This document provides an overview of how to effectively search for information to answer a research question. It discusses developing a focused question using PICO elements, identifies appropriate biomedical databases like Medline and Embase, explains peer review of sources, and demonstrates using MeSH terms and Boolean operators to search Medline through Ovid. It also discusses evaluating websites, citation management software, and when to consult a librarian for help.

1. Information Seeking An overview on how to approach the search for useful information Marina Englesakis, Information Specialist University Health Network January 20, 2011

2. Where does information seeking start? The Nebulous Question… We are curious about obesity occurring in ethnic minorities and whether there is a role for public health to play

3. Methodology to Aid in Question Development: PICO -effectiveness -cost/benefit -quality of life O – Outcome(s) n/a C – Comparator (if applicable) Public health I – Intervention Obesity in ethnic minorities P – Patient, Problem, or Population

4. A Research Question In ethnic minorities with obesity, is public health an effective intervention?

5. Components of a Good Question Focussed, narrow, specific Two or more elements Phrased as a question

6. Terms/Synonyms arising from the question -randomized controlled trials -controlled trials -clinical trials -multi-center studies -meta-analysis -preventive health -public health units -ethnic groups -minority groups -racial groups + -overweight -weight gain -superobese Alternative terms or Synonyms + Alternative terms or Synonyms + Alternative terms or Synonyms O – Effectiveness I – Public Health P – Ethnic minorities + Obesity

7. Relationship of Terms Ethnic Groups + Obesity Public Health Effectiveness (RCTs, etc.) AND

8. To proceed… Question refined  Terms & synonyms developed  What source of information to use?

9. Not Google! Not yet, anyway Why?

10. Evaluating Web Sites 1. ACCURACY  is the information reliable and error-free?  what are the author(s) sources? 2. AUTHORITY  who wrote the web page? is the page signed?  what are the author’s qualifications?  who sponsored the web site? 3. OBJECTIVITY  what are the goals of the author(s) or sponsor(s)?  is the information free of bias?  is it designed to sway opinion?  is there advertising on the page?  is it market-oriented? an infomercial? 4. CURRENCY  is the page dated?  when was the last update?  how current are the links? 5. COVERAGE  what topics are covered?  how in-depth is the material?  how useful is the material?  do you need special software to access the information?

11. Biomedical Databases Medline, 1948- 97% peer-reviewed article citations But what is “peer-reviewed”?

12. Peer Review of Journal Articles Definition of “Peer Review” from MEDLINE: An organized procedure carried out by a select committee of professionals in evaluating the performance of other professionals in meeting the standards of their specialty. Review by peers is used by editors in the evaluation of articles and other papers submitted for publication. Peer review is used also in the evaluation of grant applications. It is applied also in evaluating the quality of health care provided to patients. NOTE: professionals evaluating professionals

13. Goals of Peer Review From: How to review journal manuscripts. Rosenfeld RM. Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery. 142(4):472-86, 2010 Apr. p. 473

14. From: How to review a manuscript: a “down-to-earth” approach. Roberts LW. Coverdale J. Edenharder K. Louie A. Academic Psychiatry. 28(2):81-7, 2004. p. 82

15. Back to Biomedical Databases Medline, 1948 – Embase 1980 – CINAHL, 1982 – present Cochrane Library (consists of 7 databases) Web of Science Scopus / SciVerse

16. Medline From the National Library of Medicine, USA Premier biomedical database for North America Bibliographic (citation) database only (not full text) Over 20 million citations 4,700 journals indexed 97% citations are peer-reviewed Available via various interfaces, including PubMed and OvidSP

17. Embase Commercial database (not national like Medline) European / Asian in focus Larger database than Medline (24 million citations) “… 7,500 mostly peer reviewed journals” (including 2,400 journals not found in Medline) Very strong in drug literature Very strong in alternative medicine literature The indexing is very different than that of Medline Depending upon the topic, there may be 25-75% overlap between Embase and Medline

18. CINAHL C umulative I ndex to N ursing & A llied H ealth L iterature Focus on 17 allied health disciplines, including: nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, and others 2.2 million records; 3,300 journals indexed, approximately half of which are peer reviewed Includes selected Medline records Indexes articles, some books, chapters, web sites, dissertations, videos, etc. Very good source of patient education materials

19. Cochrane Library Comprised of 7 databases: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Cochrane CENTRAL Controlled Trials Register (CCTR) Cochrane Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) Health Technology Assessments (HTA) Economic Evaluations Database (EED) Methodology Database ACP Journal Club

20. Web of Science Very expensive database, available from only very large research institutions like the University of Toronto Covers 10,000 journals in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities Goes back to 1900 (for some disciplines) Includes conference proceedings Global coverage Provides citation searching functions

21. Scopus / SciVerse Very recently changed structure “… is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.” (from their web site) Contains 41 million records, 70% with abstracts Nearly 18,000 titles from 5,000 publishers worldwide 70% of content is pulled from international sources Includes over 3 million conference papers

22. Where to find these databases? The best, one-stop source is the Gerstein Science Information web page

25. Medline OvidSP OvidSP is the search interface provider to this Medline database There are other search interfaces to the Medline database, but OvidSP is recognized as the most robust

26. How a search takes shape… Canned example using our research question and the Medline OvidSP database

40. To see the entire search strategy

45. The search results:

46. What to do with Citations? Citation management software Free from U of T: RefWorks (web based) Student priced software: EndNote X4 ($86) Reference Manager 12 ($86)

47. Citation Management Software What can it do for me? Makes your life easier! Keep your citations in your own database for future use Works with your word processing software to add citations to your manuscripts Can automatically format your manuscript’s citations in the format appropriate for the journal to which you are submitting your manuscript.

48. When to consult a librarian? Once you have developed your question Once you have tried to run some searches yourself, and haven’t found anything relevant Once you find that you’d like to learn more about searching databases effectively But definitely before you are ready to call it quits!

49. U of T Libraries – Gerstein Science Information Centre There are many ways to contact librarians at Gerstein: (there used to be a Meebo option, but it isn’t available right now) [email_address] (416) 978-2280 Walk in

50. Thank you!