NURS 250
Researching Health Sciences Topics
Finding Library Materials
The snapshot of the Library Homepage below highlights the Find menu which is a good starting point to find various library resources.
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. Search these reference books individually, or cross search a group of books using Facts on File, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Sage eReference Encyclopedias, Credo, or using our friend Stat!Ref.
Finding Background Information
You may want to start off by gathering background information from encyclopedias and other reference books. Consider using:
Stat!Ref: This database searches the contents of many medical reference books.
Ebrary is a collection of many online books that may prove to be helpful. For more information on how to use Ebrary, click here.
Online Reference Collection: This is a collection of online reference books (mostly encyclopedias). Of particular interest for this class are the Health & Medical encyclopedias and handbooks.
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. When doing research from off-campus, you will need to log-on to use databases and other online resources licensed by FSU. Simply use your MyFSU username and password to log-on. For more information on off-campus database access, click here.
Finding Articles using Databases
Stat!Ref
As stated above, 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 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.
Click here for a Stat!Ref Database Guide.
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 Update Results link to the right of your records 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 19 million citations. Search using keywords and then limit your search if necessary using the Advanced Search, limits tab, related articles link, or selecting the Review tab to see only review articles.
Click here for a PubMed tutorial
General OneFile
This is a general database that will be useful for finding information on 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. Academic Onefile is a database that will have many similar articles, but will also have unique content, so try them both! Academic OneFile operates in the same manner as General OneFile.
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.
Consumer Health, also called Medline Plus
This is another database that provides reliable information oriented towards patients. Note that information is available in multiple languages.
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 the example below:
Sample Article Link-Out:
Evaluating your Articles
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, peer-reviewed or refereed (those terms all mean the same thing), 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.
Health Assessment Instruments Online
Some online sources you may want to use for health assessment instruments include:- Health and Wellness Resource Center: Click on the Health Assessment tab to find multiple assessment tools
- Healthier U. S. Preventive Screenings
- Princeton University Health Services Online Health Risk Assessments
- NYU Online Psychiatry Screenings
Great Government Websites for Information on Community Health/Epidemiology/Health Promotion
***Note: don't forget all of the useful government information linked from PubMed
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
US Department of Health and Human Services
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
National Center for Health Statistics
Michigan Steps Up/Michigan Surgeon General
State Health Facts- Not a government website, but good source for state level info. and health care policies.
APA Guides
Printable 2 page APA Quick Style Guide:
Learn basics about APA style, a prevalent citation format in the medical field.
More links to APA Style for Online Sources
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: January 11, 2010