is your MyFSU username and password. Click here for more information on off-campus database access.
Finding Articles Using FLITE Databases
Stat!Ref
OK.... these aren't really articles, the results are coming from reference books. But, this is a great place to get background information, and don't forget the dictionary feature.
Click here for a Stat!Ref Database Guide.
General OneFile
This is a general database that will be useful for searching about any topic you can come up with! You can do either a subject search or a keyword search. If having difficulties finding what you need, go to the Advanced Search.
CINAHL
The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) currently gathers information from more than 1800 journals. Use the CINAHL Headings subtab to get more subject-specific information on various topics. When you have found your subject heading, you may click on it to break your topic down by subdivision. Click on the refine search tab to add limits such as peer-reviewed or publication date limits. You can narrow and expand your search using the options available in this database.
PubMed
This is the largest biomedical database, with over 18 million citations from scholarly journals. Search using keywords and then limit your search if necessary using the limits tab, related articles link, or selecting the Review tab to see only review articles. Other highly useful resources linked from PubMed include Single Citation Matcher and Consumer Health.
Click here for a PubMed tutorial.
Articles from Newspapers
Generally you will want to use scholarly articles from journals, but if you are in search of newspaper articles, there are many great newspaper databases available through the library.
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 Journal Link-Out:
Evaluating your Articles
Before requesting articles from interlibrary loan, please review the abstract and make sure that the article is on-topic. Also, please insure that the article is in a language that you speak, as some databases, such as PubMed index many non-English articles that have abstracts written in English. After you have evaluated the topical coverage and language of the article, please do not hesitate to request it through interlibrary loan if it is not available on campus.
Other Useful Library Links
Avoid plagiarism by properly citing your sources. Please go to the Citations webpage to learn how.
Library Homepage
Find Articless using FLITE databases.
Find Journals: Look for journals by doing title, keyword, or subject searches.
Find Books and More using the online catalog. Look for books, videos, and other library holdings.
APA Citation Style Guide: Learn basics about APA style, a prevalent citation format in the medical field.
Refbase:
Put citations in APA style, MLA, Chicago, etc. with this this helpful citation management tool. You may want to look at the Refbase tutorials.
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 chat with us.
Last update: September 10, 2009