Library News

UPDATED: July 28, 2025.   Original Post: November 8, 2017

Developing a clear question is an important first step when researching information to guide your work and/or decision-making, and when preparing for a potential research project. In health care, practitioners and researchers are faced with complex questions which make starting the research process a daunting task. A well-built question is clear, focused, and summarizes the issue to be investigated. Determining the type of question will help you select the best resource to consult for your answer.

Background vs. Foreground Questions

Background questions are used to gather general information, typically asking the 5Ws: Who? What? When? Where? Why? To answer these questions, start with general resources, such as overview textbooks, summaries, medical directories, etc.

Example: Looking for general information on diabetes care? Search for resources using Library Services' Discover search. Use the filters on the left-hand side of the page to retrieve results for books to find general information on the disease and its presentation.

Other helpful resources for answering background questions include Library Services’ Subject Guides, which contain best bets on library resources for specific topics in healthcare research. Need resources that inform patient care? Our collection of Clinical Practice Supports highlights information and tools for clinical staff.

Building Foreground Questions

Foreground questions are specific and complex. They often consider multiple factors to guide decision making and/or inform further research.

Example: In women with migraine and aura, how does use of combination birth control pills affect risk of stroke compared to progestin-only birth control?

Clearly articulating a foreground question and identifying key components can be challenging. Using the PICO(T) model can help you identify your key concepts and build your question before examining the literature.

PICO Example:

This Evidence Based Practice module from Dalhousie University's Kellogg Library takes you through the steps of creating an answerable clinical question using PICO.

Structuring your Search

Using PICO to develop your question will help you identify key search concepts. Tools like a search planning grid can help you plan and organize your PICO criteria into search terms. Once identified, additional terms can be derived from synonyms and related concepts to expand your search results.

Once you have determined the key terms for your search, you will be able to search databases and search engines by combining your terms using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).

Still have Questions?

Visit Library Services’ Searching guide for more tips and assistance. Book a one-on-one consultation with a Librarian Educator to discuss building effective research questions or request a custom education session on the topic. Want to get started on searching? Try out your question-building skills by submitting a literature search request. We bet your results will be more relevant!

Happy searching!

Selena MacDonald

Librarian Educator
Nova Scotia Hospital, Central Zone

UPDATED: July 21, 2025.   Original Post: May 27, 2019

True or false: Healthcare literature that is more than five years old has no value.
Answer: It depends.

Healthcare professionals seeking answers to clinical questions for patient care need the most current available evidence. This type of medical information is continually evolving. For example, drug information can become outdated – and possibly outright dangerous – in as little as a year or two.

Other types of healthcare information change less frequently. Older anatomy and physiology textbooks and atlases, for example, may still include accurate information but may lack diverse representation and accessibility features found in newer editions.

Sometimes, older medical literature is valuable because of its historical perspective. One current example is case studies of past public health efforts to eradicate infectious diseases that are now resurging, such as measles. Lessons from past immunization campaigns, both successful and unsuccessful, can inform current and future strategies (Infante, 2025). They can provide insights such as (Hebert, 2012; Eddy, 2023; Infante, 2025):

• The vaccination coverage rate needed for herd immunity.
• The roles that socioeconomical, political, and cultural factors play.
• Approaches to help overcome challenges and barriers such as vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.

Other examples of historical medical information that still has merit include:

• Literature that illustrates the evolution of current medical knowledge and practices, and healthcare policies.
• Literature that involves practices that have withstood the test of time and are still relevant (e.g., hirudotherapy).

Where to find the most current clinical information

• Clinical Practice Supports
• BMJ Best Practice
• ClinicalKey
• Dynamic Health
• Pharmacist’s Letter Canada
• CPS

Where to find older medical literature

• PubMed can retrieve citations going back to the early 20th century for some publications.
• PsychINFO® contains historical psychological abstracts dating back to the 1800s.
• Library Services’ Ovid® journals collection contains titles dating back to 1946.

Older back issues of many journals can also be found by:

• Searching Library Services’ ejournal and print journal collection
• Applying publication date filters to results from Library Services’ Discover search

If you’re unsure of where to find the information you need, current or historical reach out to Library Services at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca or book a consultation with a library team member.

References:

1. Infante, D. (2025). Immunization strategies: What lessons can we learn from successful campaigns? News-Medical.Net. https://www.news-medical.net/health/Immunization-strategies-What-lessons-can-we-learn-from-successful-campaigns.aspx

2. Eddy, J.J., Smith, H.A., & Abrams, J.E. (2023). Historical lessons on vaccine hesitancy: Smallpox, polio, and measles, and implications for COVID-19. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 66(1), 145-159. doi: 10.1353/pbm.2023.0008

3. Hebert, C.J., Hall, C.M., & Odoms, L.N.J. (2012). Lessons learned and applied. Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics, 8(5), 560-568. doi: 10.4161/hv.19204

Lana MacEachern

Library Technician
Pictou/Colchester-East Hants/Cumberland Region

UPDATED: June 17, 2024. Original Post: September 15, 2017

There are many factors you should consider when identifying the top journals in a particular field. These include:

• the publisher’s reputation
• the peer review process
• current citation metrics

Peer-Reviewed Titles

The peer review process involves independent experts in the same or related field(s) as the author, evaluating the “quality of the scholarship, reliability of findings, relevance to the field, appropriateness for the journal, etc.” (McMaster University, n.d.).

Many databases allow you to limit your search to peer-reviewed journals. For example, when searching CINAHL Ultimate, you can check the Peer Reviewed box under Search Options, then Limit your results, before entering your search terms. Alternatively, after you complete your search, you can refine your results by filtering by Source Types and selecting Academic Journals (A):

Using the Library’s Discover search, you can look for peer-reviewed articles by selecting Show peer reviewed only (B) in your search results:

Journal Metrics

Several metrics are used to measure the importance of journals, including:

• Impact Factor
• Eigenfactor
• Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR)

SJR, for example, is an open-access metric that ranks titles found in Scopus from 1996-present. Use the Journal Rankings (C) feature to organize results by specific criteria, including:

subject area
subject category
regions/countries
type
year

SJR journal ranking information (score and H-INDEX) can also be found while searching the library’s journal collection.

Hovering your mouse over the SJR score (D) will give more information about the score:

• A higher score is better.
• Q1 signifies that a journal has been ranked in the top 25% of its subject category.
• H-Index is a reflection of the number of an author’s published articles and number of times cited.

Some people question the validity and reliability of journal metrics, in particular, those of Impact Factor (Greenwood, 2007).

Additional Evaluation Tips

The University of Chicago’s Library Guides and Dalhousie University’s “Predatory Publishers: How to determine validity” overview provide questions you may find helpful to consider when evaluating journals, including:

• Is the journal published/sponsored by a professional scholarly society or association (e.g., the American Psychological Association)? An academic press (e.g., Oxford University Press)?
• Are reviewers or editorial board members listed on the journal’s website or within the journal?
• Does the publisher provide contact information?
• Is the number of rejected articles comparable to other reputable journals?

Locating and Accessing Titles

An easy way to find relevant journals in your field is through Library Services’ Discover Search and Collections Search page. To search for journals by title, use the lower search box labelled Nova Scotia Health Library Collections, and select the Journals tab. Your search results will show relevant journals that Library Services subscribes to electronically or owns in print.

Alternatively, you can select the upper search box labelled Discover and search for journals by title or subject. Refine your search results using the filters on the left side of the page. Select Journal (E) under Publication Type. Select Apply (F) to remove results that aren’t journals.

If you’re struggling to find full-text access to a particular journal article you need, access our Document Delivery form to request it. For help with searching, check out Library Services’ tutorials.

For information on any of Library Services’ resources, please reach out to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

References

1. Greenwood, D. C. (2007). Reliability of journal impact factor rankings. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 7(48), 48. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2206035/

McMaster University (n.d.). Scholarly vs. Popular Sources: Scholarly Peer Reviewed Journals. https://library.mcmaster.ca/research/scholarly-vs-popular-sources#tab-scholarly-peer-reviewed-journals

Laura Mounce

Librarian Educator
Halifax Infirmary, Central Zone

Nova Scotia Health Library Services has several new ebooks on our virtual shelves, thanks to the generosity of the Dr. Chauhan Memorial Trust Fund (Cape Breton, Guysborough, Antigonish Strait region).

With funding from the trust fund, Library Services has added the following titles to support physicians, nurses and allied health providers. Doody’s Review Service highly recommends many of these titles.

To view the new ebooks:

1. Click on a title below.
2. Click on View full text at the top of the ebook record.

Dr. Chauhan Memorial Trust Fund Purchases:

Clinical Handbook of Psychotropic Drugs (2023)

Trauma, Occupation, and Participation: Foundations and Population Considerations in Occupational Therapy (2021)

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for OCD and Its Subtypes (2020)

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for OCD: A Treatment Manual (2020)

Virtual Services in the Health Sciences Library: A Handbook (2022)

Lymphatic Structure and Function in Health and Disease (2020)

The Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2021)

Dialectical behavior therapy (2020)

Mastery of your anxiety and panic: therapist guide (2022)

Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (2022)

As Nova Scotia Health staff and physicians, you have access to more than 20,000 ebooks!

Looking for ebooks on a particular topic? Our Discover search (a Google-style search for library content) searches the library’s print and electronic resources, including full-text articles. Its built-in features bring relevant content to the top of your results so you can quickly find the content you need.

Searching in Discover will help you find resources in our own library collection and beyond. If you only want to search our ebooks, follow these steps:

On the library’s homepage:

1. Navigate to Search Sources (A) in the top navigation bar.
2. Select Discover (B) from the drop-down menu.

Under Search Nova Scotia Health Library Collections:

3. Select the Books (C) tab and enter title you’re looking for (D). 
4. Click on Search to find out if we have that title in our collection and how to access it.

If there's a book or other resource you think Library Services should add to our collection, please let us know! To suggest a purchase:

1. Click on the Services drop-down arrow at the top of the library’s homepage,
2. Click on Purchasing.
3. Under Suggest a Library Purchase, select the blue button:
4. Fill out and submit the electronic form.

NOTE On mobile devices, click on the grey button in the upper right corner of your screen, select Services and then Purchasing.

Thanks again to the generosity of the Dr. Chauhan Memorial Trust Fund. As always, if you have any questions, please connect with us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Eastern Zone - Cape Breton, Guysborough, Antigonish

TDS Health hosts a variety of resources relevant to various health care disciplines, including STAT!Ref Titles. TDS Health provides:

• Full text access
• A search function that can search within the full text
• A built-in medical dictionary to help you while you read

Accessing TDS Health

From Library Services' homepage, select Search Sources in the top navigation bar. From the dropdown menu, select Databases. Select T, then TDS Health (formerly STAT!Ref).

Accessing STAT!Ref Titles

You can find a list of all the titles offered via STAT!Ref by selecting the STAT!Ref panel on the TDS Health homepage.

Searching tips

TDS Health’s search bar allows you to search within the full text of all available titles. To help you search better:

• Use keywords rather than entering a full sentence question.
• If you would like two or more words to be found adjacent to each other, use quotation marks (e.g. "myocardial infarction").
• Hyphenating terms will make the search find the words in that exact order (e.g. torsades-de-pointes).

Filtering search results

On the search results page, under FILTER BY on the left, you can filter your results.

• Custom Title Set lets you specify which titles you want to limit your search to. In the popup window, check off the titles you want to search in, then click on the floppy disk icon  in the top right.
• DATE RANGE lets you limit the publication date range.
• RELATED TO lets you specify the aspect of your topic you want to focus on. For example, if you searched ‘Tuberculosis’ and checked off ‘Diagnosis’, it will give you information specifically about diagnosing tuberculosis.
• ADVANCED SEARCH provides three helpful tools:

1. Suffixes searches for variations of your keywords (e.g. diabetes will also give you diabetic, diabetics, etc.).
2. Related Terms looks for synonyms for your keywords (e.g. heart attack will also give myocardial infarction).
3. Headings Only searches only within the Table of Contents.

Viewing an eBook

When viewing an ebook on TDS Health, the Table of Contents is always on the left-hand side for easy navigation between sections. In-text citations appear as superscript numbers; you can click on each number to find the full citation in the reference section.

At the top of the full text, the Tables and Figures tabs provide summaries of all the tables and figures used within the current section.

To search within the current book, click on the dropdown menu to the left of the search bar at the top of the page and select Current Title, then run your search.

TDS Health will highlight all the matching keywords within the text. To navigate between the highlighted keywords, use the Match arrows  at the top of the full text.

The Result arrows  let you navigate between all the results from the search results page.

Using Stedman’s Medical Dictionary

Stedman’s Medical Dictionary provides definitions for medical terms, abbreviations, acronyms, measurements, and more. It is offered through TDS Health and is also embedded into all the other titles on TDS Health.

To define a word within the text, simply highlight the word. A pop-up will appear with a dictionary definition as well as an audio pronunciation.

Getting the TDS Health Mobile App

If you would like to view the titles offered through TDS Health on your mobile phone, you can follow this link to the Mobile Apps and Resources subject guide for more information.

If you have questions about using STAT!Ref through TDS Health, reach out to us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca or book a one-on-one consultation with a Library Services team member for help using this and other library resources.

Vinson Li

Librarian Educator
Yarmouth Regional Hospital, Western Zone

PubMed® recently added a new proximity searching tool to help you create better searches. The tool allows you to search for multiple terms within a specified distance of each other, such as one or more words apart, in any order. This can only be done with the title and the abstract fields. This tool can already be found in other databases, such as CINAHL®.

How to use Proximity Searching in PubMed®

Proximity searching uses the following format:
          “search terms”[field:~N]

“search terms” are the words you want to search for.

• You can add two or more words within quotation marks. The more words you use, the narrower the search gets.
• You cannot use truncation (e.g., pain*). A possible work-around is to use “OR”.
  For example:
  Instead of: “ICU nurs*”[title:~1]
  Use: “ICU nurse”[title:~1] OR “ICU nurses”[title:~1]
• You cannot specify the order in which the words appear in the search.

 field specifies where within an article you want the proximity search to be done.

• Currently, you can only use the [Title] and [Title/Abstract] fields:
  • [Title] looks for the search terms within the titles of articles.
  • [Title/Abstract] looks for the search terms within the titles and abstracts of articles.
• When searching [Title/Abstract], use the field abbreviation “tiab” to limit the search to this field.
  For example: “neoplasm[tiab]”.

 ~N specifies the maximum number of words apart you want the search terms to appear.

• ~0 means the search terms must be adjacent to each other.
• ~1 means there is at most one word between all the search terms
• ~2 means there is at most two words between all the search terms, and so forth.

Proximity Search Example

To search for articles that contain the terms ‘staffing’ and ‘model’ within at most two words of each other and within the title or abstract, the search query is:

"staffing model" [tiab:~2]

Here are some of the results from that search query:

In the titles, you will see that the words ‘staffing’ and ‘model’ appear adjacent in one result, and two words apart in the other result.

In the abstract snippets, you will notice that the words don’t appear next to each other. This is because PubMed® highlights all words that match the search terms in the search results, regardless of the query parameters.

Check out this video for more information on how to use PubMed®’s Proximity Search: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/oet/ed/pubmed/quicktours/proximity/index.html

If you have questions about PubMed®’s Proximity Search, or about database searches in general, book a one-on-one consultation with a Library Services team member, or reach out to us with your questions at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

Vinson Li

Librarian Educator
Yarmouth Regional Hospital, Western Zone

Are you interested in learning how to access information using Library Services resources or developing patient education pamphlets? Our education sessions teach practical information skills that meet the evolving needs of:

• Clinicians, staff and researchers who need to efficiently access health sciences literature for research and to inform patient care
• Clinicians who need to learn how to access new/under-utilized point-of-care tools and other relevant resources

Online education sessions, offered on Microsoft Teams, cover topics such as:

• Library Services orientation
• Literature search tips to assist with research
• Searching specific databases (such as PubMed®, CINAHL, etc.)
• Developing patient pamphlets
• Copyright advice

We keep in mind health care workers' busy schedules so new classes are added every three months with a variety of dates and times. There is sure to be a session suitable for you.

View online education and training opportunities

1. Be sure to check our Learning Opportunities calendar often. You can access the calendar from Library Services’ website by selecting Services at the top of the Library’s home page. From the dropdown menu, select Education and Training Sessions.
2. Watch for learning opportunities in the Library Services section of Nova Scotia Health News.
3. Print and post our fall education flyer - coming in September! From the Library Services home page, select Documents & Forms from the left-hand menu. Select Promotion, then the Library Learning Opportunities document for the current season.
4. Keep an eye out for promotional emails from Library Services.

Online session registration is quick and easy:

1. From the Learning Opportunities calendar, select the session you are interested in.
2. Select the Begin Registration button and complete the form.
3. Before you select Register, it is helpful to have your device set up properly to join the meeting.
   1. Support for joining the meeting is provided on the registration page and in the confirmation email you will receive.
   2. If you have any difficulty, please email Library Services prior to the session date.
4. Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to join the session.
5. You will also receive a reminder email before the session date.
6. After the session, you will receive a Training Evaluation Form. Your feedback is important!

Custom Group Training

Looking for a customized group training session? We have you covered! Our instructors deliver customized education sessions on several topics that support your info needs, at a time that works best for your team. Depending on the type of request, customized group training can be delivered virtually, via Microsoft Teams, or in-person. Let us know what you are looking for by filling out our Custom Group Training form. A Library Services team member will be in touch to arrange your session.

Consultations

Library Services’ team members also provide consultations. Meet one-on-one with a library and information professional for help with your project, publication, research or other info need. Book a consultation online today!

We look forward to meeting you in one or more of these sessions, or in a consultation with a Library team member. As always, please reach out to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca with questions or for further info about Library Services’ Education and Training opportunities.

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Eastern Zone - Cape Breton, Guysborough, Antigonish

The results are in: Nova Scotia Health staff and physicians are making great use of the BMJ Best Practice Comorbidities point-of-care tool!

Did you know you can access the same content, including the Comorbidities Manager, on the BMJ Best Practice app

BMJ Best Practice, including the Comorbidities Manager, is available 24/7 to support health care providers with making informed clinical decisions.

In the first 12 months after launching the BMJ Comorbidities Manager add-on at Nova Scotia Health:

• Use of the BMJ Best Practice database increased by 150%
• Views of the treatment management section increased by an average of 73%
• 40% of the top ten most-used topics fall within the Comorbidities section

The BMJ Comorbidities Manager allows health care providers to treat the whole patient using a patient’s comorbidities to inform a more tailored treatment plan. This tool is integrated into BMJ Best Practice and is the only clinical decision support tool of its kind (BMJ Best Practice, 2023).

Usage statistics show that at Nova Scotia Health, sessions on the app have increased by 40% since 2021. Having access to the Comorbidities Manager on the go means you have access to clinical decision support anytime, anywhere!

BMJ Best Practice App Benefits

• The ability to tailor treatment plans with the Comorbidities Manager
• Access more than 1,000 conditions summaries offline. Clinical decision support is available on your mobile device even when you are not connected to your network and do not have access to the Internet
• Access over 200 interactive medical calculators
• Automatic tracking of your activity for CME/CPD purposes

BMJ Best Practice, 2023

How to Get the App

Downloading the app is quick and easy. It only uses minimal storage on your device. You must have a personal account in order to use the app. To create an account:

1. Access BMJ Best Practice via the library’s Databases A-Z page.
2. Create a BMJ Best Practice personal account through the pop-up box – “Create your FREE personal account in one step”.
3. Download and install the app from the App Store or from Google Play.
4. Select "Log in" and enter your BMJ Best Practice personal account details to sign in.

Visit Library Services’ Mobile Apps & Resources guide for more information.

Using the Comorbidities Manager on the app

Let’s look at how you could use the Comorbidities Manager in the following clinical scenario:

An 80-year-old man presents at the emergency department with acute exacerbation of COPD. You learn from his family that he also has depression and diabetes. You need to quickly decide how to best treat his acute condition while considering his pre-existing conditions.

Search for ‘acute exacerbation of COPD’ by typing it into the search bar (1). On the app, predictive text is enabled when searching for conditions.

Under Management (2) select Treatment algorithm (3).

A pop-up box will appear to add your patient’s comorbidities. Check the boxes for both Diabetes and Depression (4) and select Show Treatment Algorithm (5).

Options that are affected or added because of the patient’s comorbidities will be indicated by the Comorbidities icon  (6). Click on each treatment option for further details (7).

NOTE Not all conditions will include the ability to add comorbidities.

For more information about using the BMJ Best Practice Comorbidities Manager on the app or the desktop version, book a consultation with a library team member, or email us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

References

1. BMJ Publishing Group Limited. (2023). Comorbidities: Treat the whole patient. BMJ Best Practice. https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/comorbidities.

2. BMJ Publishing Group Limited.(2023). Free access to our award-winning app for BMJ Best Practice users. BMJ Best Practice. https://bestpractice.bmj.com/info/us/download-the-app/

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

UPDATED: February 27, 2023. Original Post: June 18, 2018

Using Google to search for articles might seem quick and easy—until you hit a paywall. Rather than pay for access to an article, Nova Scotia Health staff can use Library Services’ subscriptions and Document Delivery services to access the information they need. Check out four ways to access journal articles through Library Services below and skip the paywalls!

Search in Discover (TDNet)

Discover searches multiple databases and health sciences resources at once—not just content that Nova Scotia Health subscribes to or has in print. You can search Discover for articles, journals, book chapters, and more.

To begin, navigate to the Library’s homepage and select the Discover tab. In the search box, enter the title of the article you are looking for or keywords that focus on your topic. Then click Search.

On your search results page, you can revise your search keywords, if needed, or narrow your search by applying the filters found on the left side. An icon under each search result will display information about full-text access:

• View full text: You have immediate access to the full text of the article because Library Services has a subscription and pays for access. You can click View full text (1) to view the article, or click the article’s title to go to the article’s library record. From there, you can view more information about the article, as well as options for accessing the full-text.
  NOTE The View full text icon also displays when Library Services owns a print version of an item.
  
•  Open Access: The article is free to access for everyone. You can click Open Access (2) to view the article, or click the article’s title to go to the article’s library record. From there, you can view more information about the article, as well as options for accessing the full-text.
  
•  Check for full text: We may not currently have access to the article. In that case, request a copy using the Document Delivery form attached to the article’s library record. Click the article’s title or Check for full text (3), then scroll down to complete the form.
  

NOTE If you only want to see search results that allow immediate full-text access, click Get it at Nova Scotia Health at the top of the list of search filters on the left side of your search results screen.

Use Library Services’ PubMed® or Google Scholar Access Point

Accessing PubMed® or Google Scholar from Library Services’ Databases A-Z list will show which search results provide full-text access through Nova Scotia Health. There are two ways to access the A-Z list from our homepage:

1. Click the Databases tab on the main search box. Click the dropdown menu to find the database you wish to search.

OR

2. Click Search Sources in the top navigation menu, then click Databases. Scroll to find the database you want to search.

Click on the name of the database you want to search, then enter your keywords in the search box.

If you are searching in PubMed®, click on a title from your results page. This will take you to the article’s record page, example below. On the right side of the screen, there will be full-text links, if available (4).

If you are searching in Google Scholar, look for full-text access information on the right side of your search results page (5).

Full-text in other databases

Some databases, like APA PsycINFO, allow searchers to filter results by full-text access. Like your Discover search results, your search results in other databases will have icons and words that describe your access:

• Linked Full Text and Open Access give you immediate access to the article.
• Check for Full Text means you will need to request the article through Document Delivery.

To limit your search results to items with immediate full-text access, click Linked Full Text or Open Access from the filters on the left side of the search results page.

Request Full-text through Document Delivery

While each item record in Discover contains a Document Delivery form, you can simply use a blank Document Delivery form on the Library’s website: https://library.nshealth.ca/Document-Delivery. Include as much detail as possible and click Send. Library staff will contact you if there are any fees associated with your request.

For more information on any of Library Services’ resources, please reach out to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

Laura Mounce

Librarian Educator
Halifax Infirmary, Central Zone

Time is a valuable commodity for all nurses. Now, you can save time with Nursing Reference Center Plus!

Nursing Reference Center Plus (NRC Plus) is an excellent evidence-based information resource. Developed by nurses for nurses, NRC Plus is unmatched in scope and helps to meet nurses’ practice, education, and research needs (EBSCO, 2022).

It is easy to access care plans in NRC Plus. Problem-based care plans help to address patient issues and support patients in reaching their goals. There are fifty different care plan topics available, including Risk for Injury, Fatigue and Nutritional Imbalance and more.

Access NRC Plus

You can access NRC Plus from Library Services’ Databases page. From the Library’s homepage:

• Click on the Databases tab. Click on the Select a Database… drop-down menu and select Nursing Reference Center Plus from the list.

OR

• From the top menu bar, click on the Search Sources drop-down menu and choose Databases. This brings you to the Databases A-Z list, where you can search alphabetically for Nursing Reference Center Plus.

Once you’ve accessed NRC Plus:

• Click on Care Plans on the home page.

OR

• Select the Diseases tab in the top menu bar. You can then enter search terms for a specific care plan in the search box.

Search for care plans

For example, let's search for ‘risk for injury’:

1. In the Diseases tab (A), enter ‘risk for injury’ in the search box and click on the Search button.
2. On the results page, under Material Types, select the checkbox next to Care Plans (B). 3. From the filtered results, select the “Injury: Risk for” care plan (C).

Once you have selected a care plan, you will find a list of Tools (D) along the right-hand side of your screen. These include:

• E-mail Alert (E): You can save your searches as alerts and have NRC Plus email you any new results. Simply enter your email address and use the drop-down menu to choose how often you would like to receive alerts.
• Print (F): Click on the Print button to display the care plan in your browser window. To print, simply click on the Print button in the dialog box.

For further assistance with care plan tools and how to use them, please visit the Nursing Reference Center Plus Help section.

Access care plans on the go

NRC Plus offers mobile access for iOS (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) and Android devices. You can utilize care plans and all of NRC Plus’ other great content on the go. Follow the detailed mobile app instructions in the Mobile Apps and Resources subject guide to download the NRC Plus app.

NRC Plus will save you time by enhancing your access to evidence-based, nursing-related content. Whether you are interested in care plans, quick lessons, competency checklists, or skills with videos, NRC Plus is an excellent tool to incorporate into your daily work.

For more information on Nursing Reference Center Plus or other nursing-related resources, please reach out to Library Services at asklibrary@nshealth.ca. We are here to help!

References

1. EBSCO (2022). Nursing Reference Center Plus. https://support-ebsco-com.libraryproxy.nshealth.ca/help/?int=nup&lang=en&feature_id=&TOC_ID=Always&SI=1&BU=0&GU=0&PS=0&ver=&dbs=nup.

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

We know you’ve been loving our new Discover search!

In this post we outline our top three tips to get even more out of your searching experience.

TIP 1 Search only Nova Scotia Health Library’s holdings

Our Discover search helps you find a wealth of content in our own library collection and beyond, but what if you only want to search among our books and journals?

From the library’s homepage, go to Search Sources (1) in the top navigation bar and select Discover (2) from the drop-down menu.

Under Search Nova Scotia Health Library Collections, select the Journals tab or the Books tab (outlined in red below), then enter the title you’re looking for (A). Click on Search to find out if we have that title in our collection and how to access it. Alternatively, you can browse our collection by title (B).

TIP 2 Understand what ‘View full text’ means

When you click on the  View full text link under the title of a book, book chapter, journal, or article in your Discover search results, one of two things will happen: 

1. If Library Services has an electronic version of this item—You’ll be taken right to the item so you can access it right away.
2. If Library Services has a print version of this item—You’ll see this notice: “This book is available from NS Health libraries in print and can be requested using the form below.” Fill out the form and we will send the item to you from one of our library sites.

TIP 3 Create an account to bookmark items and save your searches

In the upper right of any page in Discover, click on Sign up (1). Fill in the required fields and submit: registration is quick and easy!

Once signed into your account, you can:

• Bookmark items (2) by clicking Bookmark below a result.
• Save a search by selecting the star icon (3) next to the search button.

You can then view these items through the Bookmarks and My Searches tabs (4) below the main search bar.

If you’re looking for more in-depth training on searching the library’s resources, you can:

• Book a one-on-one consultation
• Request a group training session
• Keep an eye on our Learning Opportunities calendar for upcoming training sessions

As always, if you have any other questions, please reach out to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca. We are here to help!

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

Lana MacEachern

Library Technician
Aberdeen Hospital, Northern Zone

UPDATED: July 2022. Original Post: August 2017

APA PsycINFO is an important database for anyone working in the fields of mental health, psychology, behavioural research, or addictions. Health professionals conducting research in these fields will find a wealth of information resources in this database on behavioural and social sciences topics.

Developed by the American Psychological Association, APA PsycINFO contains over five million records. These include peer-reviewed journal articles, dissertations, and book chapters. In addition to the latest studies, APA PsycINFO also includes historical research dating back to the 1800s.

APA PsycINFO can be accessed in two ways:

From the Library’s homepage, click on the 'Databases' tab (A) and select 'APA PsycINFO' from the 'Select a database' drop-down menu. From 'Search Sources' in the top menu bar (B),  choose 'Databases' from the dropdown menu. This brings you to the 'Databases A-Z' list, where you can search alphabetically for 'APA PsycINFO'.

Accessing APA PsycINFO from the 'Databases A-Z' list takes the searcher directly to the 'Advanced Search'. From there, the searcher can build a search (C), view the 'APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms' (D) to choose from the controlled vocabulary, or use the 'Citation Matcher' (E) to find a specific record.

On the search results page:

There are options to filter by publication date, publication type, language, full text availability, and more (F). Search results can be sorted in various ways, including by date, relevance, author, or source (G), and can be shared by exporting through email (H).

For more information on searching in APA PsycINFO, check out this quick reference guide: https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/training/ebsco.pdf.

If you have any questions about using APA PsycINFO in your work, please reach out to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca, or book a one-on-one consultation with a Library Services team member.

Laura Mounce

Librarian Educator

UPDATED: June 10, 2024

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then is a video worth a million? We like to think so!

Library Services provides Nova Scotia Health staff with access to full-text ebooks, ejournals, and articles. Did you know you can access procedural videos as well? If you are looking for a visual refresher on how to perform a procedure, BMJ Best Practice and ClinicalKey® have you covered.

BMJ Best Practice

Our access to BMJ Best Practice includes videos on common clinical procedures. Each video is accompanied by a list of equipment, complications, indications, contraindications and aftercare.

Browse a list of procedural videos

1. Go to the Library Services Databases A-Z page. Enter BMJ in the search box, then click on the Go button; or select B from the Databases A-Z alphabet list.
2. Click on the BMJ Best Practice link.
3. From the BMJ Best Practice home page, select Multimedia (A) from the menu bar, then Videos.

Locate videos on a specific subject
As an example, let’s search for "osteoporosis":

1. Go to the BMJ Best Practice home page (as in steps 1 and 2 above).
2. Enter "osteoporosis" in the search box, then click on the search icon.
3. In the search results screen for "osteoporosis", click on the Signs & symptoms link (B).

Under the Resources heading (C), you will find a link to Images and videos (D) on your specific subject.

Note: Most, but not all, subjects and procedures in BMJ have accompanying images and videos.

ClinicalKey®

ClinicalKey’s procedure videos provide step-by-step visuals for dozens of procedures. Each video is accompanied by instructive text, images, and equipment lists. 

Browse a list of procedural videos

1. Go to the Library Services Databases A-Z page. Enter ClinicalKey in the search box, then click on the Go button; or select C from the Databases A-Z alphabet list.
2. Click on the ClinicalKey link.
3. On the ClinicalKey home page, scroll down to the Deepen your specialty and medical knowledge section, then click on the link for Procedure Videos (E). 

Note: You can browse the resulting list of videos alphabetically (F) or by specialty (G).

Locate videos on a specific subject 
As an example, let’s look for "nasogastric tube placement":

1. Go to the ClinicalKey® home page (as in steps 1 and 2 above).
2. To the left of the search box, click on the All Types drop-down menu and select Procedure Videos (H). 
3. Enter "nasogastric tube placement" in the search box, then click on the Search button (I).

TIP When you click on the link for a procedure video, there is a double arrow ⤢ in the top-right corner of the screen. Click on the arrow to open ‘reading mode.’ This makes the accompanying text larger so it is easier to read.

Copyright considerations

Like other forms of information, procedural videos are protected by copyright. You must have permission and/or give recognition to the creator to be able to reuse and/or share them. Permissions differ by resource. Before using any video, check the copyright permissions for the video. 

TIP For most databases, copyright permissions can be found under the Terms and Conditions link (J) at the bottom of the home page. If you have questions, reach out to copyright@nshealth.ca. 

Procedural videos are great visual tools to help refresh your skills. BMJ Best Practice and ClinicalKey® both have an extensive selection of videos to meet your clinical practice and research needs. If you would like more information on procedural videos, reach out to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca, or book a one-on-one consultation with a team member. We are always here to help!

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Eastern Zone - Cape Breton, Guysborough, Antigonish

We updated our website to highlight our subject guides and key search sources, including a new Discover search. We’re confident that these changes will help you navigate to the content you need for your clinical practice and research!

What is Discover?

Discover is a Google-style search for library content. It searches the library’s print and electronic subscription resources, including article-level full text. Its built-in features help bring relevant content to the top of your results, to quickly get you the content you need.

What other ways can I search for information?

Our website highlights four search sources. Each source focuses on a collection of content. For example, if you want to search for book chapters and journal articles, use Discover.

Other search sources include:

• Databases: Choose a single database to focus on a specific area of health care or health research.
• Patient Education Pamphlets: Search our patient education pamphlet collection for full-text pamphlet PDFs.
• Website & Subject Guides: Search our website and subject guides for:
  • Recommended resources linked on our website
  • Subject guides, including professional and patient guidance created by local health care experts

What else is new?

• Update: If you have saved any links to our previous catalogue and eJournals search page, they will need to be updated. These tools have been replaced by Discover.
• Discover User Accounts: Discover allows you to create a user account where you can request articles, bookmark items, and more. Creating a user account also helps to pre-populate our new Document Delivery form when you land on an item you want and need to request.
• Subject Guides: Our growing collection of guides for either Staff & Physicians or Patient audiences is now organized into four groups:
  • Evidence-based Starting Points
  • Health Care Topics
  • Patient Education
  • Library Help
• Top navigation: The menu at the top of our website has changed to highlight our search sources, services and new subject guide groups.

We know you’ll want to test drive these changes to get comfortable with the new navigation and improved searching. Education sessions are scheduled in May and June, so sign up today for a guided tour! If you would prefer one-on-one support, please book a consultation with a library team member at your convenience.

Library Staff

Nova Scotia Health Library Services

Current, peer-reviewed info about COVID is vital as we move into the later stages of the pandemic. Thankfully, scientists and clinicians around the world continue to answer the call, publishing record numbers of articles and sharing even more pre-prints.

You may have noticed that the majority of the results for your recent searches have a COVID focus. But what if you don’t need COVID-focused evidence? When you do not want a term included in your search and that term is clouding your ability to screen in relevant items, consider using the NOT Boolean operator.

Using NOT to exclude results

If you’ve participated in any of the Library’s education sessions about database searching, you may be familiar with how Boolean operators work:

• Using OR between terms or searches will increase results.
• Using AND will decrease results.
• Using NOT will exclude concepts from search results.

Use caution when using NOT, as it is easy to unintentionally exclude potentially valuable results. For example, an item’s metadata (the info that describes the item) may use the term you are excluding alongside other terms that are relevant to your search.

Using NOT to exclude COVID in PubMed

Let’s say you’ve heard a lot about wastewater monitoring for COVID in Canada and are wondering what else is being monitored this way. If you run a quick search in PubMed for wastewater AND (monitor OR surveillance) AND Canada, you’ll notice that the top results have a strong COVID focus. To remove COVID results, you must do two things:

1. Enclose your first search in brackets to help the database understand your request correctly.
2. Add NOT, followed by the term(s)/search strategy that will best remove the most irrelevant items from your search.

Adding brackets around your first search, then adding NOT and any additional term(s) will make sure the database processes your original search first.

Try: (wastewater AND (monitor OR surveillance) AND Canada) NOT COVID

Step 2 is where things can get complex because we have choices about how comprehensive we want to be with our exclusion. Simply adding “NOT COVID” to the original search in brackets will exclude some COVID articles but may miss excluding some since there are many variants of the virus. If you want to be sure you are being as comprehensive as possible, what should you do?

Using COVID-19 PubMed filters: Inclusion & Exclusion

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) maintains PubMed and has created highly accurate search strategies to isolate results about COVID. These search strategies range from General to Treatment-focused and take the variable terminology inherent in COVID into account. Originally developed to let you easily include COVID content in a more comprehensive way, you can also use these strategies to exclude COVID content more accurately.

Thinking about Step 2 in the process above, you can grab the shorthand for a specific filter, Filter Name (1), and add it to your search with NOT using the Filter command (i.e. [Filter]).

Let’s add the General COVID-19 Filter: (wastewater AND (monitor OR surveillance) AND Canada) NOT LitCGeneral[Filter]

This extra step isn’t always necessary, as your own terms may be just as effective at excluding from a current search result set. However, when you are setting up a search strategy for monitoring new results over time, using these tested filters can help ensure you account for evolving terminology.

Using NOT in other databases

NOT, the other Boolean operators, and brackets are core mechanics of how any database works. You can use the steps outlined here to exclude a term or search strategy in most biomedical databases supported by Library Services (such as CINAHL, Embase and more).

You can also look for COVID-19 search strategies, or other search strategies developed by each database.  You might notice these filters in pop-ups or alerts in a given database, or labelled as “evidence-based” or “clinical” filters within the Advanced search options.

If you are interested in learning more about using advanced searching techniques or tested search filters, please book an online consultation with a librarian at a time that works for you. If you’re interested in learning more on your own, visit the Search Filters page on our Searching subject guide.

Katie McLean

Librarian Educator, Outreach Lead

Dickson Building, Central Zone

“Research is something that everyone can do, and everyone ought to do. It is simply collecting information and thinking systematically about it.” (Raewyn Connell, 2021)

The research process is made up of several steps, all of which are important to effectively answer a question. Whether you are carrying out a literature search or a systematic review, the research process can seem overwhelming, even confusing. You may feel confident about your search, but then wonder how to properly evaluate what you have found. This post will help you decide on important factors for screening result sets for inclusion or exclusion.

Screening your search results is the process of weeding out any inadequate articles that you obtain after running your searches (Dalhousie Libraries, 2021). Screening is an evaluation tool that can be applied not only to literature searches and formal reviews, but also when quickly looking for best evidence on a topic. Screening can help evaluate “in the moment” search results, such as those required for patient care.

The screening process can be performed by one reviewer or a team of reviewers, depending on the information need or type of study being conducted. For example, “in the moment” research results may only have one reviewer, while a scoping or systematic review may have a team of reviewers. It is important that all reviewers on a team adhere to the same screening criteria.

When screening your results, whether for a formal research project or to gather evidence "in the moment" to inform patient care, keep these tips in mind:

1. Establish inclusion and exclusion criteria – If you are working with a team of reviewers, all members must be clear on which criteria are going to be included and which are going to be excluded. For example, inclusion criteria could be all participants in a study must be 50 years old and over. This means that any study that discusses participants under the age of 50 will automatically be excluded from the search results.

If you are the only person screening search results to inform a patient care decision, it is useful to know the type of study that will provide evidence-based results to support a therapeutic choice, such as an adult woman deciding what blood thinners will best manage her atrial fibrillation.

2. Review results using established inclusion and exclusion criteria – Remove items that clearly do not fit inclusion criteria and those not from a trustworthy or credible source. In the informal, patient care example above, you can screen in systematic reviews and/or randomized controlled trials. 

3. Read the full-text – After determining which articles will be included, access and read the full-text. Read the articles using critical appraisal tools, screening for credible evidence, bias, and peer reviews. In more formal reviews, full-text screening is often categorized as the “second level of screening,” as it follows a more in-depth, rigorous process (Dalhousie Libraries, 2021).

4. Check for and remove any duplicates – If you are searching multiple sources, make sure you haven’t included the same item more than once. Many citation managers, such as Zotero, have a feature that will check your search results for duplicates. Be sure to check out Library Services’ Citation Management guide for further instruction.

Tools that will guide your screening work

The PRISMA Flow Diagram (Moher et al., 2009) is a great tool to help more formal research projects record and summarize the screening process. There are also several other tools to help you manage evidence synthesis and aid in the screening process. The University of Toronto Libraries provide excellent step-by-step instruction on screening search results for those researchers looking to dive deeper into the process. 

Screening your results is a vital step in the research process—whether you are gathering evidence for a formal publication or using it to inform a local project or patient care. Our tips and tools will make it easier for you to put the knowledge you find into action.

Reach out to us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca with any questions you have about screening search results, or the research process in general. You can also book a one-on-one consultation with a Library Services team member. We are always here to help!

References

1. Dalhousie Libraries. (2021). Knowledge Syntheses: A How-To Guide. https://dal.ca.libguides.com/systematicreviews/selectionscreening

2. Fisher, S. (2021). 17 research quotes to inspire and amuse you. Qualtrics. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/research-quotes/ 

3. Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & The PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Med. 6(6): e1000097. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed1000097

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator, Education & Training Lead
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

Library Services has several new ebooks on our virtual shelves. A selection of these ebooks have been added thanks to the generosity of the Dr. Chauhan Memorial Trust Fund (Cape Breton, Guysborough, Antigonish Strait region).

Dr. Chauhan Memorial Trust Fund purchases

With funding from the Dr. Chauhan Memorial Trust Fund, Library Services has added the following titles to support the practice of physicians, nurses, and allied health providers. Many of the titles are highly recommended by Doody's Review Service. 

Click on a title below to view the item's record in our catalogue, then simply click 'View ebook' to open.

• Clinical Consult to Psychiatric Mental Health: Management for Nurse Practitioners (2021)
• Damage Control Resuscitation: Identification and Treatment of Life-Threatening Hemorrhage (2020)
• Emergency Medicine: Diagnosis and Management (2021)
• Fundamentals of Paramedic Practice: A Systems Approach (2020)
• Health Equity and Nursing: Achieving Equity Through Policy, Population Health, and Interprofessional Collaboration (2021)
• New Techniques for Brand Management in the Healthcare Sector (2021)
• Paramedic: A Quick Study Digital Reference Guide (2020)
• Telemedicine, Telehealth and Telepresence: Principles, Strategies, Applications and New Directions (2021)
• Translation of Evidence into Nursing and Healthcare (2021)

Additional ebooks added to the collection

• Acute Nursing Care: Recognising and Responding to Medical Emergencies (2021)
• Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Emergency Medicine (2021)
• Fast Facts for the ER Nurse: Guide to a Successful Emergency Department Orientation (2022)
• Innovative Strategies in Teaching Nursing: Exemplars of Optimal Learning Outcomes (2021)   
• An Introduction to Indigenous Health and Healthcare in Canada: Bridging Health and Healing (2022)
• Oxford Handbook of Primary Care and Community Nursing (2021)

Looking for more ebooks like the ones we've selected? Try finding related titles using the Subject (MeSH) (Medical Subject Headings) links in each record:

1. Click on the ebook's title or the blue arrow to the left of the title to show the full catalogue record.
2. Click on one of the Subjects (MeSH) for more items on the same topic.

As Nova Scotia Health staff and physicians, you have access to more than 11,000 ebooks! If there is an ebook or other resource that you think Library Services should add to the collection, please let us know. On your computer, click on the 'Request' drop-down arrow at the top of this web page, then click on 'Suggestions for Library Purchase' and complete and submit the electronic form. On your mobile device simply click on the grey button in the upper right corner of your screen to find the 'Request' drop-down menu.

Thanks again to the generosity of the Dr. Chauhan Memorial Trust Fund. As always, if you have any questions, please connect with Library Services.

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

Finding credible consumer health information can be challenging. Many online resources can be misleading or unreliable, especially when it comes to health information.

MedlinePlus® is an online health information resource for patients, and their families and friends. It is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world's largest medical library, and part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (MedlinePlus, 2021). MedlinePlus® is an excellent consumer health resource to recommend to patients for credible, trusted information.

MedlinePlus® at a glance

• Information on health topics, such as human genetics, medical tests, medications, dietary supplements, and healthy recipes
• Sourced from more than 1,600 selected organizations
• 40,000 links to authoritative health information in English

(MedlinePlus, 2021)

Features

MedlinePlus® is easy to navigate! 

1. Use the category tabs located at the top of the page.

Categories include:

• Health Topics — Find alphabetically listed health conditions, symptoms, and treatments.
• Drugs & Supplements — Browse by generic or brand name. Find information on herbs, supplements, prescription drugs, and more.
• Genetics — Learn about genetic conditions and how to understand your own genetics.
• Medical Tests — Browse a list of alphabetically arranged medical tests a doctor may order.
• Videos & Tools — Find health-related videos and tools on anatomy, medical procedures, and more.

2. If you know what information you are looking for, simply type your specific terms (for example, ‘knee pain’) into the ‘Search MedlinePlus’ search bar located in the top right corner and click on ‘Go.’ You can refine your results by Type and Format. Formats include PDFs, images, and videos.
3. MedlinePlus® supplies trusted COVID-19 information. At the top of each page, under the category tabs, there is a pink alert box. Search COVID-19 information by:

• Latest public health information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Latest research information from NIH
• More information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Tips for evaluating consumer health information

When appraising consumer health information, it is important to keep these things in mind:

• Credibility — Who or what is the source? How current and relevant is the information?
• Content — Is the content accurate and complete?
• Disclosure — Is the data source cited?
• Links — Are there links to other credible information sources to verify the content?
• Design — Is the website easy to navigate? Does the information flow logically?
• Interactivity — Is contact information provided, with feedback options?

(Dalhousie Libraries, 2021)

Use this checklist when searching for health information online.

MedlinePlus® is a trusted consumer health information resource for health professionals and patients. Be sure to subscribe to the My MedlinePlus® Weekly Newsletter to stay connected to new and emerging information. For more guidance and tips on MedlinePlus®, check out the Using MedlinePlus® page. If you have questions, please reach out to Library Services.

References

Dalhousie Libraries. (2021). Evaluation of Health Information on the Web. Retrieved from https://dal.ca.libguides.com/c.php?g=257155

MedlinePlus. (2021). Trusted Health Information for You. Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

Searching for accurate, evidence-based literature can be complicated. The good news is, most medical databases have developed filters to help you retrieve more precise results.

Search filters (also called hedges) are used to narrow a search and/or focus on a specific publication type, level of evidence, and/or subject area. Filters are constructed using specific database syntax (rules and commands). Search strategies are developed using rules and commands to search a variety of databases and interfaces, including PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE®, and CINAHL. (Nova Scotia Health Library Services, 2021)

Search filters are a quick and efficient way to search for information. They usually fall into two broad categories:

• Methodological: these help you locate specific types of studies (e.g. clinical trials, cohort studies, systematic reviews)
• Topic or subject: these cover various subjects or disciplines (e.g. palliative care, aging, lung cancer) 

(Curtin University Library, 2020)

It is important to recognize and identify the impact that using a particular filter may have on your search results. If a particular filter works well in a given context and does not appear to produce a high number of irrelevant results or exclude relevant items, by all means use it. However, you should be mindful that filters can alter what is retrieved from your search (Nova Scotia Health Library Services, 2021).

Several trusted databases, including PubMed, have developed filters to narrow search results by methodology, publication type or question category (e.g. therapy, diagnosis, etiology, prognosis, clinical prediction guides). Reviewing the step-by-step instructions for applying filters in PubMed is a helpful way to get started.  

Applying search filters in PubMed

Let’s work with a research question to see how search filters can assist you, when used properly, to obtain relevant results.

Example research question: Does exercise help improve back pain in adults? 

To help narrow down our results in PubMed we can apply the following filters after we have conducted our search:

• Age: Based on our example question, let’s use the age filter, specifically ‘adult’, to limit our results.
• Publication date: A good rule of thumb is to look for evidence published in the last five years (2017-2021), unless your research question specifies otherwise.
• Study/Publication type: You can filter to only retrieve a certain study type. For this example, let’s select systematic reviews. The best type of study may differ based on your research question.
• Language: You can limit results to a specific language, such as English or French only.

Applying these filters decreases our number of results from 7,000 to 34. Although this is a much more manageable number, it is important to be aware that potential results may be missed by applying filters.

It is recommended to use filters produced by trusted groups. For a detailed list of search filters produced by reliable groups, please visit Library Services’ Search Filters page.

Remember to be critical when using filters, so that you do not produce a high number of irrelevant results or exclude relevant items. For more information on search filters, be sure to check out our Searching guide for helpful tips. As always, reach out to Library Services with any questions or requests.

References:

Curtin University Library. (2020). Search Filters. Retrieved from https://libguides.library.curtin.edu.au/c.php?g=863554&p=6631322 

Nova Scotia Health Library Services. (2021). Searching. Retrieved from https://library.nshealth.ca/Searching

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

As the amount of COVID-19 evidence grows, it is important to be able to zero in on a specific type of evidence. With the abundance of editorials and commentaries on COVID-19, it may be helpful for clinicians and researchers to focus on finding articles that report specifically on COVID-19 therapeutic interventions. These and other article types are currently available through various resources, including curated COVID-19 collections that contain primary study reports and evidence syntheses. However, databases like Embase® offer benefits such as advanced searching features and unique content from a wide variety of scholarly journals.

This post will walk you through searching in Embase® (Elsevier) for COVID-19-related randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which are typically regarded as the ideal study design for therapeutic interventions.

About Embase®

Embase® is a biomedical database with emphasis on European pharmaceutical and psychiatric literature. The database contains article citations and abstracts, with links to article full text where available. Note that Embase® contains research that has been accepted for publication in scholarly journals; it does not contain pre-/post-prints or unpublished clinical trial data related to COVID-19.

Pre-developed COVID-19 search strings

To save you both time and effort, pre-developed COVID-19 search strings are ready for you to copy and paste into various databases, including Embase®. The following resources include COVID-19 search strings developed specifically for Embase®:

• Medical Library Association (MLA): COVID-19 Literature Searches
• Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH): CADTH COVID-19 Search Strings
  Note: You will need to copy and paste the search one line at a time.
• Nova Scotia Health Library Services: COVID-19 Search Strategies

Searching Embase® for COVID-19 RCTs

1. Copy a pre-developed COVID-19 search string for Embase® from one of the above resources.
2. Select Embase® from Library Services’ Databases A-Z page.
3. On the Embase® homepage, paste the pre-developed COVID-19 search string into the top search bar.

4. Click on the Show…results button on the right-hand side.
5. From the Results Filters on the left, click on the Study types drop-down menu.
6. Select randomized controlled trial (not randomized controlled trial topic).

7. Click on the Apply button at the top of the Results Filters panel.
8. Before browsing the search results, you may want to select Show all abstracts (A) or change the Sort by order (B) from the top of the results list, depending on your preferences.

9. To view the full text of an article, click on View Full Text.

10. If full text is not available, click on Check for full text at NSHA, then Request document via Local Document Delivery System to request a copy of the article.

For more COVID-19 resources, see our COVID-19 Research guide.

Questions? Email AskLibrary@nshealth.ca or book a consultation with a library staff member.

Kristy Hancock

Librarian Educator

The field of research is vast. Deciding what type of study design to help answer your research question can be complicated. This post will outline what qualitative studies are, when to use them, and most importantly, how to find them in CINAHL Complete and APA PsycInfo®, formerly known as PsycINFO®. 

Qualitative studies are a valuable type of research which tend to be popular in the social sciences because they give insight into people’s behaviour. “Research following a qualitative approach is exploratory and seeks to explain ‘how’ and ‘why’ a particular phenomenon, or behavior, operates as it does in a particular context.” (simplypsychology.org, 2020)

In comparison to quantitative studies, which tend to focus on numeracy and systematic techniques, qualitative studies are directed more towards emotion, observation and opinion. There are several types of qualitative studies, such as focus groups, case studies and observation. 

Finding qualitative studies in CINAHL Complete

Let’s search CINAHL Complete for studies that answer the following research question: ‘How do young people cope with stress?’

1. Start at the Databases A-Z page.
2. Navigate to ‘C’ (by clicking on ‘C’ or simply by scrolling down) and click on CINAHL Complete. If you're connecting from home, you may be prompted to enter your Nova Scotia Health login. This is the same username and password you use to log in to your work email or computer.
3. Using the search bar on the landing page, enter the search terms ‘stress’ and ‘coping.’
4. There are 2 ways to limit results to qualitative studies:

I. In the Search Options, scroll down to Clinical Queries on the right-hand side and select:  

• Qualitative - High Sensitivity, the broadest search. It will include all relevant material, but may also include materials that are less relevant.
  OR
• Qualitative - High Specificity, the most targeted search. It will include only the most relevant result set, but may miss some other relevant materials.
  OR
• Qualitative - Best Balance, will retrieve the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.

II. Scroll down to Publication Type on the right-hand side to choose publication types that use qualitative methods. 

5. Click on the ‘Search’ button at the top and apply filters to the results as needed.

Finding Qualitative Studies in APA PsycInfo®

1. Start at the Databases A-Z page.
2. Navigate to ‘A’ (by clicking on ‘A’ or simply by scrolling down) and click on APA PsycInfo. If connecting from home, you may be prompted to enter your Nova Scotia Health login. This is the same username and password you use to log in to your work email or computer.
3. Using the ‘Advanced Search’, enter the search terms ‘stress’ and ‘coping.’
4. There are 2 ways to limit results to qualitative studies:

I. Scroll down to Methodology, located on the landing page. Select interview, qualitative study, or focus group to limit your results to a particular qualitative study type.

II. You can also use subject terms in the main search bar. Terms used could include qualitative research, grounded theory, interviews and observation methods to narrow your results to qualitative studies.

5. Click on the ‘Search’ button at the top and apply filters to the results as needed.

Qualitative studies can be useful when seeking an understanding of motives, opinions and behaviours. You can also apply these tips when using other databases which allow you to refine results by methodology and publication type.

If you require further info on accessing qualitative studies, be sure to reach out to AskLibrary@nshealth.ca or book a one-on-one-consult with a librarian. We’re here to help!

Amanda Andrews

Librarian Educator
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

Sometimes the information you need can’t be found by searching a traditional database like PubMed. ‘Grey literature’ is the term used for documents produced outside of the traditional commercial publishing industry. It includes things like clinical practice guidelines, government reports, dissertations, unpublished clinical trials, policies, statistics, and conference papers or posters. 

Finding grey literature takes time and can be a daunting task. Here are three tips for finding the grey literature you need. 

1. Ask yourself, “Who is likely to produce the information I need?” This will help you determine where to search. For example, if you’re looking for policies on the appropriate use of restraints, check the websites of health districts and authorities, and large hospitals. 

If academic institutions are likely to have done research on your topic, try an institutional repository that includes literature produced by its members. Visit the Canadian Association of Research Libraries or OpenDOAR for lists of repositories. 

If you’re not sure what body might produce the information you want, check out the New York Academy of Medicine’s Grey Literature Publishers List or CADTH’s (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health) Grey Matters: a practical tool for searching health-related grey literature to narrow it down. 

2. Use Google, but use it effectively. Google can lead you to a wealth of grey literature. Bring relevant results to the top and avoid wading through excess by giving Google very specific directions. Use the fields in Google’s Advanced Search function to limit where it searches (e.g. a specific organization’s website, or sites ending with a certain domain like .gov or .edu) or the format of documents included in the results (e.g. PDF or PowerPoint).  

You can achieve the same results by using Google ‘commands’ in front of the words you type in Google’s search box. Say you’re looking for a report on global immunization rates. You could use the search string “immunization rates” filetype:pdf site:https://www.who.int/ to tell Google to search the World Health Organization’s website (command = site:) for PDF documents (command = filetype:) on the topic.

3. Document your searches. You may have to search multiple places to find what you’re looking for. Using a checklist and tracking sheet will help you to keep track of where you’ve looked and what success you’ve had. It will also serve as a record of your search should you or someone else need to replicate it in the future. For each resource you search, make note of:

• Its name and link/contact information
• Its format (e.g. online repository, abstract/conference resource, clinical trial registry, etc.)
• Details of its coverage breadth (e.g. timeframe, geography, etc.)
• The date the search(es) was carried out
• The total number of results retrieved 
• The number of relevant results

Visit our Grey Literature subject guide for more tips, including starting places for searching for different types of grey literature and detailed guidance on using Google commands. As always, reach out to Library Services if you have questions. 

Lana MacEachern

Library Technician
Aberdeen Regional Hospital, Northern Zone

Integrating the best available health evidence into decision-making processes is an important part of evidence-based practice. However, before applying clinical research findings to patients, health care providers need to determine whether or not the research findings are trustworthy and valid.

It is important to remember that a published study is not necessarily trustworthy or sound. This is evident now more than ever with the ongoing race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Questionable scientific research reporting on potential COVID-19 vaccines and therapies is everywhere. Clinical research needs to be evaluated before being relied upon to guide clinical decisions—this is where critical appraisal comes in.

What is critical appraisal?

Critical appraisal is “the process of assessing and interpreting evidence by systematically considering its validity, results, and relevance”.

To critically appraise clinical research is to look at its methodological quality, trustworthiness and applicability to a patient’s specific situation. Critical appraisal helps us ask two essential questions when consuming information:

• Is the information believable? (Internal Validity)
• Does the information apply to my situation? (External Validity)

When should critical appraisal be conducted?

As a key part of evidence-based practice, critical appraisal should be conducted often! More specifically, research should always be critically appraised before being applied to a patient in a clinical scenario.

For example, let’s say a recently published study in your discipline shows a new therapy to be effective and safe for patients, and you are considering the new therapy for a patient of your own. Critically appraising the study will ensure that the findings are valid and the therapy is appropriate for your patient.

Beyond clinical scenarios, critical appraisal is also a key part of evidence synthesis. For example, as part of the systematic review process, articles included in the review are critically appraised for validity.

Using critical appraisal checklists

Critical appraisal checklists (or worksheets) are developed by various authoritative groups and are a step-by-step guide through the appraisal process. Any type of clinical study can be critically appraised, and each study type has its own checklist. There are many critical appraisal checklists out there, including the following sets:

• Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI): Critical Appraisal Tools
• Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM): Critical Appraisal Tools
• Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP): Appraisal Checklists
• Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN): Critical Appraisal Notes and Checklists

As an example, the Randomized Controlled Trial Checklist from CASP includes questions about study methodology such as:

• Did the trial address a clearly focused issue?
• Was the assignment of patients to treatments randomized?
• Were all of the patients who entered the trial properly accounted for at its conclusion?

Critical appraisal can be conducted without the use of a formal checklist, but using an established set of appraisal criteria may be helpful if you are new to critical appraisal or want to ensure that you are being consistent in the way that you appraise clinical research. For more info on critical appraisal, email us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca or book a one-on-one online consult with a librarian. 

Reference:

The Cochrane Collaboration. (n.d.). Glossary. Retrieved from https://community.cochrane.org/glossary

Kristy Hancock

Librarian Educator

Frequent PubMed searchers may have noticed the new blue banner at the top of the legacy main search page announcing a new version of the biomedical database, and given the new version a test drive. You may have come across the new design by accident, arriving at a strange interface while searching for the latest studies about, say, cannabis and epilepsy. Perhaps this post is your introduction to the news that PubMed has a new look and feel. However you came across this info, don’t panic! We’re here with tips and advice to help you adjust.

1. Find Search Details and Clipboard

Your Search Details can give you a better idea of how PubMed understood the terms you searched. This feature has moved to the Advanced Search page. To access the full Search Details, navigate to the History and Search Details table and select the expand arrow    /    corresponding to a specific search number.

Using the Clipboard can help you manage, access and share articles. This feature has changed. To add an item to the Clipboard, use the  ⋅⋅⋅  button to access the Send To menu, then select Clipboard.

To see all items in your Clipboard, navigate to the options below the main search box at the top of the page.

From the Clipboard page, you’ll be able to see all of your selected items in one place. Use the Save function to export results in specific formats and Email to send the items to yourself or your colleagues. Use    to change the display between Summary and Abstract. We recommend using Abstract view so you can screen the complete details and clearly see options for full-text access.

2. Use the Cite feature for easy referencing

A useful improvement is the addition of a  Cite tool for each PubMed reference. It allows you to copy a complete citation for a specific item and paste it into a draft. Use the Format drop-down menu to change the citation style—options include AMA, APA, MLA and NLM. Use Download RIS to download a file you can then upload to a citation management tool (e.g. Mendeley or Zotero) or evidence synthesis software (e.g. Covidence or Rayyan).

3. Share articles using permalinks

Another useful improvement PubMed has introduced is the  Share articles tool. Sharing accurate article information over social media platforms can help you improve the impact of your own publication(s) and show support for other authors whose work has affected your research and/or practice.

Using a permalink for an individual PubMed reference can ensure that accurate article information is shared and help others access full-text in a way that respects current copyright laws. We recommend using PubMed permalinks when sharing articles for teaching, journal clubs or linking supplementary resources in eLearning modules or websites because free, open and affiliated organization access points will be clearly displayed.

Not every feature related to PubMed has been updated. You’ll notice that the My NCBI dashboard and the Clinical Queries search page, for example, appear in the legacy interface but search results linking from these tools have the updated look. If you experience any issues accessing results or notice any discrepancies in your results while using the new PubMed to search, please submit your feedback to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) here.

Good searching practices never go out of style

While the PubMed interface update may feel like a dramatic change, general searching mechanics and best practices remain the same. You will still get the most out of PubMed by identifying the important concepts of your search question, searching each concept one at a time, and applying AND OR NOT (Boolean operators), field searching and truncation (*) thoughtfully. You’ll find searching guidance relevant to a variety of databases in our Searching subject guide, including our updated Anatomy of a PubMed Reference tip sheet.

Book a consultation with a library team member to connect about your specific questions when it comes to PubMed’s new look and feel, and searching best practices. Don’t forget to check out our current online learning opportunities, where you can learn alongside your colleagues.

Katie McLean

Librarian Educator, Education & Outreach
Dickson Building, Central Zone

UPDATED: June 4, 2024

Whether you are looking for a complete reference in a particular citation style, full-text access to one or more articles, or a variety of articles on a specific topic, Library Services has you covered. Not sure how to go about getting the information you need? This post is for you!

 Locating the Complete Citation of an Article

 A complete citation usually includes the author, article title, journal title, volume and issue numbers, publication date, and page numbers of the article. A complete citation will look something like this: 

Woodhouse, M., Worsley, P. R., Voegeli, D., Schoonhoven, L., & Bader, D. L. (2019). How consistent and effective are current repositioning strategies for pressure ulcer prevention? Applied Nursing Research, 48, 58-62. 

Citations may differ in the order that information is presented. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of the components. Library and information professionals know how to fill in the gaps and get the right article for you. The more information you provide, however, the better chance of locating the item you want. For information on building citations, check out our Citation Management subject guide. Select the Citation Examples tab for examples.

Locating the PMID number of an article is a great way to make sure you’ve got the elements of a complete citation. PMID numbers can be found at the bottom left of the abstract in PubMed. Check this one out.

You can also get citation information about an individual item in Google Scholar. Try searching for the Woodhouse, et al. (2019) article above in Google Scholar. Noticebelow the relevant citation. Clicking this icon presents the Cite box. It lists citations across a range of styles (APA, Vancouver, etc.) that you can copy and reuse as needed.

 Checking for Full-Text in Google Scholar and PubMed

Check for full-text in Google Scholar by running a search and looking for Full Text from NSHA to the right-hand side of each result.

You can find full-text articles in PubMed, too. Run a search in PubMed. Click on the title of the article you are interested in to present the full article view and note the icons to the right under Full text links. Follow the Nova Scotia Health Authority icon to view access options available to staff and physicians.

 Submitting a Request for Article Access (aka Interlibrary Loan) 

If the full-text isn’t available for free or through Library Services subscriptions, you may encounter the Request a document option when searching PubMed or Google Scholar. Clicking this option will help you fill out a request for an article, a service referred to as interlibrary loan. Try this link. Scroll down the page until you see a form with the heading Complete your information to request this item through document delivery. Simply fill in the Patron Information fields, select Send, and we’ll do our best to locate a copy of the article for you.

You can also submit a request for article access using this Document Delivery form. This form can be found by selecting Services from the menu at the top of the web page you are reading right now, then Document Delivery. Remember to include as much citation info as possible in your request. Doing so will allow library staff to find what you need more quickly.  

 Finding More Relevant Articles with the Literature Search Request Service

Submit a request for a literature search when you want to find a variety of articles on a particular subject across a range of databases. To submit the request, select Services at the top of this web page, then Literature Searching and you will be directed to the form.

To help library staff understand your request and find more relevant articles for you, include complete citation details of articles you’ve already identified as relevant when submitting your request.

You can try citation matching techniques on your own by looking for article matching tools in the databases you search. In PubMed, navigate to full citation view and look to the right of the screen. Under Similar articles notice a short list of articles similar to the one you’ve found. Click See all similar articles to see the full list.

Using any or all of the tips above will help you be more efficient with accessing, organizing and creating information at work. Get more tips and support from our team by booking a one-on-one consultation with a library team member.

Amanda Andrews

Health Sciences Librarian
Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Eastern Zone

UPDATED: July 17, 2019. Original Post: February 1, 2017.

If you’ve ever tried to loosen a screw with a nail file or pop a wine bottle cork using a screwdriver, you know it’s easier when you have the right tool for the job. It’s the same when looking for information. It helps to search in a database that is built for your specific subject and/or discipline. If your research and/or practice area is nursing, rehabilitation, social work, dietetics or another allied health discipline, consider using CINAHL® Complete. 

CINAHL® retrieves information about articles from more than 5,000 journals, from 1937 to the present. Since the focus of the database is nursing and allied health literature, articles are tagged with preferred terms that reflect the language used in these disciplines. These tags, a form of controlled vocabulary, are called CINAHL® Subject Headings. Searching with CINAHL® subject headings will return more relevant results.

This short tutorial will help you get started using CINAHL® subject headings:

For more guidance on searching in CINAHL® Complete, view the tutorials on EBSCO’s CINAHL® Databases Training site or contact Library Services. 

Lana MacEachern

Library Technician
Aberdeen Regional Hospital, Northern Zone

Katie McLean

Librarian Educator, Education & Outreach
Dickson Building, Central Zone

Get fewer, more relevant results by learning about automatic mapping and checking the Search details for individual searches in PubMed.

Most databases have a search box where it is tempting to enter words or terms and hit "Go". We have Google to thank for that! Google searches content from all over the web and relies on algorithms to get the most relevant items to the top of the results list. To balance the volume of information available with the variability of individual searches, Google relies on more than 200 predetermined algorithms to direct searches. These algorithms depend on many factors, including the terms used on a website, your location, and web traffic (2019).

PubMed also relies on algorithms, or automatic term mapping, to retrieve search results. When you enter search terms, they are matched against Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), journal titles, and author/investigator names. If no match is found, every field describing each individual item in the database is searched.

Lost in Translation

Most of the time, automatic term mapping in PubMed works in a searcher’s favour and you get relevant results. Sometimes, however, it can lead you down a path that isn’t comprehensive or efficient. Some searches can be matched to MeSH or other criteria that don’t cover what you’re looking for. Say you’re looking for articles on computed tomography scans. Search “CT” in PubMed (1), set Sort by: Publication Date (2) and check the Search details (3). Note that PubMed is translating your search into results by referencing journal titles [Journal] and every single field of information in the database [All Fields].

This search retrieves articles about CT scans but also articles about communication theory and cancer therapy. You get a high number of results, but many aren’t relevant. By understanding how automatic mapping works and checking the Search details, you can get a more manageable number of results that are more relevant to your context.

Search PubMed with Mapping in Mind

When searching large, complex databases like PubMed, minimize confusion by testing each term you plan to search. Analyze the Search details for anything unexpected and revise your search terms accordingly. In the “CT” search above, there are a few ways to resolve this issue, depending on why you need the information. If you want to quickly gather a few relevant and current articles about CT scans, you can be more specific and search the complete phrase, “CT scan”.  This simple adjustment completely changes the Search details.

You can make the search even more relevant by adding a second concept, such as “risk”. Do the Search details look reasonable? If so, add the concepts together using the AND operator to form a single search string: “CT scan AND risk”. 

Be Mindful with Google

Katie McLean

Librarian Educator, Education & Outreach
Dickson Building, Central Zone