CON 322 - Health Related Research (Scott)

Introduction | Reference Sources | Indexes & Databases | Internet Resources | Writing the Paper

For assistance in locating information on any health topic, please contact Sheila Johnson (sheilaj@usm.maine.edu or 780-4690), Nursing Department Liaison, USM Glickman Library, Portland; Evelyn Greenlaw (evelyng@usm.maine.edu or 753-6541), Lewiston Campus Library; or Maureen Perry (mperry@usm.maine.edu or 753-6546) Lewiston Campus Library.

Library Services / Locate Books

Library Services

Library Barcode

Your library barcode is the small red number beginning with 2502200...at the bottom of your ID card. New or transfer students will have had this number automatically activated if the id was obtained before the semester began. Don't know if your barcode number works? Go to the library's home page, click Your Record and try to login. Doesn't work? Contact the library Circulation department at any of our campuses. Use this number to to access databases off campus.

Library Home Page

http://library.usm.maine.edu

Library Research Assistance

Reference librarians and their assistants are available to give you expert help with any question that you may have about your library assignments and research. To contact them:

• Go to the Reference/Information Commons service desk at any USM campus library.
• Click: Ask a Librarian to send an IM or e-mail, or obtain service phone numbers.

Obtain Journal Articles  

Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) If an article is not available online or in print, we can obtain a copy for you. To register for this service, go to the library's home page, click ILLiad and First Time Users - Start Here. When you request an article on interlibrary loan, a link to it will appear in your e-mail within 3-5 working days. Please do not use interlibrary loan to request articles from print journals owned by the Portland campus library. Article Linker Click adjacent to database search results to locate an electronic or print article. If article not available: Click Submit an Interlibrary Loan Request to request a copy. To obtain your article, go to the library's home page, click ILLiad and login. Select View/Download Electronically Received Articles. If not using Article Linker go directly to ILLiad link on library home page. Note: Please do not use interlibrary loan to request articles from print journals owned by the library where you are taking this course. For detailed instructions, review the Linker Tutorial

Locate Books

Books are useful for selecting a topic, and providing background information.

• Search the URSUS catalog to locate books at USM and other University of Maine System libraries.
• Note: For information on using the catalog, consult the URSUS tutorial.
• Can’t find your title in URSUS? Try MaineCat (Maine libraries) or WorldCat (hundreds of US and worldwide libraries).

These resources are useful when you need an overview or introduction to a topic, or when you want brief, factual information. The following titles are available online or at a USM campus library. For a more comprehensive list, consult the Nursing subject guide.

Dictionaries

Health Care Terms
POR Reference RA423 .S545

Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary

Other Resources

Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior
POR Reference R726.5 .E53

Encyclopedia of Mental Health
GOR Reference RA790 .E53

Encyclopedia of Nursing Research
POR Reference RT81.5 .E53

Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine
GOR Reference RC1206 .O355

Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
POR Reference RT21 .G353

Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy
Provides general medical information for health professionals

Journal articles are the most current sources of information, and many are based on recent nursing research. The easiest way to find articles on your topics is to search an electronic index (database). Most of your nursing instructors will require you to use scholarly journals instead of magazines. So how do you tell the difference? Consult scholarly, popular, and trade periodicals for information about these distinctions.

Frequently your instructors will also require that you use peer-reviewed journals. Not certain what this means? To find out, consult What is a Peer-Reviewed Journal?

The Database Search Tips will help you to develop an effective search strategy for your topic.

Select one or more of these databases to locate articles on your health topics:

NURSING/HEALTH/MEDICAL and RELATED DATABASES

Tutorials

The University of Nebraska has an excellent Medline Tutorial

For help in searching CINAHL, check Dalhousie's interactive Cinahl Guide, or the University of Florida Tutorial

Check with your instructor before using Internet resources. Some will prefer that you use the pre-selected sites listed in your course material. Others will want you to use library databases exclusively.

When selecting Internet resources it is important to evaluate the quality of any websites that you use. Consult the USM Library’s Evaluating Web Resources guide, or Evaluating Web Pages (UC Berkley) for assessment criteria. The National Cancer Institute has an excellent guide on How to Evaluate Health information on the Internet. The following is a selected list of websites that you may find useful. For a more comprehensive list consult the Nursing subject guide.

Evaluating Research

BMJ Online
Online version of the British Medical Journal. Includes an article on Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research) and Papers that summarize other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses).

Evidence-Based Nursing
The electronic version of the journal Evidence Based Nursing.  Contains a link to evaluating systematic reviews of treatment/prevention.

Evidence-Based Research/Guidelines

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The primary source of federal support for research on problems related to the quality and delivery of health services. The mission of AHRQ is to support, conduct, and disseminate research that improves access to care and the outcomes, quality, cost, and utilization of health care services. The research sponsored and conducted by the Agency provides information that enables better decisions about health care.

National Guideline Clearinghouse
Comprehensive database of full-text evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents. You can browse the guidelines by disease/condition, by treatment/intervention, or by the name of the submitting organization.  Guidelines are abstracted into a standardized format and are easy to compare.

This section will apply if you are writing a paper or completing an assignment that requires you to cite your resources.

Citation Styles

Accurate, properly formatted footnotes and bibliographies are indicators of good academic research, and the ethical/legal use of information. The standard citation style for nursing courses is APA (American Psychological Association).

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
POR/GOR Reference BF76.7 .P83 2001
LEW Reserve BF76.7 .P83 2001

Using American Psychological Association (APA) Format (Updated to 5th Edition) (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)

Plagiarism

USM Academic Integrity Policy

Plagiarism: What it is and How to Recognize and Avoid it (Indiana University)

Created by: Sheila Johnson
Last Updated: 2.2008