STRUCTURED APPROACH TO DATABASE / LITERATURE SEARCHING

1. STRUCTURED APPROACH TO DATABASE / LITERATURE SEARCHING Vasumathi Sriganesh QMed Knowledge Foundation info@qmedkf.org.in

2. QMED KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION • Three year old not for profit trust • Mission: To train and enable healthcare professionals to obtain the best evidence from systematic research • We work with students, faculty, practitioners and libraries in the health sciences domain

3. RESEARCH DISCOVERY Four steps • Identify your research problem • Identify types of resources you hope to find • Identify the appropriate search tools to retrieve and organize the information • Carefully and critically evaluate the information you have found

4. Identifying the problem

5. IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM • Defining the problem clearly • Defining the reason for the information-quest

6. RESEARCH PROBLEM • Simple ---------> Complex • Meaning of Osteoarthritis • Information about Kawasaki Disease • Incidence of breast cancer amongst unmarried women in North India • Is bed rest better than being active for low back pain and sciatica

7. RESEARCH PROBLEM Reasons • Meaning of Osteoarthritis • I have to show off to my older brother • Information about Kawasaki Disease • Need to prove to the world that I know a lot

8. RESEARCH PROBLEM Reasons • Incidence of breast cancer amongst unmarried women in North India • I want to relate the incidence of breast cancer to xxxx • Is bed rest better than being active for low back pain and sciatica • I have to treat a patient with lbp + sciatica and there is conflicting evidence

9. Types of Resources

10. TYPES OF RESOURCES Traditional • Books • Text books / Monographs • Journals

11. TYPES OF RESOURCES Traditional • Other reference sources • Dictionaries / Encyclopediae / Biographical sources • Handbooks / Manuals etc

12. TYPES OF RESOURCES Traditional • “Indexes” • Monthly / Cumulative • Directories / Lists

13. RESOURCES • Primary – The resource • Secondary – List of resources • Tertiary – List of lists of resources

14. IT ERA • Same sources on the web • Formerly in print • New – E-only resources • Based on the above • Search engines • General • Databases with highly featured search engines • Meta-search engines

15. Appropriate Search Tools

16. APPROPRIATE SEARCH TOOLS • Simple • Google it  • Slightly more complex / important reasons • Know standard resources and search them • Complex / very important questions • Best resources, best search strategies, if needed – all possible resources, with indepth strategies

17. APPROPRIATE RETRIEVAL / ORGANIZATION • Web-enabled updating tools like email alerts / RSS feeds • Storage in bibliographic managers for easy re-retrieval • Using importing / other tech-based tools

18. Evaluating Internet Information

19. AUTHORITY OF SOURCE • Author - individual • Institution • Sponsor • Issues to check: • Credibility • Bias • Political or other linking?

20. RECENCY OF INFORMATION • When was the site last updated • How often is it updated • Is there any obsolete information • Are there archives to check old information • How quickly is any latest information added

21. SITE ORGANIZATION • Ease of navigation • Links • Too few • Too many • Key links from home page • Good index / sitemap / search facility

22. PURPOSE • Intended audience • Students / professionals / lay people • Objective • Inform or persuade? • Promotional? • Check • Is the information original or copied • with or without permission

23. EVALUATING AT INFO-LEVEL Eg – a Journal article can make a tall claim – “this drug is fantastic”. Need to evaluate • Methodology of study • True randomization / blinding / allocation concealment? • Statistics / calculations – correct? • Other bias – eliminated?

24. BACK TO RESEARCH PROBLEMS • Simple ---------> Complex • Meaning of Osteoarthritis • Information about Kawasaki Disease • Incidence of breast cancer amongst unmarried women in North India • Is bed rest better than being active for low back pain and sciatica

25. IDEAL SOURCES • Medical Dictionaries / Encyclopedia • Databases • PubMed (index to journal articles) • Cochrane Library (Systematic Reviews) • “Summaries” (UpToDate, First Consult, BEST BETS / Bandolier)

26. ABOUT GOOGLE • Brilliant resource, but… (Demo of a google search on prostodin in labor – first shows a blog of a medical intern and his case)

27. WHAT DOES ONE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DATABASES? Scope of coverage • What it covers • What it does not • Time span

28. WHAT DOES ONE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DATABASES? Availability: Free or paid for? • What is the difference? • When is “free” adequate, and when it isn’t

29. CONCEPTS - SEARCHING

30. PRECISION & RECALL • Precision • Specific, pinpointed • Recall • Broad-based, generic, related coverage included

31. BOOLEAN OPERATORS • AND • OR • NOT

32. BOOLEAN – ‘AND’ Malaria Filaria AND = articles on Malaria and Filaria

33. BOOLEAN – ‘OR’ Malaria Filaria OR = articles on Malaria OR Filaria OR both

34. BOOLEAN – ‘NOT’ Malaria Filaria NOT = articles on Malaria BUT NOT Filaria

35. DEMO • Primary • Journals / Clinical Trials • Secondary • PubMed • Tertiary • Hardin Meta Directory • TRIP Database

36. DEMO • Synthesis • UpToDate

37. ORGANIZING FOR FUTURE • PubMed – Save search / Collections • Email alerts • Zotero – importing citations • Mendeley – importing citations

38. THANK YOU www.qmedkf.org.in