MEDICAL COMPUTER LITERACY

MEDICAL SCHOOL PRE-CLINICAL -

MSPC 202
Searching for information
Topic 12
 Approaches to searching

•Browsing

•Searching for a specific reference

•Keyword search
 Browsing

•By title of journal or book

•By subject/discipline

•By publisher (where available)

Specific Reference
• Article
Shingleton, H. M. (2003).
Historical perspective: cervical
cancer: a treatment evolves.
ACOG Clinical Review, 8(10), 14-
16.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinr
ev.2003.08.00
A reference or citation contains the
details of a piece of work that makes
It easy to locate or find the
work or paper.
• Book
1. Woodward, S., & Oliveira, D.
(2017). Eureka Renal Medicine.
JP Medical Ltd.
http://doi.org/10.5005/jp/boo
ks/13054
2. Corrigan, B., Maitland, G. D., &
Paton, A. (1983). Practical
orthopaedic medicine. London:
Butterworths
 Keyword search
• Preferably used when research
question/topic is defined

• Identifying the root cause of delays

in Breast Cancer Treatment in a
Teaching Hospital in Ghana
Search techniques
•Create a search statement

•Use of Boolean operators

•Phrase searching

•Filters and search limits

 Creating a search statement
• Identify keywords/concepts in the topic

• Consider alternative keywords for

concepts

• Words and their alternatives become your

search terms

• Combine search terms with the

appropriate operator
 Boolean Operators
•Operators are AND, OR, NOT

•They are used to link words and

phrases for more precise search
queries
 “AND”
•Use AND to combine two or more
different concepts eg “breast cancer”
AND “treatment delays” AND
Ghana

•Information retrieved must include ALL

your stated concepts/keywords

•Generally retrieves fewer results

AND finds articles that have
both keywords

“breast cancer”
“treatment delays”
More keywords = fewer results

“breast cancer”
“treatment delays”

Ghana
“OR”
•Use “OR” to search for similar
concepts/keywords eg
“treatment delays” OR timeliness

•Results will include a MINIMUM OF

ONE of your named
concepts/keywords
OR – finds articles with at least
one keyword/concept

“treatment delays”

timeliness
Boolean “NOT”
• Narrows search by exclusion

• Eliminates the term after it from

retrieved information

• Finds information on the term before it

• Example:
mastectomy NOT radiation
NOT – Eliminates 2nd keyword
from documents

mastectomy
radiation
Combining Operators
•Operators may be combined and
used in one search statement

•Enclose OR statements in
parentheses

•Example: “breast cancer” AND

(“treatment delays” OR timeliness)
 Phrase searching
• Used to search for a string of two or
more words

• Denoted by double quotation marks

• Database will search for words as a

phrase in that exact order

• Example: - “breast cancer”, “treatment

delays”
Search Filters/Limits
• Allow you to narrow your search further

• Options available include article type,

publication date, subject, publisher
language etc.

• Found on advanced search page or filter

bar
SAGE Journals - multidisciplinary
Browse by discipline

Browse by title
Simple vs Advanced search page
Simple search page Advanced search page
Science Direct - multidisciplinary
Click to browse by title
Browse by title
Browse by discipline
Science direct simple search
Science direct
advanced search
Google vs Google Scholar
Google vs Google Scholar

Google Google scholar

Google vs Google Scholar
Google
• Retrieves resources
regardless of where online
• broader scope, not scholarly
or research-based
• Not suitable for academic
search
• More results and more
“junk”
Google scholar
• Focuses on scholarly
literature on the internet
• Results are based on
research or studies eg
articles, theses, books
• Preferable for academic work
• Less results, more relevant
Databases allow you to…
• Browse

• Search

• Download & save

• Register for personalised services eg save

searches, create alerts etc
Summary
• Approaches to searching

• Search techniques

• Browse

• Simple vs advanced search page

• Google vs google scholar