Literature Searching:
Theories of the policy Process
Min-Lin Fang, MLIS
Education and Information Consultant for Nursing
and Social and Behavioral Sciences
Objectives
At the end of lecture, you will be able to
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Find an article quickly
Develop search strategies and conduct efficient
PubMed searches
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Select appropriate databases
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Identify MeSH(s) and use MeSH(s) to run searches
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Save searches and set up an automatic updates
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Run a quick search on JSTOR, CINAHL and Web of
Science
3/22/2016
Nursing Subject Guide in the CLE
http://tinyurl.com/ucsfnursing
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Key databases and Cross-database search
EBM resources
Nursing Theories
Test & Measurement
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E-Reserves/Comp Exam Examples
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Citation Management (EndNote vs RefWorks)
Online Tutorials
Get Help
March 22, 2016
PubMed@UCSF
http://www.library.ucsf.edu/db/pubmed/
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UC-eLinks
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Link to UCSF full-text subscription
Check UCSF Catalog and Melvyl@UCSF
for journal location
Request articles not owned by UCSF
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Quick Way to Find an Article
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JSTOR
http://www.library.ucsf.edu/db/jstor
 Full-text archive for the top scholarly journals in
social sciences, humanities and arts
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Coverage of some journals dates back to the
nineteenth century
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Does not include the most recent years (3-5
years) of publication.
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Create myJSTOR to save and export
citations
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Find article “The science of muddling through”
authored by Lindblom, C.E. 1959
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Development of Search
Strategies
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Formulate the question; Break your question into
multiple concepts
Locate the proper MeSH/thesaurus for each concept;
Use AND to connect different concepts;
Use OR to connect similar concepts
Refine your search
Too Many? Apply limit options (language, subset,
age, publication type, major heading, subheading)
Too Few? Explode
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PubMed Quick Tips
When you get too many results, try these tips.
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Use “quotation marks” to search on a phrase
Use [tiab] to find a word/phrase in the title or the abstract
Use [ti] to find a word/phrase in the title
Use * to find alternative endings (child*=> child, children,
childbearing)
Use Limits from Advanced Search page
Exercise:
Health policy on HIV prevention
March 22, 2016
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Find the Most Recent
Studies
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New studies not yet indexed
e.g. PubMed – in process
PubMed – as supplied by publisher
Do a keyword search.
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Note: The default display setting: sorted by recently
added.
Why Use MeSH (Indexed Term)?
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MeSH terms (indexed terms) are an efficient way to find
articles on “concepts” where authors may use different words
to discuss the same ideas.
Using MeSH improves precision and accuracy of subject
searching.
Keyword search (title, MeSH, abstract) may not retrieve
relevant articles.
Example: physical therapy
“Storytelling as therapy: implications for medicine.”
Abstract: Storytelling is an art developed during the
beginning of human history, probably to teach the wisdom
of generations past, including basic mental and physical
health principles…
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Finding Relevant MeSH Terms
Use Medical Subject Headings to focus your search.
Do a title word search
TIPS:
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Public health [ti] AND palliative care [ti]
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Set “Abstract” format on MyNCBI account
to open the supplemental data (MeSH, PTs)
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Public health [mh] AND palliative care [mh]
Exercise:
Public health strategies on palliative care
Tobacco control policy on teen smoking
Policy implications of environmental justice
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March 22, 2016
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MyNCBI (Save Search, Updates)
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Create a free MyNCBI account
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Save search strategies
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Set user preferences – highlight search words in
your retrieval.
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Set “Abstract” format on MyNCBI account
to open the supplemental data (MeSH, PTs)
PubMed vs CINAHL
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Type of Publication Covered
MEDLINE: articles only
CINAHL: articles, books, book chapters, nursing dissertations, standards
of practice, educational software, clinical innovations, research
instruments, etc.
Year Coverage
MEDLINE: 1950-present
CINAHL: 1982-present
Subject Coverage:
MEDLINE: Focuses on biomedical journal literature
CINAHL: Focuses on nursing and allied health literature
Updates
MEDLINE: daily
CINAHL: Weekly
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PubMed vs CINAHL
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Overlap
Controlled Vocabulary
MEDLINE: Uses MeSH
CINAHL: Based on MeSH & unique nursing and allied health
terms called CINAHL Subject Headings
Nursing theories: CINAHL
Peer-Reviewed Articles
MEDLINE: can’t easily identify peer-reviewed articles: CINAHL:
can use peer-reviewed limiter or use journal subset: peerreviewed to locate peer-reviewed articles
Exercise (CINAHL) : Policy, politics and nursing practice
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Web of Science
Multidisciplines
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Search from multidisciplinary literature
Cited references, times cited
Exercise: Policy, politics and nursing practice
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Citation Management
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Create your personal database of
references, importing them from databases
Cite references while you write a paper
Automatically format the paper and the
bibliography
RefWorks:
 Free Web-based service for UCSF
students and personnel
 FAQ:
http://www.library.ucsf.edu/help/citemgmt/refworks
March 22, 2016