This document outlines finding knowledge in digital libraries for nursing. It defines digital libraries and describes their advantages over traditional libraries. It discusses personal reference managers, library guides, and bibliographic databases useful for nursing research, including CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO. The document describes embarking on a quest for knowledge through questioning practice, searching evidence, analyzing literature, applying findings, and evaluating outcomes. It also discusses challenges to adopting evidence-based nursing.

1. DR.Ammar Al-bourhi
FINDING KNOWLEDGE IN
DIGITAL LIBRARY HAYSTACK

2. Outlines
Introduction
Defining the Digital Library
Digital Libraries Shorten the Chain
Types of Digital Collections
Digital Library Basics
Personal Reference Managers
Library Guides and Tutorials
Bibliographic Databases Pertinent to Nursing
Embarking on the Quest for Knowledge
Challenges to the Adoption of Evidence-Based
Nursing
References

3. “To remain
what it is,
the library
must change . .
.
. . . if it does not
change,
it will not remain
what it is.”

4. Objective
 Compare nursing knowledge found
in online library databases with that
found using the Internet.
 Discuss library bibliographic
databases useful to nurses.
 Demonstrate effective literature
search strategies to support
evidence-based practice.
 Describe the use of personal
reference management

5. Our Enduring Vales
Stewardship
Democracy
Service
Rationalism
Privacy
Equity of Access
Intellectual Freedom
Literacy and
Learning

6. Introduction
 Given the vast amount of published
information,.
 Library online resources provide a
pivotal gateway to knowledge
discovery.
 Must proactively develop and
practice information search
competencies to improve patient
care and promote the scholarship of
nursing

7. Introduction-const.
 Without effective information
search competencies,
knowledge remains
embedded in the digital
haystack.
 To assist with information
searches, librarians created
digital index guides to the

8. Defining the Digital Library
Service is an assemblage of digital
computing, storage, and
communications machinery together
with the software needed to
reproduce, emulate, and extend the
services provided by conventional
libraries based on paper and other
material means of collecting, storing,
cataloguing, finding, and

9. What is important?
 Site Neutrality
 Access-Anytime (24*7)
 Anywhere (Office, Residence, Travel)
 By Anyone
 Open Access and Sharing of information
 Greater variety and granularity of
information
 Up-to- date
 New forms of rendering ( New Genre)

10. What is important?
 Integration of digital media into traditional
collections
 Digital libraries are different in that they
are designed to support the creation,
maintenance, management, access to, and
preservation of digital content

11. Five Elements in Various
Definitions of DL.
 The digital library is not a single entity;
 The digital library requires technology to link
the resources of many;
 The linkages between the many digital
libraries and information services are
transparent to the end users;
 Universal access to digital libraries and
information services is a goal;
Digital library collections are not limited to
document surrogates: they extend to digital
artefacts that cannot be represented or
distributed in printed formats.

12. Ingredients for DLs
 Hardware
The minimum machinery to do the
job.
 Software
The programs for handling data.
 Digital Objects
Articles, Conference Papers,
Thesis,……
 Basic Skills
Things one has to learn

13. Types of Digital Collections
Digitization :- Converting paper and
other media in existing collections to
digital form
 Acquisition of original digital works
:- Created by publishers and
scholars like electronic books,
journals, and dataset
 Access to external materials :- Like
Web sites, other library collections,
or publishers' servers

14. Creating DLs …
Six steps
Selecting
 Acquiring
Digitization
Organizing
Archiving
Providing Access

15. Digital Library Basics
 Knowledge-based databases index
published literature.
 Factual databases replace reference books
with searchable and updatable online
information, for example, drug and
laboratory manuals.
 Knowledge-based databases focus on
areas such as health sciences, business,
history, government, law, and ethics.
 Furthermore, each database is specialized
by the number and type of resources (e.g.,
journal or book names)

16. Personal Reference Managers
 A personal reference manager refers to
database software that allows the user to
create a personal collection of citations.
 Most library database interfaces include
an export feature that allows the user to
download citation information into a
personal reference manager.
 There are a number of commercial
products available, for example,
EndNote®, ProCite®, Reference
Manager®, and RefWorks

17. Zotero
 Zotero (http://www.zotero.org/) is a
very powerful open-source personal
reference manager.
- Zotero allows the user to save
citation
information from most library
bibliographic databases and certain
websites, such as Amazon.com and
the New York Times.

18. CiteULike at
http://www.CiteULike.org/ is a free
online personal reference manager
service that allows users to store,
organize, and share citation
information (CiteUlike, 2010).
Users must register for an account
with a login and password.

19. Library Guides and Tutorials
 Even the most experienced library
patrons can benefit from library guides
and tutorials because the technology
development for library resources
continues to change rapidly.
 Lifelong learning for professional
nursing must begin with demonstrated
 competencies in the use of digital
library searches to discover new
nursing knowledge.

20. Library Guides and Tutorials-
const.
 Nursing knowledge, including (EBP) findings,
should be quickly integrated into clinical practice
to improve patient outcomes.
 The most efficient way to develop/improve library
competencies is with the assistance of a
librarian.
 Qualified librarians have a master’s or doctoral
degree with a specialization in an area of library
science.

21. Zotero guides and tutorials address
how to use the specific library facility .
how to search using medical subject
headings (MeSH).
how to use a vendor search interface.
how to use a specific database.
how to find books and journals, and links
to help resources such as guides and
tutorials.

22.  Subject headings
refer to standardized terms used to index or
catalog reference materials.
 Each library chooses a standard subject
authority or thesaurus for all of its cataloging.
 Libraries using the National Library of Medicine
(NLM) classification use the “medical subject
headings” or MeSH
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/).

23. Searching Using Mesh Terms
MeSH
refers to the controlled
vocabulary of terms used to
index materials in PubMed and
MEDLINE databases

24. Bibliographic Databases Pertinent
to Nursing
There are numerous
databases with information
pertinent to nursing.
 Essential ones with a focus
on nursing and health-
related topics are CINAHL,
MEDLINE/ PubMed,
Cochrane Library, and
PsycINFO

25. CINAHL
 CINAHL When researching a
nursing topic, the CINAHL
database is an excellent place to
start.
 This database includes citations
and abstracts for more than 500
nursing journals and 400 allied
health journals dating back to
1982 (CINAHL, 2010).

26. Medline
 MEDLINE When researching a
biomedical research topic that
crosses healthcare disciplines, use
MEDLINE in addition to CINAHL.
 The NLM is the largest medical
library in the world.
PubMed Central allows access to free full
text articles(PubMed Central, 2010).
PubMed provides a variety of free
services.

27. Cochrane Library
Cochrane Library is considered a gold standard for
meta-analysis of medical research
Nursing students and practicing nurses may not have
the confidence and experience to analyze research
without assistance of faculty or nurse researchers.
The Cochrane Library provides access to systematic
reviews of the best research evidence.
A systematic review is designed to reduce three types
of bias inherent in individual research studies:
selection, indexing, and publication
(Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996).

28. Embarking on the Quest for
Knowledge
Step 1: Questioning Practice:
Recognize an Information Need
Step 2: Searching for Appropriate
Evidence
Step 3: Critical Analysis of the
Literature Findings
Step 4: Apply/Implement the Search
Findings
Step 5: Evaluate the Result and
Effectiveness of Practice Changes

29. Embarking on the Quest for
Knowledge
Recognize an
Information
Need
Searching for
Appropriate Evidence
Critical
Analysis
of the
Literature
Findings
Apply/Implement the
Search Findings
Evaluate the Result
and Effectiveness of
Practice Changes

30. Analyze the literature using the seven-
level rating system for hierarchy of
research evidence (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2011)
 Level I: Evidence from a systematic
review or meta-analysis of all
relevant randomized controlled
trials (RCTs) or evidence-based
clinical practice guideline based on
systematic review of RCTs.
 Level II: Evidence obtained from at
least one well-designed RCT.
 Level III: Evidence obtained from
well-designed controlled trials
without randomization.

31. Analyze the literature using the seven-
level rating system for hierarchy of
research evidence
 Level IV: Evidence from well-
designed case– control and cohort
studies.
 Level V: Evidence from systematic
reviews of descriptive and
qualitative studies.
 Level VI: Evidence from single
descriptive or qualitative study.
 Level VII: Evidence from the opinion
of authorities and/or reports of
expert committees.

32. Challenges to the Adoption of
Evidence-Based Nursing
 Although EBP is widely accepted today,
originally the concept was criticized.
 Those critical believed that it was impractical
to implement and served to only reduce costs
and limit clinical freedom (Sackett, Rosenberg,
Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996).
The problem is complex, ranging from access
to knowledge resources, attitudes toward
research, and information literacy knowledge
and skills

33. Personal barriers to the adoption
of EBP:
 The most significant was the
 Lack of value in clinical settings for research
 other barriers related to access of research
resources
 Lack of research skills.
 Lack of information literacy skills.
 Lack of information technology competencies.
 lack of time and sufficient staff
 Difficulties in interpreting statistics and research
writings