Selecting a resource

Once you have constructed your clinical question using the PICO method, you can then choose relevant databases to search and select alternate terms for those in your PICO question. The databases will have subject thesaurus that can help you in selecting these terms. The National Center for Dental Hygiene Research has created this helpful handout to assist with these steps.

What is a library database?

This video explaining what a library database is was created by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

http://youtu.be/KKIbnNLCh8g

Searching databases is more efficient and authoritative for finding scholarly articles than searching the open web. While it may take some time to learn to use the databases, the time it will save you in creating and refining a targeted set of search results and filtering through less relevant resources will be significant. Learn more about searching databases vs. the open web in this video.

Why Can’t I Just Google?

Wellington Medical and Health Sciences Library at University of Otago Wellington produced the following video to explain the difference between library databases and search engines and when to use each tool.

http://youtu.be/Oa9Plg_7gdg