DACC Library: DHYG 217 Research Methodology: Searching Databases

Databases

What do databases do?

They provide periodical articles, books, and multimedia that can be searched to retrieve information on a topic, subject, or discipline.

Why use a database?

They are an ideal place for research because they...

contain a large quantity of in-depth information on an array of topics
provide research that is scholarly and peer reviewed written by professionals
make the authority, publication, and publication date of the material easily recognizable
allow you to control and refine your search using limiters
make it easy to cite, save, and print your articles
are free through the library

How to use a database?

Below is the breakdown of how to use a database:

1. Identify the major concepts of your research topic

2. Brainstorm for keywords

3. Choose a database

4. Connect your keywords together

Identify major concepts of your research topic

Breakdown your research topic into concepts. Pick out the words that indicate the main points of your topic. These will be your keywords.

Why use keywords?

Unlike Google, databases don’t like sentences.
Long phrases or sentences will confuse the database and lead to disappointing or NO results.
Most good research topics have two to four major concepts
Too few concepts will retrieve too many results
Too many concepts could possibly limit your search too much

Brainstorm for keywords

The search terms you choose are important.

Keywords are what you use to search the database. These keywords are the concepts that are from your research topic.
When you search a database most often you are searching the words in the “title” and “abstract” not the entire text of the article.
Titles and abstracts are written by the author of the article
The database compares the keywords that you enter to the keywords that an author has chosen for their article.

Connect keywords together

You need to tell the database what to do!
Databases use the Booelan operators: AND, OR, NOT
The operators expand or limit your results
Most databases use AND automatically

Which database should I use for my research?

CINAHL Ultimate
Content: A comprehensive research resource for nursing and allied health professionals, featuring journals, evidence-based care sheets, quick lessons, continuing education modules, and more.
Purpose: Supports healthcare professionals and students with authoritative tools for research, education, and evidence-based practice in nursing and allied health fields.
Health and Medicine: OneFile
Content: Offers information tailored for students, consumer health researchers, and healthcare professionals, covering a comprehensive range of healthcare topics.
Purpose: Supports education and research in health and medicine by providing reliable, up-to-date resources for a variety of users.
MEDLINE
Content: A leading bibliographic database created by the United States National Library of Medicine offering citations and abstracts from biomedical and health journals.
Purpose: Supports medical research, healthcare education, and evidence-based practice by providing access to authoritative biomedical literature.
Mometrix
Content: Offers practice tests, exams, and certification materials, along with study tips and advice to manage test anxiety. It covers subjects such as K-12 education, business, counseling, social work, nursing, medical professions, and technologies.
Purpose: Supports test preparation and certification across various fields by providing practice materials and helpful strategies to enhance performance.
PubMed
Content: Provides access to over 34 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature. While not always available, full-text journal articles are frequently linked from other sources, such as the publisher's website or PubMed Central (PMC).
Purpose: Supports biomedical research and healthcare studies by offering a vast collection of literature citations and facilitating access to full-text resources when available.